Kristen winced. “I turned mine off—did you not think to turn off yours?” she added.
“Wait, what was that you said about dating in the past?” Carter moved in front of Dorian looking shellshocked. “They haven’t—I mean…” I watched realization dawn across his face in real time. “Hold on…wait a sec.Thisis your Drew?” Shock was giving way to anger now.And the cameras were there to catch every second.
The crew went silent as we waited for Kristen to say something. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
“Yeah, we dated,” she admitted quietly. “But it was a long time ago. I didn’t think it was relevant.”
Fuck. Not how I would’ve handled it.
Carter folded in half for a moment then popped up like he was ready for a fight. “Not relevant? Are you kidding me? You want us to get married at your ex boyfriend’s fancy-ass resort?”
This was bad.
He strode closer, looking furious with his hands balled into fists. “What else have you been lying about? Are you twofucking? Have you been screwing around behind my back this whole time?”
Okay, we were now one spark away from a five-alarm fire. This wasn’t just a question of bad PR for the resort from the wedding getting cancelled. This had the potential to utterly destroy my personal reputation, forever. I’d be known as the guy who killed Carten—and that shit would haunt me for the rest of my living days. I’d seen firsthand how dangerous it could be to get in a war with a beloved celebrity. My brother had faced the wrath of Scarlet Rush’s fans when he’d accidentally insulted their icon and he’d barely lived to tell the tale. If I was held responsible for this—for ruining the love story that had captured the hearts of people around the world—I’d never be able to show my face in public again.
I needed to do something. I glanced at Emilia and she looked frozen in shock.
“Carter, absolutely not!” Kristen exclaimed. She jogged over to him and stood between us like she was a left tackle. “No way. I loveyou. Everything between Drew and me ended years ago.”
Carter clearly wasn’t buying it. “So what was with the hugging?” he demanded.
I glanced over at Dorian hoping he’d intervene but he was grinning at them like an ambulance chasing attorney at a crash site. It was up to me to stop the bleeding.
I cleared my throat. “The hug was just a friendly gesture. She was upset; I was trying to help.”
Like hell would I ever be doingthatagain. From now on, if someone needed comforting, I’d make supportive noises at them from the other fucking side of the room. Or, better yet, I’d get the hell out of dodge and leave someone else to do the comforting. When it came to dealing with heavy emotions, I was the last person anyone should expect to be able to help.
“There’s nothing going on between us,” I tried to assure Carter.
Carter whirled to face me, his hands still fisted. The last thing I wanted was to fight a guy who made a living flexing for the camera in his fancy home gym.
“Like I’d believe a word out of your mouth, man. What, were you laughing at me all this time? Fucking my girl behind my back and thinking I was too stupid to notice?”
He was practically kicking up dirt like an angry bull.
“Absolutely not,” I tried to assure him. “I’d never even think to look at Kristen that way now.”
For some reason, this seemed to make him even angrier. “Oh, so you’re saying that she’s not good enough for you anymore, is that it? Mr. High and Mighty Ashford thinks he’s above all of us now?”
He was spoiling for a fight, and it was going to take something drastic to redirect him. Something dramatic. Something that would turn the tables completely and catch him off guard. Otherwise, this was going to get very ugly very fast. I scanned around, searching for something I could use…
I caught Emilia’s gaze and watched her eyes widen and she gave a not-so-subtle shake of the head telling me that whatever I was thinking,I needed to stop it. I couldn’t. I silently pleaded with her and she mouthed “no.”
I could imagine her thinking something like “not my monkey and not my circus,” but she was a part of this now too. Both of our reputations would be on the line if Carter decided to move the wedding venue or worse. He complained to his twenty million followers. This would be worse than the drama with Harrison and Scarlet Rush fans.
Decision made.
“Carter, I’d never dream of starting something back up with Kristen because I’m already taken.” I strode over to Emilia and grabbed her hand. Her mouth dropped open and she gaped at me, waiting for me to keep talking.
“Emilia and I are in love. We’re engaged.”
9
EMILIA
Iwas holding hands with the devil.
