Flashes detonated as the doors parted, paparazzi frothing behind stanchions while airport security fought to fend them off. Zara, Shawn, and I gasped, each of us instinctively shielding our faces. “Did they find out Barnes is here?” I asked helplessly, but Zara had frozen before a nearby news kiosk, tabloids glaring back at us… More specifically,weglared back at us.
Splashed across theDaily Mail, theNew York Post, and every other gossip magazine were sundry portraits of me, Shawn, and Barnes. Including screenshots… from a video recording of me and Shawn on our night alone at the hotel in Shanghai. Little heart emojis covering our crotches as we blithely fucked in the penthouse.
“But… I heard Troy say the cameras were down…” Shawn said, barely audible.
“Theywere.” Zara was red with fury as she brandished her phone. “And now I need to know why the network didn’t tell their own showrunner about this the second we landed.”
Right as she unlocked her screen, a paparazzo evaded the security guards, barreling right at us. He shoved Zara, and on instinct I blocked him, flinging him to the ground like I’d done to countless linemen before him. “Do NOT touch her!”
“Hey!” Zara gripped me. “You can’t give these scumbags a reason to sue you!”
But the floodgates were open, unwelcome questions drowning us in their undertow.
“How do you feel about the video that leaked last night to TMZ?”
“Shawn, where does Luke rank in your stable of studs?”
“Was this video revenge on your husband for his own sex tape?!”
“How will this affect your custody battle with Barnes?”
A fresh wave of howls erupted as a hand pulled me toward a nearby gray door marked GENDERNEUTRAL &FAMILYBATHROOM. I rushed inside out of sheer instinct. In the mirror, I caught Barnes duck in behind me, the two of us running from the mob. Just like old times.
The seconds it took him to bolt the bathroom door felt like a decade. Barely a sound intruded. We might as well have been in a tomb. “I’m so sorry… This was the only way to—”
“To what?” I interrupted flatly. “Threaten me financially or steal my children?”
“I wouldnevertake the kids from you!” His palms pressed into his eyes, muffling an anguished groan. “Christ, this has spun so far out of control. I don’t even know how to start.”
“Start with a lie. Historically that’s always worked.”
“No, listen, I came here for you, I swear.” My head tilted in disbelief as he continued pleading. “Ever since you left for Italy, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to make things right, to show what you mean to me. At first I thought I could wait until you got home, but then I realized I canonlydo it here, especially once…”
“Once what?”
“Once the kids mentioned you were seeing someone.”
“I never told the kids that!”
His hands fluttered, trying to placate me. “No, I know, I pieced it together from little things they said… So I pitched the network about coming to help you win.”
“Right, immediately after you got expelled from the Senate,” I snapped. “And how dare you tell the kids you were going tobring me home, like I’d abandoned them and you’re the savior hauling me back? There’s no way you’re here to ‘help’ the man your own lawyer called a glorified babysitter.”
“He said that?” Barnes looked like he’d vomit. “Look, I was wrecked when you filed for divorce, even if I had no right to be. I’ll admit I told him to play hardball, but I’ll fire him—”
“Oh, I wouldn’t. Because if you think I’m backing off full custody, you’re delusional.”
“Luke, our family is my entire world, I’ll never forgive myself for jeopardizing—”
“Then why did you?!”
“Answers to big questions like that aren’t simple,” he said after a moment, leaning despondently against the door. “They ‘come in waves,’ at least that’s what my therapist says.”
“I do not need to hear about your fucking therapist. Unlock the door.”
He moved back in front of me. “What will make you believe I want to help you?”
“Well, we’re in an airport. Get on a plane and fly the fuck away. That would help.”
