by Claire Raye
“You’re right,” I tell him. “I can’t let him intimidate me. That’s what he wants and if I back down he wins. There are too many people affected by his bullshit.”
“Think about all the people who are counting on that Guardian reporter’s story? They’re nothing by themselves but together they can make a difference.”
“He needs to hear about what just happened too. I’m sure he can spin a story from Noel coming in here. Who would’ve thought that I’d be working with the press after everything? I never did. When I worked for Julia speaking to them about anything was unthinkable, but now they’re somehow my allies in all this.”
“Things change. People change and not everyone in the industry is an arsehole. Although recently it has felt that way,” Lewis says shrugging his shoulders.
Finally settling down, we clean up the bar, closing everything down as we head up to bed, hoping tomorrow is less eventful than today.
The streets are quiet once again, the buzz of Saturday morning traffic bustling on the sidewalks, but all of it normal. It’s another sign of relief and I slip out of bed, letting Lewis sleep as I make myself a cup of coffee.
Curled up in the corner of the couch, coffee in one hand, phone in the other, I begin to sort through emails. Since quitting my job with Noel, I get at least three to four emails a day with job offers. When you once worked for an Oscar-winning movie star, people want you as their assistant. They watched me maintain Julia’s privacy and they want that too. I could go back to work in the industry anytime I want, but I’m being selective now. Working for Noel has taught me that not every job is the same and not every person will treat you as their equal.
What’s funny is I come to an email from Julia and I feel myself smile when I see her name on the screen. While she’s here in London with Aiden, we don’t get a lot of time to talk so email and text are the way we tend to communicate. She’s currently working on starring in Aiden’s upcoming movie and her email tells me she’d like to have me back as her assistant, but just part time as she still isn’t planning to return to the Hollywood scene full time. Basically she just needs someone to handle things for her when she’s in London. A part of me wonders if she’s doing this because she knows I’m out of work, but I don’t give it a ton of thought.
Working for Julia was one of the easiest and most enjoyable jobs I had and I wouldn’t miss the opportunity again. I shoot her a quick response back and just like I did when I woke up this morning, I’m letting out another sigh of relief. At least I now have the peace of mind that Lewis isn’t carrying the brunt of our workload, that while it may be small in comparison to the wealth of him and his family, I’m contributing.
I open up the news app on my phone and in my hazy excitement about working for Julia again, I nearly miss the headline story. But when it catches my eye, I re-read it, my eyes scanning it, moving quickly back and forth over the words multiple times before it sinks in.
“Why the world should be canceling Noel Robinson: A story of how money wields all the power.”
My breath catches in my throat, a strangled gasp of air seeping out slowly as I read it again and again, scrolling the article for the author. And while it’s not Roger, the story has a similar feel, but not nearly the weight or accusers Roger’s story holds.
It’s one woman who has come forward with her accusations, similar to the incident that happened on set with Elizabeth Hutton, but this one happened in silence. This one happened years ago and was quietly swept under the rug with a large sum of money and a witch hunt of reporters too tired to share it.
It’s just the start of bigger things to come.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Lewis
I’d expected the fallout from Noel rocking up to my pub and causing a scene to be bigger. Even with the injunction in place, I’d been sure some of those fuckers would have reported on it anyway, choosing to risk a lawsuit that their bosses could deal with rather than pass up the chance at breaking a juicy story.
But I’d been wrong. Sort of. Because the article that had been published yesterday morning, the one Ava had been engrossed in reading when I’d finally dragged myself out of bed, had overshadowed everything.
No, it wasn’t the big story the dude from the Guardian was working on, but it was still something. Something that painted the wanker she used to work for in exactly the light he should be; a power-hungry control freak who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants.
But as much as that was a good thing, neither of us was sure what it meant for us moving forward.
“Yep, okay, I understand,” I hear Ava say as she walks into the kitchen, phone to her ear and a now empty cup of coffee in her other hand. “No, I’m still in the process of dealing with that,” she adds, smiling up at me.
She listens to whatever’s being said on the other end of the line, nodding and mmm’ing occasionally before eventually hanging up.
“Well?” I ask, hands shoved into the front pockets of my jeans as I lean back against the kitchen bench.
Ava exhales, putting her phone on the bench as she walks toward me, stopping with her legs on either side of mine as she slips her arms around my waist. “Well, he’s pissed that this story broke before his, obviously,” she starts. “But he’s still going ahead. Thinks he can build something even bigger and better.”
“Totally,” I say, pulling my hands from my pockets and tucking them into hers as I tug her closer. “You and I both know there’s a shitload more dirt on that guy that can be exposed.”
“I know,” she says, nodding. “But he wants to take his time, make sure he really has everything in place before he breaks the story. He promises he isn’t going anywhere.”
“He better not be,” I murmur.
Ava smiles as she pushes up on her toes and brushes her lips against mine. “This fight isn’t over, Lewis,” she whispers. “He’s sticking with the story and maybe in time, we can get Sadie on board too. My NDA limits how much I can say, but I’m sure he doesn’t make his wife sign one. Surely.”
I nod, giving her another kiss before pulling her against me, my chin resting on the top of her head as I let out a long exhale. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if the fucker did make his wife sign one, he’s that much of an arrogant arsehole. I hope Sadie does join the fight, because she’s the one person who can corroborate everything. The one person who can end this guy for good.
Because even with everything that’s happened so far, the press finally starting to leave us alone, Joanna being told to shut the fuck up and Noel being mostly ousted as the fuckwit he is, I know none of this is even close to being over.
And despite this journalist still continuing with his investigation, with building his story, I know as long as Ava is connected to it, we can never truly relax. Noel storming into the pub the other night made that blatantly obvious. Clearly he’s worried Ava’s going to talk.
“Anyway, enough about that,” she says, lifting her head from my chest as she smiles up at me. “Should we go and meet with the realtor?”
I smile, grateful that at least Ava is more relaxed about this whole thing. “Yes, let’s do it.”
We settle on three places to look at, all within walking distance of each other. The realtor takes us to each property, explaining the history of each place, all the pros and cons and what the obvious drawcards are.
To be honest, I’d be happy living in any of them, but as soon as we get to the last place, I know this is one that Ava loves the most. It’s only a street away from Aiden and Julia’s London home, which in itself is a huge drawcard. But inside, the house is something else entirely.
“So, it’s five bedrooms, four bathrooms,” the realtor starts. “All bedrooms are upstairs, with the master suite in a separate wing. Should we look there first?” she asks.
Ava looks up at me and I can’t help but grin and give her a wink, chuckling a little when she blushes.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I say, squeezing her hand as we follow the real
tor up the stairs.
At the top she turns to the left, taking us toward a clearly separate section of the house. As we pass through a double set of doors, we walk in a huge room. It’s dominated by a king bed on one side and small sitting area with a couch and a huge granite fireplace on the other, which immediately conjures up all number of fantasies in my mind. The far wall of the room is all glass, huge floor to ceiling windows that overlook the backyard. Turning, I catch doors leading into a huge white bathroom and a massive walk-in closet.
“Shit,” I murmur, turning in a circle as I take it all in.
Ava lets go of my hand, walking toward the window as she glances outside. Despite the size of them, it’s obvious no one can see in, the back garden is surrounded by tall trees and a high wall, just like at Aiden and Julia’s.
“Bathroom was recently redone,” the realtor adds, indicating for us to have a look. “The owners installed a large tub, double-head shower, heated floors…”
She keeps talking, but I’m not listening as I follow Ava into the bathroom. “Looks like room for two in that tub,” I whisper in her ear as I come up behind her. “Plenty of room for other things too,” I add, my voice low.
Ava shoots me a sly smile over her shoulder because she knows exactly what I’m thinking before she moves back into the main room to check out the walk-in closet.
“Any children?” the realtor asks as she glances between us.
“Not unless you count a four-legged one,” Ava says, shaking her head at the same time as I say, “Not yet.”
The realtor smiles but says nothing as she turns and leads the way to the other end of the second floor.
After showing us the rest of the bedrooms and upstairs bathrooms, we head back downstairs to see the study, wine cellar, large living room, separate dining room and kitchen.
“And obviously there is a very generous backyard,” she says, opening the French doors that lead off the kitchen. “Which is perfect for your pet.”
“Any parking available?” I ask, knowing it would be great if I could get my car out of storage.
The realtor smiles. “Yes, a double garage at the back, access is via a side road and there’s a path running down the side to the house just there,” she adds, pointing to the far wall.
“Plenty of room for your other baby,” Ava says, smiling at me.
I’m chuckling as I walk over to where Ava stands. The realtor disappears out of the room now, obviously to give us a minute, even if it’s pretty fucking obvious we both love this place.
“So,” I start, pulling her into my arms. “What do you think?”
Ava looks up at me, her hands slipping into my back pockets. “It’s really beautiful,” she says. “And private and secure.”
“But?” I ask, sensing her hesitation.
“But, can we really afford to spend this much on a house?” she asks.
I smile at her as I lean in and brush my lips against hers. “We can afford it, baby, don’t worry about that.”
“Lewis, it’s a lot of money.”
“Ava, I’d pay anything for a house that you like, that makes you feel safe,” I tell her, lifting my head. “So, I’ll ask you again, what do you think?”
Ava pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as a small smile tugs at her mouth.
“You love it don’t you?” I say.
“I do,” she whispers, eyes flicking about the room before they settle back on my face. “I really love it.”
“Then,” I say, leaning down to her. “Consider it our new house,” I add, before I silence any more of her protests or worries with a deep kiss.
The click of heels on the hardwood floors lets me know the realtor’s coming back, so I reluctantly pull away, slipping an arm around Ava’s shoulders as we both turn to face her.
“So, thoughts?” she asks, smiling at both of us.
“We’d like to make an offer,” I immediately say.
“Fantastic,” she replies, her eyes lighting up as she pulls out some paperwork from her document case.
We go through the forms, noting down what we’re prepared to pay for this place to be ours. I knock a couple of thousand pounds off the asking price, but I’m not too cheeky about it, not when I know how much Ava loves the place.
“Okay, so we will need to do a finance check and obviously there will be…”
“It won’t be a problem,” I say, pulling my wallet out. “This is my lawyer, he’ll be able to sort things out with you,” I add, sliding one of Jason’s cards toward her.
The realtor looks at the card, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she takes in the name of the firm that has represented my family for as long as I can remember. When she eventually looks up, her eyes flick from me to Ava and back to me again. It’s written all over her face, the questions she wants to ask, and I can tell it’s taking everything she has in her to maintain some sort of professionalism and not ask who the hell I am.
I get it, I don’t look the part, never have. And people don’t expect someone like me to have a lawyer like Jason on retainer or be able to make offers on house that sell for seven figures.
“If you have any questions, Jason will be able to help you out,” I tell her. “If the offer is accepted, of course.”
She swallows hard, glancing at the paperwork before saying, “I’ll present it to them this afternoon. I hope to have an answer for you in the next day or so.”
“Fantastic,” I say, smiling as I reach out to shake her hand. “Thanks for your help today.” Turning to Ava, I add, “So, should we go and see if our new neighbors are home?”
Out on the street, I grab Ava’s hand as we head in the direction of Julia and Aiden’s house. Ava is silent as we walk along the quiet street and I can’t help glancing down at her.
“You okay?” I ask, squeezing her hand.
She nods, that bottom lip of hers between her teeth again, but says nothing.
“Ava,” I say, stopping. “What’s going on, what are you thinking?”
She turns to me, her hands on my hips as she steps closer. “I’m thinking,” she says, a smile on her face now. “That you are the most amazing man I have ever met.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, of course, I thought you knew that already.”
Ava laughs, swatting at my chest. “Cheeky shit,” she says.
Shrugging, I lean down to kiss her. “Whatever, you love it.”
“I do,” she says against my mouth. “And I love you too. Thank you, Lewis,” she adds. “Not just for the house, but for everything. For putting up with my job, with all the shit that’s happened because of it. For sticking with me.”
I slide a hand to her cheek, my fingers curling around the back of her neck as I gently pull her closer. “I told you sweet girl,” I whisper. “You’re it for me.”
“And you’re it for me,” she whispers back before kissing me.
The sound of my phone ringing breaks the moment and we pull apart. “Maybe it’s the realtor?” I suggest as I pull my phone from my pocket.
Ava laughs. “We literally left two minutes ago.”
I grin as I answer the phone. “Hello?”
“Lewis, hi, it’s Jason Holsham.”
“Jason,” I say, glancing at Ava. “What’s up?” I ask, wondering if the realtor has already rung him to find out if I really can afford the house we just walked out of.
Jason clears his throat. “Is Ava with you?”
“Yeah,” I confirm. “What’s going on?” I add, confused. “Things have been better since the letters were sent,” I continue, knowing I’m half rambling. “Is there something else?”
He exhales as he continues. “There is, but I need to speak with Ava first,” he says. “Can you put her on?”
“Sure,” I say, handing my phone to Ava. “It’s Jason, he wants to speak to you.”
Ava gives me a strange look before taking the phone. “Hello?”
I can’t hear the other side of the conversation, but as I watch Ava, standing here
listening and not saying anything, my mind races with all the possibilities for what this might be about. Definitely something about Noel, it has to be. Jason would have no other reason to speak to Ava, certainly not in a way that excludes me.
Ava is on the phone for at least ten minutes, neither of us moving from where we stand in the street. There’s hardly anyone around and with the press finally leaving us alone, there’s no chance of her being overheard.
Eventually she says her good byes and hangs up, handing the phone back to me.
“What was that all about?”
Ava takes a deep breath in before letting it out in a long slow exhale. “It seems there’s a loophole in my NDA,” she says.
“What?”
Ava shrugs. “Yeah, it might be the reason Noel was losing his shit the other night. Jason isn’t sure if he fully appreciates the issue, but there has been a development of sorts.”
“What sort of development?” I ask, scrubbing a hand across my jaw, not knowing if this is a good or bad thing.
Ava tilts her head in the direction of the tube station. “Jason wants me to come in and see him in an hour,” she says. “Says he’ll explain everything then. Will you come with me?”
I stare down at her, at the mix of emotions that are currently playing out on her face. Wariness, uncertainty, maybe a little fear.
“Of course I will,” I tell her, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ava
We arrive at the lawyer’s office an hour later and if I said I wasn’t nervous I’d be lying. Noel could ruin me and as we take the elevator up to the offices, I have to wonder if I could in turn ruin him and if this is something that I want. I’ve waivered back and forth between what I should do for so long now and while I feel I’ve decided that my voice would be better served speaking out for the victims of his abuse, I can’t help but be saddled with the guilt over the thought of ending someone’s career. His marriage will likely go down in this disaster and since becoming friends with Sadie, I hate that she’ll be exposed to all his secrets and lies.
