Page 215 of My Real Love Affair

“I know,” I said, stroking her hair. “But it’s just a little longer. Once Summer’s dealt with and the story comes out, we can go public for real. No more hiding.”

“How long?”

Cash considered. “Forty-eight hours, maybe seventy-two. Our legal team moves fast, especially when we give them this kind of ammunition.”

Melody nodded, but I could see the disappointment written all over her face. After everything she’d just been through, she deserved a damn parade.

“Actually, I have an idea,” Cash said. “Give me a minute. I know a way to make it up to you both.”

“What kind of idea?” Cleo asked suspiciously.

He made a call, stepping away slightly. We couldn’t hear the full conversation. “I know it’s late… consider it a favor…”

When he hung up, he was smiling. “Dane’s holding a private room for us at Edge. Back entrance, completely separate from the main restaurant. No one will see you together.”

“Are you sure?” Melody asked.

“Dane owes me about seventeen favors, and I just called in one.” Cash gestured toward the restaurant. “Come on. Let’s go celebrate properly. We earned it.”

Cleo climbed back into the car. “I knew I liked you, Cash Bancroft. You’re way more fun than you pretend to be.”

Cash looked genuinely pleased by that, which was somehow endearing. “I have my moments.”

Cleo and Melody sat in the back while I drove us to the restaurant.

We went around to the back entrance of Edge, where a staff member was already waiting to let us in. They led us through the kitchen where Dane himself was barking orders at his sous chefs. We were shown to a small private room.

Within minutes, drinks appeared, along with appetizers that Dane had apparently sent in.

“Okay,” Melody said, settling into the seat beside me and immediately curling into my side. “Play the recording. I want to hear what you guys heard.”

Cash pulled out his phone and cued it up. We listened to the entire dinner conversation. Hearing it played back was even more damning than experiencing it in real time. Summer’s voice, so confident and smug, admitting to everything. The casual way she talked about destroying my reputation for personal gain. Cash was making notes as he listened and sipped his drink.

“Holy shit,” Melody breathed when it finished. “She really just said all of that. I was so freaked out she was going to know what I was doing, I kind of blacked out for most of it.”

“She thought you were on her side,” Cleo said, raising her wine glass. “She thought she’d recruited you. You conned the con artist, babe. Epic.”

“I felt sick the whole time,” Melody admitted. “Especially when she started talking about how Austin treated her like furniture and never cared about her. It was so far from the truth, but she believed it completely.”

“Because she wanted to believe it,” Cash said. “It fits her narrative better if we’re the villains. It makes her the victim instead of the opportunist she actually is.”

I laced my fingers through Melody’s, grateful beyond words that she was here. I loved that she had been brave enough to walk into that room and face someone who wanted to destroy me.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“Now, our legal team files for an emergency injunction,” Cash explained. “They’ll be reaching out to that podcast within the hour. I’m sure they’ll cancel and Summer is going to beleft assuming it will be rescheduled. Then we’ll present the recording as evidence that Summer is acting in bad faith, doctoring evidence, and attempting to extort the family. The judge will likely grant a temporary restraining order preventing her from publishing anything until we can have a full hearing.”

“And The Spill Room?”

“We’ll send them a cease and desist, along with evidence that their guest is planning to present fabricated evidence. They won’t touch it. The legal liability would be enormous.” Cash took a sip of his drink. “Summer will wake up tomorrow to find every door closed. No podcast, no expose, no viral moment. Just a very real threat of being sued for defamation and extortion.”

“Good,” Melody said fiercely. “She deserves it.”

Cleo raised her glass. “To Melody, for being an absolute badass. To Cash, for having a conscience. And to Austin, for…” She paused, considering. “For not being as much of a disaster as I thought he was.”

“I’ll take it,” I said, raising my own glass.

We all clinked glasses and drank. I felt like I could actually breathe for the first time in about two days. The threat was neutralized. Summer was finished.