CHAPTER 11 ALEXIS
I pace back and forth across the room at the hotel where the studio is putting us up.
It’s a nice enough room—a suite, actually, on the top floor overlooking Las Vegas Boulevard—but admittedly, I have not yet seen the inside of it since I’ve been with Danny.
Gregory saved my ass by making sure my suitcase was at the hotel and I had my room key, and I have never been more grateful for him. He’s covering for me, and I never expected him to. I never asked him to.
It means a lot to know he’s on my side. He’s the only one in my circle who is.
Maybe he even likes Danny. Or maybe he doesn’t like Brooks. But if it’s his job to protect me, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to think he’d be invested in protecting my heart, too.
And clearly he sees that what I have with Danny is not the same thing I have with Brooks. It gives me a whole lot of faith that Gregory knows me as well as he does and believes I’m making the right choice.
“Are you going to pace all night?” Brooks asks, irritation evident in his tone.
“I’m nervous about tomorrow’s shoot,” I lie.
“Why?”
“I’d rather not talk about it.” I’d rather not lie more about it.
I blow out a breath and pick up my script to read over my lines again.
I know them. That’s not the issue.
I’m nervous about what Danny is up to tonight.
I’m nervous about what tomorrow will look like.
I just want Brooks to leave, but he’s hanging around like a bad cold and hasn’t said how long he plans to stay in Vegas.
Doesn’t he have work to do back in Los Angeles?
Shouldn’t he be getting ready for the merger? Why is he here?
Oh, right.
To babysit me.
And apparently to wedding plan, too.
“I talked to your dad before. Rafe has three dress choices for you when you have a moment to choose,” he says.
“Rafe?” I repeat. I have no idea who that is.
“The wedding planner.”
“Oh, right. Sure, I can take a look now, I guess.”
“You guess?” he says. “I thought you were on board with this, Alexis.”
I heave out a breath. I don’t want to be rude to Brooks, but I feel like my future husband should have some semblance of how I’m feeling right now.
I’m about to tell him how I am on board, and it’s fine, and…whatever it is, I need to say to give him the reassurance he’s seeking, but he plows ahead first.
“Does this have anything to do with Brewer?” He narrows his eyes at me.
“What if it does?” I ask.
“You said he was a friend. How’d he snag a role in this film?”
I shrug as I realize I’ve become a better liar than I thought. “Coincidence.”
He studies me for a beat as if he doesn’t really believe me, and he’s trying to get to the bottom of the truth. I tip my chin up and stand confidently in front of him.
“Right.” He presses his lips together. “You need to stay away from him. If word got out that you two are friends, it would be really bad for the brand.”
I don’t give two flying shits about the brand.
He’s good for my heart.
And that’s what it comes down to.
Brooks and my dad are pitting me against myself—me against my own brand. But my brand is what they have built for me. It was their vision.
And frankly…I’m tired of living out someone else’s vision.
I’m ready to take control.
I just have to take Brooks’s last name first so I can ensure I have the rights that belong to me.
I need an air-tight prenup that I have someone outside of my father’s lawyers review for me before I sign it.
And then, when the dust settles, when the merger is finalized so the divorce can be finalized…then Danny and I can finally be together.
“Did you see these?” Brooks asks, interrupting my thoughts. He flashes his phone at me, and my chest tightens at the first picture.
Danny is smiling as he sits in a booth at some bar next to Kit Davenport. Her hand is on his arm, and he’s looking at her the way he should be looking at me. The headline mentions the bad boy of baseball once again.
He’s not a bad boy.
He’s one of the good ones…one of the few good ones I’ve ever come across in my life.
I believe in us. I trust him.
This isn’t one of those silly miscommunications where I see him out with another woman and assume he’s up to no good.
I know Danny. I know his heart. I know the love he has for me. And I will trust in that until the day I die.
I won’t let these photographs get to me.
He’s out there doing what he has to do to keep Brooks happy, and Brooks is only shoving this in my face to make his point.
I won’t let him see me sweat.
“Looks like a fun time.” I shoot him a sugary smile, and for as much as this guy thinks he knows me…he has no idea how fake that smile really is.
And I’m further confident in what I feel in my heart when a text from Gregory comes through.
It’s in a code that only I would understand, but it’s further evidence that placing my trust in Danny is the right thing to do.
Gregory: Leo’s uncle assured me he only wants bacon.
Leo’s uncle is Danny…and we love to share bacon.
I have nothing to worry about. The fact that he texted Gregory instead of me only proves he’s forcing himself to stay away while Brooks is here.
“Show me the dresses,” I say with renewed enthusiasm.
Because the sooner I say I do, and the sooner this merger is complete…the sooner I can get divorced. And then I can finally be with Danny in every way that matters.