Man Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page A

make a home for us, but he only cares about life in the fast lane. The parties, the drugs…”
    Drugs? “Oh, I never
saw
him use drugs,” she says. “But with that lifestyle…” Her cerulean eyes have a haunted look, hinting that the celebrity tycoon has a darker side.
    “He told me to give up my work as an advocate for Third World children so that I would have more time for him. I just couldn't do it.”
    Tears spring to her eyes. Gratefully, she accepts a tissue from her manager…
    Jake folded the
Daily News
in half and tossed it across his desk toward Oliver Arias. “Well,” he said, “we expected this, didn't we?”
    “It's going to get worse,” Oliver said darkly. “It's going to be a feeding frenzy. I think we should sue. I'll talk to the lawyers.”
    “Don't bother,” Jake said. “We're not suing.”
    “What?” Oliver's face was flushed with outrage. He shook the paper at Jake. “These are
lies.
She wants to destroy you. She's calling you a drug addict! We need to act fast.”
    “Actually, what she said was that she'd never seen me using drugs, which is certainly true. She's too smart—or the
Daily News's
lawyers are too smart—to give us anything to hang a libel suit on.”
    “It's the principle of the thing. We need to make a statement. We have to fight back.”
    Jake shook his head. “We can't. It would be gasoline on the fire. There's nothing that the media would love more than a public mud-slinging match, and I guarantee that between Skye and me, the one with the teary cerulean eyes would win.”
    “But—”
    “Take a deep breath,” Jake advised, “and forget about it.”
    “We have to issue a statement! The reporters have been calling all morning, reading us things that she's said about you, asking if you want to refute them.”
    Jake shrugged. “They're playing chicken with me, trying to get a reaction. If they don't get one, they'll give up. We've been through this kind of thing before.”
    “No, we haven't,” Oliver said. “Not a personal attack from someone who actually seems credible. I don't like it, Jake. This is very bad. The stock is down again—”
    “So I keep hearing,” Jake said coolly. “And meanwhile, my so-called playboy lifestyle is on hold, and I'm doing my damnedest to get things back on track.” He stopped, hearing defensiveness in his own voice. His mother's warning about the rumblings of mutiny on the Berenger board had been on his mind for the past few days.
    A dry smile touched his mouth. Skye was either remarkably clever, or just very lucky. Knowing her, his bet was on lucky. She had stumbled across the only way that she could really do him damage—by publicly painting him as unfit to be the head of Berenger Corporation. Luckily, her media appeal was limited to Hollywood magazines and scandal sheets like the
Daily News,
a category not taken too seriously by the Wall Street investment community. His image could afford to take a few hits, and the story would eventually die. He hadn't gotten this far in life by panicking every time someone slung a little mud in his direction.
    “She's perfect,” exclaimed Elaine McKee Culpepper Von Reinholz Newberg, clasping her manicured hands in delight as she looked Molly up and down. “Yes, absolutely perfect.”
    Molly blushed, unexpectedly flattered. It was Saturday, one week after Carter had driven up to Belden to propose his scheme, and they were now sitting on brocade-upholstered chairs in the parlor of Carter's sister's penthouse condominium, on Chicago's near north side.
    “I admit,” Elaine continued, “that I had doubts about your judgment, Carter. But this is going to work out beautifully. This project will test the
limits
of my ability. We are truly beginning from ground zero.”
    Abruptly, Molly tuned back in. “I beg your pardon?”
    Elaine patted her arm. “Oh, my dear. My clients are usually much more advanced. They're models, pageant winners, girls who already know how to dress, how to