The Game (Wagered Hearts Series, #3)(45)

"How?" I asked.

"Some girl says Rob confessed it to her. An ex-girlfriend or something," she said.

I felt rage swell within me. So he had gone and told her about our contract. I couldn't believe he would do that, but then I remembered them leaving together and I felt a new wave of anger wash over me. That jackass!

"What's the damage?" I asked.

"It's pretty bad, Emilia. Arnie and I have been fielding calls all morning. Everyone is running with the story. It's going to be plastered all over the headlines for the foreseeable future, unless some other scandal breaks," she said.

As she was speaking, I walked over to my desk and pulled out my Ipad. I typed in the address of a popular gossip blog and waited while the page loaded. My eyes were greeted by a candid shot of Rob and the woman at the party last night. The shot was blurry, like it had been taken with a camera phone, but it was still clearly Rob. His face was unmistakable as he was smiling down at the girl, his body only inches away from hers as he rested his arms on the wall, surrounding her. The headline read: "Rob Reveals Engagement a Publicity Stunt".

I tried to read the article, but my eyes couldn't focus and I had to keep reading the same sentence over and over again. Eventually I gave up. The picture and headline were damning enough. I still couldn't believe Rob would do this to me. As if it weren't humiliating enough rubbing my nose in his affair, he had to go and blab to her about our secret arrangement.

"How do we fix this?" I finally asked.

I had to put Rob out of my mind. My career took top priority and this scandal had the potential to overshadow everything. I couldn't let that happen. I needed to focus on damage control.

"We need you and Rob to get together and shoot down the rumors. You need to be seen together almost 24/7, show lots of PDA. You might need to extend the length of the contract until the heat is off you," she said.

"That's impossible," I said.

"What are you talking about? You need to combat these rumors and the best way is to show everyone that you and Rob are very much in love."

"I--I can't," I said, weakly.

If she had suggested anything else, I would have done it in a heartbeat, but she was asking too much. I couldn't bring myself to even look at Rob or be in the same room as him, much less act like I was in love with him and show affection. It was too painful. Because the truth was, I was in love with him. Somewhere along the way, his kisses and touches had gotten to me. We'd crossed that line and now there was no going back. For me anyway. I wasn't that good of an actress.

"Why? Is he backing out? Because if he even tries, after breaking the confidentiality agreement, we can nail his ass to the wall. Our lawyers will go after him."

"No, it's not that," I said cutting her off. "I haven't spoken to him, and I don't want to. The engagement is over. We need to find another way to fix this without Rob's help. And forget the lawsuit too. It'll only make us look like idiots if we pursue it."

"I don't get it. What's happened Emilia?" she asked.

Her voice took on a note of concern and I decided to tell her everything. It had all gone to hell anyway, what was one more confession in the grand scheme of things? Besides, Charlotte was the closest thing to a real friend I had, and if anyone were to know, it should be her. She'd never steered me wrong before.

"Can you believe I went ahead and actually fell in love with the bastard?" I said, trying to laugh it off, but it came off sounding hollow.

There was a long pause and I almost thought Charlotte hadn't heard me, when I finally heard her cough nervously on the other end. "What was his reaction when you told him?" she asked.

"I never told him," I said.

"What? Why not?"

"Because it's clear he doesn't feel the same. Why humiliate myself even more?" I answered.

"How can you know that? You don't know that!" she said, sounding almost angry. "Maybe if you told him how you feel, he might feel the same and that would solve our problems right there. You wouldn't need to fake it anymore."

"Just stop, Charlotte," I said blowing out a weary breath. "It's over. Anything moving forward will have to be without Rob. I know you just want to help, but that is not an option."

"He might love you, you know?" she said quietly. "And I'm not just talking to you like your manager, but as a friend. You'll never know unless you give him a chance."

I was touched by her words. Charlotte had never shown this softer side before. I knew she was fiercely loyal and could be cutthroat at times, but she'd always looked out for me and I knew she had my best interests at heart. Still, I had to put an end to her delusions about Rob. That ship had sailed.

"I know you mean well, but Rob and I are over. We never were. If he loved me, like you think, he'd never have gone off with his ex. He'd never have told her about our agreement. I can't even be mad at him. He made it a point to remind me over and over again that this relationship was fake. It was my fault for falling for him in spite of his warnings," I said.

Charlotte exhaled loudly and I had half suspected she would argue or try to talk me out of it, but she didn't.

"All right, if that's your decision, I will do what I can to help you. I just want you to know it might be a bumpy road for a while. It might risk your chances of even being nominated this year," she said.