My irritation with Jett dissipated in an instant and I was just shy. “Oh, um, haha, no. Th-thank you. I’m no model.”
“You could be,” she responded without missing a beat.
Jett grinned. “I think so.”
I suddenly felt overexposed and was ready to go. “Um, I’ll just be going now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt something,” Sadie said.
I shook my head. “No, you didn’t, I was just leaving.” I looked at Jett. “Tell your brothers thanks for the job offer, but no thanks.”
“Is $175,00 a year for head anchor not enough?” Jett asked.
Sadie scoffed. “$175? For the Foxx Network?” She looked at me. “Are you an anchor? I have tons of connections. I can get you a job for $350K if you’re interested?”
My jaw fell through the floor. “What? Why would you do that for me?”
Sadie’s smile grew even wider. “Girl power, man!” She shot a glare at Jett. “We can let these men sell us for less than we’re worth.” She reached into the clutch she was holding in her hand and pulled out a small, maroon card. “Call me! Let’s get lunch and talk it over.”
“Cool!” I took the card. “Thank you!”
It was like a sign from the gods. If I was meant, for any reason, to accept the position from the Foxxes, some sundress toting goddess wouldn’t just walk up to me and hand me a job for double the salary. I figured it was time for me to leave before I ran the risk of tipping my luck needle in any other direction.
I looked at Jett. “Good luck on the search.”
I turned around and flew away from the room without any hesitation. As I rode the elevator back up to the main floor, I smiled at Sadie’s card, relieved that I wasn’t going to be forced to work for the Foxxes after all, even if it did mean giving up the succulent, insider exposé. Maybe there was another way I could get it, but that was a mission for another day.
5
Jett
Part of me wanted to fire Sadie immediately for making things more difficult for my brothers and me with Alexa, but not only was she one of the most famous models in the country, she was married to none other than Dante Marcello himself. I couldn’t rightfully haul off and fire the wife of the man who owned half my company, especially given we were currently in the process of trying to claw it out of his clutches. On top of that, she was amazing. I watched as she recorded several commercials on our studio set for a new marketing package coming up and I could already tell the commercials were gonna bring in thousands. She was beautiful and commanded the entire set while she was there.
She gave me a sly smile as she was preparing to leave. “It was wonderful to meet you. I’d love to work with you again.”
I bit my tongue. “Yes, it was lovely to work for you too.”
She laughed. “Oh, come on. You can admit you’re irritated with me, I’m not gonna tell Dante. I’m sure you and your brothers really want that girl. I’ve seen her before, she’s a pretty big deal right?”
“Yeah, a huge deal. She’s good at what she does and my older brothers went to school with her and know that she has great worth ethnic too,” I responded. “I’ll admit, your little ‘offer’ didn’t help us.”
“I was just doing what I knew was the right thing to do. With her experience, and the way her looks are gonna boost ratings. Offering her $175,000 a year is almost an insult.” She grabbed her clutch and raised an eyebrow at me. “I’ll wait a few days to get in touch with someone about an appropriately salaried position for her. Maybe talk to your brothers about upping the pay a little bit. I, of all people, know that you can afford it.”
She nodded her head and then left. Once she was gone, the studio quickly emptied out until it was just me left behind. I sunk down into one of the cheap, metal chairs on set for the photographers.
“Shit.” I took out my phone and navigated to the group text message I shared with all of my brothers.
Group meeting, my place at 8.
Keaton/Quentin, one of you utilize
your contacts and bring us some
burritos.
I’m surfing. If I order the burritos, can I skip?
No, you moron. Group meeting
means everyone needs to be there.
I locked my phone, slid it into my pocket, collected my stuff and made my way home. I lived in a penthouse on the East side of Austin, Texas. Of all of my brothers’ homes, mine was my favorite. It was extravagant, obviously too big for me, but it did overlook downtown Austin, had a great view of the night sky, and had a place for me to store my kickboxing equipment, and the property gym had a basketball court.