Princess of Hollywood (The Glitterati Files #2) - Maggie Dallen Page 0,22

have an illicit affair.”

He gave a little snort of amusement. “I’ll deal with that when the time comes.” He arched his brows meaningfully. “I’ll deal with your father when the time comes too.”

I winced just thinking about it. “You don’t know my dad, Brandon. He doesn’t renegotiate.” But even as I said it, I wondered. What if the day came when Brandon could come out of the closet and our fake relationship would be over and I would be free to date whomever I wanted?

Jack’s face instantly filled my mind.

Yeah, I definitely wondered what would happen when that day came.

Or maybe… I hoped.

Whatever it was, this feeling was a weird one, and I didn’t know what to make of it. So, I crammed it right back into whatever dark hole it had come out of. After all, ever since dinner last week, Tess had been nothing but cryptic. It wasn’t like she’d given me much to hope for. She’d revealed almost nothing except that she’d enlisted Vivien to help get some leverage on Daddy, and that she needed my help to get some more necessary information.

She’d given me only the barest of details, but it was enough to figure out one thing.

Tess was investigating Daddy.

What she’d learned so far, and how long she’d been at it… I had no idea. And quite honestly, I was still wrapping my head around it. I mean, this new information meant I had to readjust all of my former feelings toward Tess. All this time, I’d been so sure she was Daddy’s lapdog. His spy and his lackey. And now…

Well, I still didn’t know much. But I didn’t think it was because she didn’t trust me, I kind of thought it was just her way. Tess was more mysterious and secretive than I’d ever realized. The more I realized how sneaky she was, the warier I became.

Like, seriously. How much crap did my sister have on me?

Brandon was eyeing me, waiting for me to respond.

Right. We were discussing Jack. My Jack. Jack who’d asked me to stay...

I glanced up at Brandon and he arched his brows up higher, prompting me to respond. To open up.

Honestly, I’d rather stand here and stew over my family drama than let my mind wander into Jack territory.

Nothing good ever came of it, and I think I already mentioned how opposed I was to crying.

“He doesn’t want me back,” I said.

I hated how it came out. How needy and pathetic. Ugh, this was why I didn’t talk about my feelings.

“You don’t know that,” Brandon said.

“I do.” I huffed loudly because it was better to sound like an entitled brat than a pathetic wuss. “You didn’t see the way he looked at me on set yesterday, Brandon. He…” I cleared my throat and tried for nonchalant. “He hates me.”

Brandon winced. I’d fooled no one with that casual tone. “He doesn’t hate you, he just… he doesn’t know the whole story. But once he does, he’ll get over it.”

I looked away, my mouth hitching to the side as I held back the urge to protest. I didn’t want to hear his optimistic view. I didn’t want to have hope.

Between Tess and Brandon, hope was like a drug, and they were the worst pushers on the block.

“Just give him a chance, okay?” Brandon said.

Give him a chance? My mind instantly went back to that night, right before I’d left Pinedale. The way I’d hurt him. The way he’d wanted me…

It wasn’t about me giving him a second chance, it was about him taking another chance on me.

I wasn’t sure we could go back. I wasn’t sure love worked like that.

Hell, I wasn’t even sure what we’d had was love. Maybe if we’d had more time. Maybe if I’d stayed and figured out who I was away from Daddy and the drama…

But I hadn’t. And I refused to think about what might have been.

“Fine,” I said, cutting this conversation short just as the last bell rang. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’ve got to get home for dinner.”

He fell into step beside me as we headed toward the parking lot. We’d done this often enough now that it felt like a weird sort of habit to let our bodies collide and our arms wrap around each other.

Honestly, if I didn’t know we were faking this happy couple routine, I’d be gagging right about now.

He swung open the doors to the outside. “Don’t tell me you have another dinner date with your

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