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She springs from the bed and walks over to me. “I did this for you.” She pokes me in the chest. “You can’t tell me you haven’t worried that she’s going to screw you over. You just wait. Once the pressure of the limelight becomes too much for her, she’s going to pull away and take your daughter with her. Or maybe you’ll realize it too—that this town is no place for a child—and you’ll willingly let her go. Either way, you’re going to be broken from it. I was just thinking of you and trying to speed up the process!”
“You weren’t thinking of anyone but yourself!” My voice is raw from yelling, but I can’t contain my fury. The woman I was going to marry, the woman I love betrayed me for her own gain.
Adelaide brings a hand to my chest, but I step back before she can touch me. Her eyes water but no tears fall. “You’ll see. One day you’ll see that I did this for you."
I shake my head. “There will no longer be a one day, Adelaide.”
She blanches. “What are you saying?”
“Exactly what you think I am. I can’t marry someone I can’t trust. If you knew anything about me, you'd know that.”
“Oh, please. We’re not breaking up over this,” she scoffs. When I don’t respond, tears set in her eyes. “James, we cannot cancel this wedding. The invites have gone out,Peoplemagazine is doing an exclusive… what will people say?”
“I don’t give a fuck what people say.”
Her eyes widen, and she clutches her chest. “Okay, maybe it was a mistake. I see that now, but you’re really going to throw us away because of it?”
I step forward and stare down at her with my jaw clenched, inhaling a deep breath to calm myself. “Youare the one who threw us away. In fact, right now, I feel like I never even knew you.”
She shakes her head. “This isn’t happening."
“I’m out of here.” I turn to leave, but she grabs my arm, trying to pull me to a stop. I wrench my arm out of her grasp. “I’d suggest you stay out of my way.”
“So, you can forgivehertime and time again, but I make one little mistake and that’s it?”
Whirling around, I bring myself face to face with her, our noses almost touching. “Lilah had her issues, but she never broke my trust. And when she finally did? She was out of my life too.”
With those parting words, I storm out of the room, grab my keys off the counter, and slam the front door behind me.
Chapter Sixty-seven
LILAH
Monica and I head upstairs to change into our swimsuits. The house Jimmy secured is large, with an indoor and outdoor pool. Monica keeps referring to it as a mansion. If she only saw the houses in Beverly Hills or Calabasas.
Part of me wonders if Jimmy intentionally got a house with two pools since he knows I still swim to relieve stress. Then I remind myself that Jimmy doesn’t think of me anymore unless it has to do with our daughter.
A cool breeze comes off the lake as the end of the summer months approaches, so I've decided the outdoor pool is off-limits. Thankfully, Monica is excited to have the indoor pool all to herself.
The front doorbell rings and I freeze, one foot raised to step on the first stair.
I convince myself there’s nothing to worry about. The press couldn’t reach us even if they found out where we are. There’s a coded gate to get on the property.
I look up at Monica, who’s ahead of me on the stairs. “Kiddo, you go on and see if you can find your swimsuit in the drawers where I unpacked it. I’ll be right up.” I smile, hoping she doesn’t notice how on edge a ringing doorbell made me.
“Okay, Mommy.” She races up the stairs.
I walk over to the door, my stomach turning. I knew this would be what exposure would be like. How long will I be able to shelter her? You’d think we had GPS installed under our skin the way those photographers can find anybody they want.
I unlock the door and open it a crack, stilling before swinging the door wide open. “Jimmy, what are you doing here?”
“Sorry, I should’ve called. My phone is dead and I didn’t have a charger.”
“Are you okay?” I wave him in and shut the door before securing the locks.
“No. But I don’t want to talk about it right now. I need to crash here for a bit though.” His hair is going in a million directions, dark circles are visible under his eyes. Then I remember he might have been in LA, but how would I behave being hundreds of miles away knowing Monica might be in danger? I wouldn’t be able to rest until she was in my arms.
“Of course, it’s your place so…” I notice he has no bags with him.
