Beloved Liar (The Reed Rivers Trilogy Book 3), page 11
“For my article about 22 Goats, yes. More than I ever dreamed possible.” I pause. “Although... there’s another article I’m gathering information for... something for Dig a Little Deeper. Would you mind giving me Hannah Hennessy’s number? This is highly confidential, but I’d like to ask her about her boss.”
Kat grabs her phone. “I just sent you Hannah’s contact info and texted her that you want to talk to her.”
“Thank you.”
She looks up from her phone. “So, by ‘Hannah’s boss,’ do you mean that gray-haired guy who’s marrying Isabel?”
I nod. “Howard Devlin.”
“You’re going to interview him?”
“No. I’m investigating some rumors I’ve heard about him. I want to ask Hannah if she’s heard the rumors, too.”
Kat arches an eyebrow. “What kind of rumors?”
“I shouldn’t say.”
“The ones about him being a pervert groper?”
I gasp. “Oh my gosh! You know about that?”
“Hannah told me. When Howard invited her to get a drink with him at the party, she dragged me along. Later, she told me she did that because it’s well known at her company women should always use the buddy system around him.”
“Holy hell.”
“She said she’s almost certainly safe around him, since she’s only in PR. Not an actress. Plus, he’s apparently a fan of big boobs, and, if you didn’t notice, Hannah’s Flatty Mcgee. But, still, she didn’t want to be alone with him. She’s actually looking for a new job. She’s heard too much bad stuff about him to want to keep working there.”
“Why the hell has nobody reported him? He’s the worst kept secret in Hollywood!”
Kat shrugs. “He’s a powerful old guy. Those guys always get away with murder.” Her phone buzzes and she looks down. “Hannah says she’s just putting Hazel down for the night, but we can call her in ten minutes.”
My stomach clenches. “Oh, wow. I didn’t expect to hear from her quite this fast.”
Kat looks perplexed. “Is something wrong?”
I grimace. “The truth is my boss told me not to pursue the Howard story yet. I’m kind of ‘going rogue’ by talking to Hannah about him.”
“She told you not to pursue the story, because she’s trying to cover up for whatever he’s been doing?”
“Oh, gosh no. My boss wants to take him down, with all her heart. She just thinks I’m too green, and the story too explosive, for me to try to tackle it just yet. But she said that before I’d landed my ace in the hole—this woman named Francesca Laramie.” I google Francesca and show Kat some articles. Of course, I don’t mention Isabel’s connection to Francesca, or tell Kat how I found Francesca in the first place. But I tell Kat the gist of my conversation with Francesca about Howard, and the amazing news that Francesca has agreed to lend support to my efforts, if I can get anyone to come forward.
“Impressive,” Kat says. “Maybe what Francesca knows about Howard will dovetail with what Hannah knows.”
“That’s my hope. I’m thinking maybe putting their two lists of names together will crack the whole thing wide open.”
“Ooh, I’m getting pumped,” Kat says. “Can I be on the call with Hannah?”
“I’d love it. I’m sure Hannah will feel more comfortable talking to me, if you’re on the call.”
Kat claps her hands and hoots. “Wonder Twin powers, activate!” Laughing, she rises from the couch, her adorable baby bump leading the way. “I’m gonna check on my kiddos real quick, before we call Hannah. Gracie sleeps like a ton of bricks, but Jack always wakes up around this time of night, wanting me, so I want to check on him before we make that call. Why don’t you pour yourself another glass of wine while I’m checking on my babies, and then we’ll call Hannah to see if she’s got any information that might be useful for us to take this motherfucker down.”
I could cry. Us. That’s the word Kat just used. Such a tiny word. But so powerful.
“Oh, hey, you know what?” Kat says, stopping in the entryway of her living room. “Why don’t I call Sarah to come over, too?” She’s talking about her best friend and sister-in-law, Sarah Faraday, who happens to be a lawyer. The one we toured Seattle with yesterday. “Sarah is crazy-smart—a whiz at research and strategizing. She only lives ten minutes away, and I’m sure her babies are down for the night.”
“Wow, Kat. I can’t tell you how much your support means to me. I’ve been really stressed out about tackling this story as an army of one, especially since I’m kind of going rogue here, like I said.”
Kat laughs. “The fact that you’re willing to go rogue to pursue this story is the best indicator that you should.” She smiles warmly. “And you’re not an army of one anymore, sweetie. You’re now an army of four—you, me, Hannah, and Sarah.” She pats her belly. “Actually, make that four and a half. Don’t tell my family this, because Josh and I are going to surprise them, but this little peanut is a girl. Arabella.”
“Aw, I love it. Congratulations.”
She pats her belly. “And you know what I’m going to tell my two daughters one day? And Jack, too. My son needs to know this, too. I’m going to tell them that, once, a long time ago, their mommy helped their Auntie Georgie bring down a truly evil man.”
Chapter 15
Georgina
Saturday 2:46 pm
When my flight from Seattle touches down in LA, I turn on my phone, the same as everyone seated around me on the plane. And when I see an email from Reed, with a subject line that reads, “Personal and HIGHLY confidential,” my heart stops. My breathing shallow, I read the body of the email:
My dearest Georgina, Attached, you will find a confidential video that’s for your eyes only. Audio quality is poor, so watch with sound turned all the way up. It’s critically important you watch this video when you’re alone, in a quiet place, where you won’t be interrupted. Please, I beg you not to share this video with anyone, or even describe its contents. At least, not before you’ve spoken to me and given me a chance to explain what you’ve seen. Thank you in advance for granting this request. Please call me after you’ve watched. RR.
I look around me on the crowded airplane, where passengers have just started grabbing their bags, and realize, much to my dismay, I’ll have to wait until I reach my parked car to watch this mysterious video. After shuffling off the plane, I make my way through the maze of LAX and onto a parking-lot shuttle. I get off at the appropriate overnight lot, slip inside my rental car, turn the sound on my phone all the way up, and, finally, breathing hard, press play on the video.
Grainy, black and white video of Reed’s garage comes up. It’s surveillance video, time-stamped in the bottom right-hand corner with a date from exactly one week ago. In other words, the date of Reed’s party. I hold my breath with anticipation, and, a few seconds later, Reed and Isabel enter the garage through the same side door they exited through when I stumbled upon them.
As Reed closes the door, Isabel marches into the expansive garage, looking agitated. She comes to a stand, facing the camera, and Reed stops in front of her.
“What’s this supposed ‘emergency’?” he says, sounding deeply annoyed. “Make it quick. I’ve got something important to do.”
“That reporter you introduced me to. She mentioned CeeCee’s birthday party.”
“So?”
“Did you tell her I was with you that night?”
“She asked me how I met CeeCee, so I told her the story of how I crashed the party. And, yeah, I mentioned you were my date. So what?”
“Goddammit, Reed!”
“You’re being paranoid, Isabel. It’s perfectly fine you were my date. Nobody would ever guess how that came to be.”
“She’s really smart. I can tell.”
“Yes, she is. And she wants to write a flattering interview about you. That’s all. She’s not looking to write a hit piece. You’re being paranoid.”
Isabel wrings her hands. “Can you blame me? Every day of my life, I’m waiting for the next Troy to come along to blackmail me.”
Reed’s back is to the camera, but his shoulders soften. “Isabel, I understand why Troy messed with your head. But he was a one-off. If someone was going to threaten to expose your secret again, they would have done it by now. It’s been ten years since you worked for Francesca. If I thought there was an army of Troys out there, lying in wait to take you down, I wouldn’t have paid him so much to stay quiet. I’m rolling in money, sweetheart, but even I can’t afford to pay off the entire world.”
Isabel rubs her face. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m being paranoid. I am, right?”
“You are.”
“Just don’t tell this reporter anything else about me.”
“I won’t. Now, can we please go back to the party? I just made a little girl cry and I need to fix it.”
Isabel steps forward and slides her arms around Reed’s neck. “What’s the rush? Now that we’re here, how about we have a little fun, for old time’s sake?”
I hold my breath and squint my eyes, convinced I’m about to see something deeply traumatizing to me. But I needn’t worry. Reed immediately disentangles himself from Isabel and says, “That’s not gonna happen.” He grabs her hand, the one with Howard’s massive rock on it, and holds it up. “This means nothing to you?”
She yanks her hand away. “You know I don’t want him. I want you.”
Reed throws up his hands. “Goddammit. Not this again. Things are different now than when you fucked Troy to make me jealous. It’s not going to work this time.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “You’re not going crazy to think of me marrying someone else?”
He scoffs. “No. Would I prefer you marry someone you actually love? Yes. Because I care about you and want you to find happiness. But do I wish you were marrying me? Fuck no. Isabel, like I keep telling you. I’m over you. I’ve moved on. So, if you’re marrying Howard to manipulate me into action the same way you did when you fucked Troy, only bigger and better this time, then don’t bother. Don’t marry anyone to try to get a rise out of me. The only thing that strategy will get you is a husband you don’t love.”
“Why are you always so mean to me?”
“I’m not mean to you. I’m honest. I don’t want you anymore. We’ll never get back together. Never.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Believe it. If you must know, I’m with someone else now. I’m in a serious, committed relationship.”
Even in the grainy footage, I can tell Isabel is crushed.
“I’ll always care about you,” Reed says. “I’ll always protect you, as best I can. And your secrets are always safe with me. But the truth is you’re more like a sister to me now, than anything else.”
Isabel slaps Reed across his face, but he doesn’t even flinch. “Who is she?” she shrieks, her tears matching mine as I watch the scene unfolding. “Is she here at the party?”
“No, she’s not here,” Reed lies. “But if she were, I’d expect you to be nice to her. We haven’t been together in years, Isabel, and you’re engaged to another man. Why do you think you still have any claim on me?”
“Because I’m still in love with you!”
He’s exasperated. Irritated. “Why the hell are you marrying Howard?” he booms. “I don’t get it! You don’t need his money, and you certainly don’t need his connections anymore. You’re a huge star now. The biggest star on the planet. You don’t need him. You can get cast in anything from blockbusters to indies, without his help or blessing. I get why you flirted with him when you were starting out, but don’t you think saying yes to marrying a man you don’t love is taking the casting couch a bit far?”
She shakes her head. “You don’t understand.”
“I think I do. He’s made marriage part of the deal for the superhero movies, hasn’t he?”
She drops her head, looking defeated. But says nothing.
“Screw the superhero movies! If he drops you from them, so what? There are ten other producers who’d hire you in a heartbeat.”
She shakes her head. Rubs her face. “You cheated on this girlfriend of yours with me in the Hamptons?”
“No. I hadn’t met her yet back then.”
Isabel is flabbergasted. “How new is this relationship? Were you lying to me last month when you said you were having dinner with your friends? Were you actually seeing her?”
“No. I didn’t lie to you that night. I was having dinner with my friends. But then we went to a bar, after dinner, and that’s where I met her. She was the bartender.”
Isabel gasps. “You want a bartender over me?”
“Fuck you,” I whisper to my screen. At the same moment Reed says something I don’t catch because I was talking. I rewind the video to hear whatever I missed, and what Reed says makes me smile from ear to ear: “Fuck you, Isabel.” Which he follows with, “I’m not going to talk about my girlfriend with you anymore. All you need to know is she makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “Ever.”
The meaning is clear. Not even with you. And, obviously, by the devastated look on Isabel’s face, his message has been received, loud and clear. She bows her head and bursts into tears. And, sweet man that he is, Reed wraps his strong arms around her and squeezes her tight. And, suddenly, I find myself quaking with dread about whatever I’m going to witness next.
They remain still for a long time, holding each other. They’re whispering to each other, but I can’t make out their words. Finally, Reed pulls back from their tender embrace. He takes Isabel’s gorgeous, iconic face in his hands and looks deeply into her eyes for a very long moment, causing her body to visibly wrack with sobs.
“If I could have flipped a switch and made myself fall madly in love with you, Isabel Schneider, I would have done it years ago. You’re gorgeous and talented. You’ve got the world on a string. I know what you went through as a kid. I know how bad it was, and I want nothing more than to see you safe and happy and successful, for the rest of your life. You deserve a happily ever after. But I’m truly not your Prince Charming, and I never will be.”
Isabel closes her eyes and tilts her face up. “Kiss me goodbye. One last kiss. Just so I can remember what it feels like to kiss you. What it feels like to actually feel something with a man. Please, Reed. At least, give me that.”
Reed looks into her tear-streaked face for a long moment, and then leans in and presses his lips to hers. And, somehow, the vision doesn’t repel me. It doesn’t enrage me. No, in this moment I’m actually in awe of Reed’s kind heart. I know this isn’t a betrayal of me, as much as one final act of generosity toward a woman he’s loved for a very long time. Just like he told me, this truly is a goodbye kiss. Yes, he’s technically breaking his promise to me in this moment. That fact hasn’t escaped me. But seeing the way the kiss unfolded, I know he didn’t kiss her because he doesn’t want me. He kissed her because he does. Because he’s closing the book on their tumultuous relationship, forever.
Um...
Okay, Reed, this kiss is far lengthier, and more passionate than required to close that fucking book. Come on, now. Enough.
Finally, Reed pulls away, having given Isabel the kiss of her life. She swoons and wobbles, looking dazed, and I can plainly see Isabel is now wearing the same expression she wore when I stumbled upon her and Reed coming out of the garage. She looks like a woman who just got fucked.
Reed puts his fingertip underneath Isabel’s chin. “Don’t marry anyone who doesn’t kiss you like that.”
I roll my eyes. Okay, Reed. That was wholly unnecessary, sweetheart. It’s time to move along now.
“How can you deny our magic?” Isabel chokes out. “You felt it, every bit as much as I did, during that kiss. Admit it.”
“No. The only thing I felt while kissing you was complete clarity that I’m head over heels in love with my girlfriend. I felt guilty while kissing you, to be honest. Because the only one I want to be kissing—the only one I should be kissing—is her.”
Isabel clutches her heart. And so do I.
Even in grainy black and white, it’s clear Reed just dealt her a death blow.
And I couldn’t be happier about it.
Reed is unmoved by the expression of pure devastation on Isabel’s face. She might as well be the blonde at the bar who tried to give him her demo. He looks at his watch, and sighs. “I need to get back to my party now. Come on. I’m sure your beloved fiancé is wondering where you are.” With that, he opens the door to the garage, his urgency to get the hell out of there wafting off him. With a heavy sigh, Isabel drags herself out the door, and Reed follows, at which point the surveillance video ends.
I look up from my screen, practically hyperventilating. Reed told me the truth about everything. Reed loves me. And he figured it out while kissing Isabel.
And that’s a damned good thing. Because, despite everything, I love him, too. With all my heart.
Breathing heavily, I tap out a text to my man, my love, asking him if he’s home. And when he replies instantly, telling me he’s not home, but can be there in fifteen minutes, my heart gallops with joy.
Me: Go home now. I’m coming home.
Reed: You got my email?
Me: Yes. Just landed at LAX and watched the video in my car. I’m coming straight to you now. See you soon! XO
Reed: I can’t wait to see you, my love. XOXOXO
Chapter 16
Reed
Saturday 4:23 pm
I peek down my street again, awaiting the appearance of Georgina’s convertible turning the corner. But, still, nothing. For the past ten minutes, I’ve been standing in front of my iron gate, staring down my street like a Labrador awaiting his owner’s return from work while trying not to freak out. I think the “XO” Georgina tacked onto the end of her “see you soon!” text message, combined with the exclamation point she used, and the fact that she said she’s coming “home,” meant she’s coming here to forgive me completely and pick up where we left off. But, when it comes to Georgina, and her temper, I never know for sure what she’s going to do or how she’s going to react. For all I know, after watching that surveillance video—and the whopper of a kiss I laid on Isabel—she’s coming here to take a golf club to another one of my cars.
