Page 86 of Boost

I nodded. “That’ll be great. Get Elvia to do the same for me with the Yeldon account. This week’s going to be busy.”

“No rest for the wicked, babe.” Tian pushed off my desk. “Fuck, we make a great team.”

I laughed and walked the corridor with him, on my way to make a second coffee for the day. “I see your ego has inflated again over the weekend.”

He burst a hearty laugh that echoed between the glass walls of his office. “Babe, if you hadn’t realized I have an overinflated ego before now, then you really are blinded by my good looks.”

In a little show of naughtiness at the office, I flipped him off and grinned to myself as I made my way to the kitchen to start my busy week as I meant to carry on—with determination and caffeine.

Chapter 36

-Greer-

Standing in front of the press was never daunting for me, and today—a week after my chat with Tian—was no different.

I thrived off the buzz in the room created by new announcements. The anticipation heightened the energy surging through my entire body and left me giddy. Although Christian had attended the multiple Boost Foundation meetings, he hovered inconspicuously at the back of the room and while I ran the show this morning, before our official handover later today.

While Colton was his ever-present vision of composure and confidence, Arlo shifted nervously beside me. For all his ego, the press sure as hell stripped away those layers to reveal his core insecurities.

“You’ll get used to it,” Colton reassured him with a smile.

Arlo leaned closer and murmured out of the corner of his mouth. “I feel like I’m sweating through my clothes. Is it normally this hot?”

I let out a little laugh. “I can assure you it’s not hot; I even had the air conditioning lowered for you.”

He let out a hiss through his teeth and fidgeted again in his sports jacket with his sponsor logo proudly displayed across the breast. The matching cap sat low on his brow and hid his dismayed blue eyes from direct sight of the cameras.

I glanced at the clock on the rear wall and then checked back in with Colton and Arlo.

“Good to go?”

They both nodded, and Arlo puffed out a breath. “Let’s get this over with.”

I’d already gone over the plan with him and assured him I’d step in if any questions were inappropriate or out of his scope. Moving to the microphone immediately created a wave of hush to fall over the Landon-Michaels conference room.

I recited the pre-prepared speech and introduced Arlo before practically throwing him to the wolves. He needed some gentle guidance, but overall handled the media with professionalism and natural confidence that would only grow the more he got used to the attention.

After ten grueling minutes, one question triggered the downward spiral of the entire release.

“Arlo, can you confirm that you were street racing with Rafael Ortiz?”

I froze at the mention of Raf’s name. After various booty-calls over the past week and having spent most of the weekend together again, I was now incredibly thankful that Raf was out of State on business.

Arlo hedged and glanced at me before answering warily. “I don’t see why that’s relevant, but yes.”

“Were you arrested with Rafael Ortiz after a street racing bust three months ago?”

He immediately looked to me with frantic eyes that all but confirmed—in the media’s eyes—that the allegation was correct. I glanced at Colton to see his expression had darkened.

Despite the storm of uncertainty turning my once-settled nerves wild, I smiled and resumed my place at the podium. Once there, the air shifted. While they had gone reasonably easy on Arlo, I sensed a ruthlessness that hadn’t been present until now.

“Miss Landon, can you confirm that Rafael Ortiz was arrested, and took Arlo Linetti down with him?”

My pulse thumped erratically as I tried to perform damage control before things got out-of-hand.

I kept it short, giving them enough to hopefully satisfy their hunger while keeping the details strategically vague.

“Yes, Rafael Ortiz was arrested some time ago, but no, Arlo Linetti was not.”

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