The Summer of Sunshine and Margot(78)

The answer to all those questions was yes, he thought glumly. But there was no going back and now he was well and truly stuck with a series of situations he didn’t know how to change.

  “Good morning,” Margot said brightly as she walked into the guest lounge where Bianca was waiting. Thanks to Alec’s warning the previous morning, she was braced for whatever was to follow. Well, as braced as one could be when it came to the force of nature that was Bianca.

Her client sat on the sofa, a mug of coffee in her hands, her expression both knowing and smug. Bianca smiled.

“Good morning to you. So, you and Alec. How was that?”

Margot took a seat. “I’m not going to discuss your son with you. Not in that context.”

“But he’s my son. I have a right to know what’s happening in his life.”

“Not from me you don’t.”

Bianca smiled. “An excellent answer. Good for you. Some people have trouble standing up to me. I’m glad you don’t.” Her expression turned impish. “I won’t ask about your night or mention you look a little tired, so we can get right to work.”

“How kind of you.” Margot knew that Bianca wanted to see if she could be rattled. She did her best to appear calm. She leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. “Let’s talk about the political event.”

“Let’s not.” Bianca sighed. “It’s old news. I helped children.”

“You let a man you don’t know touch your bare butt in public. You knew it was a ridiculous thing to do and yet you did it anyway. That’s what I can’t figure out, Bianca. Why? I’ve been turning it around in my head and I can’t come up with a single reason that you would...”

Margot stopped talking as the most obvious answer popped into her brain. She had no idea why she hadn’t considered it before. What had happened wasn’t about her training methods or Bianca not caring or anything like that at all.

“What was the trigger?” she asked softly. “Someone must have said something or done something at the event. Something that upset you. Of course. I should have figured that out in the moment.”

Bianca sipped her coffee. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. By the way, you still owe me lunch with your sister.”

“What?” She started to ask if lunch with Sunshine was really that important only to realize the point of the statement was to distract her.

“We can discuss that later,” she said firmly, putting her feet on the floor. “Please tell me what happened at the event to upset you. I know there was something.”

Bianca pressed her lips together. “Fine. It was nothing, really. I wasn’t going to let that man touch me at all. What a ridiculous thing to ask. He was a pig, by the way. But then, when I was in the bathroom, I heard two women talking about me.”

She turned away. “I don’t know why we’re discussing this.”

Margot moved to the sofa and angled toward Bianca, meeting her troubled gaze. “I will never judge you.”

“Unless I let someone touch my bare ass.”

“I didn’t judge. I was shocked and confused, but that was all.”

Bianca’s bravado faded. “They said I was a whore and a homewrecker, which is completely unfair. I never slept with married men. It wasn’t my thing. I slept with a spy once, only I didn’t know he was a spy. He was a movie producer and very handsome. Once, when we were together in his villa up in the Hollywood Hills, the FBI raided his house and he was dragged off. It was very exciting and a little frightening.”

She smiled. “I was naked and the youngest agent just couldn’t take his eyes off me. It was like real life combined with a movie. I loved it. We dated for nearly a month.”

Margot was having a little trouble keeping up. “You and the producer?”

“What? Yes, we dated, but I meant me and the FBI agent. He was too young for me, but very sweet. The things I taught him.” She sighed. “Anyway, my point is I never slept with married men. I’ve always thought that was beyond foolish. Any man who would cheat on his wife wasn’t worth my time. But they upset me.”

“Those women? Of course they did. You must have felt awful. The truth is they were jealous, mean bitches. They felt inadequate and because they couldn’t deal with that, they had to bring you down. I’m sorry it happened.”

Bianca touched her arm. “Thank you, Margot. That’s very sweet.”

“I mean it. I wish I’d been there. I would have told them off for sure.”

Bianca smiled. “You would have been formidable.”

“I hope so.” Now everything made sense, she thought. “You probably would have been fine if you hadn’t run into that guy again. You were feeling vulnerable so you agreed to what he asked because it wasn’t like he was going to ask them if he could touch their butts. Instead you got to be wild and the center of attention and just a little bit bad. I get it.”

She softened her words with a smile. “How did that strategy work for you?”

“I thought it went well, but you and Alec had a fit.”

Margot waited. Bianca groaned.

“Fine. I shouldn’t have done it because of Wesley and all.”

“You’re always going to be a target, Bianca. You know that. We need to come up with some coping mechanisms for when you feel attacked.”