Chapter 178

"Yes, definitely," Jess said, stubbing out the spent joint.

I took a bit of liberty by assuming this would be a major celebration and pulled out a rare magnum of Cristal Rosé. By the time Jess and Rita had finished filling us in on the details of that afternoon, the bottle didn’t even seem quite special enough to mark the occasion.

Jess’s part of the equation was pretty easy. Kayla had gotten the full-court-press from Manny about turning down her offer. He couldn’t stand the thought of being frozen out, but even more so having perceived control out of his hands. But Jess sweetened her initial equity stake, bumping it from ten percent to fifteen. She added a fifth year on the contract, with a substantial buyout. And, within an hour or so, Kayla had signed on the dotted line.

"It’s an offer I can’t refuse," she had told Jess. "Damn the consequences."

Jess had expressed some concerns about those consequences. She knew they involved