Beloved Liar (The Reed Rivers Trilogy 3)

Isabel rubs her face. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m being paranoid. I am, right?”

“You are.”

“Just don’t tell this reporter anything else about me.”

“I won’t. Now, can we please go back to the party? I just made a little girl cry and I need to fix it.”

Isabel steps forward and slides her arms around Reed’s neck. “What’s the rush? Now that we’re here, how about we have a little fun, for old time’s sake?”

I hold my breath and squint my eyes, convinced I’m about to see something deeply traumatizing to me. But I needn’t worry. Reed immediately disentangles himself from Isabel and says, “That’s not gonna happen.” He grabs her hand, the one with Howard’s massive rock on it, and holds it up. “This means nothing to you?”

She yanks her hand away. “You know I don’t want him. I want you.”

Reed throws up his hands. “Goddammit. Not this again. Things are different now than when you fucked Troy to make me jealous. It’s not going to work this time.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “You’re not going crazy to think of me marrying someone else?”

He scoffs. “No. Would I prefer you marry someone you actually love? Yes. Because I care about you and want you to find happiness. But do I wish you were marrying me? Fuck no. Isabel, like I keep telling you. I’m over you. I’ve moved on. So, if you’re marrying Howard to manipulate me into action the same way you did when you fucked Troy, only bigger and better this time, then don’t bother. Don’t marry anyone to try to get a rise out of me. The only thing that strategy will get you is a husband you don’t love.”

“Why are you always so mean to me?”

“I’m not mean to you. I’m honest. I don’t want you anymore. We’ll never get back together. Never.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Believe it. If you must know, I’m with someone else now. I’m in a serious, committed relationship.”

Even in the grainy footage, I can tell Isabel is crushed.

“I’ll always care about you,” Reed says. “I’ll always protect you, as best I can. And your secrets are always safe with me. But the truth is you’re more like a sister to me now, than anything else.”

Isabel slaps Reed across his face, but he doesn’t even flinch. “Who is she?” she shrieks, her tears matching mine as I watch the scene unfolding. “Is she here at the party?”

“No, she’s not here,” Reed lies. “But if she were, I’d expect you to be nice to her. We haven’t been together in years, Isabel, and you’re engaged to another man. Why do you think you still have any claim on me?”

“Because I’m still in love with you!”

He’s exasperated. Irritated. “Why the hell are you marrying Howard?” he booms. “I don’t get it! You don’t need his money, and you certainly don’t need his connections anymore. You’re a huge star now. The biggest star on the planet. You don’t need him. You can get cast in anything from blockbusters to indies, without his help or blessing. I get why you flirted with him when you were starting out, but don’t you think saying yes to marrying a man you don’t love is taking the casting couch a bit far?”

She shakes her head. “You don’t understand.”

“I think I do. He’s made marriage part of the deal for the superhero movies, hasn’t he?”

She drops her head, looking defeated. But says nothing.

“Screw the superhero movies! If he drops you from them, so what? There are ten other producers who’d hire you in a heartbeat.”

She shakes her head. Rubs her face. “You cheated on this girlfriend of yours with me in the Hamptons?”

“No. I hadn’t met her yet back then.”

Isabel is flabbergasted. “How new is this relationship? Were you lying to me last month when you said you were having dinner with your friends? Were you actually seeing her?”

“No. I didn’t lie to you that night. I was having dinner with my friends. But then we went to a bar, after dinner, and that’s where I met her. She was the bartender.”

Isabel gasps. “You want a bartender over me?”

“Fuck you,” I whisper to my screen. At the same moment Reed says something I don’t catch because I was talking. I rewind the video to hear whatever I missed, and what Reed says makes me smile from ear to ear: “Fuck you, Isabel.” Which he follows with, “I’m not going to talk about my girlfriend with you anymore. All you need to know is she makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “Ever.”

The meaning is clear. Not even with you. And, obviously, by the devastated look on Isabel’s face, his message has been received, loud and clear. She bows her head and bursts into tears. And, sweet man that he is, Reed wraps his strong arms around her and squeezes her tight. And, suddenly, I find myself quaking with dread about whatever I’m going to witness next.