Pete surprised the hell out of Cash by not interrupting. Not even once. Apart from the odd raised eyebrow, he remained quietly attentive. Cash gave him the abridged version, but even that took a good fifteen minutes to get through.

When he stopped talking, Natalia’s fingers curled around his, and he glanced down at where their hands were joined before making eye contact with Pete again.

“Well,” Pete finally said. Cash expected more but didn’t get it. Pete stared out of the window, his fingers thrumming on his mahogany desk, and he gnawed at the inside of his cheek. The action reminded Cash of Natalia, and he almost smiled but managed to contain it in case Pete assumed he found the situation funny. There was nothing remotely funny about the position Cash was in. When his mother had begun her road to recovery, this particular situation hadn’t occurred to him. Fuck, he hated the loss of control.

“Well…?” Cash prompted, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Anything could come out of Pete’s mouth, and the last thing Cash needed was a row. But if Pete acted like a cock, a row was precisely what he’d get.

“I’m amazed you’ve managed to keep this quiet. All these years. That’s quite impressive, particularly for someone like you.”

“What do you mean, someone like me?” Cash snapped.

Pete made a calming motion with his hands as, simultaneously, Natalia tightened her grip.

“Take it easy,” Pete said. “I meant being in the public eye, that’s all. Most celebrities have trouble hiding the fact they’ve taken a shit, let alone a story as huge as this.”

“My life is not a story,” Cash bit out.

“Cash, Pete doesn’t mean it like that,” Natalia said, trying, as ever, to be the mediator. “Do you?”

Her pointed comment was steely, as if warning Pete the next thing that came out of his mouth had better hit the right tone.

“No, of course I don’t. But come on, Cash, you’re not dumb. You have to know this is coming out, and when it does, it’s going to be huge.”

“That’s why we’re here, Pete,” Natalia said. Her grip on Cash’s hand had tightened to the point where he was beginning to lose sensation in his fingers. He flexed his hand beneath hers, and she relaxed slightly. “Cash knows there will be questions about his mum. Where she’s been. Why she was in a coma all these years. We’ve agreed the best way to handle the situation is to take control. Get the story out first in his own words.” She paused. “We want the exclusive to be with you.”

Pete’s eyes grew wide in astonishment. “Here? You want to publish here?” His gaze snapped to Cash’s. “And you’ve agreed to this?”

“Yes,” Cash said, clenching his teeth together. He ignored the growing ache in his jaw.

Pete whistled through his teeth. “Smart move.”

“All Natalia’s idea.”

“Smart girl.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Cash said with a fleeting smile in her direction.

“So you’re in?” Natalia asked Pete.

“Shit, yeah.”

“Right.” Natalia pulled back her shoulders and placed her hands flat on Pete’s desk. “Here’s how it’s going to go. I’ll write the article. Cash has full editorial privileges. If he says no to something, anything, it’s no. End of story. And I want to work with Danny.”

Cash flashed her a look. He’d never met Danny, an ex-colleague of Natalia’s and also a close friend, although she spoke of him often. Cash wasn’t sure how he felt talking with a stranger about something so personal. And painful.

“That is, if you agree,” she said as if she’d sensed his unease.

“Let’s talk about it later,” he said, unwilling to have this conversation in front of Pete.

She nodded. “I’ll let you know on the last point,” she said to Pete. “But are you good with the rest?”

A slow grin unfurled on Pete’s face. “Your father would be pretty proud right now, Tally. As am I. It’s a deal.”

He held out his hand, and she shook it, her brief look of pain at the mention of her father quickly replaced with satisfaction.

“Thanks.” She smiled and glanced at Cash. “Ready, ace?”

“Yes,” he said, rubbing his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to get back to the hotel and put all this shit in the back of his mind. And there was one surefire way of doing exactly that. Natalia’s half-smile and twinkling eyes told him she was on the same page.

“We’ll be in touch,” she said, rising to her feet.

“When do you fly to Madrid?” Pete asked.

“The day after tomorrow, but I’ll start working on the first draft immediately. I think we should aim for the week after next for publication.”

“So soon?” Cash said, an uncomfortable feeling stirring in his chest. “That’ll be right around the Madrid finals.”

“Let’s talk about it, decide together,” she said, rubbing his arm. “But the longer we leave it––”

“The more likely it’ll come out.”

“Precisely.”

He gave a bitter laugh. His fiercely protected privacy was about to be splashed across the front pages of a national newspaper. And even though he would be in control of the words Natalia wrote, the fallout was way beyond anything either of them could hope to regulate. He had no idea how his sponsors would react, or his fans. The next few weeks were going to be tough. He could lose his career, his lucrative sponsorship deals, and his fans, but worse than all that, those he loved the most were about to get caught in the crossfire.

And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.