Chapter 24
Harrison
“…Your secret’s safe with me.”
Ihear Connor whisper to Pix from the bedroom hallway, and I don’t interrupt.
Mostly because hearing my son use the phrase your secret’s safe with me before coffee has me questioning my hearing.
Pix pulls him into a tight hug.
“It’s just that I had no idea you guys were coming,” she explains softly. “Otherwise I would’ve told him.”
Told me what?
Something tightens low in my chest.
Connor shakes his head and blows out a breath. “Dad’s gonna freak out.”
“I know.” She lets out a nervous little laugh. “I just… don’t want to burst his bubble.”
Bubble?
What bubble?
“Let’s just make it a really good Christmas for your dad, okay?”
My pulse slows, ice cold.
Is she…
Breaking up with me?
Then quieter:
“And I’m pretty sure he’d go absolutely postal if he heard anything about me leaving him for Pierce Maddox.”
What.
The fuck.
My pulse thuds hard in my ears.
Pierce Maddox?
Hollywood’s professional douchebag.
Rationally, I know it’s bullshit.
Emotionally?
I’m halfway to losing my damn mind.
Literally twenty-four hours ago she was grilling him at a police station.
But, what if this is just how her Hollywood works.
Forced proximity.
Beautiful people pretending love scenes against each other.
I mean… how well does a man really know his wife?
I’ll tell you how well.
There are entire seasons of Snapped dedicated to answering that exact question.
I press two fingers to my temple.
No.
Absolutely fucking not.
Because if by some bizarre stretch of reality this is somehow my last Christmas with her…
Then I’m about to rain down the kind of Christmas that permanently resets this woman’s standards.
After me, any Hollywood asshole who even attempts Christmas will be completely fucked.
Because this thing between us?
The till death do us part part?
Oh, it’s not over.
Because I just pressed two fingers to my pulse. Guess what?
Not fucking dead yet.
I’m not losing her to her profession.
Or Pierce Maddox.
Or whatever the hell this is.
Not without a fight.
I pull out my phone and text Freddie.
Me
Need Christmas 2.0.
Maximum effort.
Freddie
Whatever you need, sir, I will make it happen.
Challenge accepted.