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Was Mom going to win after all? I could just imagine her grinning at the thought of stealing my freedom out from under me.
You might keep living, Luciana, I could hear her say,but it won’t be happily.
I didn’t want to accept that. I wanted to fight her like I had in so many ways already.
But how the hell could I turn this catastrophe around?
TWENTY-ONE
Quentin
With each second thatticked by leading up to my cue to walk on stage, my heart thudded harder. I stared out at the set hastily assembled for this US news station’s time covering the World Championships, watching the polished blond woman chatting with one of the French skaters and barely processing a single word that reached my ears.
I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to give every reporter in Japan, local or otherwise, the middle finger for making such a big deal out of the leaked video.
But the controversy wasn’t going away. All three of us—Lou, Jasper, and me—had gotten requests for interviews, and strangely they’d focused on me the most. Maybe they saw me as the weakest link because I wasn’t actually competing. Maybe they were curious about the potential drama of my once having been Jasper’s rival.
In any case, we’d decided that someone should make a public appearance to set a few things straight, and I’d rather it was me than Lou or Jasper having their focus shaken. A lot of the questions that’d started coming up were things only I could fully address anyway.
I’d taken a bullet for Lou. Handling a TV audience should be child’s play.
But that didn’t mean I was going to enjoy it.
There was a cut to go to commercials. One of the staff tapped my elbow. “You’ll be on in a minute, Mr. Wolfe.”
I nodded. The French skater had just vacated the seat next to the host’s desk, where I’d be sitting in mere moments. The host sat stiffly as the makeup crew gave her face a quick touch-up.
Must be nice getting to ask all the questions and never having to be under scrutiny for anything other than your lipstick and eyeliner.
My hands twitched at my sides. I’d come alone, not wanting to expose the others to further speculation, but damn if I didn’t wish I had Lou here beside me right now, smiling her fearless smile, squeezing her fingers around mine. She’d given me an emphatic kiss right before I left, and if I concentrated I could still taste her on my lips, but it wasn’t the same.
I mentally smacked myself across the head. I’d survived just fine without any woman supporting me for years. I didn’tneedLou holding my hand through this.
It just… would have been nice.
Before I could grapple with my longings any further, the man who’d warned me motioned me out onto the stage. I plastered a tight smile on my face and strode to the waiting chair.
The glow of the studio lights glared down on me. Blinking, I settled into my seat and clasped my hands on my lap. With each passing moment, my smile felt more rigid.
“Quentin Wolfe, gold medalist in the US Junior Championships a few years back, silvers and bronzes under your belt from recent years,” the host said by way of introduction. “It’s an honor to have you on the show.”
Somehow I didn’t believe it was my medals that had her salivating to talk to me. I bobbed my head and kept that thought to myself. “I’m glad to be here, Ms. Anderson,” I said, lying through my teeth.
“Oh, call me Nancy,” the host said with a flash of her brilliant teeth. “You’ve been in the competitive figure skating circuit for quite some time, haven’t you?”
They were starting with the easy questions, of course. “That’s right. I registered as soon as I was old enough—made it to Nationals in my second year.”
I was allowed to still be proud of the victories I’d had, wasn’t I?
“Indeed you did.” Nancy Anderson flashed her teeth again. “You were considered quite a promising up-and-comer with the way you burst onto the scene. How did you cope with that kind of pressure?”
I already had a standard answer to that. “Honestly, it was nothing compared to the pressure I’d always put on myself. I just saw it as extra incentive to perform my best, which I always wanted to do anyway.”
Nancy tilted her head to the side with a coy expression. “It is notable that in the past year, you switched from competing in singles, as you always have in the past, to pairs during the qualifying rounds. Was there any particular reason for that?”
I shrugged as casually as I could. “I had done a little pairs skating in the past and connected with my previous partner under our coach. It seemed like a good challenge.”
“And it was around that time that you met Luna Garcia.”
