—Autumn—
Day Two of Press Tour
Iwoke up to my cell phone ringing bright and early after tossing and turning most of the night. I ended up leaving Julian at the bar with his confessions unsure of how to proceed with it. My mind was spinning, and it didn’t stop for the rest of the evening.
For the first time in I don’t know how long, I dreamt about the first time he kissed me. The dream played endlessly throughout the night, annoying the hell out of me.
I didn’t open my eyes to see who was calling, groaning, “Hello,” into the phone.
“Autumn! How could you not tell me you leaked your own story?” Laurel questioned, and I yawned.
“What are you talking about? What story?”
“You didn’t tell me you had plans to do this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s brilliant, but why didn’t you tell me?”
“Laurel, you’re speaking in circles. I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What story?”
“Your history with Julian. The world loves a second chance romance—they’re going to eat this shit right up.”
I shot up, sitting in bed. “Second chance romance, what the hell are you talking about?”
She knew Julian’s and my history. Of course, I told her. It was why she knew I could handle him, topping it off with the promotion to make partner once I had.
“Autumn, it’s all over the internet. Charles’ interview set the stage on fire.”
“Charles’ interview?” My heart dropped. “Oh my god.” Quickly, I grabbed my laptop off the nightstand, hitting the Safari button.
In less than a second, my whole world and life as I knew it was the headline of every news media outlet. Reading…
High Society Publicist, Autumn Troy, has not only taken Alpha CEO, Julian Locke, on as a client, but she has also claimed his cold, brutal heart. The two go way back—he was her first love. She was his. Can we say second chance romance?
All the blood drained from my face.
“That motherfucker! No, he did not tell Charles we have history! I’m going to fucking murder him! Do you hear me, Laurel? I’m going to jail because I’m going to fucking kill him!”
“Autumn, calm down. Is this not true? Have you guys not rekindled?”
“No! We haven’t rekindled shit. The only thing I feel like rekindling is my knee in his balls.”
“Oh, honey, this can work to our advantage, though. You need to calm down.”
“Laurel, I can’t—”
Beep.
I looked at my screen, Mom calling.
Deny.
Dad calling.
Deny.
Christian calling.
“Fuck!”
Definitely deny.
“I gotta go.” I hung up, searching Yahoo News and getting smacked in the face with a picture of Julian and me kissing on his bed. It was one of the last pictures he took of us.
“Oh. My. God. He even leaked a personal fucking photo!” Grabbing my phone again, I called Charles.
“Hey, Cherry. You’re welcome.”
“How could you do this to me? How could you publish an article without my approval? We had an agreement!”
“What are you talking about? I just made your client the most adored man in the world. Did you read the article? Did you see how he spoke about you and your relationship?”
“No! I didn’t read the article! I didn’t get past the fucking title, Charles! You blindsided me! And we’re not in a relationship—other than I’m his publicist, and he’s my client!”
“Umm… That’s not what he said.”
“He was lying! How you, of all people, couldn’t tell he was full of shit is beyond me.”
“So you guys don’t have a history? He wasn’t your first love?”
“It’s not as black and white as you’re laying it out to be.”
“Did you or did you not have a relationship?”
I wasn’t expecting his interrogation, feeling like I was suddenly on the stand at my own trial.
“If you could call it that.”
“So he wasn’t your first kiss? Your first sexual experience?”
My eyes bulged out of my head. “He told you that?!”
“I think you need to read the article.”
“I think you need to pray that I don’t find you and kick your ass!”
“Cherry—”
“Don’t you Cherry me! I’m so pissed at you I can barely see straight!”
“I didn’t mean to upset you, but he said you guys were back together.”
I rubbed my face. “I can’t believe you printed a bullshit article. If you would have sent it to me, I would have—”
“He said he wanted to surprise you.”
“Oh.” I paused, nodding. “He surprised me alright.”
“The good news is you’re trending across all social media platforms.”
“I’m done talking to you now.”
“Aut—”
I hung up on him, throwing the sheets off my body. I jumped in the shower and then got dressed, before I ran out of the hotel to meet Julian at his photoshoot with Vanity Fair, but the maid stopped me in the hall.
“Miss Troy.”
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry to bother you.”
“I’m kind of in a hurry. Could we talk later?”
“This will only take a second. Mr. Locke insisted that I check your bed sheets yesterday morning. He said something about them being wet, and I told him they weren’t. They were perfectly dry. Was there a problem I need to know about?”
I scowled, the fury coursing through my veins making my face hot. The son of a bitch had the balls to confirm if I did or didn’t have sex.
The nerve of that man!
I bit my tongue. “There’s no problem. Thank you.” I rushed into the elevator, fuming on my way down.
My blood was boiling, and it didn’t simmer down the entire drive to the shoot. I walked into the building ready to spit fire, finding Julian in his dressing room.
Looking up from his phone, he smiled. “Good morning, Miss Troy.”
“Good morning my ass!” I slammed the door shut behind me.
“Is there a problem?”
“You bet your ass there’s a problem!”
“You need to watch your damn tone when you speak to me. You don’t have to yell. I’m sitting right here.”
“Julian, you’re lucky the only thing I’m doing is yelling at you and not punching you in the face!”
“Oh, so now I’m suddenly Julian again?”
“I’m going to fucking murder you.” I threw the article at him. “What the fuck is that?”
“It’s The New York Times interview I did for you,” he emphasized the last two words with a conniving grin. “You said you wanted me to be honest with the public. Share my past, my history, show them the man I used to be.”
“That is not what I meant, and you know it! You sharing your past has nothing to do with me.”
“But you’re such a big part of it.”
Ignoring his statement, I argued, “We’re not a couple, Mr. Locke. Why on earth would you lie about us?”
“Do I need a reason?” He nonchalantly placed his cell phone inside his suit jacket before leaning forward, setting his elbows on his knees. “I thought you wanted people talking? Rumors are the best publicity. Your words, kid.”
I glared at him. “Rumors for your announcement, not rumors for our relationship!”
“You didn’t specify, Miss Troy. But since you need a reason, how about this one? After your encounters with men yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands to prevent any future indiscretions playing out in front of me.”
My mouth dropped open. “You lied to the world because you were jealous? What kind of fucked up excuse is that?”
“The only one I have.”
“You can’t do this!”
“I already did.”
“Fine. I’ll just deny your allegations.”
“Making me look like a liar when I need people to trust me isn’t going to sit well with your promotion.”
He was right, and I wanted to claw his eyes out. “So what’s your plan now, huh? We pretend like we’re in love?”
“I’m not pretending.”
My stomach dropped, and my heart skipped a beat. Stupid fucking heart. Did he just tell me he loved me?
Shaking away the thought, I responded, “I don’t love you. In fact, right now it’s the complete opposite.”
He fell back against the couch, placing one arm over the back. How I could be furious with him, but still find him incredibly sexy and attractive only further incited my rage.
It wasn’t until he simply stated, “Well then, fuck me like you hate me, Miss Troy.”
That I truly lost my patience with him.
—Julian—
She grabbed the first thing in her sight and chucked it in my direction. “I wish I’d never met you!”
The vase crashed against the wall, shattering on the floor beside me.
“If you’re going to throw shit at me,” I snapped, further wanting to piss her off, “then I insist you start with your pussy.”
She gasped, and in three strides I was in her face, backing her into the wall. “Are you mad, Autumn? Angry? Seething from the inside out?”
“Yes! Yes! And Yes!”
“Welcome to my fucking life every time I had to push you away.”
“Get out of my face!” She shoved me, but I didn’t move an inch.
“Be careful what you wish for. For years you wanted my attention— well, now you have it. You’re my sole focus, sweetheart. Is it everything you ever wanted?”
“You’re ten years too late.”
“I gave you my attention back then in my own way.”
“Yeah, which usually involved your dick inside of me.”
I growled, “Don’t degrade what we have.”
“What we had.”
“What we have going on right now is fucking foreplay.”
“I didn’t know foreplay involved my knee to your balls.” She lifted her knee, but I blocked her advance.
“I’m not into that. How about we begin with your mouth instead?”
“Only if you intend on me biting it off.”
“The only thing you’ll be biting is your lip when I make you come.” I narrowed my eyes at her, arching an eyebrow and trying to keep my temper at bay.
“I didn’t know you were going to lie to the world.”
“That’s pretty damn clear.”
“You’re being unreasonable.”
“Which part of me is unreasonable, Autumn? What’s unreasonable about me saying something that I should have been saying a long time ago? What’s unreasonable about me claiming what has been, and always will be, mine?”
“You can’t do this to me. Ten years, Julian!
Ten! I waited for you to come back and apologize.
What do you want from me? I can’t forget about what you did to me.
I can’t just let it go like you expect me to.
It’s so fucking easy for you. I didn’t leave you.
I didn’t fuck you over. I did nothing but love you.
I’m trying to remain calm and be professional with you, but you’re making it really damn hard to not hate you. ”
“I can’t apologize any more than I already have.”
“You haven’t apologized at all.”
I stepped back. “I see you didn’t read the article.”
“You apologized to me in an article?” She pushed me again. “What the hell kind of apology is that?”
“Autumn, I know I fucked up, and I have to live with the repercussions, but I lost you too. You weren’t the only one grieving the loss of our love. I lost everything that ever mattered to me. Including the only family I’ve ever known. Do you not realize that?”
Bing.
Her cell phone dinged with a text message.
“Oh, don’t mind that. It’s more than likely another text from my brother.
You wanted the whole world to know about our history, and not for one fucking second did you think about the consequences.
You’re so selfish you didn’t think about my brother or my parents and what they would think and say about your interview.
We spent years denying and hiding our relationship, or whatever the fuck you want to call it, and you just openly confess it to the entire world without even running it by me first. Now, once again, I have to deal with the fallout.
How the hell am I supposed to explain to them when I barely understand it myself? ”
“Do you honestly think I’m that much of a heartless bastard? You don’t think it killed me to leave you? To leave all of you? Kid, I lost my best friend because of us—the only family I ever knew, ever had.”
“As a matter a fact, I do!”
“I’ve never stopped being yours!”
“You were never mine!”
I needed to catch my bearings and compose my thoughts, having to step away from the situation before it escalated to the point of no return.
I couldn’t control my temper when it came to her, and it was why she loved to provoke me in the first place.
I didn’t know what else I could do to make this right.
I was out of answers.
Out of options.
I couldn’t fucking think straight when she was glaring at me with so much hatred. I despised not being in control, so I did the only thing I could in this situation.
I unbuckled my belt.
Preparing for more of her bullshit.