Page 67 of Songbird
I turn to Rosie. “You’re putting out a statement?”
“It’s one option,” Rosie says. “And releasing an official statement makes it easier to refuse further questioning from the press and the public.”
“Will it expose Chip and the way he treated you?”
Rosie meets my stare with blankness, and I know the answer before she says it. “No.”
Ignoring the weight of Pia’s analytical gaze, I speak directly to Rosie. “Are you sure that’s the right way to manage this? It’ll mean Chip gets out of it easier than he deserves. He lied about you. He’s an asshole and everyone should know it.”
Rosie cups my face with one soft hand. “You’re right, and he is, but there’s no use fighting him in the court of public opinion. There’ll always be people who don’t believe my version of events, and he’ll always have another trick up his sleeve. I’ve got no desire to waste time down in the mud beside him, and I won’t give him an ounce more of me than he’s already taken.”
The injustice of Rosie’s situation infuriates me, but I’m so impressed by her strength that I moderate my tone and nod like I understand why it has to be this way. “I get it.”
Pia clears her throat. “It might help you to know that inside the business, most people know Chip’s a…”
She grimaces, her public relations training perhaps clashing with an honest assessment, and I offer a word to help her out. “Dick?”
Her mouth twitches. “His reputation undermined his smear campaign against Rosalie, at least among industry players, but the fact is he makes a lot of people a lot of money, and that’s all that a lot of people care about. Plus, you know. He’s a rich and powerful man, and that makes those same people willfully ignorant of a wide variety of bad behavior. It’s not right, but here and now, even with the resources I have at my fingertips, there’s not a lot I can do to change it. What Icando—and what I care about most—is protecting Rosalie. Her reputation. Her brand. Her business. And, if I can help it, her sanity.”
I consider Pia again, seeing her in a new light. She’s getting paid to care, I get that, but something about the rising ferocityin her voice makes me think Rosie made the right choice adding this woman to her team.
“Pia wants us to wait to make any announcements about us,” Rosie adds. She leans against me, arm pressing on mine, fingers curling tighter in my hand. “Just until the dust settles on the breakup. Once the celebrity news cycle has something more scandalous to talk about, it’ll be easier for us to make our public debut.”
“I’m not interested in staying locked up inside while Rosie’s moving about in the world,” I say to Pia. “I don’t need to be in the spotlight—in fact, I’d prefer not to be—but I do need to be close by.”
“Pia has an idea,” Rosie says, but her hesitancy puts me on guard. Pia might know her stuff, but at the end of the day, I’ll do what Rosie wants me to do, not her publicist.
“What is it?”
“Continue to operate as Rosie’s personal bodyguard,” Pia says. “We’ll hide you in plain sight. It’ll give you a valid reason to be by Rosalie’s side, and nobody will blink twice when they see you in pictures, if they notice you at all. If anyone, Chip included, accuses you of being anything more, we’ve got the receipts to back up our story. You’re ex-military. You’ve been on Rosie’s security team before, and you’ve got no other employment, skills, or commitments that might catch us in a lie.”
“Finn’s family owns a ranch and vineyard in Sonoma Valley,” Rosie protests. “He has a beautiful fur baby and he’s a gifted artist. I explained all this already.”
I appreciate Rosie coming to my defense, but I don’t need it, and I press on her fingers to let her know it’s okay. Pia is right. Rosie’s world isn’t made for a man like me unless he’s providing the muscle. I don’t want to be at the center of any celebrity storm, and anyway, this is her life and not mine. Rosie’s spotlight would shine right through me, and I’m comfortable inthe background, preferably in camouflage, because that’s where I belong.
“Pia says that when we’re ready, we can tell everyone we fell for each other while working together,” Rosie adds. “It’s not a lie, and it might not take long. But if you’re not on board with any of this, we can come up with another—”
“I’m on board,” I interrupt, determined not to make Rosie’s life harder than it already is. “Let’s do it.”
“Are you sure?”
I ignore Pia as I slip my hand around the nape of Rosie’s neck and press my forehead against hers. People watching us is something I need to get used to, and there’s no way I’m censoring the way I love Rosie when we’re behind closed doors.
“I don’t care what people on the outside think,” I say. “We know the truth, don’t we?”
Rosie answers with a relieved smile. “We do.”
“Excellent.” Pia’s voice is take-charge and impatient now that she’s been given the green light. “Finn. I don’t think I need to brief you on the correct behavior and protocol for the person acting as Rosalie’s personal bodyguard, but just so we’re clear, you will need to keep your hands off each other.”
“In public,” I mutter, Rosie’s lips too close to resist, and she smiles against my mouth as I kiss her.
“In public,” Pia agrees. “Keep up the charade for as long as you can and let me do some work in the background to build the best launching pad for you both, then we’ll revisit the plan when the time is right.”
“Sounds good,” Rosie replies, or that’s what it sounds like, mashed up and murmured between my lips.
Pia clears her throat. “There’s one more agenda item before I can leave you two alone,” she says, and I begrudgingly let Rosie pull away. “A personal assistant.”
Rosie slumps a little but nods her agreement. “I suppose I’ll need one of those eventually.”
