Page 65 of One Night in Paris

“How? I don’t own the fucking tabloids.” I kept running, thinking about that. “Maybe I could, though. Maybe I could buy all of them and then print awful articles about Dave.”

Trevor chuckled. “You’re willing to spend your entire fortune on buying up a bunch of fucking gossip rags? And for what? You don’t know the first thing about running a magazine, even if you tried to turn it into something legitimately press-worthy. Nah, that’s a sucky idea, bro. What else you got?”

He had a point. The last thing I wanted to do was invest all of my money in the same shitty magazines that had caused this problem to begin with. “I have no idea.”

“Do you have any contacts at any of them? Or any legitimate magazines?” Trevor asked, slowing his machine down. We hadgotten in ten miles and were ready to do our cooldown now. I slowed mine down as well.

“No, the only contact I have is Lawrence atThe New York Times, and they don’t print or dispute this kind of shit,” I told him.

“Is that the guy who did that article on you about how you’re the most eligible bachelor in New York? I’ve met him a time or two, right?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Nodding, I said. “Yep, that’s the guy. He used to live in the building, so you’ve worked out with him, and I think we had drinks once or twice.”

“Lawrence… Cooper?”

It wasn’t like Trevor to know someone’s last name unless they were very relevant to him, so I was shocked he came up with that. “Yeah, why?”

“Well, I heard he just got hired as the editor-in-chief ofNew York Happenings. Maybe he could help you out.” Again, Trevor shrugged like it was just a thought, and maybe not a good one, but his suggestion had me stopping my treadmill so I could turn to look at him.

“What do you have in mind, Trev?” It seemed a little ironic that I was asking him his thoughts considering he never really gave much careful consideration to anything other than his next thrill ride or what he was going to have for dinner, but he seemed to be onto something, and I wanted to explore it further.

“I’m not really sure. It’s just… isn’t that magazine pretty well known? And not for printing shitty articles like the ones Harper has been in so far, but for writing legitimate stories about people that have the public generally interested?”

“Yeah, I think so.”New York Happeningscentered around the people who lived in New York, mostly famous people—rich business owners like myself, actors, musicians, models, people like Trevor who were born with a silver spoon in theirmouths. But it wasn’t just read by people in New York. Lots of people around the globe read it because the stories weren’t just shitty fabrications made to catch people’s attention. They were legitimate articles written by professional writers, many of them award-winning authors, who did in-depth research and interviews before crafting their columns for every monthly publication.

If my friend Lawrence was the editor-in-chief there now, he should be able to help me.

“Do you want me to call Lawrence?” Trevor asked. “I know him socially, too. I think I could help you get this straightened out.”

My eyes widened. “You’d do that for me?” Of course, I could do it myself, but Trevor handling that part of the situation for me would take a bit of the weight off my shoulders, at least right now. Especially since I wasn’t sure how running another article about Harper, even if it was a good one, was going to help the situation.

The worst thing was, I didn’t even know how to get in touch with her. She’d legitimately blocked me on everything. From social media to calling her, I couldn’t get in touch with her at all. So unless I had Trevor talk to Kylee and Kylee talk to Harper, I had no way of getting a hold of her.

It was like she’d just fallen out of my life.

“Don’t worry, buddy.” Trevor stopped his treadmill and reached over, putting a sweaty hand on my shoulder. “I know how much she means to you. I’ve never seen you this gaga over a girl before. We’ll do whatever it takes to fix things, all right?”

“I appreciate your help, Trevor. I really do. You’ve always been such a good friend to me.”

Trevor smiled. “Thanks, dude. I wish I could do more. You’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for. If the situation werereversed, I have no doubt in my mind, you’d do everything you could to save my sorry ass.”

I almost laughed for the first time in days. “True. I would definitely try to save your sorry ass.”

Thanking him again, I headed off to the showers, hoping I could find a way to help Harper. Even if she never wanted to see me or hear from me again, at least maybe Trevor and Lawrence could find a way to fix the situation for her and her mom. That was the most important thing. Eventually, the pain in my heart would stop—wouldn’t it?

It had to. Because if it didn’t, I was pretty sure I was going to die.

36

HARPER

Walking down the streets of New York with my tail between my legs was uncomfortable. I’d already gone to Uncle Joe’s only to find out they were overstaffed and couldn’t take me back. With that in mind, I had to do the one thing I’d prayed I’d never have to do.

Return to Carmine’s and ask them for my old job back.

As I walked along the streets, taking in the familiar sights and sounds I’d grown accustomed to over the years, ones that seemed new now that I hadn’t been here in a while, I prayed that Dotty wouldn’t be in today. It would be difficult to ask any of my managers at Carmine’s for a job, but speaking to her would make it even worse.

Still, I needed a job. Even with the savings I’d been able to put aside because of the enormous salary I’d been making at the firm, I would still have to have a steady income to be able to continue to take care of Mom. Granted, I had some office work experience now, so I could potentially try to get a job at another firm of some sort, but I figured now wasn’t the time to be looking for that. After all, my face was still all over the tabloids with headline after headline about how I was a gold-digging floozy.

---