hard look at what she needed.
Chapter 21
Alice
I shifted back as far as I could, making myself invisible to anyone walking by as I hid under my desk at the Triumph offices in Greensboro. As much as I tried, I couldn’t keep myself from tuning in to the live stream of Channel Seven Dunwall Tonight, but that didn’t mean I wanted anyone else to witness me doing it. The last thing I needed was to be questioned by anyone about what I was up to. Oh, yeah, I’m just watching my ex-boyfriend, the prince, give an interview and I can’t decide if I want him to completely bomb or not.
When I’d arrived in town after leaving Malcolm, it had still been the middle of the night due to the time difference. Although I hadn’t looked forward to more alone time to rehash the previous day’s events in my mind, I’d had little choice but to retreat to my flat where, instead of sleeping, I invented reasons to clean things that didn’t require it.
With Grier attending to her son, I still hadn’t spoken to her yet to break the news about the campaign, but we’d exchanged a few quick texts and she knew I was back in town.
I was the first to arrive at the office in the morning, determined to keep myself busy and not cave to temptation by tuning into the news broadcast. Yet here I was, tablet propped on my bent knees, eyes glued to the screen, willing the broadcast to come through properly.
After an endless minute of loading, the video feed began with a greeting from Sasha Novakov, the program’s head journalist. She was known for being respectful of boundaries when interviewing, which was the very reason her program had been chosen by the family.
I listened closely as she introduced the segment, the camera displaying her auburn hair in a neat bob and her posture straight and confident. “Good evening and thank you for joining us on Channel Seven Dunwall Tonight. I’m Sasha Novakov here with an exclusive interview with Prince Malcolm you won’t want to miss. We’ll be discussing the upcoming coronation as well as some questions circulating in recent days around his public appearances. Be sure to stay with us as we bring you this exclusive interview.”
Bugger. She’d opened with a reference to the leak. That wasn’t good—or maybe it was if I wanted Malcolm to crash and burn. But, no, I couldn’t wish for anything that would hurt his family or the country, despite his careless treatment of me.
When the camera went to a wide shot of Sasha and Malcolm seated in identical chairs across from one another, I could tell immediately that Malcolm was stiff and uncomfortable. His bent elbow rested on one of the chair’s arms while his fingers flexed slightly, and his legs were bent at perfect right angles.
“Loosen up, Malcolm,” I instructed the screen.
They went through a bit of the usual small talk, where he displayed none of his humor or charm, giving only short answers to the point where Sasha’s discomfort was palpable. He wasn’t breathing properly, and his finger flexing was becoming more pronounced. He was going down in flames and no one was there to rescue him.
“Come on, Malcolm. You can do this.” I wished for a flash that I were there to help him, to hold his hand, but that was all in the past. It wasn’t my job to help him anymore.
Sasha threw him a softball question about what his plans were for his first days in power, but instead of reciting the rehearsed lines, he merely stared at her, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he attempted to swallow.
“No,” I said to the screen, but Malcolm just sat there. “No!” I banged it with my hand, my eyes filling with tears. If he couldn’t salvage this, I’d gone through all this heartache for nothing.
But then the oddest thing happened. The camera jolted as if it had been kicked, and both Sasha and Malcolm bolted upright in their chairs as something in the background crashed to the ground. The image onscreen then began moving like one of those videos of someone with a Go-Pro camera on their head. Though it lasted for only a few seconds, it was clear from all the banging and crashing sounds that something had gone terribly wrong.
As soon as the camera stilled, Malcolm leapt to his feet and crossed to Sasha’s chair to check if she was all right. Shouting could be