CHAPTER 30 ALEXIS
I clench my fists at my side as I gear up for a fight.
Danny and I haven’t gotten into a fight yet. It’s been magic. Bliss. Mutual understanding. It’s probably the healthiest relationship I’ve ever been in…you know, except for the whole secret aspect.
All couples fight. Bickering, arguing—it’s just part of life.
But this…this is striking me from out of left field.
I can’t just marry him. I’m set to marry Brooks. I have a small engagement party tomorrow evening after I film all morning and I shouldn’t even be here right now with Danny but I had the burning need to be there for him after what he found out about his father.
His words to marry him pulse an anger in me that’s a little scary.
“I don’t have to? Yes, Danny. Yes, I do. I don’t want to, but I agreed to it, and my dad has me backed into a corner. If I want my masters and control over my career, I have to do this.”
“You just said you don’t want to. If you don’t want to…then don’t,” he says.
“It’s not that simple!” I yell.
“That’s what he’s making you think, Alexis. Have you had a lawyer look over your contract? One of your own, I mean—not one your father hired.”
I press my lips together.
The truth is that I’ve thought about doing that, but I haven’t. And I don’t even have a solid reason why I haven’t. I guess because I thought I could trust my dad.
Maybe Danny is right…but maybe I am, and I’m not sure how to find the answer to that.
“I’ll take your silence as your answer. Let me look over it, then. Stop letting him emotionally manipulate you,” he says.
“My father isn’t the same as your father,” I hiss, and I regret the words as soon as they’re out of my mouth.
He’s dealing with a lot, and of course he already knows that. I don’t need to pile on top of him by pointing it out.
“I know that,” he says quietly—ominously, almost. “Mine is blackmailing us. Yours is ruining us. Which is worse?”
I press my lips together as I feel the sting of tears behind my eyes. Maybe he’s hurt that I rejected his proposal, so he’s lashing out.
Or maybe he’s exactly right and I’m just too close to the situation to realize it.
Rather than respond to his words, I say, “I don’t want to fight with you when this very well could be the last time we see each other before I marry Brooks.”
He averts his gaze out the window and lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re right. I don’t want to fight, either. This is just…a lot.”
“I know it is. And you know where my heart is.”
“Yeah. I do. But I also have to watch you marry that douchebag and trust that your father is going to let you unwind this mess in the end.”
“I have to trust in that, too. And we have paperwork being drafted that will ensure it,” I say.
He nods. “Paperwork. Right. Look, Brooks is a smart guy. What makes you think he will just give up and let you go in the end?”
He’s got a point. It’s something that’s been in the back of my mind the whole time, but I know Brooks. He wouldn’t take advantage of the situation, and I don’t know exactly what he’s getting out of the deal, but I have faith that my dad will make sure he gets whatever’s coming to him.
“It’s something to think about, I guess.
But I feel like you’re bringing all this up at the eleventh hour, Danny.
I’m committed. I have a dress. The wedding planner has finalized all the details.
The guest list is complete. The media has been tipped off.
It’s a train barreling down the tracks, and I am powerless to stop it at this point,” I say.
He takes a step toward me, and then another. “I have your solution, Lex.” He pulls me into his arms. “Marry me. Run away from it all. Fuck the wedding planner and the dress and the details. It’s just money. It’s not this.” He presses his lips to mine.
It’s tempting, but there’s the whole issue of my agent and my masters.
As if he could read my mind, he says, “We’ll figure out together how you can take control of your career. I’ve seen it done before. You don’t need him. There are loopholes. You can re-record your albums and release your AVs.”
“AVs?”
“Alexis’s Version,” he clarifies.
I close my eyes. “I just…I can’t, Danny.
” I pull out of his arms and push him away, the symbolism not lost on me that as I’m physically pushing him away, the emotional divide between us is also widening.
“Please stop forcing the issue because you already know what I want, and I can’t have it, and it’s tearing me up inside. ”
He nods. “Okay. I’ll stop. But the offer is on the table, and I’m not rescinding it. Now what do you want me to order for dinner?”
We put the focus on what to order for a bit, but the conversation is still there in the background, simmering away.
After we eat, we lay in bed together.
“When do you have to go back to Vegas?” I ask.
“I have a charity event in a couple of days. I figured I’d spend one more day with my mom and the boys and then head back,” he says.
“Will you be here next weekend?” I hear the begging in my tone, and as screwed up as it sounds, I don’t know if I can make it down the aisle toward Brooks if Danny isn’t close by.
I’m fighting for us by marrying the wrong man. I know that sounds crazy, and it even does in my own head, but I’m taking control of my life.
This is the only way I see how to do that.
I just hope we can escape to the other side unscathed.