The Faceless Billionaire Celebrity Wife-Chapter 343: Cure.
While others might assume he was simply doing a favor for her father by helping her. Either ways, no one would think bringing him here was actually possible just through her own efforts. But she preferred for that to be the case than for the scale to be tipped in her own favor and Ethan’s reputation being the one in danger.
She shook her head, clearing off stray thoughts. "Like we agreed on, I’ll send a quick message to Skyler if there’s need for an emergency break," she said.
Receiving nods of agreement from all the crew members in the room, she turned to walk towards the small step that led to the podium when Ethan’s deep voice cut through the room, silencing all other conversations.
"Kera, can I have a minute with you?"
The words hung in the air, thick with an unspoken tension. A ripple of surprise swept through the room. Most people exchanged curious glances, taken aback by Ethan’s sudden request and the manner with which he addressed her; informally. Only Skyler and Team Leader Zuresh remained unaffected, knowing well of the relationship between their show anchor and esteemed guest for the day.
Shikera froze, torn between maintaining the charade they had agreed upon and responding to the clear demand in Ethan’s voice. "I—Mr DeLoach..."
"I need you," he interrupted, his voice firm but soft, leaving no room for argument.
"Uh?" Shikera asked, her voice tinged with disbelief. She looked around the room as if to remind him of their earlier agreement. Lowering her voice into a whisper, she added, "We don’t know each other, remember?"
Ethan ignored her reminder completely, "Just a few minutes. Please."
"I need your help to prepare. I had no rehearsal for this and uh..." He looked nervous, his brows furrowed deeply, "I also need to look through the questions you already put together. Will that be possible?"
His eyes, though masked, held an unmistakable restlessness, a silent plea that only Shikera could understand. She hesitated for a moment, searching his face for an answer, before finally nodding in reluctant agreement.
"Of course. We can," she said softly, casting a pleading glance to the others in the studio. Sure, she called the shots as long as it concerned the show, but she still needed them to know they were respected.
She turned back to Ethan.
"Ruth and—sorry, Will Mr Stone and Mrs DeLoach be coming with us?" she asked.
She got her answer from the dim flicker of his eye. And it was negative.
"Oh..." She blinked. Turning to the others and receiving a nod of approval from them, she proceeded to lead the way to the small office behind the studio.
The door had barely closed behind them when Ethan closed the distance between them, pulling her into a soft embrace so as not to put pressure on her belly.
"You looked pale out there," he whispered. "With the lights and all. You sure you don’t want to scrap all of this?"
"What?" Shikera exclaimed, pulling out of the embrace to stare him straight in the eyes. Her eyes searched his, trying to decipher if he was joking or not just now. His dark orbs, however, didn’t give any more clues than his tightly shut lips already did; forcing her to ask, "You are joking, right?"
"Why? Does it look like I am?"
Shikera didn’t hear the question. What she saw was the glimpse of restlessness she’d spotted earlier in his eyes, and her lips curved into a knowing smile.
"Seems like you really do need help, Mr DeLoach. You are nervous," she pointed out.
Ethan contradicted instantly, "I am not."
Shikera shook her head, "Oh yes, you are. And before you argue, it’s totally alright to feel that way. Even stars who have been under the spotlight all through their life sometimes get nervous in the face of an interview; who’s to say you don’t have the right?"
"I’m not sure," Ethan’s voice was low in quiet admittance. "I don’t think I was forced to use the mask by every person and incident that I used to say, caused it. I think I really loved it. No, I don’t ’think’. I ’know’ I really loved the anonymity. Now that I have to take it off with the whole country having their eyes on me, I don’t know what to feel..."
The smile on Shikera’s face didn’t fall. Instead, she stepped forward and initiated the embrace she’d pulled out of a few seconds ago. With her head resting comfortably on his broad shoulders, she whispered back, "We can stop here if you want to."
"No. I am doing this for you, whether I feel comfortable with it or not. I promised," he said firmly. "It’s just... It feels like I’m having a nightmare when I’m not even asleep."
Shikera tilted her head up to meet his mischievous gaze, her own lips curling into a knowing smirk.
"If that’s the case..." she chuckled, "Didn’t we have a cure somewhere? The cure for your nightmares."
"We did," Ethan replied in the same teasing tone Shikera used. His eyes darkening slightly, he lowered his head to meet hers in a passionate kiss. He parted her lips with his, slipping his wet tongue into her warm mouth
Shikera allowed him entrance, her hands wounding around his neck while his tightened subconsciously around her waist. A myriad of emotions were communicated using the kiss—love, assurance, comfort, raging desires, need, and strength—and as it deepened into something they had lesser control of, Ethan had to pull back.
Shikera let out a slight groan of discontentment, silenced immediately by his lips claiming hers in another short kiss.
"We can’t," Ethan murmured, his voice husky with desire. "Not now. Not until..." he trailed off, knowing she was well aware what the conclusion to his words were. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
He lowered his lips to her neck, biting down on the pale skin to leave a barely visible hickey. "I’m sorry," he whispered.
Shikera rolled her eyes.
"As if," she scoffed, regaining her serious expression from when they just stepped into the room. "Now, Mr DeLoach, do you still need any more preparations?"
Check out: Avery’s Game Of Revenge
