The media frenzy Maddie had started still hadn’t died out, so Serena hadn’t posted anything new recently. And she’d extended her stay at the hotel for another week, while a driver took Avery to and from school, and Serena used it as an excuse to buy them a bunch of new clothes.
All of which I only knew because I knew someone at the hotel. Their security was strict, but my contact was willing to give me limited information about Serena, as long as I kept my mouth shut about where I got it if I was ever asked.
Seeing those photos pop up of her and Avery driving into the underground garage after everything went down had been bittersweet. I was relieved she had somewhere safe to stay where no one could easily reach her, but I was also sad and guilty that she and Avery had been run out of their home because of my mistakes.
Yet another thing I needed to make right. Which today would hopefully accomplish.
I stood in front of the mirror in my walk-in closet while Sarah held up two ties for me to consider.
“The navy is safer.” She lowered the other option to her side. “It’s classic and says that you’re taking this seriously, but you’re still the action hero America trusts.”
Glancing at her over my shoulder, I asked, “You got all that from a tie?”
“Um, yeah.” She quirked a brow. “Have you never heard how Sally talks about your wardrobe?”
My stylist took her job very seriously, and she would’ve had a fuck of a lot more to say about that tie. But that didn’t mean I was going to wear it.
“Neither.” I stared at my reflection. The man looking back at me looked exhausted. I unbuttoned the top button of my white shirt and rolled the sleeves to my forearms. “No tie. Just this.”
Sarah’s eyebrows shot up. “You look great, but that is way more casual than what you normally wear on camera.”
“Exactly.” I met her gaze in the mirror. “I’m not doing the polished Hudson Holt routine today. I’m telling the whole ugly truth.”
“Does Bianca know about this plan?”
“No.”
Sarah’s audible gasp at my answer was understandable. My publicist was going to flip her shit when she saw what I was about to do, but by then it’d be too late. The interview would be out there already, and she’d be stuck managing the fallout.
“Is that why you’re doing it here?” Sarah asked as she put both ties away. “Fewer people to leak this whole thing to Bianca?”
“No, I just refuse to hide behind a neutral studio set.”
As I walked out of the large closet, the ocean crashed behind the floor-to-ceiling windows—the same view Serena used to love waking up to. If I was going to bare my soul, I wanted it to happen in the house where I still felt her presence.
Elena Vargas arrived exactly on time. She was intelligent, respected, and known for not letting celebrities off the hook with canned answers. Perfect for what I had planned.
We sat across from each other on the big sectional while the camera crew finished setting up. Sarah hovered just out of frame, tablet in hand, ready to step in if anything went sideways, although I knew she was mentally cussing me out for not calling Bianca instead.
She wasn’t alone in that. Elena’s producer checked in with me one last time before the cameras started rolling. “We’re ready to go, but you’re certain you want to do this without Bianca?”
I hadn’t done an interview without my publicist in the room in more years than I could recall. She liked to be close enough to ensure I didn’t answer any off-limits questions and that the interviewer stayed on topic. But that wasn’t an issue today because I needed to fight lies with the truth, and I could only do that by being open and honest without too many guardrails, which Bianca definitely would’ve put in place.
Elena shot her producer an exasperated look. “Quit trying to talk him out of this.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I waved off their concern. “I’m not going anywhere until we’re done, and I don’t need my publicist here.”
Elena smiled. “You heard the man.”
“Easy for you to say,” her producer muttered before stepping back with a frown. “You’re not the one who’s going to get their butt reamed when this airs. I am.”
With my confirmation that I was determined to do the interview, she quickly got the cameras rolling.
Elena leaned forward, her mic clipped neatly to her blouse. “Hudson, you’ve always been famously private about your dating life. You’ve never commented on rumors, except with expertly crafted statements from your publicist when you were ready to go public with a relationship or when you were back on the market again. So what’s changed? Why are we here today?”
I didn’t look at the camera. I looked straight at her, then past her toward the spot on the deck where Serena and I had shared late-night wine and laughter before everything went to hell.
“Because being quiet won’t stop the speculation that’s swarming around Serena and me.” My voice came out rough, and my signature devilish smirk was nowhere to be seen. “It’s not my dating life we’re talking about. It’s my love life. Serena Watts is the only woman I’ve ever loved. The only one I want to build a future with. And I messed that up. Badly.”
