AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She touched the messy knot she’d thrown her hair into. “Will you tell my team I need my stylist and glam squad in here—now. I can’t attend the press conference looking like…”
His lips twisted at one corner. “Like you crawled out of bed after a very…very…satisfying night?”
Her breath came faster. She leaned toward him. He cupped her face in his big hand and moved in to kiss her.
The door handle jiggled as someone tried it again.
“Damn.” He dropped his hand and stepped back. “You get ready. I’ll be waiting to escort you.”
In a few strides, he reached the door and was gone. The whirlwind of the next half hour was spent primping her and creating a glowing look that included a trace of lip gloss and mascara, and brushing out her hair until it waved over one shoulder and was tucked behind one ear.
Her stylist selected a boho-style sundress that fell to the tops of her thighs not unlike what she’d worn in those engagement photos.
Like the dress Julius had stripped off her.
She drowned in memories of their night together as her team stood back to examine her appearance. After a hasty stamp of approval, Julius was allowed in. And with his hand splayed over her spine, he directed her downstairs to a banquet room set up with a long table where she would sit with her manager and talk to everyone who wanted to know more about her personal life than the new album she’d soon be recording.
The minute the door opened, they were swamped by paparazzi. The press thrust microphones in front of her and Julius’s faces and fired questions at them about their engagement.
Out of nowhere, two men in black Stetsons flanked her. She felt Julius’s hand leave her spine and looked around frantically.
“Keep walking,” Clay said.
“But—”
“Don’t say anything,” Jennings advised from the other side of her.
With no choice whatsoever, she let them lead her to the table at the front of the room. Heidi was there to guide her to a seat, and she took it. The Sentry team stood at her back, watching over her. But where washerbodyguard?
She craned her neck to see over the crowd swarming in front of her and at the back of the room, around Julius.
“Oh my god!”
Heidi leaned close to her. “It’s okay. Things are going just as planned.”
“As planned? This is insane! It’s never been like this before,” she whispered back.
She looked up to see Lark moving in on her other side. She offered Avalynn a smile that didn’t help calm her at all.
“I don’t want to do this,” she told Heidi.
“It’s going to be all right, Avalynn. You’re an old pro at these things.”
She was. But she’d never had a sex tape out or a new fiancé—who was fake. What if she slipped and mentioned that those photos were all faked too, that it happened the previous night and the dates were all changed to make it look as though it took place—
Her mind screeched to a halt as the date imprinted on those photos clicked in her mind.
The exact same date as the one on that sex video.
They really made it all happen. They made it look as if that tape was filmed on the night of their engagement and that it really could be her with Julius.
After mere moments, Heidi brought the conference to order. The crowd silenced. Avalynn sought out Julius once more, but her gaze only skimmed over him before Quaide led him out of the banquet room.
She yanked on Lark’s arm, drawing her attention. “Where is Quaide taking him?”
“Don’t worry, he’s safe. So are you.”
“That isn’t what I asked!” Her voice rose a notch too high, and Lark gave her a sympathetic look.
