Chapter 28 · Whitfield's Kindness Clip

"Hold still." Grant's thumb caught my chin before I could turn my head from the light. "You're supposed to look grateful, not constipated."

"Get your hand off my face."

The camera guy behind him didn't lower the phone. Ring light on a little tripod, aimed straight at us in the service corridor like this was normal, like I hadn't just spent forty minutes scrubbing bleach stains off my knuckles.

"Five seconds, Lila." Grant's voice went soft, the kind of soft he used on donors and reporters. "I say something nice. You nod. Maybe cry a little, that plays better. Then you're free."

"Free to do what? Explain to Jae why there's a video of me hugging you?"

"Free to keep your sister's contract."

That's the part that stopped my feet.

He saw it land. Grant always saw it land, that's the whole trick of him — he waits for the exact second your face gives you away, then he smiles like he's done you a favor.

"Dubai pulled the offer this morning," he said. "I made a call.