Exposed (Ethan Frost 3)

“How would you spin the story? Where would you place it to make sure the report was sympathetic to you, yet big enough that it would be widely disseminated?”

“That’s going to depend on what the story is, Ethan. And who’s involved. Obviously, Brandon and his parents. But who is the girl they’re going to go after? What’s her story? What’s her damage? How believably will she play to the press? How easy will it be to assassinate her character? And, just so I’m clear, why is this important to you? How do you fit into the narrative?”

“Because the woman they’re going to go after, the woman whose character they’re going to do their best to shred on America’s prime-time stage, is my wife. I want to cut them off at the knees before that happens.”

Stu turns white, whiter than I’ve ever seen him. But his gaze stays steady on mine as he absorbs the news. “You need to tell me what we’re

dealing with here.”

I start to shake my head, but he just overrides me. “This is going to all come down to nuance, to public perception. If I don’t know what they’re going to accuse Chloe of, I’m not going to be able to give a good guess as to how they’re going to go about doing it. I think I have a pretty good idea, but you need to spell it out for me if you want me to be accurate.”

“I need you to be accurate.”

“I know. Which is why you need to tell me the truth. Not the version you want to spin, but the truth.”

“My version is the truth.”

“Okay.”

Fuck it. He’s right. It’s not like I don’t trust him—Stu’s had my back for pretty much as long as I’ve been in business. Holding back now, for Chloe’s sake, will only hurt her in the long run.

But before I can do much more than open my mouth, my personal receptionist, Dorothy buzzes in. “Ethan, Mrs. Frost is here. She wants to know if you can see her.”

“Send her in.” I turn to Stu. “Let me—”

He’s already gathering his stuff. “I’ll start doing some research, see which press outlets your mother and Brandon usually use.”

“Thank you. I’ll give you a call when Chloe and I are done. I’d like to get her take on this, see what she wants to do at this point.”

“Of course.”

I walk him to the door. Chloe beats us to it, pushing it open before I can even reach for the handle.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were still in a meeting—”

“It’s fine, baby. Come on in.”

“Are you sure?” She looks between Stu and me.

“Of course, Mrs. Frost. Ethan and I were just wrapping up.”

“Please, call me Chloe. And you’re Stuart, right?”

She gives him a warm smile, one that takes over her whole face. It’s a good cover, one that’s so effective that if I didn’t know her as well as I do, I wouldn’t even notice the strain behind the smile. But the strain is there, which means she’s seen or heard something about Brandon and me. Fuck. I knew I should have told her this morning. But I couldn’t do it in the middle of my intellectual property/legal department and she’s so concerned about following the rules—about not getting special treatment—that I didn’t want to pull rank and sweep her back here to my office.

Shit. I just keep screwing this up, don’t I? All I want to do is protect her and instead I keep fucking up.

“I go by Stu.”

“Oh, right. It’s nice to meet you, Stu. You do such a good job of getting Ethan to listen to you, maybe you can give me some pointers.”

He grins. “Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

They laugh together and a quick glance at Stu tells me he’s completely charmed by Chloe. Not like that’s a surprise. When she stops trying to blend into the woodwork, my wife is a very charming woman.

I take the door from Chloe, hold it open a little wider. Stu gets the hint. “Okay, I’ll be going now. I’m sure I’ll be talking to you again soon, though, Chloe.”

Her smile dims a little. “I’m sure you will be, Stu.”