Gail told herself not to answer. After what Simon had done, she couldn’t imagine why he could possibly want to talk to her. But her desire to hear some explanation won out.
Telling Josh she had to go, she called herself a fool for her weakness but switched over. “Hello?”
He didn’t bother with a greeting. “I didn’t do it, Gail.”
Her hand tightened on the phone. She’d thought he might try to present an excuse, or ask for her help in bailing him out of this latest mess. She hadn’t expected complete denial. “That’s your face in the footage, isn’t it?” she asked.
“It is. On the security video, anyway. I went there last night to see Ty. I spent a couple hours with him—”
“At midnight?”
“Yes. I woke him up. But I didn’t have sex with Bella. I didn’t even kiss her. She offered but I wasn’t interested.” He lowered his voice, which made him so much more convincing. “All I could think about was you.”
The ache in Gail’s chest grew worse because now the betrayal she felt was complicated by the fear that her love for him was making her vulnerable to accepting what he said over what she saw with her own eyes. “If that’s not you, who is it?” she asked, trying to hold out.
“I have no idea, but I didn’t sleep with her.” When she said nothing, he went on. “I haven’t touched anyone since I’ve been with you. I called last night because I wanted to tell you that I think we should stay together. I don’t want to lose you.”
Gail pressed her palm to her forehead. She wanted to believe him so badly. But she’d just been calling herself a fool for ever trusting him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you believe me. I’ve never lied to you.”
He’d done some crazy things, some ill-advised things, but he was right—she’d never known him to lie. Still, caution advised her to proceed slowly. “So where did that video come from?” she asked. “How did it get made?”
“I’ve been trying to work that out. All I can imagine is that she set me up. She knew if she let me see Ty I’d come over. Maybe she thought it wouldn’t be that hard to get me into bed. Then she’d have the proof she needed to destroy my marriage to you and wreck my chances of ever getting custody of Ty. But I didn’t go for it. I wasn’t even tempted.”
“So...she had to do something else.”
“Yes. I’ve watched that damn thing so many times, trying to figure it out. I bet it’s the same man in the video she sent me before.”
“What video?”
“It’s not pretty, but I’ll forward it. I think she dubbed my face over his. Notice that once the sex starts, you don’t see much to identify me.”
She noticed that he’d switched her to speakerphone, which meant he was probably forwarding the video he’d mentioned.
“There’s just a glimpse of my face here and there,” he finished.
If what Simon said was true, whoever had manipulated that footage had done a damn fine job. “Would Bella really be capable of something like that?”
“I’m sure she would,” he said. “She was very upset last night. But this time she’s gone too far, crossed the line.”
“But it would take someone with real technical know-how. Someone who was used to editing video.”
“Right. But thanks to me, she has plenty of contacts in the movie industry.”
Her phone buzzed, signaling the receipt of a text message. “Hang on.” She put him on speaker, too, while she watched the clip he’d sent. It was Bella with someone else, all right. A message came with that erotic footage: Ty’s new daddy.
Gail was shocked by Bella’s desire to inflict pain. “When did you get this?”
“The night I cut my hand.”
That made sense. Maybe she was making an earlier mistake worse by wading in even deeper, but Gail had to go with her heart on this one, too. “How do we prove it?”
He blew out a sigh. “You believe me?”
She allowed herself a wry smile. “Did you think you might have trouble convincing me?”
“I was worried. I meant what I said. I don’t want to lose you, Gail.”
“Be careful,” she teased. “You swore you’d never marry again.”
“I’ll settle for avoiding another divorce.”
She laughed as relief flooded through her. They were in a mess, but they had each other. “So what do we do now?”
“We take the video to a specialist, see if they can prove it was doctored. We won’t let her get away with this.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Does that mean you’ll come to L.A. and stay with me until I can get this cleared up?” he asked.
He wanted to know if she trusted him enough to stand by him publicly. Was she willing to go through what the next few weeks would require?
“I’ll be on the next flight.”
* * *
Gail thought she was coming to his rescue. Simon knew that was the quickest way to get her to return to L.A. But she’d done enough for him already. He was sober, he was innocent and he was angry. He’d get himself out of this latest scrape.
Ian squinted against the sunlight that poured into his house when he answered Simon’s knock. Then he scowled. “Simon. What are you doing here? Why didn’t you just call me?”
Simon didn’t reply to the question, but asked one of his own. “Late night, huh, Ian?”
It was easy to tell from Ian’s demeanor that he knew something had changed. “Not too late, no. I collected you at the airport and then I came home. Why?”
“Did you stay home?”
There was a slight pause. “Actually, I did.”
Pushing past him, Simon headed into the living room. Fortunately, Ian lived alone so Simon didn’t have to worry about barging in on anyone else. “Where’s your computer?”
Ian followed him. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because you have about five minutes to prove that you didn’t doctor that video, or hire someone else to do it.”
“What video?” he said, but Simon could tell he knew. He knew and yet he’d been sleeping. So when did he learn if not this morning, like the rest of the world?
“The one where I’m supposedly having sex with my ex-wife.”
Ian tightened the belt to his bathrobe. “Simon—”
“I know you did it, Ian,” he broke in.
“No.”
“Then prove it.”
Hands spread wide, Ian stepped closer. “How?”
“Give me access to your computer.”
He covered his face, then dropped his hands. “Come on, you know I’d never do anything like that. If there’s a video out there, Bella must’ve created it herself. Or your father helped.”
“It wasn’t my father.”
“How do you know?”
Because his frustration and disappointment this morning had been too real. Because he’d meant what he’d said when he praised Gail, and he was right about her, which lent him more credibility than he’d had in years. And because he’d apologized for the incident with Bella. Tex didn’t have the strongest character in the world, but Simon believed he’d been on the level about all of that.
Besides, he’d signed the release. If he wanted to force Simon back to L.A. he’d already had a way to try and do it. He’d accepted the loss of Simon’s name on his movie. Ian was the one who felt he stood to lose if Simon stayed in Whiskey Creek and fell any more in love with Gail. “A lot of reasons.”
“But he was furious when I tried to give back your part in Hellion.”
“He signed a release, Ian.”
“That doesn’t mean he was happy about it.”
“He wouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t ready to let me go. You want me to make that movie even more than he did. Why?”
“Sure, I want you to make that movie. I’m your manager, and that’s an Oscar-worthy part. I hate to see you screw up your life just because you’re suddenly pussy-whipped. But I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“I wish that was true, Ian. I’ve been good to you. Paid you well. Kept you on, even after what you did to Gail’s business, since I felt somewhat responsible for that. But now I’m realizing a few things I should’ve seen before.”
“No, you’re jumping to the wrong conclusions,” he said.
“Am I? Aren’t you who told my father where to find me in Whiskey Creek?”
“Yes, but that’s because he wouldn’t leave me alone. I didn’t want to piss him off. That wouldn’t have helped you. We talked about this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, from the very beginning, that he was one of the executive producers of Hellion?”
“I didn’t know! He wasn’t the person who approached us. They can sell an interest to anyone they want and often do, to raise money. We don’t get to dictate that, and you know it. I found out before you did and didn’t pass it along because I didn’t want to upset you, but I didn’t know at first.”
That might be true, but there was more to what was going on than Ian wanted him to find out. “I don’t think he had to push you very hard to get you to tell him where I was. You wanted him to press me to leave Whiskey Creek because there was something in it for you.”
“Like what?”
“Money. What else?”
“Come on. Look at this place.” He pointed to the furnishings that surrounded them. “I’m doing fine. I’d never betray you.”
“Not unless it was worth it. What did Bella offer you? Or were you the one making the offer to her? When I didn’t come home, when my dad signed that release, which you probably never expected, did it spook you? Did you promise her a chunk of change if she could get me back here?”
“Listen to yourself,” he scoffed. “You’re talking crazy.”
“Am I?” Simon spotted what he’d been looking for from the beginning—Ian’s cell phone. Snatching it off the counter where it was charging, he checked to see if he could get into it but it was password-protected. He held it up. “What’s your password?”
Ian’s eyes widened. “That’s none of your business. Give me my phone!”
“Either you give me your password so I can see who you’ve been calling and who’s been calling you, or I’m going to the police. They can get your records. You and Bella will both be busted.”
The color drained from Ian’s face.
“What’s it going to be?” Simon demanded. “Do you tell the truth and take responsibility for what you’ve done? Or do I have to push it farther?”
“Shit,” Ian breathed, and sank onto the couch.
* * *
Gail’s stomach was a riot of butterflies as the plane landed. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to look into the face of reporter after reporter and tell them all that she believed Simon was innocent. It wouldn’t be easy to fend off all the paparazzi who’d be eager to get her reaction to Simon’s “cheating,” either. But she wasn’t going to leave him in L.A. alone. Not only was she his wife, she was his publicist. She’d figure out some way to get the situation turned around.
She was staring down at her ring when everyone started to deplane. She’d have to flash it around, use it as a symbol of his commitment. Maybe that would help....
“Have a nice evening,” one of her seat partners said. Fortunately, no one on the plane seemed to have any idea who she was.
With a smile and a nod, she collected her carry-on bag and made her way into the airport. Once she reached the gate, she stepped off to one side to call Simon and let him know she was in.
“Hey,” she said when he answered.
“You here?”
“Yeah. You?”
“I’m at baggage claim.”
“You could’ve picked me up curbside.”
“No, I decided to park. Can’t wait to see you.”
“I’m nervous,” she admitted. “This is going to be crazy.”
“I won’t let it get too bad. I promise.”
Was there anything he could do? She didn’t think so, but she appreciated the protective sentiment. “We’ll get through it either way. See you in a sec.”
Joining the flow of traffic, she headed down the escalator. There was a crowd at the bottom, most of them holding cameras of some kind. She could see the call letters of various television stations. Others were holding microphones, or lights.
Instinctively, she knew they were waiting for her. But how had they known when she was arriving?
Feeling her anxiety intensify, she hiked up her carry-on and searched the crowd for Simon. He’d said he was in baggage claim. But would he be there if all the media were, too?
Apparently so. It didn’t take her long to find him. He was standing right in the middle of the crowd, wearing jeans and a leather jacket, watching her walk toward him. The way everyone was waiting, as if they’d all come to yell, “Surprise!” she almost got the impression he’d invited them here. What was going on?
When her gaze met his, she asked that question with her eyes, but he merely smiled and started toward her. The media hurried to keep up with his long strides while taking photographs and video of them both.
“What is this?” she murmured when they were close enough to speak.
“Ian and Bella doctored that footage. They’ve admitted it.”
“They have?” She could hardly believe it.
“They didn’t have much choice.”
“You know what that means, don’t you? You can prove that she was purposely keeping you from Ty. You can win custody.”
“That’s what I hope.”
“So—” she glanced at all the media “—why are these people here?”
“I asked them to come and document this.” Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her. Then he held her chin in his hand as he said, “I love you, Gail. I haven’t cheated, and I won’t. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
The warmth of pure happiness poured through her as he kissed her again. The crowd grew thicker, the noise grew louder, lights flashed and cameras rolled, but she didn’t care if the whole world looked on. He was letting everyone know he was completely committed to her.
They were just pulling apart when one of the reporters said, “Oh, my God! Is that your ring?”