“I’m in the middle of a business meeting,as you can see.”
Brenda’s expression sharpens. “With myson.”
“You don’t have any of those.” It takes me a second to realize that I’m the one who said that, and though the words make me nauseous, I stand by them. To emphasize the point, I get to my feet and tower over her. “You made that perfectly clear when I was six years old.”
“Derek.” She steps toward me but freezes when I hold up a hand. “I told you I was trying to fix that mistake.”
“Maybe for your own sake, but it has never been for mine.” There’s more ice in my tone than I’d like, but I can only do so much to hold back the lingering pain this woman caused me throughout my life. As much as I want to shut Shaw down and save the world fromHollywood Hot Scoop’s vitriol, more than anything I just want to move on from Brenda and live my life.
She’s been a part of it for too long, whether she knows it or not.
I look at Donovan, who seems to be waiting for me to decide how to proceed as she keeps me steady with her fingers laced through mine. I look at Brenda and her wild eyes as I’m sure she tries to find a way to shift things to her advantage. Then I look at Shaw, who still carries the same mournful resignation that he’s had since he arrived.
There isn’t a way for all of us to win here.
“Derek,” Brenda says again, her voice sugary sweet. “Let’s talk about this. Whatever you think I did to you, we can—”
“Whatever Ithinkyou did?” Fury and hurt push me to my feet, and though I hate losing my connection to Donovan, I stalk toward Brenda anyway, backing her up against the door. “You put all your guilt and shame on the shoulders of asix-year-oldand somehow think it wasmy fault?”
Brenda cowers beneath me but manages to still stare up at me with defiance. “You can’t pin your terrible childhood all on me,” she says with a scoff. “Yourfather—”
“My fatherwas betrayed by his wifeandhis brother and had to find out about it fromme. He did the best he could, even if that meant letting me go off on my own.You, on the other hand…” I growl in my throat and run a hand through my hair as the pain of the last twenty-five years bubbles up inside me. Though I drop my voice, it carries plenty of ice. “You’ve been tormenting me my whole life. You’ve always been in the back of my mind, telling me that I can’t mess up because I’ll ruin everything if I do. And when I gave you a second chance, you immediately tried to take advantage of the career I built through hard work. Then you go and pull this stunt withHot Scoop, and you expect me to roll over and pretend you’ve ever cared about me?”
As I step back and exhale, something loosens in my chest. The final weight I’ve been carrying since I was a kid seems to crumble and fall at my feet, leaving me feeling like I can breathe in fully for the first time in years.
“You’re done,” I say, and the words come out gentle. Calm. “You’re going to walk away from my life and never look back.”
Brenda’s jaw grows tight. Her defiance has faded, but it’s still there. “You don’t want that,” she says with an authority she has no right to.
“I really do,” I argue. “And if you don’t believe me, I’m more than willing to provide a restraining order to help you understand that I am entirely serious. You’re not my family. You’re never going to be. And if you do anything against the people I care about…” I step forward, towering over her and giving her a subtle glare. “I’ll make sure you get what you deserve. Okay?”
As tears pool in her eyes, she offers a wobbly nod. Something in her expression tugs at my heart, and guilt churns in my stomach. Maybe I could…
No. I’ve spent too much of my life letting her influence everything I do. This is the right decision, not just for me but for the people I love. I can’t back down now.
I turn to Shaw next. “This is over.” Honestly, I’m too tired to specify what I mean, so I hope he understands.
His eyes flick to Brenda, and he nods. “Yes, it is,” he agrees.
Brenda whimpers. “What are you saying, Neil?”
He drops his head, like he can’t bear to look at her. “I’m saying I’ve put up with this for too long. With you.” He sighs and meets my gaze for half a second before looking at his wife. “We’ll talk later, but your time in the media is over. And your time with me. Expect a call from my lawyer.”
She gasps. “Neil, be reasonable!”
“Later,” he presses, then holds a hand out to me. “Derek.”
Though a part of me knows I could do a lot more when it comes toHot Scoop, I don’t want to be here anymore. This isn’t the conversation I want to have or the people I want to spend my time with. So I shake Shaw’s hand, grab hold of Donovan’s, and leave, ignoring the two gawking writers as we pass.
“Did my Pops make you go soft?” Donovan asks when the elevator doors close. “That’s not at all how I thought that was going to go.”
I curve my lips up in a half smile I don’t really feel. “How did you think it would go?”
She shrugs. “The great Derek Riley bursts in, guns blazing and taking no prisoners. I expected more of the man I saw when Brody knocked me into the river.”
A hot rush of anger flashes through me at the memory, there and gone in only a second. “I expected more of that too,” I admit as the elevator opens on the ground floor and we start walking out to the parking lot.
Donovan sighs dramatically. “I expected you to shutHot Scoopdown entirely. Why didn’t you?”
