Hollywood Flirt - Alexa Aston Page 0,90

important.

“Hello?”

“D-Dash?”

“Hey, Herc. You sound upset, buddy. Is something wrong?” He looked at Sydney, who moved close to him and rested her hand on his forearm.

“Dash?” His brother started crying.

“Hey, buddy. It’s all right. Tell me what happened. Are you hurt?”

“N-no.” Herc sniffed.

Dash heard something muffled in the background. “Herc? Are you there? Let me talk to Tim, okay?”

Herc started crying again. Dash’s worry meter shot up to red alert. Finally, Herc said, “Is Sydney there?”

“She is. Do you want to talk to her?” He looked at Sydney, who nodded encouragingly at him and reached for the phone.

She pressed speaker so Dash could hear what Herc said.

“Sydney?”

“I’m here, Herc.”

Herc sniffled. “The bad man . . . . he wants . . . he wants to talk to you.”

A pause. “Hello, Sydney. I’m with your friend. Herc.”

“Wake?” she hissed.

CHAPTER 28

Sydney fought the chill that filled her. She couldn’t afford to get emotional. Instead, she converted to what her brain termed attorney mode, pushing aside all feelings. Attorney mode meant a laser-focus and her mind constantly churning, finding a quick solution.

“That’s right. We haven’t talked in a long time, Sydney.”

Flattery worked with Wake. Raising her voice didn’t. Also, taking the blame and making him feel superior were tricks she’d used during their marriage.

“I know, Wake. It’s my fault. I was hurt when I saw you with another woman. I wasn’t thinking. I took things too far. I’m sorry about the divorce.”

“Are you?” he asked. She could hear the smallest bit of hope in his voice and needed to play to that. Anything to keep him from hurting Herc.

“Yes, but I thought it was for the best to leave because . . . well, I wasn’t good enough for you. Your mother told me that enough times. There were so many other girls in our law school class that were prettier than me. Smarter than me. You should’ve chosen one of them.”

“I chose you,” he said softly.

“You did. I blew it. I figured that out but I knew you’d never take me back. That’s why I decided to come to California. Get as far away from all the memories as I could. Let you start a new life with someone who deserved you.”

Wake was silent. Sydney knew he was mulling over her words.

“Why did I have to learn who you were on some stupid TV show? Why didn’t you tell me about who you really were?” he asked.

“Come on, Wake. Your people came over on the Mayflower. My family was totally splintered. My mom died when I was young. My brother OD’d on heroin. My dad ran through women and then discarded them like used tissues. He stopped talking to me and moved from one woman and movie to the next. I was hurt and alone. I left home and changed my name. I never wanted to have anything to do with him anymore. Hollywood people are flaky and unreliable. That’s why I liked the law. It was orderly and neat and always gave me an answer.

“Like you. You were rock steady. Smarter than anyone I’d ever met. When you paid attention to me, I couldn’t believe it. When you wanted to marry me, I was so embarrassed about my past. I would never have admitted any of it to you . . . because I would have lost you.”

“What about—what’s your name again?”

Sydney heard Herc answer Wake. Though she wanted to scream, she concentrated on how to get Herc back. That was what was important. She couldn’t think about anything bad happening to Herc. It was already hard enough to know that she’d lost Dash—because of Wake. As much as Dash cared for her, Sydney knew ultimately that the man she loved would always need to choose his brother above everyone else. Sydney had put Herc at risk, and she realized things could never be the same between them again.

“What about Herc’s brother? Is Dash DeLauria your lover, Sydney?”

She laughed. “Are you kidding? He’s just some hotshot, egotistical actor. Nice-looking but a little dense. I do like his little brother, though. Herc is very sweet. Nothing like Dash. Come on, Wake. You know how it works. People are hired to do jobs all the time. Just because I’m working with Dash DeLauria doesn’t mean I have to like him. I’ll pull out of him what I can and move on. That’s the way Hollywood has always worked.”

Sydney forced herself to keep staring straight ahead. She didn’t want to look at Dash and crumble.

“Good.”

It