Page 100 of Madden
“I guess we can agree this conversation is over.”
“Whoa, whoa. We had a deal, and like I promised, I’ll hold up my end. You want me to come to his team before I run anything. I’ll do my best to make it happen.”
“Your best is not good enough. I need you to give me your word. We both know I could dig up my fair share of secrets from my time at Hollywood Tea. We both know cockroaches don’t like having light shed on them.”
Like the rumors about how he landed his job to begin with.
He sighs, leaning back against his chair. He steeples his fingers in front of him and nods.
“All right, you have my word.”
“Well, for starters, the article about Madden getting angry after finding out Hanna is pregnant is total bullshit. I was there the weekend the window was broken, and it wasn’t by Madden. It was by an unknown man they caught on his video surveillance, and I suspect it’s the same man who was with her when she broke into his house and assaulted me.”
Clive’s eyes widen, and he leans forward as if he’s not sure he heard me correctly.
I pull back the scarf I’m wearing around my head, used to style my hair. It’s the only thing I could come up with to try to hide the hideous bruise leftover from the goose egg.
The swelling has started to go down, though.
“I still don’t know what she was looking for exactly, but what I do know is the baby she’s expecting is not Madden’s.”
“How do you know? We have sources who’ve confirmed they’ve been intimate together before.”
I grit my teeth and nod. I hate thinking about the two of them together, but it’s a part of Madden’s past, and considering how we met, it’s not one even I can deny.
I pull out my laptop and click on the files I transferred earlier today.
“I was at Madden’s alone when the break-in happened. In the midst of everything going on, I managed to start recording a voice memo on my smartwatch. This clip is from after she hit me on the head with a vase, and I was knocked unconscious.”
I hand Clive my headphones and press the play button.
He stares blankly at the table, listening intently as the audio picks up the conversation.
The police were on their way, and they knew they weren’t far when it all happened. I hadn’t expected for the audio to pick up much of anything, assuming they took off after.
When the audio clip cuts off, he pulls off the headphones and shakes his head.
“So the baby isn’t his? What’s her reason for pinning it on him? All because he chose you over her? What was the point of breaking into his house?”
I shrug. “It’s all about money for her. Either she knows when he finds out the due date, it won’t line up with when they were together or it’s been a setup from day one. I think she knew with the band’s history of having their names splattered in the press, he’d buy her silence to keep the rumors from spreading.”
I still don’t know what she was looking for when she broke in. She stole my camera, and his hard drives. Who knows what she’ll do when she figures out what she has on them.
I’ve spent the past few days mentally preparing myself for when the photos of my most intimate moments with Madden are leaked online.
All I can hope now is she’ll be caught before it happens.
“Man, I’m sorry you’ve got tangled up in this.” He reaches his hand across the table, patting me on the arm.
“She’ll come to you and use whatever she has as leverage to try to smear his name again. I need you to help me stop her before she does.”
He sighs, sitting back against his chair, and nods.
“You have my word, I won’t run any articles if she’s my source, and I’ll go through their PR team before anything hits publication.”
“Thank you.”
The weight sitting on my chest eases some. I’ve felt helpless over the past few days, trying to piece everything together.