Opal
“Damn . . .”Austin shakes his head at the video gone viral. “Kid has game.”
Trent, Austin, Sean, Jess, and Lexi gather around the center island of the kitchen and stare at the frozen screen. We flew in a few days ago for a short break in the tour, and are back at the mansion before we hit the road again.
Leighton’s admission that he loves me and wants me back is almost too much to hear, especially with everything I’ve been feeling. I don’t know whether I should feel relieved or happy or broken all over again. Instead it’s as if I’m numb to everything, stunned that he would even give an interview after all these weeks.
Trent glances up and meets my stare. “You think he’s blowing smoke?”
Maybe it’s that for the first time in months, I can take a full breath without feeling there isn’t enough air, but I want to believe what he’s saying is true. “Why would he lie? What would he have to gain?”
“You,” Lexi whispers softly and places her hand on my back.
I shake my head, my pulse racing as the reality sets in. “But this isn’t for me. He did this for you guys. Right?”
Trent glances at Sean, and then my sister. “He came to see us before the show in San Diego.”
“What?” The word escapes my lips and my heart hammers in my chest. Even my stomach rolls because I don’t quite understand how they wouldn’t mention that news until now.
“He claims he never took money. Just wanted the job. That Bedo used him as a smokescreen.” Trent’s gaze doesn’t leave mine. “That Bedo was the one playing us all along.”
That would mean he didn’t sell the story. My heart leaps with hope.
“I want to talk to Bedo. Now.” Austin grinds the words through his clenched jaw and slams his hand down on the counter.
“He should be here. He left the studio an hour ago.” Sean takes a seat on one of the barstools and pulls Jess onto his lap.
A nervous energy bordering on joy bounces in my body and I can’t sit still. Not when we’re here in Los Angeles. Not when Leighton might be closer to the man I believed he was. I push away from the counter and fling open the cupboards. With an almost panic speed I toss ingredients into a bowl. “I’m going to bake some cookies.”
“Best news I’ve heard all day,” Austin grumbles. “I can’t believe you guys didn’t tell me.”
“Didn’t tell him what?” Bedo struts into the kitchen, his gaze trained on his phone.
“Bedo, we need to talk,” Trent says and then nods to an open seat.
Bedo’s lips press into a thin line as he meets Trent’s stare. He glances at everyone in the room, even me, and then sets his phone on the counter. “What’s up?”
“Who is this woman?” Sean produces his cell, and on the screen is a headshot of that woman from the party in New York. The one I thought Leighton was checking out.
Bedo narrows his stare at the cell and then lifts his eyes to Sean. “She’s the CEO of WMI, why?”
“Because we hear you two are close.” Trent leans forward on the counter.
A tic, so small I wouldn’t have noticed had I not been staring, shutters with his smile. “Who told you that?”
“A little birdie.” Lexi grins, but it’s forced.
“My little shit of a nephew? He’s not the most reliable source. But I don’t have to tell you that, do I?” Bedo glares and turns his gaze to me.
I look away and concentrate on scooping dough onto a pan.
Trent’s voice is steady and calm as he addresses his manager. “We know he didn’t sell info to the gossip rags. We know it was you.”
“Oh, do you?” He laughs, but there’s no humor.
“Yeah,” Sean practically growls.
“And what if I did?”
