“It doesn’t matter. Just promise me the videos are gone.”
“I saw the viral post of him carrying someone across a finish line or something. The location said Tennessee and I knew it was you. Couldn’t make out your face but I recognized your, um, shall we say, finerassets.”
“Matt, the videos, please.” Gemma sipped her tea but it had gone cold.
“Gone.”
“Positively?”
“Very. Darn shame too. The shows were good. I was on to something.”
“They were humiliating and degrading. What about the video or videos you uploaded?”
“Only one. Took it down. The uploads weren’t good. I didn’t want anyone thinking I produced shoddy work. Besides, Sandy threatened to sue me over them.” Sandra Willet, the witch of a showrunner. “So are you and the prince a thing?”
“I told you, just friends.”
“But you’re going somewhere with him?”
“Will you give me your word? The videos are gone.”
“Gemma, look, I know you’re mad at me,still,especially if you blocked me, but I was trying to make something of myself and trying to create a breakout opportunity for you.”
“You didn’t tell me it would require selling my soul.”
He laughed. “Sell your soul. Please. I don’t remember you protesting very loudly.”
Gemma shut out the memory of the show and her progressive slide into the stinking mud. “The show was one thing, Matt. You leaving me in a hospital for a month by myself is another.”
“That was all your choice.”
“Mine? You wanted me to leave the hospital and go back to L.A. with you when I couldn’t even sit up. I was recovering from hip surgery and a concussion, Matt. You had no plan for my care.”
“But I had a job. You know that thing we need to pay the bills, put a roof over our heads.Hirehelp.”
“Go back to sleep, Matt. Sorry I woke you.”
Gemma tossed her phone to the table, angry, thinking about the months she struggled on her own after surgery and the last of the lingering light from the Heart of God dissipated. She shouldn’t have called him, but she wanted to know.
In hindsight, Matt’s abandonment was the best thing that ever happened to her. It drove her home to Hearts Bend.
But all that was in the past. In the present she’d agreed to attend a ball with the prince. The press would be curious. They’d discover her name, her work, her hometown. They’d find old headshots and green screen auditions. Old roommates looking for the spotlight would appear out of nowhere. Even Sandy Willet would crawl out of the hole she lived in. Gemma lived too long inthatworld to believe any different.
Her Super Bowl commercial might get a second wind—which she could handle. What she couldn’t handle was the video of her stripping across a Vegas stage.
Still, in the midst of her dilemma, was the echo of John’s heartbeat and the tender, soft, and peaceful song he hummed as he held her close.
“The probe into the Reingard Industries scandal continues. At his grand jury hearing, Lord Cunningham professed his innocence and indicated his political rivals set him up. Also on LTV-1News at Six, updates on the North Sea Island Nations Summit, the upcoming royal ball, weather, and sports.”
— LTV-1
“The NSINS closing ceremonies were held today at Perrigwynn Palace. Prince John’s ending remarks called for joint economic and human rights efforts while championing the purpose of the royal houses of Lauchtenland, Brighton Kingdom, and the Grand Duchy of Hessenberg. His Royal Highness’s comments were countered by Hamish Fickle, MP and leader of the RECO party, saying it’s time for a new day, a new government across the North Sea nations.”
— CNC, your Cable News Channel
“We are so excited to welcome our guest, Princess Rachel, to talk about her new book,The Swan’s Feather.Give her a warm Tuppence Corbyn welcome.”
— Tuppence Corbyn & Friends show
