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“Isabel and I weren’t even an exclusive couple when I told her I wanted to pay her rent, so she could quit Francesca. Our serious relationship came a couple years later. But, right from the start, no matter what, or who, she was doing, I didn’t want her doing it for money. I always knew she was going to be a star. I wanted to free her up from taking shitty jobs just to pay the rent. I wanted her to make smart decisions for her career.”
Oh, Reed. Some things never change. He was a star-maker, right from the start. A man who took intense pleasure from helping others achieve their dreams and shoot for the stars. And he doesn’t think he was Isabel’s Prince Charming? Clearly, he was, right from night one.
Reed says, “It’s funny, at one point, I had a feeling you knew about Troy. But I convinced myself I was being paranoid. Remember that night I drove all over town, looking for your car outside of bars and clubs? I drove to Slingers that night, looking for you, because I found Troy’s name on their performance schedule.”
I gasp. “We must have just missed each other!”
“When I got there, the bartender said Troy had left with a blonde fifteen minutes before.”
“Holy hell. Thank God you didn’t run into him. Now that I know what I do, I never would have dropped that hint about what I was doing that night. I’d never want you and Troy to be in the same room. It wouldn’t have ended well. And rightly so. He’s such a douchebag.”
Reed glowers. “If I’d walked into that bar and found that fucker hitting on you, it’s fifty-fifty I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from wrapping my hands around his throat and squeezing the life out of him, right then and there.” His dark eyes flicker, and I know he’s dead serious.
“Is it wrong I get turned on when you look like you’re genuinely capable of committing murder?”
“Everyone is capable of murder, under the right circumstances.” His eyes flash. “And you’re my right circumstance.”
I bite my lip.
“As it is, I might have to settle this time for suing Troy’s punk-ass for breaching his confidentiality agreement. Tell me again everything he said to you that night. This time, word for word.”
I tell him everything Troy told me, and, when I’m done, we both conclude Reed probably wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on, thanks to the fact that it was mostly Troy’s facial expressions and body language, combined with my clever deductions, that led me to discover the most salacious and sensitive nuggets of information. Plus, would Reed really want to reopen that particular wound, in a forum as public as a lawsuit, now that Reed’s fame is a hundred times what it was when Troy sued him six years ago? The answer to that question, we both decide, is a resounding no.
“You were enraged Troy slept with Isabel, huh?”
“I was pissed he slept with Isabel. Yeah. Not gonna lie. But, more than that, I was enraged he betrayed me. When Troy slept with Isabel, I’d already broken up with her months before. So, she wasn’t cheating on me. I didn’t care if she fucked other people. I was doing the same. But Troy fucking her? That was a dagger to my heart.” He shakes his head. “I’d loved that asshole like a little brother. I’d taken him into my home and under my wing. I’d poured obscene amounts of money into his band and guided him every step of the way. I’d believed in him and backed him with my name and reputation. And then, Troy had to pick Isabel, of all the women in LA, to fuck? And more than that, he had to do it a mere two weeks before his debut album was set to drop? I couldn’t believe it. She’d come over lots of times while Troy and his band were staying at my house. He knew all about our relationship. I’d even told him about her one night over tequila. Pfft. Talk about a backstabber.”
“Her plan worked, though. You got back together with her after that. Exclusively. For two years.”
“Yep. It worked like a charm.”
“So, as pissed as you were at Troy, I can’t imagine you would have gone that scorched-earth on him, if it weren’t for your love for Isabel.”
He looks at me like I’ve just said two plus two equals five. “That’s what you think? That I dropped Troy’s band, and tanked his release, and lost all that money, and all that time and effort because he fucked Isabel? Because you think I loved Isabel, that much?”
“Well... yeah.”
He scoffs. “I beat the shit out of Troy because he betrayed me with Isabel. And because I was jealous as fuck. But the reason I destroyed Troy’s career had nothing to do with Isabel. I’m a businessman, Georgie. I ruined that motherfucker because I’d discovered, thanks to Isabel, he’d put my reputation—my entire label—everything I’d worked so hard to create—at risk. More than anything, that’s the reason I’ll always be grateful to Isabel and have her back. Because she had mine regarding Troy, big-time.”
