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There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Then, Megan said, ‘You don’t have to shout.’
Sighing, Bethany sank down onto the bed. She hoped that Dylan was enjoying the drama, standing outside listening in. Someone should be having some fun with this ridiculous situation.
‘They’re saying you bailed him out of jail, Meg. Well, actually, they’re saying I did. But since I know I didn’t do it, I figure they must actually mean you. And obviously that’s crazy, because why would you do that? I mean, he hurt you. So, just tell me they’re wrong. Please.’
No answer. Bethany’s heart sank down into her empty stomach. ‘Tell me what happened,’ she said, slumping down lower onto the bed.
‘He didn’t mean to do it.’ Meg’s tone was earnest, shining with the belief of a true convert. ‘He loves me too much, Bethany, and you know how he is – he’s a passionate man. I shouldn’t have—’
‘No.’ There was no way Bethany was going to let her sister blame herself for Jake’s actions. ‘This is not your fault. He hit you. There are no circumstances under which this is your fault.’
On the other end of the phone, Megan sighed. ‘I know that, Beth. I do. But… he really does love me. It’s not like when he was with you. I’m the real thing for him.’
Bethany ignored the sting that still came from knowing that her first love had apparently always loved her sister more. She didn’t love him, after all – and given this latest turn of events, she was so far better off without him. But it had always been Beth and Jake, all through high school, right up to the moment Bethany got her first break. Her first tiny part in her some stupid TV show and when she came home again from filming, she’d lost her high school sweetheart to her own sister.
Sometimes, she thought her life was more of a soap opera than any TV show or film she’d starred in over the last few years.
‘Has he ever done anything like this before?’ Bethany asked. He hadn’t with her, but Jake had changed. Ten years of never quite getting where he wanted to be had an effect on a man.
‘Never,’ Megan said, firmly enough that she believed her. ‘But… he was drunk, again. We were at some bar, and he was like, falling down drunk. I told him it was time to leave, and he swung round and fell off his bar stool. His buddies laughed at him and I grabbed his arm and…’
‘And he punched you.’ Bethany kept her voice as unemotional as she could. She needed the facts, first. Then she could break down.
‘I’m not sure he even knew it was me.’ The sadness in her sister’s voice made Bethany’s heart ache. ‘Anyway, someone else pulled him off, and he swung at them and before I knew it the police were being called and I was giving a statement and Jake was in the cells for the night.’
God, what a mess. Bethany rubbed a hand across her forehead, trying to release some of the tension there.
‘You bailed him out this morning?’ she asked.
‘Yeah,’ Megan said. ‘I couldn’t just… leave him there.’
I would have. ‘How did you afford it?’ The silence on the other end was answer enough. ‘Meg, no. That money was for you. For you to do that massage course you wanted.’ To give her a chance to find a career, a new life. To give her options, if she needed them. Which clearly, after this week, she did.
‘The bail wasn’t much,’ Megan argued. ‘Besides, it’s not like he’s going to skip out. I’ll get it back.’
‘That’s not the point—’ Bethany started, but her sister interrupted her.
‘Look, it was my choice. He’s my husband. Remember?’
‘Of course I remember.’ Even though she hadn’t been at the wedding. She’d been filming abroad, which was Megan’s excuse for not inviting her.
Bethany rested her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. ‘Okay. So, what do I tell the press when they ask?’
‘Why would they ask?’ Megan snapped the question. ‘I mean, I know they’re all crazy for Bethany Lord, but don’t try and pretend any of them care about your ordinary little sister.’
How could she explain it, without making Megan angrier? ‘They care because you’re my sister. And because they think I paid to bail him out – which in a way, I did.’
‘So?’
‘So they’ll start to look into it. Into you, and him. And me.’
There was a pause on the other end of the line while Megan processed what she was saying, and Bethany prayed she’d just take the hint and let it go. Just this once.
But, no.
‘You mean, they’ll figure out that you and Jake used to be together. That their perfect innocent starlet, who’s never been so much as photographed falling out of her dress or kissing someone she shouldn’t, used to date her brother in law. The one who’s just been arrested for assault.’
The relish in Megan’s voice made Bethany nervous. Her sister had always been a little envious of her career, and Bethany got that. But she wouldn’t actually go so far as to give the press the story they’d been waiting for, ever since Bethany Lord burst onto the Hollywood stage, would she?
‘And they’d surely start to wonder why you’d bail him out now, right?’
Bethany could see the headlines now. The accusations, the innuendo, the implied affair, betrayal, everything. Just what she needed, the week of the press junket for her biggest film yet.
‘They would. But Meg, that’s not what I’m worried about.’
Megan laughed. ‘Of course it is! When did you care about anything except your career, and your reputation?’
‘I care about you!’ Bethany yelled, then winced when she remembered Dylan listening outside. Except he had less incentive to spill the beans to the press than her own sister, right now. His job would be on the line. All Megan would lose would be a fraught sisterly relationship. ‘Look, Meg, I’m scared for you. I know you don’t think he meant to hurt you but… what if he did? If Jake’s drinking… you remember what his dad was like. I don’t want to see history repeating itself. I want you to promise me you’ll get out. I can help you—’
‘I don’t need your help to run my marriage.’ Megan’s voice turned cold. ‘I know how to deal with Jake, far better than you ever did. So you just get back to your endless party life, yeah? Leave the little people to take care of themselves.’
The phone went dead in her hand, and Bethany let it tumble out of her fingers onto the bedspread. What now? Had she just made things a thousand times worse? Neil was going to kill her if her sister’s issues derailed his whole premiere and press junket.
With a deep breath, Bethany got up and started to pace. It was time to come up with a plan.
Chapter Three
Dylan could hear her stomping across the length of her bedroom, back and forth, back and forth. It wasn’t an enormous room, for all the luxury – maybe a third of the size of the main suite sitting room. She could only be managing maybe ten steps before she had to turn round and head back again.
Through the doorway, he watched her reach the wall, pivot and start over. Clenching his jaw, he silently counted the steps, one to ten, and closed his eyes as she turned again.
He was a patient man. A forbearing man. He’d been trained to withstand torture without cracking, many years before.
But this? This was going to drive him insane.
‘You know you’d have more space to pace out here.’ The words came out of his mouth almost unbidden, and he mentally cursed himself when her footsteps stalled. Then, four quicker steps and she appeared in the doorway, scowling at him. The expression looked wrong on her angelic face, her famous dark chocolate eyes looking out from under her perfect blonde waves.
‘I thought the deal was that I’d hardly even notice you were here?’
‘I live to serve. I can be silent as the grave, if you like. Won’t change the fact you’ll be more comfortable pacing away your troubles out here.’ Dylan shrugged. ‘Just trying to be helpful.’
Maybe it was his obvious lack of interest in the reasons behind her pacing, or maybe
she’d realised that pacing in circles wasn’t getting her anywhere fast. Either way, Bethany slipped through the doorway and perched on the low back of the chaise longue, staring at him.
Oh God, he’d done it now. She was going to want to talk. Want to get his opinions, his thoughts on whatever her female dilemmas were. Dylan had been here with clients before, and it never ended well.
‘You were listening, weren’t you?’ Bethany tilted her head slightly to the side as she watched him, and Dylan fought the urge to fidget under her direct gaze. That, at least, had been trained out of him. ‘When I was talking to my sister.’
‘Your private conversations are not my concern, unless they affect my ability to protect you.’ A line directly from the company handbook, but true nonetheless. He didn’t care about her family dramas. He cared about her being safe. It was as simple and as straightforward as that.
‘But you were listening,’ Bethany pressed.
