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“I’ll think about it...but this conversation isn’t about me, honey. It’s about you.”
Chiara sighed. “So how am I supposed to avoid making a mistake? Or are you going to tell me?”
“I’ve got an idea. You and Rick are meant to be together. I’ve thought so for a long time.” She shook her head. “That’s why—”
“This pregnancy is a sign from the heavens?”
“No, your moping expression is.”
Chiara set down her fork. “I guess I’m not as good an actress as I thought.”
“You’re a great actress, and I’ve lined up Melody Banyon at WE Magazine. She can come here for an interview tomorrow.” Her manager harrumphed. “My second attempt at making you and Rick see reason.”
“Another of your schemes, Odele?” she said, and then joked, “Haven’t we had enough of the press?”
“Trust me, you’re going to like this plan better than my idea of lighting a fire under your stuntman with the pregnancy news, but it’s up to you what you want to say.”
When Odele explained what she had in mind, Chiara nodded and then added her own twist...
* * *
By the next morning, Chiara was both nervous and excited. She felt as if she was jumping off a cliff—in fact, it was not so different from doing a movie stunt.
Sitting in a chair in her den facing Melody Banyon, she smoothed her hands down the legs of her slacks. It was almost a replay of her last interview with the reporter...except Rick wasn’t here.
“Are you pregnant?”
There it was. She was about to give her confirmation to the world. “Yes, I am.”
“Congratulations.”
“I’m still in my first trimester.”
“And how are you feeling?”
Chiara sucked in a shaky breath. “Good. A little queasy but that’s normal.”
Melody tilted her head and waited.
“Even though this pregnancy was unexpected,” she went on, “I’ve always wanted children. And, you know, I’ve learned you can’t plan everything in life.”
“You were dating a stuntman working on one of your movies. Rick Serenghetti?”
“Yes. Rick did me an enormous favor. It started as a PR stunt. Rick was supposed to pose as my boyfriend to distract the press from stories about my father and his gambling. I know celebrities aren’t supposed to admit to doing things for publicity, but I want to clear the air.”
This was so hard. But she had to do it. Odele had convinced her to talk honestly about her feelings for Rick, but Chiara had thought it was important to come clean publicly about the whole charade. Risky, but important.
“You say started...”
“Even though I didn’t know it, Rick signed up for our make-believe because he also wanted to protect me from a stalker. It was a threat that I wasn’t taking seriously enough.”
“But Todd Jeffers is now charged with serious crimes. Are you relieved?”
“Yes, of course. And I’m so grateful to Rick for tackling Jeffers when he broke into my house.”
“And how is your father doing?”
“Great. We met, and he agreed to go into rehab for his addiction. I’m proud of him.” She had Rick to thank there, too.
