The Contract by Stella Gray

Author:Stella Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stella Gray

Chapter 14

There’s an actual journalist in our house.

Not a glossy, perfectly coiffed media reporter from some fluffy online celebrity blog like we’re used to. Not a writer from an entertainment news channel. In fact, this one is about as far from Celebrity Chat as you can get. Julia Espinoza is a serious-looking woman in her fifties with a journalism degree and a flawless reputation for reporting the hard facts, and she’s preparing to interview Luka and me in our living room about my father-in-law’s ongoing trial. On prime time.

I’ve never been this nervous about an interview before, and at this point we’ve done a lot of them. But this is the pinnacle of our PR blitz, and I’m terrified I’ll say the wrong thing. How can I not feel intimidated when I know this woman isn’t here to sugarcoat Luka’s dark past or get cutesy quotes from us? She’s going to ask hard, prying questions, completely unrelated to how my modeling career is going or where Luka has his bespoke suits made. She’ll want the ugly truth—the nitty gritty on Konstantin and what went on at KZ modeling behind closed doors.

Luka’s been pacing all morning and I’ve been at a loss as to how to comfort him. He took Mr. Kibbles on two separate walks and then retreated into his office to go over some of the lines Stefan gave him—responses to keep in mind in case the questions get too personal, or if an honest answer might compromise Konstantin’s trial. We also received a list of likely topics.

As for me, I’ve been stress-texting Mateo and trying to take comfort in his efforts to soothe me, in between bouts of frantically tidying our already tidy place. I need to be sure every inch is camera ready. We’ve had interviews in our penthouse before, but this time there’s no staging or set designer. Just Luka and me in our most intimate setting—the sanctuary of our home.

Filming starts in half an hour, so I’m in Luka’s en suite bathroom checking my professionally done hair and makeup. It’s perfect, of course. There’s nothing for me to do, but I can’t quite seem to calm myself down. I hear him moving around in the bedroom, and my heart flutters. We haven’t been together in his bedroom in…well, a long time.

I glance up in the mirror and see him standing in the bathroom doorway. He smiles a little as he catches my eyes in the glass. “Kib’s in his crate. I moved him into my office and loaded him up with chew toys so he won’t bother the film crew.”

I nod. “How are you?” I can see shadows under his eyes and tight lines around his lips.

He shrugs. “Who do you think’s more nervous right now? You or me?”

Damn. I’d hoped that I had a better rein on my feelings. Instead I’ve probably made Luka feel worse by showing how uneasy I am. I force a smile and try to make my voice light.

“Probably you,” I say, dabbing on some lip gloss.

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