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Back First Comes Love Save as PDF
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

I hold my breath as she scans the fine print. If she doesn’t sign this, I’m toast. I can’t ask her any of the burning questions.

Rebecca hands the document to her PA. “What do you think?”

The woman turns the pages with hawk-like eyes, and for the first time, I’m worried. Miss PA doesn’t look like a fool.

“Seems pretty standard, but I don’t think you should sign any document without a lawyer checking it first.” Then she stares up at me. “We can have our in-house attorney go over the disclaimer and send it back signed after the interview.”

Sweat pools under my armpits and on my upper lip. “I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible. Without your explicit permission, we can’t so much as record Mrs. Vanderbilt saying hello, let alone record footage of the inside of the store. If she doesn’t sign, we can’t proceed with the interview at all.” The sweating worsens. I try to inconspicuously wipe away the cold droplets on my forehead.

The mean PA woman doesn’t buy my stream of BS. “Then I suggest we postpone until our lawyers have had time to review these papers.”

“Nonsense,” Rebecca interjects. “Give me the document.”

“Mrs. Vanderbilt,” the PA insists. “I strongly suggest you reconsider.”

Luckily, Aurora’s mother is not very good at taking advice.

With a wave of her hand, she says, “Oh, please. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t taken a risk or two down the road. Pen!”

The reluctant PA hands her a Montblanc and Rebecca happily signs her own death warrant. Gotcha!

After three makeup retouches, The Madame is finally ready to go on screen. We sit on the apricot couches outside the fitting rooms, wait a few seconds for the lighting technician to adjust the lamps, and then we’re rolling…

After a few introductory questions, I start laying my trap. “Mrs. Vanderbilt, I don’t know if you remember, but the last time I saw you, we were in LA at Christian’s Slade charity ball for his Teachers without Postcodes fair education project. Given how busy you are as CEO of Maison Vanderbilt, do you often find time to attend charitable events like that one?”

“Coming from a family of entrepreneurs and being an entrepreneur myself, one of the key aspects of my work ethic is giving back to the community. That’s why I always make time for public service, no matter how busy my schedule is. At Maison Vanderbilt, we constantly strain to give more than our due, contributing to various charities on top of our legal obligations.”