Page 71 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
Chapter Thirty-Four
“IT’S NOT FAIR to drag you through this mess with me,” Riley insisted. It was five o’clock Sunday morning, and she and Josh were getting ready to leave for the airport. They’d just showered, and Riley was pulling on a pair of jeans.
“I’m already in the mud, and there’s no one I’d rather be there with,” Josh said.
She didn’t know how their lives had become so crazy in sucha short period of time. Yesterday morning, she’d wanted to run away and never come back. Now, with Josh’s declaration of support, she wanted to stand by his side and figure things out—but she also knew it wasn’t fair. Josh had a great career, one that had taken years to build, and a reputation that she didn’t want to be responsible for soiling.
“But you don’t need to go public with our relationshipto figure this out. Don’t hire a PI. We’ll figure out a way. Isn’t there a handwriting expert or someone who could validate my work on the drawings I gave Max?”
“That wouldn’t prove that they were your original drawings,” Josh said. “Look, we were going to eventually have to tell people about us. This just brings it up a little sooner than we had anticipated.”
“And attaches it to a scandal,”she reminded him.
He pulled her against him as she slipped on her blouse. “Maybe so, but if this whole nightmare has made me realize one thing, it’s that there is no doubt that I love you, Riley, and when you love someone, you endure their pain.” He kissed her nose. “Come on. We have to go.”
“Wait. I really don’t want to leave. Can’t I just stay with you and we’ll deal with it together?” sheasked.
“You have no idea what it will be like. Once this mess gets out, we’ll both be hounded day and night. It will be a nightmare. You think we have to hide now? When the media hounds get word of a scandal, they’ll be all over us. By this time tomorrow, I won’t be able to leave my apartment without camera flashes going off from all directions.”
“Josh, why stay? Come with me, then. Let’s bothescape it.” She touched his cheek. “Please?”
“I can’t run from it. I’ll have to hold a press conference, and I want to meet with the PI and have him go through every inch of the office. There’s proof somewhere. I’ll go through the security tapes, too. Where there’s a crime, there’s evidence.” He picked up her bags and headed for the door.
As they came off the elevators and headed for the frontdoor of the building, Josh’s cell phone rang. He answered it as Riley swung the door open and stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Hi, Mia.”
Josh looked up as cameras flashed; a mob of reporters circled Riley.
Riley knew she must look like a deer caught in the beam of headlights. She saw Josh’s mouth form the wordbastards. The muscles in his biceps flexed, and his legs shot forward, pushing throughthe crowd. His eyes darkened as he scanned the unruly mob of reporters. She’d never seen him look so angry, like he’d kill anyone who touched her. He shoved his phone in his pocket, putting his left arm out in front of the photographers—a protective line they could not cross, her bag dangling from his fisted hand.
“Josh!” she yelled.
He encircled her in his arms, shielding her from the pressand lifting her bags in front of their faces as they made their way into the waiting car. Jay flew out of the driver’s side door and barged in between the photographers and Josh and Riley, his arms outstretched as he shouted at the photographers to back off.
Riley felt Josh’s muscles, rock hard and straining around her. His face reddened, as if a surge of rage was driving him forward. He pushedher into the car, then climbed in beside her and locked the door.
Riley blinked away the black splotches left from the camera flashes. She’d never seen anything like the rush of photographers and reporters thrusting microphones in her face and hollering questions one above the next. Her heart slammed within her chest as she tried to catch her breath. She stared at the crowd of photographers outsidethe tinted windows as they chased the car down the street.
“You okay?” The muscles in Josh’s arms and neck pulsated, his hands still fisted, his knuckles white from pressure, as if he were still ready to attack.
She nodded. “What happened?”
“Mia said there’s an article on Page Six. That media nightmare is what I was trying to tell you about all along.” Josh shot a glance behind them. They’dblended into traffic with no photographers on their tail. He drew in a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. His eyes darted along the streets as they whisked by.
“Are you okay? That was awful,” Riley said. She leaned against him. “I’ve made your life a nightmare. I think I should just go home, and you should just live your life as normal. You don’t need this craziness.” Her gut ached as she madethe suggestion. “I refuse to let Claudia, or those media parasites tear us apart.”
She watched his eyes narrow, then close for a breath, and when he opened them again, his jaw relaxed. He rubbed his hands on his pants, then rubbed them together, taking another deep breath. Riley knew he was trying to shake off his anger. When he took her face in his hands, as he’d done the night before, she wasdrawn into his serious, loving gaze. His breath still held the minty smell of toothpaste; his palms were warm and sure.
“I’m with you. Photographers or no photographers. Scandal or no scandal, Riley Banks. I love you.”
She fell against him. “Thank you for not walking away from us.” Guilt clenched her heart. “I’m sorry my being here caused all of this.”
He kissed her forehead. “This isn’t aboutyou, Riley. This is about Claudia. It’s her effed-up issue.”
His cell phone rang, and she tried to move away. He lifted the phone with one hand, keeping her safely against him, and he pushed the speakerphone button. “Treat,” he said.
Treat’s concerned voice came through the speaker. “What is going on over there?”
