Chapter 20
20
" H ow'd he take it?" Katy asks when I get off the phone with Forest.
"He's seriously not happy, and he's very confused. He also sounded drunk, so that didn't help."
Actually, he was fucking pissed and wasn't shy about letting me know it. Forest's call made, oh, I don't know, the tenth I've had to field in the last hour. It doesn't help that Tinsley's had her damn phone on Do Not Disturb. That threw Forest into a bit of a tizzy. My parents simply laughed. Once upon a time, my father's face was splashed across the news for a bullshit engagement and not to my mother. They assured me there were ways to get it cleared up and cleared up fast.
Honestly, I'm not all that worried about it.
I wasn't smart and I wasn't cautious, and neither was Tinsley, and it cost us. It's nothing that can't be fixed. It's the bullshit hype that's annoying.
But with the phone calls, my friends and cousins came over. Now my house is filled with my people and resembles a frat party with all the booze, takeout containers, and pizza boxes littered about .
This is what we do when a scandal hits. We circle the wagons, but no one asked me before they all came over for this giant powwow. They more or less showed up. At least they brought food and distraction. Happy Friday to me.
I flip open one of the containers and grab a random taco.
Katy is sipping a margarita and eating her taco with a pensive look on her face. Katy is no bullshit, and I've always loved and admired that about her. She's one of my favorite cousins even though she's not related to me by blood. But right now, given the circumstances of the day and my inability to fully explain away the pictures, I have a bad feeling about what's to come next.
"I think we're all a bit confused. I had no idea about you and Tinsley. You're like Superman and Clark Kent. You're never together in the same room at the same time."
See what I mean?
"There is no me and Tinsley."
"Uh-huh. You might want to work on your sales pitch before you try to sell that story."
I shrug. That's been my go-to response. I don't know what else to say. I told Forest and my parents an abbreviated, glossed-over version of the truth. That I was walking her out of the building, and we were talking. I noticed the ring on her hand, and she explained it was a prop. We talked for another few minutes, she kissed my cheek goodbye, and that was that.
Except the problem is, there's a reason the press concluded we're engaged, and it's not simply because she had a rock on her hand. If you look at those pictures, it's all right there in color. The crime of my life is that I'm undeniably infatuated with Tinsley, and there is nothing that can change it. Not time or distance or guilt.
Only now, it's splashed across the tabloids for all to see.
I take a bite of my taco and pour myself a healthy glass of tequila—no ice and no mixer—because it's turning into that kind of a night.
Katy is the only one with me in the kitchen, but I can hear everyone else chattering away. Owen, Estlin, Bennett, Vander, Mason, Kenna, and Keegan are all here doing who knows what out in my great room and dining room. Wren left about half an hour ago to pick up fucking Tinsley since no one could reach her, and they'll likely return with Tinsley's British boy toy since they're pretty much inseparable.
Why couldn't the press have seen her with him while wearing that ring?
Only the moment I think that, something ugly and unwanted slithers over me. The funny thing is, I'm not mad. I'm not upset other than having to handle my family and friends and dodge questions I refuse to answer. I don't even give a shit about the media being all up my ass. I'm a Fritz. We do this every now and then. It's just how we roll in Boston. Ask my parents and Owen. The media catches something from us that sparks their attention and bam. Being a family of famous billionaires comes with that.
But this is different. More than that, it's her.
The thought of everyone thinking she's mine when she's never been mine feels like my deepest, dirtiest secrets and desires are on full display.
"Just so you know, the way you were looking at her…" She trails off, fanning her face. "Hot. So hot."
"Katy, ease up. It's already been a fucker of a day."
She smirks, her eyebrows bouncing. "I can tell since you're eating a tofu taco."
I glare balefully down at the taco in my hand. "You could have warned me."
Now it's her turn to shrug. "You could have told me."
Touché.
"I was wondering why the chicken tasted like squishy toes. "
"Ew! Gross." She smacks my shoulder and then laughs. "Fine. It sort of does. Unfried tofu has the worst consistency. What the hell was Mason thinking ordering that? I realize he's trying to eat healthy, but this isn't healthy, it's simply cruel." She drops her half-eaten taco down on her plate and washes down her last bite with another sip of her drink.
"Asshole needs to stop with that. He's not vegan or even a vegetarian. He could have ordered chicken instead of torturing all of us."
"I heard that!" Mason calls out from the other room. "Tofu is a good source of protein."
"It sucks!" I shout back. "It's full of isoflavones."
"What the fuck are those?"
Katy snickers, and I wink at her. "They're chemicals that look like estrogen in the body."
"Fuck," he hisses.
Katy cracks up. "You're such a dick. You should tell him they have no effect on testosterone or estrogen in men."
"No way. Next time, he'll get me chicken and not tofu."
"You're a dick!" Mason shouts like a pouting child.
"Katy already called me that!" I yell back. "And if I see one of your stupid peanut butter protein bombs instead of real cookies, I'm going to kick your ass out."
"I got you chocolate chip, princess. You're being a moody bitch. And a dick. You're engaged. You're supposed to be happy."
Katy bobs her head and hitches her shoulders up. "He's not wrong."
"I'm not actually engaged," I exclaim to everyone and anyone who's listening.
"Uh-huh. Tell that to the line of press surrounding our building. Now buck up, buttercup. I get to plan an epic bachelor party for us."
I roll my eyes but find myself chuckling. Fucking Mason .
"I'm sorry I'm being a dick, but can you blame me?" I ask Katy as I chuck the taco in the trash and go for the pizza, trusting there's no hidden tofu on that. And sure enough, because Vander loves me, he ordered my favorite margherita pizza with bacon. I grab a slice for myself and keep digging until I find the one with cauliflower crust for Katy, who is a diabetic and shies away from carbs when she can. "Here. Eat this."
"Awesome. Thank you." She takes a bite and talks around her mouthful as she chews. "I'd be a moody bitch too if it were me. It must suck to be fake engaged to the woman you're secretly in love with."
"You're such a bitch, but I fucking love you."
She stands and drops a kiss on my cheek. "Just keeping it real. And I love you too."
Katy heads back out toward the great room, and I follow her, grabbing another slice as I go and taking my hard-earned drink with me.
Just as I scarf down my second piece and take a seat in the great room, the door swings open without a knock, and Wren, Loomis, and my little rose walk in. Tinsley looks beautiful and sexy, but her lavender eyes are heavy and troubled, and she seems edgy. It's not the reaction I thought she'd have. I figured she'd be annoyed and come in here all business with a battle plan her formidable PR team had already cooked up.
Her expression has me frowning and glued to my chair as she waltzes straight up to me. "I'm sorry about all of this."
I shake my head. "I don't give a shit."
Now it's her turn to frown and I quickly correct myself.
"No, I mean, I don't care about that bullshit outside. It's noise and a headline, and it'll die the moment we tell them it's bogus. But why do you look like there's more going on than just a little press bomb? Was it Forest? Did he say something? "
Brother or not, I'll kick his ass all the way in LA if he said something that hurt her.
She collapses to the floor, sprawling out like a starfish, and I get a series of what the fuck looks from everyone except Loomis and Wren, who obviously know what this is all about. "I thought you were going to be mad. I wouldn't blame you for being mad."
"I'm not. It was my fault too. I should have been more cautious. Is that look only about me? You've never given two shits in the past if I was mad at you."
"My stalker is back," she declares and it's as if the wind is swept from the room. Somehow, I'm on my feet, ready to tear the world apart. Vander stands too, his eyes on her.
"Does my dad know?" he asks, and my pretty little rose shakes her head, her eyes closed.
"I just got the letter tonight." Her hand extends in the air with the red envelope clutched in her fist. "But I'd be beyond grateful if you'd call him and the two of you could figure this out. As far as I knew, Terrance Howard was in California and incapable of coming to Boston."
My heart stops dead and becomes a lifeless lump in my chest.
"What does that mean?" Mason questions. "Did you see him?"
"No. But it wasn't mailed."
"It was hand delivered?" Owen challenges. "As in, to the warehouse?"
"Yes."
Mason drags a hand across his face and starts to pace over to the window. "Jesus, Tins. The fuck?"
"Yep. Good times." Tinsley sighs. "And bad timing, though I'm not sure if there's ever a good time for a stalker."
"What does it say?" Keegan pushes .
"Don't know. We can revel in the fun of opening it together."
"Where's your security?" Katy asks, tucking into Bennett. Both Rory and Willow aren't here tonight. They're with Owen's parents and Katy's adoptive parents respectively. I'm glad there are no kids here right now, and from the look on Katy's face, she's thinking the same thing.
"I released them for the night when I met up with Loomis."
"Why?" Kenna tilts her head, chewing on the corner of her lip.
Tinsley twirls her arm in the air. "I hadn't heard from him since he went to prison other than his apology letter. That was four years ago, and since then, I've been stalker-free. Now I use them mostly for crowd and press control because there haven't been any threats in so long. Loomis and I were going to hang out tonight and watch a movie. No security needed."
"I'm sorry," Estlin cuts in gently, held tightly by Owen. "I don't know the details of this the way everyone else does, but was this person violent with you?"
"No," Tinsley answers, and she sits up, brushing some of her long hair back from her face. "He liked to send letters, and his letters were increasingly threatening. I think things would have progressed to violence, or at least he would have attempted it. But thanks to Lenox, we figured out who my stalker was, and made sure the police and FBI knew it too. When they raided his home, they discovered things on his computer as well as in his home that spoke to his threats turning physical. He was doing this with two other women and was sentenced to ten years in prison, with parole after four. He sent me an apology letter after he had been there for a few months. That was the last I'd heard from him."
"Hmm. Okay." Vander crosses the room, grabs his computer bag, and sets himself up at my dining room table. "Tinsley, come here." We all stand and walk toward the table, taking seats or leaning against the wall or buffet. Loomis makes himself and Tinsley a drink at the bar, and I like that he didn't ask. I like that he's telling me he's here to stay because Tinsley is important to him.
"There's food in the kitchen," I tell him, and catch a hint of a crooked smile.
"Cheers. Thanks for that." He disappears and returns a minute later with a couple of plates. One he sets down in front of Tinsley, who doesn't seem the least bit interested in eating.
"What are you looking for?" Kenna wonders, her elbows digging into the wood table, her chin resting in her hands.
"Terrance Howard," Vander explains simply, and for a few minutes, we don't do much other than watch him work, his fingers furiously flying across the keyboard of his custom-built laptop. "Interesting."
"What?" nearly all of us ask in unison.
Vander holds up his hand as if asking for a minute, then slips out his phone. He rests it face up on the table, the screen lit up though it doesn't look like any screen of a smartphone I've ever seen. Then again, that doesn't surprise me. This is Vander after all. He punches in a series of numbers, and then it rings twice before a gravelly voice echoes through the speaker.
"Vander?"
"Yeah, hey, Dad. I have you on a secure line. Tinsley is with me, as are my regular others plus an extra." He glances over at Tinsley and then back behind her, indicating Loomis. Tinsley nods, and that's good enough for Vander. "You can talk freely."
"What's going on?" he inquires.
Tinsley shifts beside Vander and speaks into the phone. "The press thinks I'm engaged to Stone because they snapped pictures of us talking outside Children's with my prop ring from my film set on. That's why we're here. But we're calling you because my stalker is back." She proceeds to tell Lenox the rest of the story, and we can hear him moving in the background and telling his wife, Georgia, he's going into his office.
"What's the timeline?" he demands, but I miss some of their back and forth when Loomis comes over and drags my attention away.
"What is your stance on this fake engagement business?"
I shake my head. "Is now really the time to talk about that?"
"Yes," he insists, his gray eyes intent. "I need to know how desperate you are to get rid of the tag Mr. Tinsley Monroe."
I give him a dubious look. "I think you of all people know I can't be Mr. Tinsley Monroe. You know her history with my brother."
"Right. I understand you on that. But if your brother weren't part of the equation, then how would you feel about it?"
I search his face, my eyebrows drawing together. "Loomis, what is this all about?"
He licks his lips and glances over in her direction. She's still talking to Lenox as Vander works, and everyone else murmurs in low voices. He turns back to me. "She can't sleep at the warehouse tonight. I would stay there with her along with an army of security, but the truth is, it's an accessible building. I know they have security, but it's not the same as say… a high-rise, for instance." He tilts his head meaningfully in my direction. "I'd have her stay with me, but it's a one-bedroom flat in a building of apartments."
That surprises me given his celebrity status. "Really? Why?"
He smirks slightly at my perplexed expression. "I grew up poor in a tiny studio in London with my mum and two brothers. I save nearly every penny I earn so I can give all of them a better life than what we had."
My respect factor for him just jumped exponentially.
"Are you suggesting she stay here with me?" I nearly choke at the idea .
He folds his arms as if he's getting ready to do battle with me. "Where else would you feel comfortable with her staying?"
"Who said I feel comfortable with her staying here?"
He rolls his eyes over my bullshit. "Don't play me for a fool. I know you're in love with her. I suspect you've been in love with her for the last two years. A man doesn't stare at a woman the way you stare at her unless he's mad for her, and I happen to know you showed up and paid her a visit after the ball."
He waits me out for a beat, and when I don't deny it, he continues.
"She could impose on her friends and uncles, but right now the media thinks she's your Hollywood princess, and that gives her another round of protection. If they think she's engaged to you, they'll be all over you both. As much as I know she hates that, and I hate that for her, cameras have a certain element of security to them, don't you think?"
Fuck if he isn't right. But that doesn't mean I can have Tinsley live here or continue to pretend to be engaged to her. I'm just not sure if I'll have a choice.