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Finally, she set down the pages, her gaze floating up to her expectantly.
Carmen straightened her spine. “I’m going to California. I’ll be back on Sunday. I have a solid lead on Fortune Firestone’s real identity that could put an end to her meritless lawsuit.”
Her mother’s eyebrows shot up. “Could? That’s hardly definitive. Disappearing midweek without notice for something so amorphous?”
Carmen crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorframe. “It’s the best option we have. I can’t just sit around when there’s a chance to get to the bottom of this.”
Tipping her head to the side, her mother picked up something she hadn’t liked. “Is that what you’re doing? Sitting around when you have plenty of work here that needs your attention?”
Carmen resisted the urge to look away from her piercing stare. To react to her mother’s intentional twisting of her words. “The lawsuit takes priority,” she said without leaving room for debate. “It’s a personal attack that I have to handle.”
Her mother searched her face, assessing. “And here I thought I decided what takes priority in this firm.”
The words landed like a gavel, final and authoritative. Carmen’s hands curled into fists. Years of swallowing her frustrations rose in her throat, but to her surprise, she forced them out instead of down.
“This woman dragged my name through the mud. If I can prove she’s a fraud, it clears me. It has to be my priority right now.”
Carmen held her breath as her mother sat back, expression still unreadable. The office took on a strained quiet. Every second dropping the temperature by ten degrees. She’d pushed too hard. Been disrespectful rather than assertive.
When her deliberations were finished, her mother picked up her pen and went back to her work. “Go then,” she said without looking up. “But I expect you to handle your other cases remotely.”
Carmen released a breath, lightheaded from the rush. She turned around before her mother changed her mind. Before she could talk herself out of the leap.
CHAPTER33
Without a minuteof sleep on the six-hour flight, Lola went straight from the airport to the news station. She’d been practicing tactics in her mind, role-playing conversations with Kiki. The right words weren’t coming to her, but she didn’t have time to waste.
The news set was a frenzy of activity and equipment and people running around like they’d been lit on fire. Clipping her guest pass to the lapel of her linen blazer, Lola strode in like she knew where the hell she was going.
If there was one thing she’d learned at Natalia’s side, it was that people reacted to whatever energy she projected. If she looked like she belonged, people would treat her like it. After finding an intern running with a tray of coffee, Lola learned where Kiki was waiting.
Relieved that she wasn’t going to have to convince them to give Kiki another chance at the segment, Lola followed the kid’s directions. She found Kiki in the green room alone and fidgeting and picking at her manicure.
Panic poured out of Kiki’s body in waves. The once confident, vivacious force-to-be-reckoned with looked tiny and terrified.
Eyes watering as soon as she saw Lola, Kiki's lips trembled before Lola had said a word. “I’m sorry, I froze up. I’ve never been on live TV before and they rushed me out there. I couldn’t get comfortable—”
“Hey, take a deep breath,” Lola said, softer than she’d intended. Kiki’s anxiety had jumped off of her and poured into Lola’s chest. “And don’t cry. They’ve already done your makeup,” she joked with a tight smile, hoping to pull Kiki back from the edge of a meltdown before it consumed them both.
“I did my own,” Kiki replied, catching a tear before it did any damage. “It’s fire, right?”
“It’s perfect,” Lola promised, stomach churning and chest tightening.
Kiki’s expression darkened again. “I don’t think I can go out there,” she confessed in a whisper. “I’m sorry that I wasted your time. That you invested in me and I don’t have what it takes to—”
“No.” Lola straightened, voice firm. “We’re not doing that. You’re not going to feed that voice in your head.”
Kiki’s eyes widened in surprise. Lola barreled on before she lost momentum. Calling on all the pep talks she’d given herself since she was a child, Lola held Kiki’s gaze and made her believe her.
“That thing that’s telling you that you can’t do it.” She pointed at Kiki’s temple. “That’s filling you with doubt and fear and making you think you don’t belong here…” She paused to make sure Kiki was really listening. “That little voice is a fucking liar.”
Lola wasn’t thinking in words as much as she was moving with feeling. She wasn’t Adriana or Natalia. She wasn’t going to act like a drill sergeant or a disappointed parent. Kiki had picked Lola, and Lola was who she was getting.
“You know how I know it’s a lie?” Lola quirked a brow. “Because I’ve seen you captivate thousands of people without even trying. Your charisma and quick wit come through that camera lens and make everybody feel like you’re only talking to them. Like you’re their best friend.”
She squeezed Kiki’s hand. “These producers and hosts don’t know you yet. But I do. And I’m telling you, Kiki, you were born for this. You have a rare gift to connect with people and make them feel like they’re absolutely part of it. Do you know how special that is? How incredible it is that you make it look effortless?”
Kiki’s eyes glistened, but her lips curved into a hint of a smile. Lola kept going.
