Read When Lightning Strikes Online

Authors: Brenda Novak

Tags: #Retail

When Lightning Strikes (31 page)

It was easier to talk about the damage this might cause her
business than her life. Although she’d admitted the truth to Josh, he hadn’t
been around to see just how hard and fast she’d fallen for Simon, so at least
she didn’t have to talk about her personal feelings quite yet.

“I doubt it’ll cost us clients,” he said. “Simon can’t blame
you for this.”

“Doesn’t matter. It makes me look foolish and inept for getting
involved with him. And you and I both know how fickle Hollywood can be. If I’m
perceived to be ‘out,’ we’ll probably lose some of our clients, if not the
majority.”

“We’re good at what we do. We’ll survive,” he insisted.

At least since the sale of the wedding pictures to
People
magazine, Gail would have deep enough pockets
to carry the company for a number of months, if necessary. That was the one
bright spot in her agreement with Simon. The contract stipulated that if he
screwed up, she got the money, anyway.

Fortunately, she’d had the foresight to demand that
stipulation.

She glanced at the diamond ring he’d left her. She’d gone to
bed hoping it meant something, but now she knew better. She could sell it,
too.

“So you haven’t talked to him?” Josh said.

“No.” He’d tried to call her once, at 3:00 a.m. After she’d
talked to Serge, she’d noticed that missed call. But she’d been asleep when he
made the attempt, and she definitely wasn’t calling him back.

She couldn’t believe he’d try to speak to her right after
making love with Bella. Maybe he wanted to tell her before everyone else did.
Maybe he had enough of a conscience to want to give her some warning.

Josh sighed into the phone. “This is sad. Except for a few
naysayers who didn’t really matter, your marriage was well received. The
campaign was working.”

“Are you talking about the naysayers who were shouting that I
wasn’t attractive enough for Simon? Wasn’t dynamic enough? Wasn’t famous?” She’d
known she was a regular, average person going in. But somehow, she’d let herself
get caught up in the fairy tale.

“I mean those who are too stupid to know that you’re amazing,
that he was actually lucky to have you.”

The phone beeped, telling her she had another call. Assuming it
would be her father again, or Callie—Gail wasn’t looking forward to the moment
Callie learned what had happened—she checked.

It was Simon.

31

G
ail told herself not to answer. After what
Simon had done, she couldn’t imagine why he could possibly want to talk to her.
But her desire to hear
some
explanation won out.

Telling Josh she had to go, she called herself a fool for her
weakness but switched over. “Hello?”

He didn’t bother with a greeting. “I didn’t do it, Gail.”

Her hand tightened on the phone. She’d thought he might try to
present an excuse, or ask for her help in bailing him out of this latest mess.
She hadn’t expected complete denial. “That’s your face in the footage, isn’t
it?” she asked.

“It is. On the security video, anyway. I went there last night
to see Ty. I spent a couple hours with him—”

“At midnight?”

“Yes. I woke him up. But I didn’t have sex with Bella. I didn’t
even kiss her. She offered but I wasn’t interested.” He lowered his voice, which
made him so much more convincing. “All I could think about was you.”

The ache in Gail’s chest grew worse because now the betrayal
she felt was complicated by the fear that her love for him was making her
vulnerable to accepting what he said over what she saw with her own eyes. “If
that’s not you, who is it?” she asked, trying to hold out.

“I have no idea, but I didn’t sleep with her.” When she said
nothing, he went on. “I haven’t touched anyone since I’ve been with you. I
called last night because I wanted to tell you that I think we should stay
together. I don’t want to lose you.”

Gail pressed her palm to her forehead. She wanted to believe
him so badly. But she’d just been calling herself a fool for ever trusting him.
“I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you believe me. I’ve never lied to you.”

He’d done some crazy things, some ill-advised things, but he
was right—she’d never known him to lie. Still, caution advised her to proceed
slowly. “So where did that video come from?” she asked. “How did it get
made?”

“I’ve been trying to work that out. All I can imagine is that
she set me up. She knew if she let me see Ty I’d come over. Maybe she thought it
wouldn’t be that hard to get me into bed. Then she’d have the proof she needed
to destroy my marriage to you and wreck my chances of ever getting custody of
Ty. But I didn’t go for it. I wasn’t even tempted.”

“So…she had to do something else.”

“Yes. I’ve watched that damn thing so many times, trying to
figure it out. I bet it’s the same man in the video she sent me before.”

“What video?”

“It’s not pretty, but I’ll forward it. I think she dubbed my
face over his. Notice that once the sex starts, you don’t see much to identify
me.”

She noticed that he’d switched her to speakerphone, which meant
he was probably forwarding the video he’d mentioned.

“There’s just a glimpse of my face here and there,” he
finished.

If what Simon said was true, whoever had manipulated that
footage had done a damn fine job. “Would Bella really be capable of something
like that?”

“I’m sure she would,” he said. “She was very upset last night.
But this time she’s gone too far, crossed the line.”

“But it would take someone with real technical know-how.
Someone who was used to editing video.”

“Right. But thanks to me, she has plenty of contacts in the
movie industry.”

Her phone buzzed, signaling the receipt of a text message.
“Hang on.” She put him on speaker, too, while she watched the clip he’d sent. It
was Bella with someone else, all right. A message came with that erotic footage:
Ty’s new
daddy.

Gail was shocked by Bella’s desire to inflict pain. “When did
you get this?”

“The night I cut my hand.”

That made sense. Maybe she was making an earlier mistake worse
by wading in even deeper, but Gail had to go with her heart on this one, too.
“How do we prove it?”

He blew out a sigh. “You believe me?”

She allowed herself a wry smile. “Did you think you might have
trouble convincing me?”

“I was worried. I meant what I said. I don’t want to lose you,
Gail.”

“Be careful,” she teased. “You swore you’d never marry
again.”

“I’ll settle for avoiding another divorce.”

She laughed as relief flooded through her. They were in a mess,
but they had each other. “So what do we do now?”

“We take the video to a specialist, see if they can prove it
was doctored. We won’t let her get away with this.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Does that mean you’ll come to L.A. and stay with me until I
can get this cleared up?” he asked.

He wanted to know if she trusted him enough to stand by him
publicly. Was she willing to go through what the next few weeks would
require?

“I’ll be on the next flight.”

* * *

Gail thought she was coming to his rescue. Simon knew
that was the quickest way to get her to return to L.A. But she’d done enough for
him already. He was sober, he was innocent and he was angry. He’d get himself
out of this latest scrape.

Ian squinted against the sunlight that poured into his house
when he answered Simon’s knock. Then he scowled. “Simon. What are you doing
here? Why didn’t you just call me?”

Simon didn’t reply to the question, but asked one of his own.
“Late night, huh, Ian?”

It was easy to tell from Ian’s demeanor that he knew something
had changed. “Not too late, no. I collected you at the airport and then I came
home. Why?”

“Did you
stay
home?”

There was a slight pause. “Actually, I did.”

Pushing past him, Simon headed into the living room.
Fortunately, Ian lived alone so Simon didn’t have to worry about barging in on
anyone else. “Where’s your computer?”

Ian followed him. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because you have about five minutes to prove that you didn’t
doctor that video, or hire someone else to do it.”

“What video?” he said, but Simon could tell he knew. He knew
and yet he’d been sleeping. So when did he learn if not this morning, like the
rest of the world?

“The one where I’m supposedly having sex with my ex-wife.”

Ian tightened the belt to his bathrobe. “Simon—”

“I know you did it, Ian,” he broke in.

“No.”

“Then prove it.”

Hands spread wide, Ian stepped closer.
“How?”

“Give me access to your computer.”

He covered his face, then dropped his hands. “Come on, you know
I’d never do anything like that. If there’s a video out there, Bella must’ve
created it herself. Or your father helped.”

“It wasn’t my father.”

“How do you know?”

Because his frustration and disappointment this morning had
been too real. Because he’d meant what he’d said when he praised Gail, and he
was right about her, which lent him more credibility than he’d had in years. And
because he’d apologized for the incident with Bella. Tex didn’t have the
strongest character in the world, but Simon believed he’d been on the level
about all of that.

Besides, he’d signed the release. If he wanted to force Simon
back to L.A. he’d already had a way to try and do it. He’d accepted the loss of
Simon’s name on his movie.
Ian
was the one who felt
he stood to lose if Simon stayed in Whiskey Creek and fell any more in love with
Gail. “A lot of reasons.”

“But he was furious when I tried to give back your part in
Hellion.

“He signed a release, Ian.”

“That doesn’t mean he was happy about it.”

“He wouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t ready to let me go.
You
want me to make that movie even more than he
did. Why?”

“Sure, I want you to make that movie. I’m your manager, and
that’s an Oscar-worthy part. I hate to see you screw up your life just because
you’re suddenly pussy-whipped. But I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

“I wish that was true, Ian. I’ve been good to you. Paid you
well. Kept you on, even after what you did to Gail’s business, since I felt
somewhat responsible for that. But now I’m realizing a few things I should’ve
seen before.”

“No, you’re jumping to the wrong conclusions,” he said.

“Am I? Aren’t you who told my father where to find me in
Whiskey Creek?”

“Yes, but that’s because he wouldn’t leave me alone. I didn’t
want to piss him off. That wouldn’t have helped you. We talked about this.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, from the very beginning, that he was
one of the executive producers of
Hellion?

“I didn’t know! He wasn’t the person who approached us. They
can sell an interest to anyone they want and often do, to raise money. We don’t
get to dictate that, and you know it. I found out before you did and didn’t pass
it along because I didn’t want to upset you, but I didn’t know at first.”

That might be true, but there was more to what was going on
than Ian wanted him to find out. “I don’t think he had to push you very hard to
get you to tell him where I was. You wanted him to press me to leave Whiskey
Creek because there was something in it for you.”

“Like what?”

“Money. What else?”

“Come on. Look at this place.” He pointed to the furnishings
that surrounded them. “I’m doing fine. I’d never betray you.”

“Not unless it was worth it. What did Bella offer you? Or were
you the one making the offer to her? When I didn’t come home, when my dad signed
that release, which you probably never expected, did it spook you? Did you
promise her a chunk of change if she could get me back here?”

“Listen to yourself,” he scoffed. “You’re talking crazy.”

“Am I?” Simon spotted what he’d been looking for from the
beginning—Ian’s cell phone. Snatching it off the counter where it was charging,
he checked to see if he could get into it but it was password-protected. He held
it up. “What’s your password?”

Ian’s eyes widened. “That’s none of your business. Give me my
phone!”

“Either you give me your password so I can see who you’ve been
calling and who’s been calling you, or I’m going to the police. They can get
your records. You and Bella will both be busted.”

The color drained from Ian’s face.

“What’s it going to be?” Simon demanded. “Do you tell the truth
and take responsibility for what you’ve done? Or do I have to push it
farther?”

“Shit,” Ian breathed, and sank onto the couch.

* * *

Gail’s stomach was a riot of butterflies as the plane
landed. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to look into the face of reporter after
reporter and tell them all that she believed Simon was innocent. It wouldn’t be
easy to fend off all the paparazzi who’d be eager to get her reaction to Simon’s
“cheating,” either. But she wasn’t going to leave him in L.A. alone. Not only
was she his wife, she was his publicist. She’d figure out some way to get the
situation turned around.

She was staring down at her ring when everyone started to
deplane. She’d have to flash it around, use it as a symbol of his commitment.
Maybe that would help....

“Have a nice evening,” one of her seat partners said.
Fortunately, no one on the plane seemed to have any idea who she was.

With a smile and a nod, she collected her carry-on bag and made
her way into the airport. Once she reached the gate, she stepped off to one side
to call Simon and let him know she was in.

“Hey,” she said when he answered.

“You here?”

“Yeah. You?”

“I’m at baggage claim.”

“You could’ve picked me up curbside.”

“No, I decided to park. Can’t wait to see you.”

“I’m nervous,” she admitted. “This is going to be crazy.”

“I won’t let it get too bad. I promise.”

Was there anything he could do? She didn’t think so, but she
appreciated the protective sentiment. “We’ll get through it either way. See you
in a sec.”

Joining the flow of traffic, she headed down the escalator.
There was a crowd at the bottom, most of them holding cameras of some kind. She
could see the call letters of various television stations. Others were holding
microphones, or lights.

Instinctively, she knew they were waiting for her. But how had
they known when she was arriving?

Feeling her anxiety intensify, she hiked up her carry-on and
searched the crowd for Simon. He’d said he was in baggage claim. But would he be
there if all the media were, too?

Apparently so. It didn’t take her long to find him. He was
standing right in the middle of the crowd, wearing jeans and a leather jacket,
watching her walk toward him. The way everyone was waiting, as if they’d all
come to yell, “Surprise!” she almost got the impression he’d invited them here.
What was going on?

When her gaze met his, she asked that question with her eyes,
but he merely smiled and started toward her. The media hurried to keep up with
his long strides while taking photographs and video of them both.

“What is this?” she murmured when they were close enough to
speak.

“Ian and Bella doctored that footage. They’ve admitted it.”

“They have?” She could hardly believe it.

“They didn’t have much choice.”

“You know what that means, don’t you? You can prove that she
was purposely keeping you from Ty. You can win custody.”

“That’s what I hope.”

“So—” she glanced at all the media “—why are these people
here?”

“I asked them to come and document this.” Pulling her into his
arms, he kissed her. Then he held her chin in his hand as he said, “I love you,
Gail. I haven’t cheated, and I won’t. I would never do anything to hurt
you.”

The warmth of pure happiness poured through her as he kissed
her again. The crowd grew thicker, the noise grew louder, lights flashed and
cameras rolled, but she didn’t care if the whole world looked on. He was letting
everyone know he was completely committed to her.

They were just pulling apart when one of the reporters said,
“Oh, my God! Is that your ring?”

Other books

Charlotte in New York by Joan MacPhail Knight
Funny Once by Antonya Nelson
Dom Wars - Round Four by Lucian Bane
Nod by Adrian Barnes
Translucent by Erin Noelle
Beguiled by Paisley Smith
Explorer X Alpha by LM. Preston