Page 90 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8
“Good,” Irinka said. “Because I’m hearing rumblings through my contacts that the brewing storm is going to be a big one.”
“I’m going to pretend to be engaged to him.”
Everyone stared at her. Mouths open, eyes wide. Irinka did not look overly proud of her like she had predicted.
“You what?” Lynna asked.
“I decided that I would get a bigger boat. A bigger headline. And that headline is that notorious playboy Matias Javier Hernandez Balcazar has traded in a life of debauchery for one of commitment.”
“This is...not a good idea,” Lynna said.
Auggie was instantly annoyed.
“Oh, are we going to talk aboutbad ideasnow, Lynna? And what we all think they might be? Because we all agree that it is a bad idea you continue to go and stay at Athan Akakios’ house once a year andmake him mealswhen his father is responsible for the ruination of your entire family.”
Lynna waved a hand like she was brushing Auggie’s words out of the air. “You don’t know what my eventual plans are. Perhaps I’m playing a long game. Death by Chocolate doesn’t always have to be a metaphor, Auggie.”
“If you’re plotting murder on company time we do need to know about it, though,” Maude said.
Maude could never stand for a creature to be in distress. But apparently beautiful Greek billionaires with dark souls were an exception.
Auggie couldn’t argue.
But then, Maude turned her wide, compassionate eyes to Auggie.
“Let’s not get derailed with Lynna. Whyyou?” Maude asked.
“Because, actually trying to find somebody who would do this, who could be trusted, fast enough... It is not even reasonable. I was there. I have to do it.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Contacts. He is going to help grow our client base beyond our wildest dreams. I really do believe that.”
“Do you?” Irinka said. “You really can’t see what might go wrong with you pretending to get engaged to a client? It could open you up to all kinds of harassment. I am extra concerned with keeping boundaries in place.”
She did know. Because Irinka’s job was tricky, and it required total discretion. No one could know, broadly, that she did it, and yet the right people had to know when they needed her. But there could be no confusion among clients that she was an escort, either. Her lines had to be neatly and clearly drawn, while she stayed in the shadows and that was a difficult task.
Auggie never envied it.
“I know. Iknow,” she said a second time just to make sure that she emphasized it appropriately. “I know exactly how loaded it is, and how big of a risk it is. Trust me. But either way, it’s a sticky situation.”
“We could just walk away,” Lynna pointed out. “We don’t have to be the cleanup crew.”
“But if we are,” Auggie said, “then imagine what that will do to our reputations. Imagine.”
Everyone looked up, and it was clear that nobody wanted to endorse her acting as a sacrificial lamb in this way, but they could all absolutely see the benefit.
“I promise that I’ll be safe. I’m drawing up an agreement.” She went to the computer and sat down at her white desk. They had chosen to make their office bright, filled with light colors, golds and pastels. Because they were as tough as any man, but they didn’t have to demonstrate that by sacrificing femininity. Far from it. Maybe that was her problem now. She was trying to right too many wrongs every time she did a single thing. They all were, honestly. The combination of the four of them, and all of their issues meant that they were a company comprised almost entirely of a desire to prove something. There were worse things. She really believed that. Far worse things.
But it made everything feel weighty. And just a little bit more intense at times.
She opened up a document, their boilerplate for a nondisclosure agreement, and then for terms and conditions of their association.
“You aren’t going to sleep with him,” Irinka said.
“No,” Auggie responded, fighting the urge to laugh out of discomfort and a feeling of being caught. “Of course I’m not.”
“Well, I just want to make sure you get that in the agreement.”