Chapter 63
AUSTIN
Everything was about to change, and I knew it.
I lay on my back with Melody curled against my side, her head on my chest, her breathing finally evening out after the very exuberant round of sex.
I twirled a strand of her hair around my finger, soft and silky, and tried to memorize this moment.
The weight of her. The way she fit perfectly against me.
If I loved her, I would break things off with her. I would cut her loose before Summer went public.
That’s what Cash had warned me about. What my father had said, in his own cold way.
Summer was coming for me, for all of us, and Melody would be caught in the crossfire.
She’d already survived one scandal. Could she really handle another?
Especially one where she’d be painted as just another woman the Bancrofts had used and discarded?
The airbrushing scandal would be child’s play compared to what Summer was planning. it was going to get ugly. Even if Cash managed to pay her off, it would always be hanging over our heads. She would use it to continue to blackmail us. How long would we have to deal with her bullshit?
The honorable thing would be to end it now. Cut her loose before the storm hit. Tell her it was fun while it lasted but we wanted different things. Make it quick and clean so she could walk away with her reputation intact.
I could take the hit. I’d been taking hits my whole life. What was one more? Melody deserved better than being dragged through the mud because of me.
I opened my mouth, the words forming on my tongue. This isn’t going to work. We should end this now. It’s better this way.
“I have to tell you something,” Melody said, rolling over to face me.
I closed my mouth, the words dying unspoken.
She propped herself up on her pillow. Fuck. Maybe she was going to dump me. I knew something had changed. If she ended things, it would gut me, but it would save me from having to break her heart—and my own.
“Okay,” I said carefully.
She took a deep breath. “This morning, when I went to get coffee, there was an envelope on my doorstep. It had your name on it.”
My stomach dropped. “Okay.”
“I know I should have told you right away, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it.
” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “I opened it. And inside was this whole dossier. Contracts between Cash and Summer. Text messages. Bank statements. And a letter from Summer telling me that you were using me, that your family arranged everything, that I was just another tool for your PR.”
Each word was a knife. Summer had gotten to her first. Of course she had.
Then I remembered the email while we were on vacation. That bitch. She had been stalking Melody. She was the one harassing Melody. It had already started.
“I didn’t know what to believe,” Melody continued. “Summer’s letter was convincing. She made it sound like you had done this before, like this was just what Bancrofts do.”
“Melody, I can explain.”
“Wait, let me finish.” She held up her hand. “I spent all day freaking out. Questioning everything. Every moment we’d shared, every word you’d said. I met with Summer this afternoon.”
I tensed. “You what?”
“I met with her. At a tapas bar in the West Village. I needed to hear her side, to see if I could trust her.” She looked at me steadily.
“And, Austin, I couldn’t. Trust her, I mean.
The whole time we were talking, something felt off.
She made all the right arguments, said all the right things, but it felt… icky.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled at that word. “Icky?”
“Cleo always says to trust your gut when someone makes you feel icky. And Summer made me feel that way from the moment she walked in. She was beautiful and charming and seemed so reasonable, but underneath it all, something was wrong.”
“What did she say?” I asked.
“That your family hired her to babysit you.”
“I told you about that,” I said.
“I know. But she started to pitch the idea that you tossed her aside to use me instead because I would be desperate—and free.”
“Melody, fuck that!”
She ignored my outburst. “She was trying to convince me we were both victims of Bancroft manipulation.” She sighed and shook her head.
“I started to think about everything. Obviously, we both agreed to this fake thing. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t.
But then we parted ways and I was doing my best to move on.
Austin, you just showed back up and wanted to pick up where we left off. ”
My stomach was suddenly feeling very unwell. “Melody—”
“Wait,” she said. “I started to think back over every day we were together. And then the pictures from Tahiti. People are eating up the fact we’re together. I would venture to say your image is definitely improving.”
I didn’t dare say anything. She had clearly been thinking about what she wanted to say. I had to let her get it all out. My heart was thrumming hard. Nerves were making me feel twitchy.
“I thought about us going out to the theater, which was obviously going to get us seen. And photographed. It seemed sweet that we were keeping our relationship on the down low. I thought it was cute, but then I started to think it was more about stirring up mystery. People were even more curious about us and our relationship since we weren’t talking about it. ”
Clearly, she had put a lot of thought into what Summer had told her. That did not bode well for me.
She stopped talking. I wasn’t sure if I should say anything.
“With that said, Austin, I don’t believe Summer. This isn’t an arrangement. This isn’t fake. I know it isn’t.”
I exhaled. My body felt like I had been electrocuted. I couldn’t move. I was afraid if I moved, the relief I felt would evaporate. I would blink and realize she hadn’t actually said that. It was all in my head.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t come to you immediately.
” She looked up at me, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“I should have trusted you from the start. But I was scared and confused, and I needed to figure out what was real. And what I figured out is that even though it scares the hell out of me, I trust you. I choose you. And I don’t trust Summer. ”
She reached out and took my hand, lacing her fingers through mine.
“She’s going to try to destroy you,” Melody said. “She’s going to go public with all of this and twist it to make you look like a villain. But I’m not going to let her win. I want to protect you, Austin. You and your family. Whatever comes next, I’m with you.”
I stared at her, this incredible woman who just laid everything on the line for me. She had been handed every reason to doubt me and had chosen to believe in us instead.
What the fuck had I done to deserve her?
I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her. When I pulled back, I rested my forehead against hers.
“I have to tell you something, too,” I said quietly. “And you’re not going to like it.”
She pulled back slightly to look at me, her brow furrowing. “Okay. I can handle it.”
Could she? I wasn’t sure I could handle it.
I took a breath and forced the words out. “We need to break up.”
The change in her expression was immediate and devastating. She looked at me like I had just driven a knife into her chest. Like I’d taken everything she’d just given me and thrown it back in her face.
“What?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Hear me out,” I said quickly, keeping my hands on her face so she couldn’t pull away. “Please, baby girl. Just hear me out.”
She was trembling now, but she nodded.
“Summer is going public. Soon. Cash and I met with my father today. She’s made sure to threaten him with her story.
It might be as soon as a day or two. And when she does, she’s going to say everything you already know.
She’s not going to let any little detail go unsaid. I imagine she’ll elaborate as well.”
“I don’t care what she says,” Melody muttered.
“But I care what it does to you.” My voice cracked.
“Melody, you barely recovered from the Femme Curve scandal. Do you really think you can survive another one? This one is going to be worse. So much worse. They’ll dig into your past, analyze every moment we’ve spent together, question every photo and every post. They’ll say terrible things about you, about us.
And I can’t watch you get destroyed because of me. ”
“So your solution is to dump me?” There was anger in her voice now, mixing with the hurt. “To prove Summer right? To make it look like I really was just another woman you used and discarded?”
“It’s the only way to keep you out of the line of fire.”
“I don’t want to be out of the line of fire!” She pulled away from me, sitting up fully. “I want to stand beside you and fight. Together. Like you said we would.”
“I know what I said, but I don’t think you understand just how bad this will get.”
“You’re trying to protect me, and I thank you for it, but you’re wrong.”
“At least you’d be safe.”
“I don’t want to be safe! I want to be with you!” Her voice rose, passionate and fierce. “Don’t you get it? I’m choosing this. I’m choosing you. I’m choosing us. And you don’t get to make that choice for me.”
I took a deep breath. I had wondered if she would say that. I hoped she would, but I also feared she would.
“I need you to hear me out,” I said.