“They were behind all of it?”
He bobs his head. “According to Cassidy, it was Saffron who suggested you be shoved in a corner at my premiere.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Something I wasn’t aware of, by the way, until your father ripped me a new one the next day. Cassidy made it happen. You already know Bianca was the one who hired a hacker to hack your computer, but now she’s insisting it was Cassidy’s idea. They didn’t just remove your post though. They connected to your cell via your laptop and planted tracking software on it.”
“Those fucking bitches! I can’t believe the nerve of them, or actually, I can. Nothing should surprise me anymore.” I shake my head, shocked, angry, and relieved that Reeve is getting to the bottom of everything they did to me. To us. “That’s how Bianca knew where I was the day she accosted me at the café.” I sit up straighter. “So, it was Bianca who set those fans on me?”
He shakes his head. “I think that was Saffron too. Bianca said she provided details of your location, but she claims she had no idea what Saffron was planning.”
A likely story.
“Did you find those girls? If one of them testifies against her, we can get Saffron that way, right?”
“They are still in hiding, but my guy will keep looking for them. Like I said, it’s hard to prove Saffron’s part, but we have indisputable evidence of Cassidy’s and Bianca’s wrongdoings. I went to the studio and showed them everything. Cassidy’s been fired, and her name is dirt in the industry. I have filed a Class A lawsuit against Bianca. That’s mainly the angle I’ve been working all summer. I figured I couldn’t be the only client she has done this to. I visited some of her other clients, and we discovered proof of shit she’d done to them too.” A satisfied smile slips over his mouth. “She is done in this business. She has lost all of her clients and every shred of respect. By the time we are through with her, she will only have the clothes on her back.”
“Wow. I knew she was a piece of shit, but that is truly disgusting. I’m glad those two got what they deserve, but I hate we can’t pin anything on Saffron.”
“Yet,” he reiterates.
“It will really piss me off if she gets off scot-free.”
“She hasn’t escaped unscathed,” he adds, topping up my glass of sparkling water. “She’s officially finished with the production. She won’t be at the premiere, and she won’t be doing any promotion.”
I remove my shades, staring at him. “How come?”
“She OD’d, and her sister has sent her to rehab.” He reaches across the table, taking my hand. “She’s gone from our lives now, Viv. She can’t hurt us anymore, and in case she gets any ideas when she emerges from rehab, I have already instructed Carson Park to apply for a restraining order in both our names.” Carson is the Lancasters’ family attorney.
“Thank you.”
“One final thing.” He gets up, pulling me to my feet and reeling me into his arms.
“I did a thing.”
“Oh God, Reeve. What now?” My heart lurches to my mouth.
“A good thing, I hope you’ll agree. I did an exclusive interview with Oprah, and I told her everything. I needed to publicly clear your name and let everyone see how viciously you’ve been treated and how stupid I was not to believe you from the outset. I came clean about the drugs and the stress of carrying such a big movie and how I didn’t respond well to the pressure. Obviously, I had to be careful what I said about Bianca with the impending court case and I can’t accuse Saffron of shit when I have no proof to back up my claims. Bianca’s and Cassidy’s words don’t count because they’re both nasty backstabbing bitches, and their reputations are in the toilet.”
“How the hell did you get the studio to agree to that?”
“When it airs next month, it will generate a huge amount of publicity for the franchise, ahead of the release of the last movie. All publicity is good publicity, so they’re on board.”
This is what my parents and Audrey were hinting at in July when they visited Ireland. They knew he was doing all this. It definitely goes a long way toward rectifying things with us, but it doesn’t mean I’m ready to jump right back into a relationship with Reeve. I don’t know my own heart right now, and I can’t make any hard and fast decisions. But I am grateful he has done this, and I won’t deny how much it means to me.
“Thank you, Reeve.” I hug him briefly. “Thank you so much for doing that. It helps. It really does.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Come and watch the interview. If there is anything you don’t like, I can have it edited out. Margaret helped me get a clause added to the contract that gives us editorial rights.”
I sit on the couch with Reeve for the next hour, watching the interview with a constant lump in my throat. Gradually, we gravitate toward one another, sitting with our arms wrapped around each other, thighs pressed close together. Heat rolls off him in waves, thawing all the frozen parts of me. It’s impossible to keep my hands to myself as I listen to him telling Oprah how much I mean to him. Sharing snippets of how we fell in love and opening his personal photo album, showing the world pictures of us from the time we were babies until we were teens. Every milestone is represented, and I’m a blubbering mess by the time he switches it off.
“Hey.” He brushes tears from my cheeks as I attempt to get my emotions under control. “Happy or sad tears.”
“More happy than sad,” I truthfully admit. I sling my arms around his neck, and my entire body is trembling with emotion as he wraps me in his warm embrace. The citrusy scent of his cologne is like a balm to my aching heart, and if I thought I was confused earlier, it’s nothing on how I feel now. Heartwarming memories resurface in my mind, and I’m reminded of all the reasons why I love this man. He has gone to so much effort to rectify his wrongs, slicing his chest open and showing the entire world how much he feels for me in that interview. As grand gestures go, it’s at the tippy-top of the scale.
“I love you, Viv. I love you so much. I’m sorry you ever felt like that wasn’t true. I am going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you, whether you’ll let me or not.”
I snort-laugh because it’s so typically stubborn of Reeve. Easing back, I peer into his gorgeous blue eyes. “Always the charmer.”
“Every word is true, Viv.” His lips lower to my mouth, and my pulse throbs in my neck. “I lost my way for a while, and I hurt us both in the process. I will not make that mistake again.” Before I can stop him, his lips are on mine, insistent and demanding, devouring me like he never thought he’d get to taste my mouth again.
Tingles cascade over my skin, reaching every part of me, and I’m arching toward him, clinging to him, with a need that is unflinching and indisputable. His fingers weave through my hair as his tongue slips into my mouth, and I’m drowning in Reeve, consumed with his touch, taste, and the feel of being back in his arms. I’m kissing him back without restraint or regret, drowning in the familiarity of being with him like this. It’s as easy as breathing. As if we’ve spent no time apart. As if we haven’t been to hell and back these past few years.