Page 101 of Finding Lord Landry

A man’s voice off-camera prompted, “You’re referring to the hostages with health conditions, who were released as an act of good faith?”

“Not just them.” Lindsey’s eyes widened with innocent outrage. “Two men were rescued thesecond night. Kenji and Jamie.”

“You mean James Winthrop, an American ex-pat living in London, and Kenji Toma, husband of supermodel Landry Davis, who’s recently been revealed to be Viscount Hawling—” the off-camera voice clarified.

“Except they’renotmarried.” Lindsey’s eyes flashed, and her cheeks flushed. “Kenji was flirty and chatty with me from the very beginning. And he specifically told me he and Landry weren’t romantically involved atall—that he was just apersonal assistantwho helps with Landry’spublic relations.” She helpfully provided air quotes. “In fact, he said he’d doanythingfor his employer,includingcrisis management!”

With an indignant lift of her chin, she went on. “Has anyone actuallyseena marriage certificate? Because I wouldn’t be surprised if this whole marriagethingwas a stunt to distract from the fact that Landry rescued hisfreakingPAwhile the rest of ussuffered.” She sniffed delicately. “Not a good look for someone in his position, is it?”

No, I thought as Lydia stopped the video.No, it wasn’t.

The room was silent, but I felt the weight of every gaze on me.

I shut my eyes and swallowed hard against the nausea creeping up my throat. My whole body had gone ice-cold.

Last night, Landry and I had fixed everything. We’d laid our cards on the table so we could build a future together. One where Landry could openly claim his proud family legacy.

Now, my hasty words had put Landry’s reputation and political career in jeopardy.

“My fault,” I whispered. My voice sounded distant, hollow. “All of this is my fault.”

Somewhere in the house, a doorbell rang.

Nan turned to face me. “Don’t panic. We’re going to fix this.” Her words were a statement of confidence.

“How?” I blurted. “How, when her accusations are true?” If anyone scratched the surface or demanded details, they’d learn the truth. No crisis management team could spin it away.

Before I could process that thought further, Jamie Winthrop strolled into the kitchen carrying a stack of bakery boxes tied with twine.

“Good morning everyone. Thought I’d bring you all a treat to thank you for a lovely evening last—” He stopped short, reading the room. “What’s wrong?”

Shit.

I suddenly remembered there was another person from San Cordova who might be able to confirm Lindsey’s statement. Jamie had gone along with the marriage thing and didn’t seem the type to spill a secret maliciously, but if asked a direct question, what would he say?

Cora stood to help him with the boxes while I scrambled to figure out the most polite way to request someone not throw my fake husband under the bus.

“Oh, nothing.” I forced a smile. My voice couldn’t have sounded normal. “Just a regular day filled with ridiculous headlines. What did you bring? Croissants?”

Nan stood to refill her coffee. “Let’s move to my office, Kenji, and call in the team.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I… I should get our attorneys on the line, figure out a way to make this woman stand down?—”

“What woman?” Jamie looked between us. “Did I come at a bad time?”

Cora sighed. “Another of the hostages from the retreat, Lindsey Someone, is upset that you and Kenji were freed before she was. Now, she’s claiming Landry and Kenji aren’t married, which is?—”

“True,” I said flatly.

Silence fell. I met Jamie’s eyes. “As I believe I told you in a drunken conversation where I listed all the reasons Landry and I could never be together.”

Jamie tilted his head, considering. Then, he smiled. “Funny, that’s not how I recall that conversation going.”

“P-pardon?” I stared at him.

He shrugged. “You’d had quite a bit to drink, so maybe you don’t remember the details. ButIrecall you spending ten full minutes telling me you were madly in love with the man.”

Cora grinned at him like a lovesick fool.

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