“You were just like everyone else.”
“I was.” He hated that he’d been so closed-minded. He’d read the stories about her and hadn’t once considered she might be different. He should have known better. “I had an image in my head of who you would be when you walked in the door. But then I talked to you. I got to know you, and I fell in love with the woman you really are.”
She huffed, a frustrated sound. “You fell in love with a woman you thought you could save. And I wouldn’t call it love. If you loved me, you would have told me the truth.”
“The way you told me?” He wasn’t the only one who’d lied. She hadn’t told him why she wanted access to The Club.
“I never said I loved you.”
That was a kick in the gut. But it was also true. She’d never even come close to saying the words.
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes softening as though she was going to take the words back. Instead she took a deep breath. “Kyle told me you were going to pay off Julian.”
At least she wasn’t walking away. “I was. I knew you weren’t trying to hurt anyone. But I couldn’t figure out the money until earlier today. I thought you needed it maybe to pay off your lawyers. It’s important for you to keep fighting. So I was going to pay off Julian and offer to take over the legal fees.”
“I wouldn’t steal from my employer even if I was going to be homeless,” she replied with a sigh. “Much less pay off my lawyers. I might have asked for a loan, but I didn’t even do that. Why not ask me? I understand why Julian didn’t. I can even understand why you wouldn’t ask in the beginning. But if you fell in love with me, why would you leave me in the dark?”
“I didn’t want it to be over. I have reveled in these days with you. I’ve felt like a different man. I didn’t want to lose you.” He hated that she was right in front of him and yet there were miles between them. “I knew you might be able to forgive me for lying. But I didn’t think you could forgive me for what happened to you at the café. I put you in danger. I never thought you would leave without me.”
Her arms crossed over her chest. “So you did that because you wanted me to turn to you?”
He was going to tell her everything. “I duped your phone that day.”
“Of course you did.” She sighed, her head shaking. “Hope you enjoyed my many calls to Dani. Ah, that’s what MaeBe was doing in the café. She was good. I never suspected a thing.”
“She was only doing her job. And she wasn’t supposed to follow you. She was worried about that man,” he pointed out.
“I’m sorry she got hurt.” The thought seemed to settle her a bit. “I don’t suppose you know anything further about that.”
“We have a name, but we haven’t been able to track him down yet.”
She shrugged. “It could be a lot of people. I don’t know if you remember this evening, but I think I proved how much people hate me.”
“I heard some people out there to support you, too.”
“They’re not supporters. They’re stalkers. Anyone who makes their way to a police station to shout I love you to a woman they’ve never met before isn’t exactly normal. It might be different if I’d had a career that didn’t consist of horror films and raunchy comedies. Those men who were shouting their ‘support’ didn’t watch the indie films I made where I actually acted and kept my clothes on.”
“There’s nothing wrong with horror films. Or any of your films.”
“No, but it’s not like they were out there because I touched their lives with my art,” she replied. “Those people tend to be lovely. They write letters or quietly talk to me if we happen to meet. The people who scream like that…they want a piece of me. And there aren’t many pieces left.”
His heart ached at the thought. “I won’t let them take another thing from you.”
“No, you want every piece for yourself. Until you wake up and realize being with me is hard. You’ll revel in the sex and the danger and playing the white knight for a while. But this life will get old.”
There was a scenario she wasn’t considering. “Or you’ll settle down with me and we’ll be boring as fuck. We’ll work and go to clubs and have dinner with my parents. We’ll have a regular life, and after the trial is over, no one will care enough to follow you.”
“What am I supposed to do in this world you’ve built in your head?” she asked.