Page 113 of Ice Cold Hearts
I reach out to rub her back, but my hand stops in midair when she snorts.
She’s laughing.
Why the fuck is she laughing?
Her laughter gets louder to the point where she’s started wheezing. Emily’s body rocks back and forth as she cackles.
The guys and I exchange confused looks.
“You planning on letting us in on what’s so funny?” Alexei asks dryly.
Emily sits up, takes a few deep breaths, and then wipes the tears from her cheeks before she answers.
“This,” she says, pointing at my phone. “This is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.”
“Seriously?” I ask. “Did you not hear a thing they said about you?”
“No, I did,” she replies. “It was shitty, but don’t you get it?”
“Get what?” I demand.
“She’s never going to work in this industry again. She showed her face while spilling all sorts of gossip. Not only that, but she also actually admitted that she eavesdropped on your private conversations. Liza destroyed herself and we didn’t have to lift a finger. No one is ever going to trust her again. How is she going to get new business after this? It’s perfect.” Emily beams.
“I never thought about it that way,” I admit. “I was more worried about how you’d take what they said.”
“It’s definitely hurtful. I won’t pretend it isn’t, but it’s not too different from when Audrey tells me I’m ‘the worst Mama in the world’ and that she ‘don’t love me no more’. It stings, but at the end of the day, she’s just an overstimulated child having a tantrum. That’s exactly what Liza is doing right now. She’s got no power and she’s acting out. Who cares what anyone else thinks about us?”
I do, but I shouldn’t.
“You are really something else,” I say, shaking my head. “Only you would find something good from all of this.”
We spend around an hour picking the interview apart and discussing what our next steps are going to be regarding the media and any other potential fallout.
Alexei’s phone buzzes angrily.
“Speaking of fallout.” He gestures to the phone. “It’s management.”
“Gee, what could they possibly want to talk about?” Oliver says sarcastically.
“Should you even answer it? Wouldn’t it be better to do some more planning?” I ask.
“Well, we won’t be able to set plans in place for exactly how to deal with them if we don’t know what they want. We’ve speculated, but that’s only going to get us so far,” He counters, then disappears into the kitchen to take the call.
“I should have known that.” I shake my head, embarrassed.
Liza’s words in the interview about my emotional state start playing on a loop in my brain. There was no reason for me not to make that connection. Maybe she is right.
Emily turns my face to hers. “It’s been an emotional few days, Ian. It makes complete sense that you’re a little scrambled. No one is going to blame you for it. You’re only human.”
“So you think it’s true, then,” I say, dejected.
“What’s true?” Emily asks.
“That I’m too emotional to make rational decisions.”
Her eyes soften and she presses a gentle kiss to my lips.
“You have strong feelings. That’s not a flaw. Emotions and logic can exist in the same body. It doesn’t make you less than because you express them. It’s only a problem if you bottle them up until you explode or you’re hurting someone.”