Page 54 of Ice Cold Hearts
“As far as Audrey’s dad is concerned, nothing you can tell us will change the fact that we all want you and that awesome little gal in our lives. You don't have to say anything now,” he says as she opens her mouth. “When you're really ready, you'll tell us, but as far as I'm concerned, that man is an absolute idiot for letting you get away. Making him a big deal isn't worth our time or yours.”
Emily turns a pale shade of green, but she nods. “Okay, what's next? I mean, what about the press?”
Alexei quirks an eyebrow. “Do you want to tell the press?”
She sighs. “No, but there are so many rumors already.”
“Em,” I say softly, “stop reading the papers or the articles, and especially stop reading the comments. I was depressed for months reading comments about me faking my shoulder injury or saying I was lazy and a number of other absolutely vile things. Please don't make the same mistake I did and treat small-minded gossip like gospel. It will ruin your life.”
“Thank you,” she says, wiping away a few tears.
“She does have a point about the press, though,” Alexei says thoughtfully. “We'll need a plan, but first we need to know everything that's been going on.”
I'm at the edge of my seat listening as Emily describes everything that's happened over the past two and a half weeks. Apparently, things have snowballed more than she’s been letting on after Oliver got photographed at the hospital.
I knew we’d been spotted at a restaurant together. We all knew about that one. It had been the day we celebrated Alexei’s progress in physical therapy. What I didn’t know about was all the calls she’d received at work. Some were up front and asked her for interviews, but others tried to weasel information out of her under the guise of scheduling a consultation with her. She hadn’t told us about the two people removed from the premises for sneaking in and photographing her with her patients. I guess she just didn’t think it was a big deal because the hospital threatened to sue on the grounds of a HIPPA violation and nothing was published.
I feel my frustration growing exponentially with every encounter she retells.
Why didn’t she tell us this sooner?
When she finishes, Alexei’s eyebrows are at his hairline, Oliver looks like he’s going to be sick, and I’m ready to race out of the house and punch the first paparazzo I see.
“This is clearly more serious than we’d thought,” Alexei says.
No shit.
Oliver must be able to read my mind because he shoots me a warning look before I can open my mouth.
“I didn’t want to worry you, especially since I didn’t know what was going on with us,” she says meekly.
“Now that you do know where we stand, if you ever keep something like this from us again, I’ll have you over my knee,” Alexei says sharply. “I have half a mind to do it anyway.”
“As fun as that’s going to be, we’ll have to take a raincheck on that,” Oliver butts in. “We need to focus on how we’re going to handle this.”
Alexei sinks back into the couch, disappointed.
He sighs. “You’re right.”
Then he turns to Emily. “I won’t forget about this. Trust me, Kitten, the next chance I get, your ass is going to have my handprints on it for risking your safety like this.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispers.
Alexei shifts like he’s going to get up and do it anyway.
“She needs a driver.” My tone is harsher than I’d intended, but I don’t care.
“Agreed,” Oliver says.
“Wait, what?” Emily protests. “I can drive perfectly fine on my own.”
“I’m sure you can,” Oliver soothes, “But are you trained in evasive driving? Do you know how to plan contingency routes in case of a swarm of press? Can you make those split-second decisions about where to turn and when to double back in high-stress situations?”
She shakes her head, properly chastised. “No, I can’t do any of that.”
“Based on what you’ve been telling us, it’s only a matter of time before they start surrounding you in the parking lot,” Alexei says. “You need a driver.”
“But I can’t afford one,” Emily protests.