Page 123 of Boost

My heart fluttered with nerves. “It’s great to be back. Did you enjoy your day off?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I slid into the backseat and the car rocked as Jethro got behind the wheel. “Straight to work?”

“Yes, please. I’ve already had two coffees this morning so should give it at least an hour before another, right?”

His hearty laugh filled the car. “If you say so.”

We drove in comfortable silence as I went about my morning routine of checking over my meeting schedule for the day and reading emails.

Jethro’s low whistle cut through my concentration as we neared the office. “What’s with all the people? Something’s going down.”

I looked up, shocked to see media everywhere. “I have no idea...”

I gathered my handbag and laptop while Jethro parked at the curb. The rear door opened, and I found myself standing on the sidewalk, trying to figure out why a swarm of media milled around inside the foyer of my firm without me knowing.

“I’ll see you when you need me, Miss Landon.”

I glanced at Jethro and nodded absentmindedly. “Thanks.”

My head spun with the chaos as I entered the building and pushed through the throng of reporters. When I came to the heart of the frenzy, I saw Rafael with Christian by his side, standing front and center with dozens of microphones already thrust in and out of his face for sound checks. As I put two and two together, my heart felt as if it literally stopped beating.

“Oh, God,” I breathed on an exhale.

This couldn’t be. Something must have gone terribly wrong for Raf to bewillinglyengaging with the media in such a confronting fashion.

I snagged Tian’s attention by wildly waving a hand. He subtly excused himself and drew me off to the side.

“What thefuckis going on?” I hissed.

“Gree, calm down.”

“Calm down!” My voice pitched enough for Tian to shoot a bewildered glance around.

He angled me further toward privacy. “Look, Rafael rang me last night and requested an urgent press release for this morning. I don’t know what it’s about, but Colton assured me to let him say his piece.”

“Shit,Tian…”

“I know, babe. It could go either way.” He glanced at his watch and then back to me. “We’re about to start. Once it’s concluded, we’ll be heading for the elevator. See you there.”

Stunned into silence, I fidgeted with my handbag strap and watched the release unfold.

Tian called attention, and the foyer fell silent on command. He gave a quick nod to Raf, who then looked out over the sea of expectant faces with an air of calm and predominance.

“I’m going to make this short, and I’m only going to say this once, solisten carefully,”he enunciated with a slight snarl that made me smile.

“This is the only time I’m going to talk to you lot about my past, then the subject is closed and you’ll leave me the hell alone.

“Yes, when I was fourteen, I took my father’s life. I’ve paid my dues and done my time, and you won’t hear me apologizing for what I did.”

“Disgusting!” someone yelled.

Raf’s head twitched slightly—the only outward sign that he was suppressing his temper. He pointed in the direction the outburst came from.

“Let me ask you this; you find your father beating your mamá so bad that it’s impossible to tell if she’s still alive, and you know that if she’s gone, he’s going to turn on you and your baby sister—what do you do? Look me in the fucking eye and tell me you wouldn’t do the same. Any half-decent person would protect the ones he or she loves, and that’s what I fucking did.”

A sprinkling of shocked gasps peppered the crowd, but Raf pushed on.

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