Page 124 of I Knew You Were Trouble

I try to think back. ‘He said she was his girlfriend. That he lost his virginity to her.’

‘What else did he say?’

‘Nothing.’

Paige shakes her head, flustered. ‘I knew it,’ she tuts to herself.

‘You knew what?’

She stares at me for a moment. ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’

Paige shows me her bedroom, which is above her studio. There are framed photographs of her with the band, posters, album covers and pictures of her and Aidan as children.

We settle into her sofa in the corner of the room. Paige has lost her frosty veneer.

‘At New Year, I instructed him specifically that, if he really liked you, that he had to tell you everything about Lucy Garrity. And clearly he just ignored me, like always.’

She sips her tea, shaking her head. ‘Something happened when Aidan first joined Rebel Heart,’ she begins, leaning her head against the back of the sofa. ‘After all the auditions, all of the attention, his world had been turned upside down. Everybody knew his name, and everybody wanted a piece of him. Of all of them. It freaked him out at the start. Lucy Garrity was Aidan’s girlfriend at the time. She went to school with us; she was in our class. She was his first love. She was his biggest champion throughout the process. At least, we all thought she was.’

‘What happened?’

‘She got a taste of fame, I think. And… she liked it.’

I sip my tea.

‘The cracks started to show,’ Paige continues. ‘They never saw one another. He was tied up with forming the band, all of that insanity. Rightly, she felt sidelined, and she didn’t like not having his full attention. The press was desperate for any snippet of information on any of Rebel Heart; it was like they were going through each of their lives with a fine-tooth comb, trying to sniff out dirt. Before the release of their debut album, Aidan was here, at home with us, and so was she. She got him talking about everything. It later turned out that a journalist had wired Lucy up with a hidden camera. So… details of the album… the cover, the track list, the track titles, the design, everything… all of which the record company was going to great lengths to keep under wraps… all of that got released via this journalist, who’d paid Lucy a hefty sum of cash for her trouble. Everything got leaked. He felt completely betrayed and humiliated. Then, to make matters worse, when he broke up with her, she sold her story to a different newspaper, a tabloid, for an evenhigherfee, going into detail about losing her virginity to Aidey in our wood barn and selling private pictures of him. He was angry and embarrassed. He didn’t want to trust anyone after that.’

I listen intently, lost for words. The story gives some explanation to Aidan’s level of anger at me filming the band covertly.

‘So, when he told me what you’d done…’ Paige says, before pausing. ‘I think there was a certain level of déjà vu involved. Lucy did a real number on him.’

‘I know he felt I’d betrayed his trust,’ I choke out.

‘You did,’ Paige states plainly. ‘Whether you meant to or not. But his reaction… I wanted you to know…it came from a dark place in his past. He never wanted to go through that experience again.’

I shake my head, get to my feet. ‘I didn’t know. I mean, I researched, but… I must have missed all that somehow.’

‘It was a long time ago and their team have tried to bury it as much as possible. Plus, as I now know… he didn’t tell you the full story. Maybe if you’d known… you would have done things differently.’

Tears prick my eyes. I no longer want to get on a plane to San Francisco. I want to go back to the McArthur family pub and wait for him to come back to his home, and instead beg his forgiveness.

‘Have you spoken to him? At all?’

I shake my head. ‘I sent him a message telling him I loved him and that I was sorry. I got no reply. I understand now. How it must have made him feel. Thank you for telling me.’

‘I’ll make sure he sees it. Your documentary.’

Paige gets to her feet. She wraps me in an embrace. I hold onto her, trying to stop the tears. ‘Best of luck, Lexi,’ she whispers.

When I leave her studio, I wonder if I’ll ever see her again.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Palo Alto, California, USA

In the king-sized bed with pristine white linen, I yawn and stretch my legs. I’m staying in a luxury suite at Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel in Silicon Valley, my room overlooking a luxurious outdoor pool, the sun already spilling through the curtains. Vaughn Herrera has spared no expense for my visit.

I’ve not stopped thinking about Lucy Garrity. I thought about her for the entire eleven-hour flight to San Francisco from London. And – lo and behold – the story was on the internet the entire time. Even Meredith didn’t mention it, but Meredith is American and the coverage had been largely British. I thought I’d done every inch of research I could, yet now I feel blindsided, Aidan saying nothing to allude to the truth.

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