Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
She looked between them, weighing her options. Jean didn’t trust the look in her eyes one bit, but at last she nodded and sat back in her chair. “Then we will talk less about the Ravens and more about you. Jean Moreau,” she said, as if testing the sound of his name for the first time. “Formerly of the Edgar Allan Ravens, now a member of the USC Trojans. From a three to a twenty-nine, save the lingering beauty mark.” She gestured to her left cheekbone. “You’ve been a recognized member of the perfect Court since you were first spotted at Edgar Allan, but Coach Moriyama sheltered you from the pressures of public appearance. Language barrier?”
It was as good a lie as any. “Yes.”
“Born in Marseille,” she said, counting off facts on her fingers. “You immigrated to the United States at the age of fourteen to study under Tetsuji Moriyama, and you joined the Raven line-up at the tender age of sixteen. As of last year, you officially hold dual citizenship with the US and France. A necessary step, I assume, if you hope to play alongside Kevin on the US Court.” She waited a beat to see if he would weigh in, then said, “When is the last time you were home?”
“This is my home,” Jean said.
“But your family is still in France,” she noted. “Your parents, Hervé and Chloé, and your younger sister Elodie.” Hearing her name here was so unexpected and uncalled-for it knocked the wind out of him. He stared numbly at her as she studied his face for a reaction. “I find it a little curious, perhaps a little sad, that you haven’t taken time to visit them. A lot can happen in five years, can’t it?”
“Did you think you were special?”
“Ravens do not have families,” Jean said. “It was not my choice.”
Hannah looked genuinely thrown by that comment, so Kevin slipped in a quick, “As you know, Ravens are contractually obligated to stay at Edgar Allan over breaks. It doesn’t matter if you’re from France or DC; you are asked to set everyone else aside and focus only on your team until graduation. It is an unforgiving schedule meant to ensure a total dedication to the team.”
“An incredible sacrifice,” Hannah said, and sent Jean another intent look. “Have you at least had a chance to speak to them over the phone?”
There was a reason she was pushing this angle. Jean knew it, but he had no idea what she was building toward. The roiling in his stomach said it wasn’t going to be good, but all he could do was say, “No.”
Hannah steepled her fingers together and tapped her index fingers to her chin. She was weighing how far to take this, gauging if this was the moment to push it, and finally went still to ask, “Are you aware your parents were arrested by Interpol an hour ago?”
Oh, Jean thought. Oh no.
He was going to be sick. He could feel it chewing up his stomach, shredding his lungs on the way to his throat. In frantic French Jean protested, “I can’t answer that accusation yet. I don’t know how much they know.”
And Amber said in flawless French, “We’ve got Le Monde pulled up on our laptop if you’d like to step aside for a minute and read the article. As far as we can tell, it hasn’t yet made it to international news.”
Jean stared at her, refusing to believe what he was hearing. She misconstrued his alarm as surprise and smiled brightly. “I was asked to be on hand for this interview in case you needed an interpreter, but you deferred to Kevin.” She motioned again for him to approach her and said, “Would you like to take a break and review it? Because this interview is recorded, we can edit the clip to be a seamless transition.”
Jean rounded on Kevin and did the only thing he could: he slipped into Japanese and said, “Don’t make me do this.”
“Oh,” Amber said in startled English. “That’s not French.”
Kevin ignored her and answered in Japanese, “Have Jeremy take you outside for some air. I will inform Hannah we will not be answering any of these questions. If she refuses to back down, we will leave. I will message Jeremy with the decision either way.”
Jean didn’t have to be told twice. Amber turned toward her computer when he got up, thinking Jean was giving in to curiosity, but Jean went straight for Jeremy without slowing. Jeremy moved to meet him halfway, looking more than a little alarmed, but Andrew got there first. A quick hand on Jeremy’s chest pushed him back out of the way, and Andrew started for the door. Jean honestly didn’t care who went with him so long as someone did, so he fell in line behind Andrew and followed him out of the studio.