Hollywood Playboy (Hollywood Royalty 1)

“I know,” I whisper. “I just know.” I hear a chair go back and see Joseph getting up from the table.

“I’m going to do a turn of the premises and make sure everything is okay.” He turns and walks out the door. Having him around has gotten on my nerves because I just want to be by myself. No, I want to be with Jessica alone, just the two of us. It’s been four days since I’ve slept properly, and four days since I last saw her, if you don’t count the number of times I’ve looked at our pictures.

“You have to be ready,” Larry says, “just in case she is selling a tell all.” I just shake my head. “I’m going to ask around just in case.”

“You’re wasting your time.” I sit back in my chair, looking at him.

“He’s right,” Ryan finally says, shaking his head. “She would never do that.”

“Oh, please,” Cassie mumbles under her breath, and all eyes go to her. She looks up now, and her hand flies up. “What?” Her voice goes a bit louder know, and I just stare at her. “She was obviously in love with him.” No one says anything at the table; not one person takes their eyes off her, her hands moving while she talks. “It was so obvious.” She rolls her eyes. “She was all over him all the time, and you saw it in her eyes in the picture.”

I glare at her. “What picture is that because in the picture that was leaked to the press, she had her eyes closed?” My heart starts to pound. “What fucking picture, Cassie?” I yell, and everyone around the table sits up. Ryan puts his hands on the table next to me, and I know it’s to save me if I jump over this table.

“The fucking picture of you two on the boat somewhere,” she finally says, and it’s at that moment I know that the person closest to me is the one responsible for all this, and she knows there is no turning back from this. “Don’t look at me like that!” she yells. “Who do you think would have been left to clean up the fucking mess you made after she fucked you over?” She stands up now. “Me.” She points at herself. “Me like always.”

“You leaked the picture,” I hiss. “You leaked the picture,” I say again, letting it sink in.

“I did,” she says, sitting down. “Someone had to step in and do something; you were being irrational.”

“Cassie,” Ryan says quietly, and she snaps her head at him.

“You weren’t there,” she says. “He was.”

I stand now, my chair going flying. Ryan stands up also and so does Edward, coming over to me and whispering in my ear, “Calm down.”

“Get the fuck out of my house!” I roar. “Get the fuck out of my house before I fucking toss you out!”

“You can’t be serious,” she says, looking at me. Her face is finally going white when she realizes I’m not playing. “You are going to choose her over me? After everything that I’ve done for you. Cleaning up all your shit, burying stories, making sure your whores went away quietly?” she yells. “I did that. Me, not you. Me,” she emphasizes, pointing at herself. “And now you’re going to stand there and pick that self-righteous bitch over me?”

“You did what I paid you to do because that was your job, and if I remember correctly, you were very well paid to do all those things,” I hiss, “and to answer your other question, I pick her. I choose her every second of every fucking day.” I lean forward, Edward putting his hand on my chest. “Now get the fuck out of my house.”

“If I leave, I won’t come back,” she says, putting her papers together.

“You don’t touch anything in my house,” I say, and her hands stop when she grabs her purse. “Leave the phone,” I say, and she snaps her head back when Ryan walks to her and holds out his hand for her phone.

“That’s my phone!” she shrieks.

“No,” I yell, “it’s mine! I pay for it, so it’s fucking mine.” I have to get my anger in check because if she were a guy, I wouldn’t stop beating him until he stopped breathing.

She reaches in her purse and takes out the phone, handing it to Ryan. “Cassie.” He shakes his head, pressing something on the phone. “You were taping this meeting?”

I lunge now, and it takes Edward and Larry to hold me back, and Ryan puts himself in front of Cassie. “Get the fuck out of my house!” I roar while they hold me back.

She walks past them, and I turn around, “Oh, and, Cassie, I suggest you read the contract you signed when I hired you. You mention another word about anything, and I’ll bury you so far down you won’t see the light for the rest of your life. Your life trotting across the globe with the newest and hottest star will be over before it can even begin.”