Page 62 of All In: The Price We Pay

After half an hour, Blake breaks up our little gathering, and everyone orders an Uber.

“Sid and I are taking the same route again,” Valentina explains.

Ricky and Carly also say they’re sharing a ride.

Blake is on the phone with Katleen as he gets into his taxi.

Once everyone’s gone, Evan and I glance at each other. “Now what?” I gesture down the street. “My apartment’s around the corner.”

He nods. “I know. But I can’t. If anyone in the building sees me, . . . ”

“It’s okay. What do you suggest?”

“We’ll meet at my place. You’ll take an Uber there. Take my key card. It’ll get you into the apartment. I’ll be right behind you.”

“All right.” I push aside the feeling that it’s silly for the two of us to order two different cars from different companies to get to the same destination.

I can’t touch him, can’t kiss him, can’t do anything except get into the Uber that drops me off at the corner of the street where Evan’s apartment is.

Luckily, no one’s standing in front of it. Apparently, someone got wind of the fact that Valentina is in her apartment in the southern part of the city.

As inconspicuously as possible, I walk through the entrance, disappear into the elevator, and make my way up to Evan’s apartment.

Exhausted, I collapse onto his sofa and breathe deeply for the first time in hours.

I text Evan to let him know the coast is clear outside his door, and a few minutes later, he walks into his apartment.

His gaze lands on me, and that neutral facade he’d maintained the whole time at the bar crumbles.

All the doubts that have been plaguing me are relative now. This is worth it. No matter how bad our situation is, Evan’s emotions are real. That’s crystal clear. The pressure in my chest around my heart eases, as if a belt were being loosened and a weight had been lifted from me. I don’t have to watch what I do, how I interact with him, or worry about giving us away. Here, I can be myself.

I’m glad we’re not at my place. My neighbors are great, but I don’t know how they’d react if their beloved local star athlete suddenly showed up in their hallway.

“Hey.” I reach out my arm toward him, and Evan leans toward me.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, stop it.” I interrupt him. “Everything’s all right. You all came to the bar. And it was great. We don’t need to jeopardize that with any carelessness. No one who was there suspects a thing. Valentina’s a real gem.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t get nearly as much out of the arrangement as I do,” Evan murmurs against my neck.

I stroke his neck and shoulders. “Valentina’s nice, but she doesn’t let anyone walk all over her either. If she had any objections to being linked to you, she would’ve said something. And I would’ve stepped in, too. As bitter as it is, the tiresome issue of her weight has completely faded into the background compared to the news that she’s with you at the games. Yes, she ate fries and drank beer there in full view of everyone, but in an environment that we, the agency and you, set up for her. Of course, that shouldn’t be necessary. It’s nobody’s business what she eats or who she’s with. As long as we can’t overturn the system in one fell swoop, we have to find a way to navigate it as comfortably as possible. I don’t want Valentina to keep living like this for the rest of her life. But her management is difficult. She was young when she started her career. I understand that they wanted to protect her. But she’s not a little kid anymore.”

“I feel a bit better when you put it that way. I hope we stay friends once this is over. And I hope it’s over soon. She attracts people. I just want some peace and quiet.”

My fingers find their way through Evan’s hair. I gently scratch his scalp, and he snuggles closer to me.

“Today, after I left the agency, it hit me that this blackmail is over now. You guys told me from the beginning that this is how it would go. That Joaquin would take the best offer and luckily, that came from us and not from the magazine. Still, I’ve been walking around with a weight on my shoulders these past few weeks. As if behind every message or notification, there was the news that he’d spilled the beans. I haven’t felt this good in a long time.”

I hold him closer to me. “But you had to pay for something that should have been completely private. It makes me incredibly angry that you ended up in this situation, and that even I and the agency are contributing to this situation through the way we report on it. Joaquin is the one who should be reported to the authorities. Or that damn magazine. Why are they publishing these damn photos and using an article in this way to lure people in?”

Evan doesn’t answer. He’s getting heavy on top of me.

But I can hold on longer.

His breathing is getting deeper. Has he fallen asleep?

He sits up with a jolt. “Bed?”