“I’m angry, too,” I told Rebecca. “And for the record: I like your hair.”
CHAPTER 60
When Oren picked Eli and me up after school, Alisa was in the passenger seat—and Landon was in the back, tapping furiously away on her phone.
“Everything is fine,” Alisa assured me, which was pretty much the opposite of comforting. “We’ve got this under control, but—”
“But what?” I glanced over at Landon. “What’s she doing here?”
There was a beat of silence. That was all it took for Alisa to craft her reply. “Skye and your father are offering themselves as an interview package to the highest bidder.” Alisa expelled an aggrieved breath. “If we want to quash the story, Landon is going to have to make it worth the high bidder’s while to bury it.”
I’d had enough on my mind these past few days that I’d barely thought about Ricky Grambs. I tried to read between the lines of Alisa’s statement. “Are you saying you’re going to pay off whoever buys their interview?”
Landon finally looked up from her phone. “Yes and no,” she told me before turning her attention to Alisa. “Monica thinks she can make the network pony up, but we’re going to have to guarantee them Avery and at least one Hawthorne.”
“They’ll pay for exclusivity from Skye?” Alisa asked. “Complete with an NDA preventing Skye and Grambs from taking their story elsewhere?”
“They’ll pay for it. They’ll bury it.” Landon pinched the bridge of her nose, like she could feel a migraine coming on. “But the latest they’ll agree to for a sit-down with Avery is tomorrow night.”
“Good lord.” Alisa shook her head. “Can she handle it?”
“I’m sitting right here,” I pointed out.
“She’ll have to.” Landon spoke over me. “But we’re going to have to crunch.”
“Crunch what, exactly?” I asked. Everyone in the car ignored the question.
“Avery’s interview is nonexclusive,” Alisa told Landon, “and they have a deal.”
“They’ll want an embargo on other interviews for at least a month.” Landon’s reply was automatic.
“Three weeks,” Alisa countered. “And it applies only to Avery, not any of her surrogates.”
Since when did I have surrogates? I wasn’t running for president here.
“Which Hawthorne am I offering as part of the package?” Landon asked, all business.
My brain was struggling to keep up, but I was pretty sure that what was happening here was that we were giving my first interview to whoever bought Skye’s, under the conditions that the interview with Skye and Ricky never aired and whoever bought it contractually prevented the duo from talking to anyone else.
“Why do we even care about their interview?” I said.
“We care,” Alisa said emphatically. Then she turned back to Landon. “And you can tell Monica that we’ll guarantee a sit-down Wednesday evening with Avery and… Grayson.”
CHAPTER 61
Grayson, move a little closer to Avery. Tilt your head toward her.”
Landon had set us up in the tea room for a mock interview. This was take seven. How Alisa had gotten Grayson to agree to this, I had no idea, but there he was, sitting stiffly in the chair next to me. At Landon’s instruction, he angled his legs slightly toward mine. Instinctively, I mirrored the movement, and then I was hit with self-consciousness and self-doubt, because Landon hadn’t asked me to move.
My body had gravitated toward his all on its own.
“Good.” Landon nodded at the two of us, then focused on Grayson. “Remember your core message.”
“This has been a difficult time for my family,” Grayson said, every inch the heir apparent he’d once been. “But some things happen for a reason.”
“Good,” Landon said again. “Avery?”
I was supposed to respond to what Grayson had said. The more we talked to each other, the easier it would be to sell the fact that I was on good terms with the Hawthorne family.
“Some things happen for a reason,” I repeated, but the words came out flat. “I’ve never believed that,” I admitted. I could practically hear Landon groaning internally. “I mean, yeah, things happen for a reason, but most of the time that reason isn’t fate or because it was predestined. It’s because the world sucks, or someone out there’s being an asshole.”
A muscle in Grayson’s jaw tightened slightly. It was a good enough look for him that it took me a second to realize that he was trying very hard not to laugh.