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Troy takes a swig of his beer and empties it. So, I quickly buy him another one, to keep him nice and loose. “Actually, he told me he’d ‘never’ settle with me—’not in a million years.’ He said he’d ‘see me in hell’ before he’d pay me a dime.” Troy smirks. “Little did he know, though, I had an ace in my pocket, which I used to bring him to his knees.”
I lean forward, egging him on. “Oooh, this is gonna be good.”
Troy pauses. “Shoot. Sorry. As much as I want to tell you, this part isn’t in the public record.”
“So, help me guess it. What sort of thing was this ‘ace in your pocket’? Information?”
He nods. “Confidential information he didn’t want anyone to know.”
My eyebrows ride up. “About him?”
Troy smiles deviously. “No. About his ex.”
“The one...?” I point to my phone, referencing the photo of Isabel Randolph I showed him earlier, and Troy nods.
“It was something, to this day, she’d never want the world to know about her. So, I thought, ‘Hey, if he cares so much about me hooking up with his ex, then he’ll probably pay to keep the world from finding out her secret.’ And guess what? I was right.”
My heart is thumping. I’m on the bitter cusp of blowing this thing wide open—whatever “this thing” is. “Holy crap, Troy. You’re a genius.” And a disgusting blackmailer. “She told you this secret?”
Troy shakes his head. “Not intentionally. She and I were watching TV together one night, just her and me, when a news story came on TV that made her gasp in shock. It was a news story about a particular woman. So, I was like, Do you know her? And his ex said, no, she didn’t know the woman in the news story. But it was obvious she was lying.” He snorts. “So much for her being a talented actress, huh? So I told her, ‘Hey, I know you’re lying. And I know why you must be lying. But don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.’ And I swear I was planning to keep my promise to her. But then, when she went straight to her ex to tell him we’d hooked up, and he went fucking crazy on me, I was like, ‘Well, fuck my promise.’ So, I told the label guy I’d sell her secret to the highest bidding tabloid, if he didn’t settle my lawsuit. And that was that. He settled with me the very next day.”
Holy shit. Doesn’t this idiot realize what he just described to me was textbook extortion? Reed didn’t settle Troy’s lawsuit, he succumbed to a brazen blackmail scheme... and only to protect Isabel!
Oh, God. I’m reeling. I don’t want to swoon over Reed being Isabel’s white knight. I don’t want to hear that Reed would slay any dragon for that woman—because it only twists the knife already lodged in my heart. But I can’t help swooning, just a little bit, despite myself, to realize, yet again, Reed really is a ride or die kind of guy for the people he loves. Like he told me once, if you’re on his short list, he’ll do anything for you. Too bad I never made it onto his short list. I clear my throat. “Good for you, Troy. That label guy screwed you over, so you screwed him over, even harder. That’s so hot.”
Troy licks his lips. “You’re so hot.” With that, he leans forward, obviously intending to kiss me. Abruptly, I jerk back and take a long drink of my club soda, pretending not to realize I just stiff-armed him.
“So, come on. Give me a little hint about that secret.”
I jut out my breasts, and Troy’s gaze drifts directly to them, right on cue.
But, dammit, he shakes his head. “For all I know, you could sell the secret to the tabloids, or tell someone else who’d do that. One way or another, the information could get out, and then the psycho would know I’d talked, and he’d sue me for breaching the confidential settlement.”
Damn. I bet if I slept with Troy, I could get him to sing to me like a canary about this secret. But that’s never going to happen. Not in a million years. Even if I found Troy attractive, which I don’t, it’s clear to me now my heart still belongs to Reed, whether I like it or not. And that means my body belongs to him, too—simply because that’s the way I’m wired. When I love, I do it with everything I am. My heart, mind, body, and soul.
Troy touches my arm, making me stiffen, and leans into me. “You have really pretty eyes, Georgia.”
I feel no need to correct him on my name. In fact, I’m glad he got it wrong. “Thank you, Troy. So do you.”
