A week.

A fucking week. That was how long it had been since I woke up to a severely pissed-off Gerry telling me that I was being accused, of all things, of being a father.

It was ridiculous.

And yet, it had taken the whole week to set up this meeting. Alicia sat on my left around a conference table in one of the big conference rooms on the top floor of Gerry’s office building. The sun was so bright I had to shield my eyes as I looked out the window, but Gerry, sitting to my right, noticed and hit a button that automatically lowered with the blinds.

Good old Ted, our lawyer, was seated on Gerry’s other side with his younger associate next to him. Across the table from my team was Madison and her lawyer. I’d forgotten the man’s name right after I was told who he was.

True to his word, Gerry had demanded a blood test, and we were waiting on a courier to deliver the results. In the meantime, Madison’s lawyer had taken it upon himself to deliver a big speech.

“If you want to settle this matter, I suggest that you start making proposals right now.” The man wheezed. He was completely bald, and it didn’t look like it was by choice. His skin was pale and covered by a thin layer of sweat. He looked a bit sick, but that didn’t put a stop to his theatrics. “My client is willing to consider a deal while we wait, but once those test results come in, I’ve advised her against taking any settlement offer that might be forthcoming. This is the time to accept the gift that she is graciously allowing in providing you with the opportunity to settle. If you don’t accept it now, there will be no settlement. We will bleed you dry, Mr. Larsen.”

“You used me, Jared,” Madison interjected tearfully. “You used me like I meant nothing to you, and then you threw me away like a dirty dish rag. You wouldn’t even talk to me, but I’m still willing to give you one last chance to make this right.”

I prided myself on having made it this far into this whole process without my temper flaring up, at least not outwardly, but this was too much. She was flat-out lying about what happened between us, and she fucking knew it.

“Are you insane? Or are you suffering from amnesia or some kind of mental disorder? I didn’t use you, Madison. I was completely upfront with you from the get go. You knew exactly what you were getting into. In fact, I distinctly remember you bringing up my reputation before I said a goddamn thing. Then, you show up at my house without being invited, and you practically begged me to fuck you again. You’re an obsessed groupie. Don’t pretend you ever meant anything to me. And don’t fucking pretend you didn’t know it.”

Frustrated rage was rolling off me in waves, and Alicia put her hand quickly to the side of my thigh, squeezing me lightly. Telling me to calm down. Glancing at her, I tried to accept the small amount of comfort that she was offering me by that light touch.

Then I realized that more than being appreciative and grateful for her being by my side and trying to comfort me, she was one of the big reasons I was so wound up about these lies. I was worried about what she thought of me.

Well, shit. When did that happen? I couldn’t remember the last time I gave a flying fuck about what anyone thought of me, but I was genuinely worried now. What did all of this look like to her?

Madison sniffed indignantly at my insult and launched into another one of her delusional rants. “We made a baby together, Jared. How could you possibly say that I’m nothing more than an obsessed groupie, and that I never was? I’m the—”

“Okay, everyone shut up.” Alicia surprised me by chiming in, her voice cool and authoritative.

A quick look around the table told me that everyone else was as surprised as I was, no one more so than Madison, who seemed to want nothing more than to scratch Alicia’s eyes out with those red claws of hers. I shuddered at the vague memory of those nails scratching at my back.

“Do you know that fraud is a criminal offense, Madison?” she continued, opening the bright yellow folder she’d had in front of her since I’d walked in. She’d been working nearly around the clock this week, and I’d hardly seen her at all. I didn’t know what she had in the folder, but if she were a cat, I would’ve been checking the cream. And the canary.

“What are you talking about?” Madison asked irritably.

Alicia smiled sweetly, and I knew that whatever was about to come was going to be good. “Oh, sorry. I meant to ask whether you knew that fraud was a criminal offense, Jenny?”

Madison’s cheeks, pink from her feigned indignation, drained of all color, and her jaw became slightly unhinged. Her lawyer looked at her, clearly confused, but he didn’t interrupt.

“You see, gentlemen. Miss Green here’s first name isn’t Madison. It’s Jenny. She looked so familiar to me when I first saw her, but I have to give it to you, Jenny, you have evolved quite a bit since then. The dark hair was a nice touch.” Alicia’s tone was dripping with honey, but the undercurrent was as lethal as a recently sharpened switchblade or a loaded gun pressed to your temple.

The entire room seemed to stop breathing while they waited for Alicia to land whatever plane she was in the process of guiding home. “It all went away nice and quietly, but it made enough of a splash in my line of work that I found out about it. This isn’t your first claim of having been impregnated by someone rich and famous, is it Jenny?”

Madison didn’t answer her. Her ice blue eyes were wide, and she suddenly resembled a deer caught in the headlights. My girl wasn’t done with her yet, though.

“The answer, for those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, is no. She is, in fact, the same woman who falsely accused a basketball star, who shall remain nameless for the sake of his reputation, of having impregnated her a few years ago. She tried the same tactics as she’s trying with Jared, and she failed spectacularly. Much like she will now.”

Slumping back in my chair, I watched as Alicia started pushing papers toward Madison and her lawyer from her yellow folder. The lawyer seemed as caught unaware as the rest of us.

She lied to you too, buddy.

I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t hold back loud, rumbling laughter as relief swept through me, and for the first time this week, I felt like someone fucking believed me.

Alicia had been gone. Caleb laid into me every shot he got. The other guys didn’t seem to know what to believe, and I’d walked around with this feeling of dread that Madison was about to suck everything that was good and happy about my life away from me.

I dreaded that this story was going to tank the album, and that I was going to be the next male celebrity who got dragged over the coals for being a womanizing bastard who refused to take care of his child.

All those feelings that had been pent-up since my phone rang that morning rolled out of me into one endless stream of barely controllable laughter.

“Fuck, this is why Alicia is twice the woman—hell, maybe even ten times the woman and girlfriend—than someone like you could ever be,” I said when I finally managed to control myself. “She’s honest and loyal and intelligent. She’s true to herself, and she’s worked fucking hard to get where she is. She hasn’t just made herself into someone who tries to force herself into someone’s life and ride the coattails of their success.”

Madison glared at me, while Alicia hissed. “Stop it. You’re embarrassing me.”

I wanted to point out that this was yet another reason why women like Madison could never compete with women like Alicia: Madison actively sought out compliments and would even accept the false kind, while Alicia would never accept anything less than the truth.

And even if what I was saying about her was absolutely true, Alicia was happy to receive compliments in private and didn’t need them rubbed in anyone’s faces. I honestly didn’t want to embarrass her, though, so instead of rattling off the very long list of reasons that I had of why she was my girlfriend and not someone like Madison, I ended my uncharacteristic outburst with a simple statement.

“And that’s why she’s my girlfriend.”

Madison’s furious glare returned to Alicia, but evidently, she wasn’t quite ready to give up yet. “Just because you know about my background doesn’t mean that this isn’t Jared’s baby growing inside me.”

Gerry’s phone buzzed at that exact moment, and he excused himself, doing up the button on his jacket as he rose. “Excuse me, the courier is here. I’ll be right back.”

He strode from the room with a confident gait, and the tension was palpable as we waited for him to come back, which happened not a minute later. Holding up the sealed envelope once he got back to the table, he tore it open and read the results.

My heart was pounding, but his expression was unreadable as he handed the results to Ted, who wore an equally undecipherable expression as he handed the results to Madison’s lawyer.

It was Madison’s paunchy, nameless lawyer who finally filled the class in on what the potentially life-changing piece of paper said. He cleared his throat once. Then again.

Refusing to meet Madison’s eyes, he spread the paper out on the table and began to read. “It says that not only does the baby not belong to Mr. Larsen, but that you are not even pregnant, Miss Green.”

Madison turned on the water works and immediately started sputtering. “That’s not possible. I missed my period, and my breasts have been so tender.”

She buried her face in her hands, grabbed her purse slung around the conference room chair, and rushed out of the room without another word.

“May I have a moment alone with Alicia, please, gentlemen?” I asked. I could have just demanded that they all left the room, but I understood that they were here to do their jobs and that I shouldn’t be a complete prick about things.

Gerry, Madison’s lawyer, and Ted’s associate all looked to him. Ted started gathering his papers and placing them in his briefcase. Then, he stood and turned to me. “You are well within your rights to sue Miss Green for slander, among other things, if that’s what you would like to do, Jared.”

“No,” I replied. “Thanks for the advice, Ted. But doing that would be a waste of time and energy. I’m just happy to be putting this thing to bed.”

Madison’s lawyer looked relieved, while Ted nodded and snapped his briefcase shut. “Good bye then, Jared. Miss Diamond.” Ted nodded to us and left the room. His associate and Madison’s lawyer scrambled out after him. Gerry told Alicia that she’d done a good job, and he told me that I was expected in the studio before he left.

Finally, the room was cleared, the door was closed, and for the first time in a week, I had Alicia all to myself.