23.Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hank

It’s not like I ever missed Denver after leaving. I always liked the quiet of Laketown better than the city, but Shelby wouldn’t have survived being in a small town for longer than a week or two at a time. She was always too big for the small life. I did enjoy teaching college classes, which I couldn’t have done in Laketown, but otherwise the only thing keeping me in the city was my wife.

Stuck in the traffic of downtown LA, I’m not sure anything could convince me to live here. Not even Bonnie, though she’s done a good job of trying. Trevor wasn’t kidding when he said Bonnie is a kisser, and I’m not complaining in the slightest.

I only wish Eli wasn’t stuck in the front seat, forced to pretend he has no idea what’s happening in the back.

Last night, after I found the article, I did a lot of thinking. A lot of feeling too. It was a good thing I was alone, or Bonnie might have decided I was too messed up to be worth her time. But the longer I spent with my thoughts and emotions, the more I realized I don’t want to lose what we’ve built together, small though it may be. No matter what happens, I’ve made my decision about what I want in life, and I’m going to fight for it. Fight for her .

I just have to hope I’m strong enough to keep fighting. I have a feeling Bonnie is going to need as much convincing as I do, which means my work is cut out for me.

When we finally reach Fran’s office building, my will to speak to the publicist is at an all-time low. While I do have her to thank for forcing me into Bonnie’s sphere, I can only imagine what she might have waiting for us. Either she’ll push us to make our relationship more public than I’ll be comfortable with, or she’ll tell Bonnie she needs to move on and find a different shmuck to play house with.

I just want Bonnie to be able to live her life. Preferably with me in it. I still don’t know what it’s going to look like, and I know it won’t be easy. But the best things in life never are.

Fran is waiting for us in her massive office, her gaze stormy and her manicured nails tapping on her glass desk as we approach. The wall behind her is entirely made out of windows, and this office is high enough that anyone with a fear of heights probably hates coming in here. I notice with a frown that the chairs we sit in are considerably lower than they need to be, forcing us to look up at Fran rather than sit across from her as equals.

She may be good at her job, but this whole setup is giving me villain vibes.

“Bonnie,” Fran says once we’re settled. “Mr. McAllister. How was your flight?” The question is rougher than it needs to be, like she intends it to be an expression of her displeasure. It seems to be working on Bonnie, who sinks deeper in her seat, but I won’t let Fran intimidate me. This is just like dealing with Mariah, my agent, though I’m not convinced Fran has my best interest at heart.

I grab hold of Bonnie’s hand and smile. “Uneventful. Thankfully.”

“Mm hmm.” Fran resumes her nail tapping, glancing between us from behind her cat-eye glasses. If she had a fluffy white cat to stroke, she would be comically terrifying. “Mr. McAllister, I seem to remember giving you very specific instructions on how to handle the wedding.”

She isn’t calling me Henry, which must be her way of furthering her superiority. Or maybe she just doesn’t like me.

My smile grows because the feeling is mutual. “Technically, I did exactly what you asked me to. I just didn’t do it in front of a camera.” Bonnie tenses, looking over at me, and I can almost feel her wariness. She must know I’m talking about our kiss, and I don’t want her to think I did it because I was told to. So I keep talking. “My very real affections for Bonnie are not something I wanted her to learn about along with everyone else. She deserved to know first.”

Fran’s expression hardens even more. “And now everyone is questioning the verity of this relationship, thanks to your little misconception of being honorable.”

“I think you mean veracity,” I reply calmly. “Besides, I think Bonnie handled that Hot Scoop article pretty well already.”

Fran’s stoicism cracks, making way for a mixture of confusion and alarm. Her eyes dart to her computer, but she turns her focus to Bonnie. “What does he mean?”

Bonnie shrugs. “We talked to some reporters this morning as we were leaving the airport.”

Fran turns pale, and she scrambles to type something out on her keyboard. “Why would you… Bonnie, you know what I say about talking to people when we haven’t made a plan! ”

Bonnie shrinks. “I know, but…” She trails off and retreats the same way she did with Beckett. I hate seeing her defeated like this.

“She didn’t say anything that wasn’t true,” I argue for her. “And I think the people there appreciated the honesty. I know I enjoyed it.” I wink at Bonnie, which is something I’ve never done. I’m pretty sure I make a mess of it because Bonnie bites the inside of her lips and looks like she might start laughing.

I fight a smile. “Hold off on the winking thing?” I guess under my breath.

She snickers. “It was cute,” she whispers back.

“ Cute isn’t what I was going for.”

“Either way, it’s working.”

“Oh,” Fran says, pulling our attention back to her as she scrolls on her computer. “Okay, well, you seem to have appeased people. It’s the impending Hot Scoop bombshell that will be harder to spin.”

My stomach does a flip, leaving me nauseous. I’ve been trying not to think about the hints they dropped last night about Shelby—Bonnie is great for distraction—but I’m pretty sure the murder is going to be out in the open soon. It was on the news when it happened, so it’s no secret, but no one outside Denver cared about a random art curator whose murder was never solved.

That’s likely about to change.

I won’t be able to hide from it anymore, and while that’s terrifying, it doesn’t feel like a knife in my gut like it used to. Falling for Bonnie, learning to let go of my fears and pains, has been easier than I thought it would be, and as long as she doesn’t leave me to face it all on my own, I think I’ll be okay.

I might even be okay without her, but that’s not the direction I want things to go.

“Is there anything we can do to stop them from bringing up Hank’s wife?” Bonnie asks .

Fran’s eyebrows shoot up. “You have a wife?”

I frown. “You didn’t do your own research after all those hints they dropped last night?” I thought that was part of her job.

She chuckles. “Henry, darling, I don’t work for you.”

My jaw drops. Is she serious? “But you know they’re going to bring Bonnie into it, and you do work for her.”

“Yes, which means I should ask again. You have a wife? Because that causes complications that I would rather not—”

“My wife was murdered four years ago,” I snap, rising to my feet. I should probably be alarmed by how easily those words come out, but I’m too angry to care right now. “And that’s something you should have figured out before you ever put so much faith in me when it comes to your client. Did you know anything about me before you attached me to Bonnie? Or did you just take the easy way out when the internet picked me as her next fling?”

Fran stares at me, her mouth in a little O, but I don’t think I’ve ruffled her as much as I would like. “Murdered?” she says, one eyebrow lifting high in interest. “And Bonnie is playing a homicide detective from one of your books. Oh, this is good. This is really good. We can work with—”

“No,” Bonnie says. She gets up and stands next to me so the pair of us are now looking down at the publicist. “We’re not going to exploit his pain just because you think it will make a good story.”

Fran tsks . “Bonnie, sweetie, you know we have to use everything we—”

“I said no!” Bonnie looks almost furious, and I hate how attractive it makes her. Well, I don’t hate it, but I probably shouldn’t be this tempted to grab her and kiss her until she can’t breathe. That’s something better saved for later, when we don’t have an audience.

But it will be happening later.

Fran seems to study Bonnie for a moment, and then she rolls her eyes. Clearly she doesn’t see Bonnie’s assertion as something she needs to worry about. I didn’t like this woman from the beginning, and I especially don’t like her now. “Bonnie,” she croons.

“Francine Romero, you have a lot of nerve,” a deep voice says from the hallway. It precedes a man I don’t particularly want to see right now as he stomps into the office followed by Fran’s harried assistant, who likely tried to stop him from barging in.

Fran jumps to her feet in alarm. “Derek!”

Derek doesn’t stop walking until he is on the other side of her desk and looming over her, backed by the bright light of the windows. “It was your idea for Bonnie and me to start dating. Your idea for us to break up. Your idea to force her into this stupid fake thing she has with McAllister, and now your next brilliant idea is to have Bonnie stage a torrid affair with me ? Are you out of your mind?”

“What?” Bonnie says, though it’s more of a squeak.

Derek growls as he forces Fran back into her seat by stepping into her space. I hate to admit it, but he’s genuinely intimidating, and I can see why he’s cast in the roles of spies and superheroes. If I didn’t know better, I would think this man is more than just an actor. “You are incompetent,” he snarls. “You are unprofessional. You care more about your paycheck than you do your clients who rely on you to keep their lives relatively normal, and I’m done. Bonnie can keep you if she wants, but I won’t have any part in your cheap gimmicks anymore.”

I curse under my breath. I was so ready to dislike the man forever, but he just flipped my aversion to admiration in a single angry speech.

Before anyone can say anything, another person comes barreling into the room, out of breath and panting. I recognize Liam, though I’m glad he’s wearing a shirt this time around. “No!” he mourns as he looks around the room. “Did I miss you firing her? Your stupid security wouldn’t let me in, and I had to make a run for it.” He says that last part to Fran as he rests his hands on his knees and tries to breathe.

She scowls. “That’s because you’re not my client. ”

He points at Derek with a mischievous grin. “Neither is he, so are you going to have him thrown out? Because I wouldn’t recommend it. There are a whole lot of paps outside hoping for something juicy, and I don’t think there’s a person in the world who would side with you over Derek Riley. So keep that in mind when you think about trying to ruin him after all this is said and done.” He stands up straight, pressing a hand to his ribs as he keeps trying to breathe like normal. “And the same goes for Bonnie. She deserves better than what you’ve given her, so you’d better watch your step.”

Dang it, now I like Liam too. I guess I shouldn’t have expected Bonnie to have friends who weren’t worth knowing, even if they do text excessively.

Fran scoffs. “I’ll admit I’m disappointed, Mr. Riley, but I can see there will be no changing your mind. If you will kindly exit the premises, I have business to discuss with my clients .”

“I’m not your client,” I say immediately. While I’m grateful Derek was able to get under Fran’s skin, I feel like I need to step up my game and help Bonnie however I can. “You made that very clear. But I’m not about to leave Bonnie by herself if she intends to stay.”

“Neither are we,” Liam adds.

“The choice is up to you, Bonnie,” Derek says. “You do what you think is best for you, and we will stand behind you.”

“Always,” Liam says.

Forever , I want to finish, though the thought shocks me into silence. Do I mean that?

I think I might.

To my pleasure, Bonnie looks at me instead of either of her friends. “What do you think?” she asks quietly. “Fran has gotten me to where I am today, and she knows who I am and what I need.”

I shake my head. “She knows who you were when you were nineteen. You’re allowed to grow into someone new, and what worked before doesn’t necessarily work now. But if you’re not ready for something new, I’m sure she’ll be better going forward.” I say that last part loud enough for Fran to hear, just in case.

Tears well up in Bonnie’s eyes, but she’s smiling. I hope that means I said the right thing. “You see me,” she whispers, and then she leans up on her toes and kisses me.

We seriously need to stop doing this in front of an audience. Self-consciousness holds me back, especially with Derek as a witness. But there’s also a small, cavemanish part of me that wants to prove to him that what I have with Bonnie is real, so after the initial shock, I lean heavier into the kiss than I should.

When Bonnie pulls away, she looks dazed but speaks with confidence. “Fran, I think this is where you and I part ways, but I wish you the best.”

Fran’s jaw drops. “You can’t mean that. Derek is one thing. He, at least, is smart enough to take care of himself, but you can barely—”

“Enough!” Bonnie says at the same time I step forward to defend her. The word comes out so sharply that it catches me off guard and leaves me speechless. Bonnie doesn’t share that problem. “Are you really surprised that I would fire you when you spend so much of your energy trying to tear me down? Fran, you can’t honestly expect people to stay with you when you’re always using them to make yourself look better.”

Scoffing, Fran touches her fingertips to her desk and leans forward. “You were nothing before I found you,” she seethes.

Bonnie lifts her chin. “I may not have been well known, but I was never nothing. Yes, you helped my career, but any publicist could have done what you did. I don’t want to waste any time with someone who thinks so little of me when I know I’m better than that. I clearly thought better of you than I should have.”

As Fran sputters something incoherent, I grab Bonnie’s hand, completely in awe of this woman and the growth she’s made since the day we met. Bonnie squeezes back, tighter than I expected, and when she inhales, her breath stutters into her lungs, like she’s terrified of the words that just left her mouth.

Time to leave.

It only takes a tug from me to break Bonnie from her stiff stance, and then she’s leading the way out of the room. Derek and Liam are close behind us, and no one says anything until we get into the elevator.

Liam clears his throat, looking back at Bonnie. “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, Bon.”

“That was amazing,” I agree. “ You were amazing.”

After smiling at me, Bonnie puts her hand on Liam’s arm. “Thanks for defending me.” She looks at Derek. “Both of you.”

“Are you kidding?” Liam says. “I’ve been dying for an opportunity to go to bat for you since the day we met, but you never give me a chance.”

Eyes shining, she pulls him into a one-armed hug that he returns with enthusiasm.

“But you’re not actually going to go without a publicist, are you?” Liam asks as he pulls away.

Bonnie snorts, her shoulders relaxing. “Oh, no way. I was hoping your guy had an opening.”

Liam grins. “Ethan’s the best there is. I’m sure he’d be happy to take you on. You too,” he says to Derek.

Derek grunts, his jaw tight as he turns to glance between Bonnie and me. “So this is real?” he asks, nodding down to our clasped hands. I can’t tell what he thinks about it, though he doesn’t seem happy.

Bonnie nods and draws closer to me. “It’s real.”

“It always was,” I add.

Derek meets my gaze and seems to study me until the elevator stops and the door slides open to the lobby. “Good,” he says, but then he has to turn his focus to the crowd gathered at the doors. Eli and a couple other security guys are waiting for us, but it’s still a fight to get out to the waiting SUV. All four of us climb inside, the men moving to the back so Bonnie and I can take the middle seats.

“That’s going to bring up some fun questions,” Liam says once we’re on our way. He both looks and sounds amused, which hopefully means he wasn’t being sarcastic about the ‘fun’ part.

Derek shakes his head. “Does nothing bother you?”

“Plenty of things bother me,” Liam replies, leaning his arms on the back of our seat so he’s right in between Bonnie and me. “Like people not texting me back.” I wince, but he keeps talking, “The trick is learning how to fight back when it comes to Hot Scoop . They can smell fear. But ever since Kasey did her whole ‘Liam is awesome’ spiel, they haven’t been able to get any traction when it comes to the two of us.”

I look at Bonnie, hoping she’ll explain.

She smiles. “Kasey basically fought fire with fire, but that’s not going to be easy with us. Especially because we still don’t know what they’re going to say about your wife.”

“Wife?” Derek and Liam say at the same time.

I groan. “ Late wife. You really should lead with that part, Bonnie.”

“Oh good,” Liam says. “I thought I was going to have to punch you. But sorry about your wife. That’s rough.”

It is rough, but it’s getting easier every day. I’m healing, and it’s all thanks to Bonnie. Despite the two men behind us, I lift Bonnie’s hand and press a kiss to her knuckles, trying to tell her with my eyes that I am so glad I have her in my life.

Now I just have to figure out how to make this all work for both of us. It won’t be easy, but I’m going to give this everything I’ve got. Though she can take care of herself, Bonnie deserves a man who will fight for her, and I intend to be that man.