Surprised, Ethan took his hand, and smiled sweetly when Max squeezed it.
“You okay?” Ethan asked, his smile softening with concern.
“Better,” Max replied. He stroked his thumb across Ethan’s knuckles. But conscious of the setting and the high chance of them being recognized, he reluctantly released Ethan’s hand. “I’d expected to wait longer for you.”
“I left as soon as I could.” Ethan looked away, a muscle in his jaw jumping. “Took a while. It was a big mess.”
Their server arrived then, and explained the menu and made recommendations. They settled on the eight-course tasting menu along with accompanying wines. Once she was gone, Max picked up where they’d left off.
“What happened?”
Ethan dragged a hand through his hair. He already looked harried, and the hair ruffling didn’t help dispel that image.
“Theo Smith is playing me. He’s playing us.”
Max waited patiently, only slightly surprised.
“Today we had that event at the airport.” Ethan leaned forward, forearms on the table, his voice lowered. “He had a friend—or maybe he went so far as to hire a guy—to stage a confrontation.”
“You know this with certainty?”
Ethan snorted and dug his phone out of his jacket pocket. He thumbed the screen before turning the phone around to show Max a video clip that was playing on an entertainment gossip website. It appeared to be cellphone footage of Ethan tackling a man to the tarmac. Max wasn’t pleased to have the action filmed, but he was satisfied with Ethan’s technique as he restrained the man without injuring him. With the volume of the restaurant, Max couldn’t make out what was being said in the video. His brows drew together as he watched the man yell at Smith, who dropped to his knees and reacted dramatically to whatever was said.
Ethan pulled the phone back and pointed at the screen. “This was filmed by one of the VIP fans. I don’t know if she’s in on it, but I’d bet money she gave up the rights to her video while she was midair with Theo. He’s probably the one who uploaded it to the internet, too. And that guy I tackled? Same guy from a previous event.”
Max didn’t like what he heard. “What was he saying to Smith?”
“He acted like he was a Loren fanboy and kept accusing Theo of being disloyal and not truly being in love with Loren. A lot of accusations that Theo had to drop to his knees and address. He pretty much poured out his heart about how much he loves Loren. It played out like a terrible rom-com.”
“The dropping to the knees did look like bad theater.”
“It was cringe-worthy, yet if you read the comments on the sites that are playing this video, all you’ll find are fans who are sympathetic to Theo and going on and on about how much he loves Loren and how they deserve each other. I think it’s even begun trending on Twitter.”
Ethan sat back and pocketed his phone. “The timing is what sells it for me. Earlier today, he and Loren had a fight and seemed on the verge of breaking up. Theo asked to make a phone call in private—which I assumed was to Loren—but now I’m thinking he was calling up his buddy here to stage a scene that would show how dedicated Theo is.”
“Did you question the attacker?”
“Yeah, and he’s tight-lipped. Theo’s probably paying him off.” Ethan shook his head. “Conveniently, Theo’s uninterested in pressing charges against him. He was downright chipper during the remainder of the event, like nothing had even happened.”
The server delivered their first course of wine. Ethan immediately drank half of his glassful. “I never asked to star in this reality show. Theo’s obsessed with him. Loren seems lukewarm. Maybe they’ll make it, maybe they won’t, but I’m not going to play a role in whatever happens between them.”
“I understand and I agree. I’ll inform his agent in the morning that he may either accept a change of assignment or the contract is closed.”
Ethan groaned, slumping in his chair, “I hate feeling like I’m being used. It’s insulting, like he thinks I’m dumb enough to believe his lies.”
“He hired us in bad faith. He’s insulted the entire company. If you were used, then I was, too.”
The word left a bad taste in Max’s mouth, especially after all that he’d learned today. To be master of your fate, you needed to be in absolute control of it. If there was one thing that Max detested, it was other people attempting to control his