Bombshell (Hollywood A-List #1)(66)

Then she puked and wasn’t that just hilarious as a water bug in a june bug suit.

I followed Ken’s link to the trash rag that had posted the little flip book of bullshit. There were comments. Three digits’ worth. Something between 129 and 921. I knew enough. There wasn’t enough ink in the pen or time on the clock to help me figure out what they said. I used the voice app on one and in a flat monotone a female voice said:

Another slut masquerading as a caretaker for children. I feel sorry for that little girl.

It took every bit of effort not to throw the phone across the room.

I wanted to wipe these *s off the earth. Draw a line around Cara and destroy anyone who crossed it. I’d do it or I’d pay someone to do it.

I dictated a text.

—You get this shit down it’s bullshit. It’s camera angles. Tap my f*cking lawyer what’s his name—

I’d sent the text to Ken without thinking. I was exploding from the inside. I hadn’t been that angry since I didn’t even know when. I pulled the auto-read down to the lowest volume.

—Working on it. Get back here—

Where was laid-back Brad who didn’t give a shit? I had to take a breath. If Cara saw me like this, she was going to get upset.

I could make light of it, but Cara wasn’t stupid. And she wasn’t inexperienced with this bullshit either. Hollywood wives have long memories.

In the time it took me to think about Hollywood wives, the video of the tacked-together pictures was linked 170 or 701 times.

The comments. My God. So many. I couldn’t read them. I felt the anger roil all over again.

And I’d just f*cked her. That wasn’t going to help.

But it couldn’t be undone either. Couldn’t unf*ck the situation. Couldn’t unf*ck her. This was going to contaminate everything. I was gripping my phone so hard my knuckles were white.

“Can you put some clothes on?”

I looked up. Cara was standing in the doorway with her hand over Nicole’s eyes.

“Yeah, sure.” I rushed into the bedroom and closed the door.

There, I did something I didn’t think about long enough. Something I never thought I’d do.

I set up a lie.

If I showed her, she’d never feel safe with me. Of all the reasons to hide what I knew, one terrified me the most.

I needed to see where it went with her. Just to see. I didn’t know why. We were going nowhere, but it was a compulsion. If she knew about this, my compulsion would never be satisfied.

I wasn’t an intense guy. Not normally. But this was real. I needed to protect her and whatever it was we were doing.

Just to see.

I took a screenshot of the website when the flip-book video of her puking was on. Did it a few times until I got it right. I deleted the link to the website and Ken’s text. Deleted my cache and history so the social media links would disappear. It took twice as long as it should have because I was stressed and everything was jumbled.

That wasn’t going to hold up for long.

I e-mailed the front desk. Told them my daughter was in trouble and needed the Wi-Fi password reset so she couldn’t get on her iPad.

“It’s improv,” I told myself. “Just say yes.”





CHAPTER 49


CARA


Nicole wanted to watch TV, so I let her while I read a text from Blakely.

—Where are you? I have to tell you something— —Disney— —I thought you weren’t going?— —Didn’t you have something to tell me— —I GOT A CALLBACK!— —Also there was something that just showed up on Twitter— —Congratulations!— —What?—

Brad came out of his room with a spring in his step. In pants. And shoes. I was immediately suspicious. Even Nicole, who was watching the pony show with a little bowl of O-shaped cereal in her lap, noticed.

“I like your shoes, Daddy.”

“Thank you. I like your barrette.”

They were tennis shoes, but they were newish. I wondered if I had inspired the switch from sandals and shorts. I turned my phone off and put it facedown on the shiny dining room table.

“Did you want to get lunch?” I asked. He came to the table and leaned over.

“You’re the only thing I want to eat.”

“Cute. Your daughter needs more than dry cereal. And then we should head back out. We didn’t see half the park before I launched my cookies.”

He chuckled, then turned to Nicole.

“Nicole, honey, how would you like to see Grandma and Grandpa?”

She bolted upright. “Grandma!?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re coming?”

“No, we’re going there.”

I felt powerless. He was leaving Disney early, and I couldn’t help but think it was because of me.

“If this is because I puked, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Forget it. I think we can squeeze ten days in before we have to leave for Thailand.”

“My thirty days is up during that shoot.”

“It’s perfect, listen.” He held his hands out as if they could contain me. As if I already had one foot out the door . . . which, maybe I did even if I didn’t realize it. “You and I have this problem. You work for me,” he put his right hand to the right side, and his left to the left as if weighing gold dust on a scale, “and we have a personal relationship. So you go to Arkansas as Nicole’s nanny, and you come back from Thailand not her nanny.”