Beloved Liar (The Reed Rivers Trilogy 3)

My stomach clenches with dread. Shit. Here we go. Isabel’s secrets weren’t mine to reveal. But what choice did I have but to send that video? If I’m going to love Georgina, all the way, then I’ve got to trust her to choose me, and our love, over the chance to use the information on that video to try to land her dream job. Or, worse, to try to destroy Isabel out of sheer spite. I know Georgie didn’t fully understand anything she heard on that video, but she heard enough to realize Isabel has a secret. And that some guy named Troy blackmailed her because of it. “Yeah, you’re right,” I say. “We definitely need to talk.”

Georgina looks stressed. “I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, Reed. Not anymore. No more lies—even if it’s only through omission. It’s time to come clean about everything.”

“Yeah, I agree,” I say, my words overlapping with Georgina’s, as she says, “I need to talk to you about Troy.”

Wow. She’s jumping right in. Shit. I take a deep breath. “Yeah, I figured you’d ask me about him. In fact, I’m sure you’ve got a whole bunch of questions about the confusing stuff you heard on that video. But before I explain who ‘Troy’ is, I need to emphasize that—”

“Oh, no,” Georgina says. She lays a palm on my chest, pausing me. “When I said it’s time to come clean about Troy, I meant me. I need to come clean about Troy.”

I blink several times, utterly confused. Did I hear that right?

Georgina leans onto her elbow and props her head with her fist. “What you and Isabel talked about wasn’t confusing to me at all. I already know all about Troy Eklund.”

“Uh.” I blink again, my synapses exploding. “What, exactly, do you know?”

“Everything. The fact that he slept with Isabel. And figured out Isabel’s secret—which I also know about, by the way. I know he blackmailed Isabel. Well, technically, he blackmailed you, and you gallantly paid him off in exchange for him signing a confidential settlement of his lawsuit.” She shrugs. “I know everything, Reed.”

My brain feels like it’s melting. “How...?” But I’m too shocked to complete the sentence.

Georgina continues, “Normally, I wouldn’t have said anything. I’d have pretended to be clueless, so you wouldn’t fully realize the true nature of the demon you’ve fallen in love with. But if we’re truly going to make this relationship work, if I’m really going to brave the DMV for you—then I feel like I should come clean to you about how clever and diabolical and relentless and... brilliant... I truly am.” She winks. “I know you’ve suspected all along I’m Bobby Fischer. But I feel like, before I put your address onto my driver’s license, which is, to me, as serious as a relationship can be, I should come clean and tell you that... no matter how much you’ve been thinking I’m Bobby Fischer? Oh, honey. You have no freakin’ idea.”

Chapter 17

Georgina

I tell Reed everything I know about Troy Eklund. How I read his lawsuit and then tracked him down at Slingers and cleverly pumped him for information without him realizing it. I tell him about Troy’s unmistakable hints and body language, and finally, those two little words—Francesca Laramie—that sent me straight to Google, which then led me to deducing Isabel’s secret, as well as causing me to assume that Reed must have hired Isabel to be his “blind date” on the night of CeeCee’s fiftieth birthday party.

And, last but not least, I tell Reed about my visit to Francesca’s restaurant downtown, although I don’t drop the bomb on Reed, just yet, about my firmly held belief that Howard Devlin is a sexual predator who’s been getting a free pass for decades because he happens to be a wildly successful billionaire movie producer. I’m going to tell Reed about Howard during this conversation, of course. But later. I feel like Reed and I have plenty to talk about, before we get to that.

I take Reed’s hand. “I want you to know Isabel’s secret is safe with me. And so is yours. Assuming I’m right about you hiring Isabel through Francesca.”

“Yes, you’re right about that.”

“I figured. Rented tux, rented limo, rented girl...”

He nods. “CeeCee’s party was actually the last time Isabel ever worked for Francesca. We spent the night together after the party. We hit it off. And I got to feeling a bit protective. Not to mention, possessive.”

“You? Shocker.”

He smiles. “I offered to pay Isabel’s rent for the next year, so she could quit her gig with Francesca and afford to live on nothing but modeling and waiting tables, while she went to auditions and tried to get her big break.”

My heart melts. Why doesn’t it surprise me to learn Reed forked over a year’s worth of rent for Isabel? Or, that Isabel took the deal and quit working for Francesca for him. I can only imagine how hard Isabel must have fallen for the dashing, young client she met the night of CeeCee’s party. The smoking hot, scrappy dude who looked better in a rented tux than every millionaire or billionaire at that party with ten tuxes in their closets. In fact, I’d bet anything it was love at first sight for Isabel, when Reed got out of that rented limo to pick her up in front of McDonald’s. And, judging from that surveillance video, she never fell out of love with him, for the next ten years. I can relate. Lying here naked with Reed, I’m certain I’ll never fall out of love with him, either. God help me.