“As ready as I’m gonna be,” I muttered.
“I know it’s gotta be weird having all these people in your house,” Derek said.
“You’re gonna be great,” Jo assured me. “I don’t know Warren well, but he’s got a pretty solid reputation in the industry.”
“Wait, what? Warren?” Antoni wrinkled his nose. “As in, Warren Wright? Isn’t he the one that all but buried that quarterback from New York?”
My eyes widened, and my stomach sank. “What?”
“Antoni,” Liv said through gritted teeth as Jax scrubbed his hand over his face.
“Not helping, man,” Dallas mumbled.
“Yes,” Jo said, shooting eye daggers at Antoni before turning back to me. “But that guy had also been throwing games and gambling on them to the tune of millions. He did everything he was accused of and then some.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. I hadn’t exactly been the golden boy of the music industry.
“Why don’t we give Luca a moment to breathe,” Ella suggested, noticing the panicked look on my face.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Katie added. “Y’all come into the kitchen and help me set up the food we brought.”
Grace reached for the bags in Antoni’s hands. “How about you give those to me?”
“Sorry,” he whispered through gritted teeth before Nate steered him from the room.
“Oooh, you’re in trouble,” Ella said, filing out behind Antoni. “Grace is gonna eat you alive.”
Once everyone was gone, Grace turned to the tech who was still lingering.
“Do you have what you need?” Grace asked, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Oh yes,” she answered. “Sorry.”
“Great.” Grace grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall toward the guest room that would be my makeshift dressing room. She closed the door behind us and placed the bags on the bed.
“Don’t let any of that get in your head,” she said. “What Antoni was talking about…that isn’t the same thing. It’s nowhere close.”
I sank down onto the foot of the mattress and pushed my hands through my hair.
“But what if this ends just as badly?” I asked.
“I don’t think it—”
“But what if it does?” I blurted, my palms starting to sweat.
“Breathe,” she said, moving to sit beside me.
I released a long exhale, then she continued.
“It’s not going to end like that, but even if it doesn’t go the way we want it to, so what? At the end of the day, those who matter are going to love and support you, regardless. Remember, people can say whatever they want about you, but only you get to decide what’s true.”
I swallowed around the lump that formed in my throat.
“Listen,” she said, “we can call this whole thing off right now if you don’t want to do it.”
“No. I’m gonna do it,” I said with a determination I didn’t quite feel. “I have to. I guess I just needed to panic a little first.”
“I’m gonna step out so you can get dressed.” She gave me a faint smile as she rose to her feet, sliding the closet doors open. “I hope you don’t mind, but while you were busy talking to the associate producer earlier, I took the liberty of pulling a couple of alternate options in case you don’t like what Antoni brought.”
