SCARLET MEETS MILA

5

Mila

"Stand up taller." I stand back and study Coco, one of the models I was able to handpick as my draping mascot two years ago. "That's good. Chin up." I push the needle and thread into the collar of my latest design and smirk with a smug hum. "Amazing."

"Getting there, huh." Harlow adds, approaching me from behind. "I love this."

"Thanks? Coco, you can see Fox now. He'll add the rest." I pack away my things and relax, the morning spent finalising designs weighing heavy on my empty stomach. "Hopefully, Scarlet will pass the prototype this time. She's not been so easy to please lately."

"She's stressed." Harlow huffs.

I chuckle. "Tell me about it. She barely spoke to me last night. It wasn't until we had sex I actually got her to say something meaningful."

"She'll have this mess sorted soon enough." Harlow explains. "She's meeting with Dina today. I wouldn't worry."

I can't help but pause. "Mess? What mess?"

"You know? You and Hunter?"

"Me and- Harlow, what's going on?" Her eyes widen, and I realise, yet again, I'm out of the loop. "Did Hunter say something about me?"

She lifts her palms to her cheeks and closes her eyes frustratedly. "You don't know."

"No." I snarl. "I don't."

"Ugh. Come with me." Harlow drags me to her office and slams the door behind her. "It's a PR thing, Hunter has decided to try and get one over on Scarlet's marketing ploy. He's using you as a target, and her majesty has blown her pretty little lid."

"When?" I bite.

"Yesterday afternoon. Dina told her on the way back to the office." She explains. "They tried to make contact, but until this morning, they've been firing blanks."

My palms begin to sweat as I think back on her mood last night. "How is he using me, exactly?"

She takes a deep breath, glancing around the office awkwardly. "He has compiled a media playlist of headlines depicting you in your younger years as a stripper." My eyes widen. "They talk about how you would tuck bills into your panties for a lap-dance and hop on poles for the general public."

"How- how did they-

"You're hot shit, Mila." Harlow adds. "As Scarlet's wife, you're open to threats more so than her. How best to take down a woman, than to take down her wife."

I swallow hard, and my cheeks drain their colour as I slowly lower myself into the seat opposite her desk. "I don't know what to say? Is she mad about Hunter, or about me?"

"Both." She sighs through her teeth and sits opposite me. "The thought of you being a stripper is eating her alive, and Hunter using it to make her look bad has caused more than a stir."

"Why didn't she tell me?" I quick to anger when hearing Harlow's confession. "We tell each other everything? I don't understand."

She shrugs awkwardly. "I think she wanted to get it covered up as fast as possible." My stomach churns painfully. "It's bad for business in her eyes."

"She kept it from me, though." I laugh, my veins running cold. "Besides, what's so bad about being a stripper?"

"God only knows." Her expression eases with sympathy. "I think it's a great job, providing you're happy. Work is work, and women can do whatever the fuck they want. I guess Scarlet doesn't see it that way."

"Some people have no other choice." I mumble.

She leans forward and smiles. "So is it true?" My eyes dart up. "Were you?"

I nod. "Times were hard, and I couldn't find a job that paid me enough to buy food." I chuckle anxiously, scared now that Scarlet will think differently of me regarding my past. "It was easy, Willow covered at home and I made enough to keep us fed. I quit she started to ask where I was going. I wasn't ashamed, I just didn't want her to know."

"It's ok-

"It's not though, is it?" I huff. "If this hits the media, not only will Scarlet hate me, but so will my kids? Maisie is glued to social media, and Teddy already believes everything he's told?"

"Like I said." Harlow soothes, placing her hands on the desk gently. "She's sorting it. You guys can talk it out after, but for now, let her do her job."

I nod with a sarcastic smile. "Her job is to cover up the fact that I chose a career she despises. My own wife." I chuckle. "That's why she wouldn't speak to me last night. She's judging me and is probably disgusted by me now."

"Easy." Fox enters the office half way through my statement, and I gather that he too is in the loop as he chimes in. "Scar is a little behind on this kind of stuff. She's obviously got her reasons, but she'd never be disgusted by you."

"Exactly." Harlow confirms. "It's a shock." I catch her looking up at Fox for the nod of approval. "She's terrified this will jeopardise the deal. Worse, even, make you look bad."

"Look bad?" I scoff. "She doesn't want to be embarrassed by me, more like. Imagine admitting to the media that your wife is an ex stripper back in the dirty streets of Miami. She's beautiful, but she's vein."

Fox folds his arms tight. "She's slightly vein, yes. I will say though, if you talked it out, her reasoning may not be as offensive as you think. You know all too much about how pristine she likes to keep her reputation. I'm sure she's just caught up right now."

"Well." I huff, standing from the chair to approach the door. "At least I know where I stand. Far, far back in the room with her version of events facing the Ramirez name."

"Mila-

"I would never judge her." I snap. "Ever."