The air suddenly turned tense. Maxine narrowed her eyes, growing more cautious around Pandora.
Sensing the shift, Pandora gave a light smile. “Feeling nervous? Don’t be. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just want to confirm who you are.”
A flicker of coldness flashed in Maxine’s eyes. She gave a faint, dry smile. “I have to say, Ms. Soto, you and your brother really enjoy digging into people’s backgrounds. You even more so.”
Pandora raised an eyebrow, looking thoughtful. “Is that right? Well, I suppose I should be better at it. After all, my brother’s a bit of a mess–snooping around behind people’s backs and trying to scare them into line. Isn’t that why he brought you here tonight?”
Maxine arched her brow in return, watching Pandora closely. Surprisingly, she didn’t mind Pandora’s bluntness.
Still mulling it over, Maxine tapped her glass against Pandora’s and drained her wine.
Pandora watched Maxine with curiosity, then suddenly said, “Let’s talk business, Ms. Hudson. I like you. I’ve seen your résumé, and you’re good. Whatever Urban’s paying you, I’ll double it.”
She smiled and added, “Come work for me. I’ll treat you right.”
Maxine didn’t even hesitate. “No need, Ms. Soto. I’m not interested.”
Pandora didn’t look surprised. She just smiled and asked, “Is Urban paying you that much? Or did he offer you some kind of deal you couldn’t pass up? Either way, I can match it. Whatever he’s offering, I can too.”
“That’s not it,” Maxine said calmly. “It’s about sticking to what you agreed to. I’m not the kind of person who switches sides halfway. Even if you offered triple or ten times more, I wouldn’t jump ship.”
She smiled politely, reached for another glass of wine, and raised it. “We might be on opposite sides in business, but I hope we can still be friends.”
Pandora returned the smile but didn’t say anything.
After two glasses of wine, Maxine figured it was a good time to excuse herself. As far as she was concerned, her part was done -no need to linger.
Just then, Pandora looked past her and called out, “Oh, Urban.”
Maxine turned and saw Urban walking over, a smile on his face. “Pandora, long time no see. If it weren’t for this party, who knows when we’d have crossed paths again.”
He glanced at Maxine beside him, then looked back at Pandora. “Looks like you’ve already met. Pandora, this is Maxine- Sebastian’s wife from the Mason Group.”
Pandora put on a look of realization. “No wonder she looked familiar.”
Then she glanced around, as if looking for someone.
Maxine felt a sudden wave of unease.
A moment later, Pandora said with a smile, “Mr. Mason’s here too. I saw him earlier, though I’m not sure where he went.”
She flagged down a passing waiter, whispered something to him, and turned back to Maxine with a smile. “I was going to ask if you were that Mrs. Mason, but I didn’t want to be rude. How convenient that Mr. Mason’s here too. Let’s all catch up together.”
1/2
Chapter 77
Urban stayed quiet, glancing at Maxine with mild curiosity in his eyes.
Maxine’s grip on her wine glass tightened slightly.
She saw it clearly now–Pandora was trying to get under her skin, and Urban, not wanting to lose face in front of his sister, had just thrown her under the bus. These two didn’t care much about anyone else’s feelings.
Before long, the waiter returned, looking a bit uneasy.
Pandora smiled. “It’s okay. Just tell us. Where’s Mr. Mason?”
“He’s at the stables with his son, riding horses. He asked not to be disturbed,” the waiter said.
Pandora lifted her brow. “Which horse is he riding?”
“Ellie,” the waiter said.
2/2
