I frowned.
His words confused me, and so did seeing him holding my phone close to the one he was speaking into.
As he spotted me, he winked. Which I'd never seen him do before.
"I don't care about the money," he replied, "but I want him to suffer for hurting me."
My brows rose, and to me, he mouthed, "Nicky."
Jesus fuckin' Christ.
My legs carried me over to him without me really noticing until I was inches away. Julian tilted my phone so I could see the display, and I saw he was recording. Holy fuck, he was playing Nicky to get a confession. At least that’s what I presumed.
"Actually, we don’t have to meet up when I get back to LA," Julian told Nicky. "The real reason I called was to get you to tell me you were the one who told the media about us."
I automatically leaned closer to hear Nicky's response.
It was quiet a beat, aside from his breathing, and then I heard him bite out, "You're kidding, right?"
I grinned. Fuck if I wasn’t proud as hell of Julian. And maybe a little turned on. My boy was devious.
"Afraid not, and now we know the truth," Julian said.
"Don't tell him about any plans," I whispered.
We didn’t wanna risk anything. Nicky would always know who buried him, but there'd be no proof. Though, judging by Julian's expression, he was well aware and didn’t need my reminder.
"This isn't over," Nicky gritted out.
"That’s where you're wrong." Julian toyed with the drawstrings of my sweats. "It's very over. Anyway, I have to go. Noah sends his absolute best. Take care, Nick." With that, he hung up the phone and ended the recording.
"Have I told you lately that I love you?" I put my hands on his hips and captured his mouth in a kiss.
He laughed softly and tossed our phones on one of the couches. "Not today."
"Well… I love you." I teased his bottom lip with a playful bite. "How did you think of this?"
"It was bugging me most of the night," he admitted. "Eventually, I gave up on sleep, and I plotted and fretted a few hours." He slid his hands up my biceps. "I figured it was safest to paint myself as some victim. Everyone else seems to think that’s my thing." He was clearly not too thrilled about that. "So I called him and thanked him for leaking things to the press. Because it showed me your true colors, and you'd decided I wasn’t worth the hassle."
"Liking this less and less," I muttered.
He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I know that’s not the case, doofus. But it worked on him. At first, he didn’t want to admit anything, but when I mentioned making you suffer, he confessed pretty quickly and even told me some bullshit story about it being for my benefit."
I sighed and yanked him in for a tight hug. At least we had that outta the way now. Tennyson could give Asher the green light to ruin any opportunities Nicky could have in the industry.
"How're you feeling about last night?" I murmured.
Blue chose that moment to circle our legs, which we knew meant she wanted food.
"I'm not sure yet." Julian kissed my neck and pulled away a bit. "It stings—a lot—but I won't let anything stand in our way now. I want us to be open. No more worrying about what others think."
I touched his cheek. "Sounds perfect to me. Bet you're relieved to hear about Mia and James, though."
He smiled and ducked his head. "Yeah. God, I was such a moron."
"Hey." I lifted his chin. "Everyone's got insecurities and fears."
Losing him had turned into my biggest fear. Having him was terrifying and elating and powerful all at once, something I'd probably never get used to.
"I love you." He nipped at my finger.
"Ditto." I took a step back while he picked up Blue. "Wanna go out and get some breakfast? I'm starving."
"Yes, definitely." He smiled and nuzzled Blue's fur. "Oh, can we go to that place with the awesome hot chocolate?"
"Of course." As long as I could get coffee, I was game.
*
Regardless of how focused we were at work, film sets were a place one always made new buddies. Julian had made a few, and I'd gotten even closer with my AD and DP. People were curious and had texted us a fair bit since the gossip broke, and we used the breakfast to send brief confirmations saying yeah, we were a couple.
We'd remain discreet on set, obviously, just no more hiding.
"Brook's filled in the girls in wardrobe and makeup," I said, pocketing my phone. "That’s a relief. Those broads can talk." And it was better if they had the correct information.
I sat back and crammed the last of my croissant into my mouth. Julian, who claimed I was a messy eater, smirked and dusted some flakes off my shirt.