Chapter 313

The crowd outside the door begins to chant and cheer my name. The cameras zoom in on me. A reporter runs toward the door, microphone in hand.

“Chloe! The world wants to know about you! Will you sit down for an interview?” Her voice is muffled through the door.

“Chloe? Is something happening?” Mom asks through the phone.

“Uh… I’m okay, Mom, but I’m going to need to call you back.”

I hang up the phone and back away from the door. I don’t turn my back to the door until I’m around the corner. Then I press it against the wall and slide down onto my butt.

“Nanny!” Beau calls as he rushes towards me. “Steven says he saw on the camera that – Oh.” He stops when he sees me, then kneels down in front of me. “You okay?”

“Kind of,” I say. “The reporters, they…”

“Yeah… we saw on the cameras.”

“Are they always like that?”

Beau gives me a sad sort of smile. “Would it help if I said you get used to it?”

No, because that meant that things were always like this, and now they will always be this way for me to.

“The other side of being a celebrity,” Beau says. “You’re a hero, but also an unknown. You can’t blame them for being curious about you.”

I guess I could understand that. “Do you think I should do an interview?”

Beau shrugs. “If you want to. No one would blame you for wanting to lay low, though.”

I thought of the news report, of the praise I’m getting. Is it better to show my true face, for better or worse? Or should I hide away, in case I don’t meet their expectations.

Beau watches my reactions. Then he says, “Why don’t we arrange something prerecorded and then release that. This way, we’ll know exactly what information they have, and we can delete anything you accidentally share that you don’t want to.”

“Okay,” I say. That sounds like a good middle-ground. “But who would be in the interviewer?”

“It should be someone you trust,” Beau says.

“Not you,” I say at once.

He places his hand over his heart. “That’s hurtful, Nanny. Truly.” He’s smirking when he says it. “But I was thinking of someone else.”

Two hours later, I’m sitting in an armchair opposite Angela, who, like me, has a microphone attached to her shirt. Unlike me, she’s holding a few cue cards.

A pair of cameras is set up, one facing Angela, the other on me.

Beau has taken it upon himself to be something of a director, guiding the cameraman to how he wants the shots to be. Archer is here too, but he’s got his arms crossed and is standing against the far wall, watchful and broody.

Angela looks around. “No Neil today?”

“He left this morning,” I say. “He hasn’t been back yet.”

“And Steven?”

“Watching Mia,” I explained.

Angela nods.

We wait for Beau to finish getting in the way, then he steps off to the side. He motions for Angela to begin. She reads the cue cards like a pro, introducing herself and me, then she slides in with an easy question.

“Chloe, tell everyone how old you are?”

Followed by, “How long have you known the Hayes brothers?”

We’ve already reviewed all of these questions. For Mia’s security, we decided to gloss over my job as a nanny, instead simply saying that, “I started working for the brothers a few months ago.”

Vague is best. At least for that question.

Most of the questions are innocuous. Well, they all are supposed to be.

I can see the moment Angela is going to go off script, just from the flicker of mischief in her eyes, and the way she glances at Archer brooding in the corner.

“Chloe. Everyone wants to know what you are going to do next. What are your dreams for the future?”

That question is not on the card Angela is holding.

Archer pushes off the wall. Angela grins at him. Beau holds up his hand, stopping Archer’s approach. Beau, ever the showman, wants to see how this will play out.

I don’t know what Angela is playing at, but she knows the answer. Everyone in this room does. Well, except for the cameramen. But not everyone likes that answer.

“I’m going to be a warrior,” I say, loud and proud. “The first female warrior of the nation.”

“That’s the end of the interview,” Archer growls, pushing in front of the cameras. “Turn those damn things off.”

“Come on, Archer,” Beau says. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“You heard what she said,” Archer snaps at him. “You can’t actually agree with it!”

“Well, no…” Beau sighs. “It’s her life, isn’t it?”

“So you want her to throw it away?”

“Excuse me,” I say, jumping to my feet. “Following my dream is not throwing my life away!”

“Like hell it isn’t.” Archer growls as he swivels, turning the full blast of his anger on me instead of Beau. “You think you’ll have a shot out there on the battlefield. You think the enemy will take it easy on you because you are a woman?”

“No! I don’t! I expect to earn my place among the ranks,” I say. I won’t be cowed by his anger. The more he raises his voice, the straighter I stand.

I’m so tired of his putting me down. The rest of the world sees me as a hero! But Archer, no matter how hard I fight or how brave I am, refuses to let me stand on my own two legs.

I need to prove myself to him, and there’s only one way to do that.

“Archer,” I say.

His furious eyes glare down at me. I hate how damn attractive he is like this, and how much I want to kiss him.

Focus, Chloe!

“I challenge you,” I say.

Gasping, Angela hops from her chair. “Chloe, you can’t! I didn’t want this!”

“This is your goddamn fault,” Archer growls at her.

“It’s not her fault, damn it!” I shout. “I am doing this of my own free will. Once and for all. You and me.”

“There have to be terms,” Archer says. Good, he’s considering it.

Beau storms forward. “Archer, what the actual fuck are you thinking right now?”

Archer snarls at him. “I’m thinking that it’s past time for someone to show Chloe how outmatched she is once and for all.”

“You don’t mean to actually fight her?” Beau says.

“That’s what a challenge is,” Archer says. He returns his attention to me. “Terms. Now.”

I lift my chin. If he expects me to be intimidated, he doesn’t know me half as well as he thinks he does.

“Chloe, please,” Angela says. I can see the fear in her eyes.

“Don’t you believe in me?” I ask.

“I do, but… Archer is so…” She raises her hand high above her head. Tall. Then she flexes her arms. Muscled.

“I’ll be okay,” I say. “I intend to win.” I turn my attention back to Archer. “And when I do, you have to stop trying to talk me out of my dream.”

Archer lowers his brow. “Agreed.” His voice is deep, dangerous, vibrating like a growl. “And when I win, you have to give up this foolish dream once and for all.”