I slumped against the wall, my palms sweating. “No, I’ll be okay. I’m just so humiliated.”
“You have nothing to be humiliated about. You did nothing wrong,theydid. I knew we couldn’t trust him with that bitch.”
I paused. “What? What bitch? What are you talking about?"
“Angie. What are you talking about?”
“Angie? What does she have to do with anything?”
“Her and Alfie? The photos of them?”
“Hang on.” I kept her on the line while I did a quick google search. I clicked on one of the many gossip rag news articles that had apparently been published in the last few hours. Alfie and Angie together in a darkened corner of some bar. It looked private, intimate. She pressed a hand to his face, he looked like he was kissing her but the angle made it hard to tell where. Her cheek? Her mouth? I stared at the photos, my blood rushing in my ears until Keira's voice snapped me out of it.
“Lo? Hello? What’s going on?”
“I’m here. These pictures are bullshit. I’m not falling for it.” I decided to fill her in on what had been going on. Keira was the last person on earth who would judge someone for getting their kink on.
“Fuckballs. How did Damien let this happen? Oh, I’m gonna punish him.”
“Don’t threaten him with a good time, Keira.” Whatever she had planned, Damien would probably enjoy it.
“Whatever. My advice for dealing with this? Style it out. If they release the pictures, so what? Telling the world you have an amazing sex life is not the worst thing in the world.”
“I’m not you, Keira.” I didn’t wear my kink on my sleeves like she did, if a kink was even what I had. I didn’t have a fetish for anything but Alfie Tell.
“I know, but maybe you could take a leaf out of my book if the worst does happen. Remember, Alfie would set the world on fire before he let you be humiliated like this. Don’t forget who he is and what he’s capable of. This man was able to film every part of your life for years without you knowing. He planted a spy in your home. Do you really think he’s not going to be able to find out who did this?”
“You’re right. I know you’re right.” I just needed to hear someone else say it. Just then, I heard a strange, whirring sound in the distance. I turned and looked across the skyline. I shook my head.
“Speaking of Alfie Tell, his helicopter is about to land.”
“Of course it is. Fancy fucker.” I could practically hear Keira rolling her eyes. I didn’t know what he was doing here but I was glad to see him. “See you at Natalie’s wedding?”
“Yeah,” I replied, “you’ll get to meet Alfie’s sister.”
“What now?”
“Fill you in later. I love you.”
I hung up and it was only then that I saw the ten missed calls from Alfie. The calls Maia had heard hadn’t been from Keira, they were from him. Shit. No wonder he was making a big entrance. Alfie didn’t tolerate missed calls. Especially when there was drama. Though why he hadn’t just called Maia I didn’t know.
I left the room and hurried down the stairs. The entrance hall echoed with my footsteps. I rushed to the doors and pulled them open. I stood on the steps in my nightdress, watching as he stalked across the lawn, the dusky moon rising overhead.
“I didn’t do it,” he said as he reached me. “I didn’t cheat on you.”
“I know. I left my phone in my room, that’s why I didn’t answer you. I didn’t see the stuff about Angie until just now. I’m sorry.”
He paused, as if I might be tricking him. “You aren’t angry?”
“No.” I cupped his face. “I trust you.”
He frowned. “With Angie? I thought?—”
“We’re not back at the beginning. Promise. I do want to know why you were with her.”
“I wondered if it might be her sending the photos. It’s not her style but I’ve been checking every avenue. She was in Londonanyway and I wanted to see her face to face to see if she was lying.”
“She wasn’t. She wouldn’t.”
