Bad Boy (Invertary 5)

The woman was an abomination. She used her kid as an accessory. She freaking matched the boy to her dresses. Right now they were both sporting bling-embellished denim. He vaguely wondered who the father of the baby was. He wondered if she even knew. He expected she didn’t care either way. Poor little bastard. If the woman got even a whiff of fame, he’d be left in the dust.

“Brian,” she whined. “You promised, and this isn’t working out. I can’t get any time alone with Flynn. He won’t even look at Georgie.” She held out her baby in case there was any doubt who Georgie was. “I need to get a DNA test to get a headline. It doesn’t matter if it’s negative; the test will still make the news.” She pushed her collagen-enhanced lips out even further. “You need to give me the money for a test. My production people won’t pay for one. They said Flynn flattened the last girl who told him he’d knocked her up. They don’t want to risk losing money.” She ran a talon down his bicep. Her false lashes batted. “They don’t see how important it is, but you do. Don’t you, Brian?”

He shook her off. “We don’t have the budget for one either. You were supposed to distract him with your charms, make him forget about playing nice.”

She looked down at her ample cleavage. “I did use my charms. I think he’s g

ay. Are you sure all these women he boinks aren’t a cover?”

“I’m sure.” Brian watched as Flynn hobbled back to his girlfriend’s house. Fury coursed through him. He would not be bested by an idiot like Flynn Boyle. He signalled to his cameraman.

When the man sauntered over, Brian glared at him. “Did we get anything of use at all today?”

“Depends what you were hoping for,” the guy said. “We mainly got what you saw. Church fundraiser. Grumpy-arsed band.”

Brian clenched his teeth. “What about the other crew. They get anything useful?”

The guy shrugged. “They got Flynn and the chick making out Hallmark style at her house last night. It isn’t much.”

Brian grinned as his world righted itself. “Get the footage. Cue it. I want to see it all.”

“There’s nothing in it. They just get all mushy, then she invites him in for coffee, if you get what I mean.”

“Go get the footage ready.” Brian stared the man down.

With another shrug, the cameraman wandered off.

“Is this good?” Peaches asked. “Will it help get us more airtime? Should I put it on my Instagram account?”

“Yeah.” Brian grinned as he dialled a number in London. “Put it wherever you like. Make sure to mention the father of your baby won’t deal with you because he’s too busy screwing his neighbour.”

Her frown was calculating. “I can do that.”

Brian turned away from her as the person on the other end of the line answered.

“I’d like to speak with Lord Montgomery-Clark. I have information his mother would very much like to get her hands on. It concerns her daughter Abby and her relationship with Flynn Boyle.”

A moment later, the lord himself came on the line.

“I thought you’d like to know,” Brian said, “that Victoria is keeping things from you. Things that could bring a lot of bad publicity your way.”

The outraged bluster demanding details made Brian’s heart sing.

32

“If you’re in the penalty area and don’t know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we’ll discuss the options later.”

Bob Paisley, former Liverpool manager

It was the calm before the storm.

And the storm was coming. Abby knew it deep in her bones. Flynn might have headed off trouble at his place, but the event had still attracted too much attention. It was only a matter of time before her mother stepped up her attack. And Abby didn’t know how to prepare for it. As she sat on the top steps at the back of her house looking out into the darkness, she heard the familiar lopsided tread on the floor behind her. A throw blanket covered her shoulders and she smiled up at Flynn.

“Better be careful. You keep doing thoughtful things for people and you’ll blow your reputation as a narcissistic child.”

“Aye, that would be tragic.” He lowered himself to sit behind her. He slid a leg either side of her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her back against his chest.

Abby was snug in his embrace, warm against the chill night air. It felt like a scarily normal place to be.