Page 67 of How to Get Even

Chase leaned back into the only seat in his office he could trust – because it wasn’t on wheels and wasn’t actively trying to kill him – and rubbed a palm over the stubble along his jaw. Shit, he’d forgotten to shave again.

‘I’m a bit worried about her. She seems to be taking the article personally,’ he admitted, looking to the top of the stairs he’d practically forced her down almost an hour ago now. ‘It’s a bit like she expects strangers to come up to me on the street and start throwing rotten vegetables at me.’

Tej huffed out a laugh around a mouth full of pepperoni, onions, cheese and olives. Now this hehadmissed while in the UK. Not Tej’s verging-on-unholy topping combo, but the pie.

‘There’s still time,’ Tej warned after swallowing.

Chase took a long pull on his beer, relishing the hoppy taste explosion on his tongue. It was better than the acrid bitter taste that he’d been left with following their meeting with Magenta. He’d promised Tej that he’d stay and fight this. But he was honest enough to admit that the PR firm’s response had him a little more rattled than he’d been before.

Instead of the furore dying down, it was only seeming to increase, and just this little taste of it made him think about what Bella had experienced following the wedding that she’d had to cancel for her crappy, gutless fiancé.

She’d not had a PR firm, or a team of staff around her when the press had descended. Worse, she’d been sent away by her family because of the impact she was having on their charity work.

She’d borne rabid intrigue, spiteful gossip and running commentary bordering on slanderous with the grace and poise of a beauty queen. The last thing Chase had felt reading that one article was graceful or poised, and his respect for Bella and how she had dealt with things had skyrocketed.

He’d been worried that dealing with Chester’s article was reminding her of all that. She’d seemed distracted, but determined in a way he’d not seen before. Obviously she was doing excellently in her role, and it wasn’t just him thinking so either. Maurice had sent him an approving nod earlier, and Ali thought that the sun rose and set with Bella Carmichael. After her initial shock, she’d hit the ground running and handled the majority of the incoming queries herself which cannot have been easy.

But still…

‘I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to pull some kind of publicity stunt to try and redeem my reputation,’ he thought out loud.

‘Yeah, I can just see it now,’ Tej said. ‘Children?’

‘Of course children,’ Chase said, half laughing.

‘It might not be so bad.’ Tej shrugged.

‘It’d be fucking terrible, Tej,’ he replied without missing a beat.

Tej pulled a face. ‘It happened on her watch. Maybe Bella feels responsible.’

Chase picked at the bottle’s label. ‘That how you see it?’ he asked, keeping himself in check so as not to jump down his friend’s throat in Bella’s defence.

‘Fuck no.’

‘Good,’ Chase replied, a little heat escaping into his tone.

The sudden strike of protectiveness unsettled him. Bella could certainly take care of herself. She’d proved that and then some. But…

I am not a menace and I wasn’t making a scene.

He’d seen it. The vulnerability. The fear. He hated that for whatever reason, she’d not let herself be… loud. Be… relentlessly physical.

He coughed and spluttered as his beer went down the wrong way.

Tej ignored him as he died not so quietly, thumping his chest to try and ease the congestion.

‘But think about it though,’ Tej said, his eyes on him.

‘What?’

‘The children.’

Chase threw the label at him, which Tej expertly ducked, and reached for a slice of pizza.

* * *

‘I vote we track down the ex-wife,’ Astrid growled later that evening on the video call they’d all scrambled to get to.

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