Page 76 of Playboy Billionaire

“Can she hold a confidence?”

“Absolutely. I trust her with my life.”

“Do what you think you need to. I guess we should head back. My people are on this. I’ll stay in touch. Are you alright?”

“Yes,” she said quietly, keeping her eyes lowered.

“Penelope, I’m sorry for everything. I never meant to hurt you…most of all, I’m sorry that I never got the chance to tell you how badly I felt that you lost the baby. I’m sure you were devastated. I never had any intention of abandoning the baby financially. I just wanted you to know that.”

She smiled sadly. “Hard to believe our little girl would have been thirteen years old this November.”

“Yes, it is. In some ways it feels like yesterday.”

On the drive home, both were lost in their own memories and the atmosphere held emotional undercurrents of all the things left unsaid. The second the car pulled into her drive, Penelope said a brief goodbye and hopped out. Without a backward glance, she ran into her house.

34

Acacophony of people yelling and cameras flashing greeted Penelope as she was hustled from the SUV into the Butler House. She kept her head down and even with her sunglasses on and hair tucked up in a large floppy hat, they were neither fooled nor deterred.

“Penelope how does Noah Davis feel about your relationship with your co-star?”

“Penelope, does this mean it’s really over for you and Noah?”

“Is it true that you got the part for Griffin Bennett?”

“How does Griffin Bennett feel about sharing you with your last lover?”

The guards formed a wall between her and the small crowd and after she made it inside, they locked the door behind her.

Dolly rushed over, “Quite the welcome committee.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “I’ve missed them so.”

“It was great while it lasted.”

“Have you seen Ben yet?”

“No. Don’t worry, I can fake it,” Dolly said. “I know he has nothing to do with any of it.”

“I agree. I don’t think he’s behind any of this either, but on the slim chance that he is, we have to be careful.”

“I know, I get it. Aren’t you shooting the boat chase scene today?”

“Yes. We’re going over the scene in the conference room then we’ll caravan there. Security is tight and they have everything blocked off on the set.”

“I’ve got my kit all packed up.”

“I’ll see you after the meeting.”

She hadn’t seen Griffin since he’d dropped her off yesterday and a flutter of anticipation had her belly doing flip-flops. He was the first person her eyes landed on and her breath caught in her throat. He was so damn sexy. His eyes were a deep blue today, bright and animated, he looked so happy. She smiled and he grinned back, nonchalantly stretching his arms over head as he tipped his chair back on two legs. She was unsure where to sit. Now that they’d been outed, it complicated everything. She chose a chair across from him, opting for discretion.

She hated holding secrets from him. She had wanted to keep her past buried, but that was impossible now. Her history had finally caught up with her. She had to fill him in on what was going on. Would he understand? She hoped so. She felt eyes boring into her and glanced at Noah. He was glaring…as if he had every right to. Unbelievable.

Stew said, “I’ll say one thing about the tabloid fiasco then we’ll move on. No one is to speak to the press about anything that goes on behind the scenes. No comment…burn that line into your brain. We want to contain this from becoming a circus. Everybody understand? If I find out there are leaks, you’ll be summarily dismissed. I had a small meeting with the rest of the crew this morning and everyone has been warned.”

“It sucks that we have to deal with the fallout,” Noah said, arms crossed, glaring at Griffin.

“Hopefully there will be little fallout.”

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