Page 133 of I Knew You Were Trouble

On the TV, the song continues. By the time it’s over, the whole studio is rapturous in applause. Maxwell Horton has his hands high in the air.

And then they’re gone again.

I look to Duncan. He’s been filming me this whole time. I go back to my phone, my breathing unsteady. ‘I have to go there,’ I manage, my voice strained with a sense of urgency. ‘I have to call him; I have to see him. They still film that show in Television Centre, right? White City? Duncan? This is live, right?’

Duncan stops filming me. ‘Might wanna go downstairs first,’ he deadpans.

I gawp at him. ‘What?’

‘I said… you might wanna just head downstairs first. Out to the street.’

He gives a nod towards my front door, which leads out towards the street that overlooks the riverside. My jaw goes slack.

‘Downstairs,’ Duncan mouths, only this time pointing.

I swallow hard, my phone sliding from my fingers to the surface of the sofa. Hot tears are falling now. I walk to the front door and yank it open, and suddenly I’m racing down two flights of stairs, hitting the door release button, darting out of the front entrance to my building and running out into the warmth.

In the July air, the sky is tinged with blue, but the light is fading fast. I come to a halt and look around. He comes out from the shadows, suddenly there, in person, still wearing the suit, looking unsure of himself.

I see him swallow.

‘Hi, beautiful,’ Aidan then says.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I don’t think I’ve ever moved so fast. I go to him, and his arms are around me. In the street, he practically lifts me off my toes as I bury my head in his shoulder.

We stand there for a long moment, breathing one another in.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I choke out when I pull back.

His eyes are glistening. ‘No, I’m so sorry,’ he breathes.

I wipe tears, repeating my apologies over and over. ‘I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t know about Lucy Garrity,’ I say, stumbling over my words. ‘I should have done my research properly—’

He stops my mouth with a kiss, aching, urgent, and I kiss him back with every inch of devotion I feel, my heart liable to explode at the pleasure of knowing that I belong in his arms, and that I don’t have to film him anymore.

‘Wait…’ I look him over. He looks the same as he did on my TV screen.

He smiles. ‘The recording was this afternoon. The lads insisted I still wear the suit.’ He kisses me again. ‘I should have been completely honest with you,’ he says in a low tone, when he pulls briefly away, his lips finding mine again before I can catch breath, my arms snaking up his chest to around his neck. He draws me into his embrace, my form fitting snugly along the substantial line of his body, his arms crushing me to him.

‘I wanted to send you that message before I’d even finished watching the documentary for the first time,’ he whispers, still holding me close. ‘That was nine days ago.’

‘Then why didn’t you?’

His arms loosen a fraction. ‘I can explain. But first, there’s a few people here who really want to see you.’

‘Paige!’ he then yells, towards the van I recognise from when Miller came to visit, but that I hadn’t even noticed was parked nearby until this moment.

A sliding door opens. As I look up in sheer surprise, Paige steps out of the vehicle, followed by Cal, J.B., Ravi and Miller, dressed casually and no longer in their suits.

I start laughing, shaking my head.

Aidan lets me go so I can embrace each and every one of them.

‘Ahhh, we missed you, Lex,’ Ravi says.

‘Alright, Lovely Lexi,’ is Cal’s version of a hello. ‘I wanna say that me and Bianca had your back this whole time.’

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