Fuck. “Yeah, they did. Some jeweler supplied a ring for promo, and Nadine made me put it in my pocket before I walked onstage, in case I suddenly became overcome by the impulse to get down on bended knee.” I chuckle. “I knew Nadine would be watching me with bated breath when our song ended, so I touched my pocket a couple times, just to fuck with her.” I flash Laila a wicked smirk, thinking she’ll laugh along with me, but she doesn’t. In fact, she looks downright stressed. “Aw, come on,” I coax. “Nadine deserved that. She’s a master at messing with people’s emotions. Two can play at that game.”
Laila shoots me a tight smile but says nothing, which tells me she’s got something big on her mind.
“What is it, Laila?” I ask.
She pauses an eternal beat before blurting, “I know what you did, Savage! I know everything.”
Every hair on my body stands on end. What, exactly, does she know? Does she know about my new house? About the engagement ring in my pocket? Thankfully, Laila speaks again before I’ve stupidly started confessing everything to her.
“I overheard Nadine talking to Rhoda before we went onstage,” Laila explains. “Nadine told Rhoda she’d made a side deal with you that let them keep your entire salary—two million bucks!—in exchange for them not firing me.”
Well, shit. I wasn’t expecting that. I didn’t want Laila knowing about any of that, ever. I open and close my mouth, feeling tongue-tied, and Laila forges ahead before I’ve choked out a single word.
“Nadine said she thought there was a good chance you’d propose after the song, in order to get back half the money you’d let them keep. She said they gave you a free ring and promised you could earn back a million bucks by proposing to me. But you didn’t do it!”
I’m still opening and closing my mouth like a fish on a line, incapable of forming words.
“You gave up an easy million bucks, Savage!” Laila shouts. “How could you do that? I don’t care how much you might be making on the new album or on future seasons of the show, that’s still a ton of money. Especially when you’ve already paid me two million bucks! I wish so badly you’d told me you’d forfeited your entire salary for me, because I never would have let you do that. Thank you so much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. But I was already feeling so terrible about taking half your salary—”
“Laila, stop. We agreed not to talk about the money, remember?”
“No, you agreed. When did you make that side deal with Nadine?”
“In Chicago. Right before Mimi died. And I’d do it again. I have zero regrets.”
“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”
“Why make you feel stressed and guilty, when it was something I wanted to do, for my own happiness? Don’t you see? I made that deal with Nadine for the same reason I bought that house for Mimi. For the same reason I bought a house for Sasha. Because I love you and want to take care of you. And, also, because, selfishly, I couldn’t stand the idea of being stranded on that stupid fucking show without you.”
“Selfishly? Savage, what you did is the most selfless—”
“Please, don’t make this a thing, Laila. I did it because I love you and wanted the best for you—because I knew Nadine would be making a huge mistake to get rid of you. And I was right! The show had its best ratings ever and now they’re begging you to sign a multi-year deal. Fuck Nadine! We got the last laugh, baby!”
Her nostrils flare. “Well, I hope you know I’m going to pay you back every dime you paid me this season. That’s non-negotiable, Adrian.”
I trap my lower lip between my teeth. Laila looks incredibly beautiful right now. Fierce and determined. Feisty and self-righteous. It dawns on me there’s no need to argue with her about this right now, considering that, before the night is through, Laila will be my fiancée. And soon after that, my wife. Which means everything I have will be hers, including the two million bucks she’s now insisting on repaying me.
“Okay, baby,” I concede. I bring her hand to my mouth and kiss it. “Pay me whatever makes you feel good, as long as your repayment buys me the freedom of never, ever having to talk about that two million bucks again.”
She grins. “Deal.”
We shake on it.
“I’m grateful for what you did for me,” she says, her eyes pricking with tears. “Thank you.”
“Laila, did you hear a word I said? I did it for me.”
She chuckles, and a tear falls down her cheek. She wipes it and sighs. “Would you ever have told me what you did for me, if I hadn’t overheard Nadine and Rhoda tonight?”