At last, he held it out. But he didn’t look at her. He acted as though he couldn’t bear to see her reaction.
Frowning, Gail opened the paper, read the headline—and felt her coffee cup slip out of her fingers. “Oh…my…God!”
He covered his face and groaned.
Clutching the paper, she jabbed it with a finger. “How did this happen?”
“It’s all my fault,” he mumbled from beneath his hands. “I…I met a friend at the paper for drinks. I thought Big Hit should go out with a bang instead of scuttling off like a dog with its tail between its legs. I told her she had to be careful how she wrote the story—to protect the magazine and to protect us. And she was. There’s nothing directly attributed to you. It’s all hearsay.”
Gail wasn’t even listening anymore. The ringing in her ears drowned out all other sound as she read and reread the opening paragraph. This had to be a joke. It couldn’t be happening, not now. But she could tell from Josh’s body language that it was most definitely for real.
Simon O’Neal Accused of Sexual Assault
An unnamed source from Big Hit PR, the firm that recently slammed its doors on Hollywood’s biggest bad boy when he started a fight on the set of his latest movie, has revealed that the trouble between Simon and the owner of the firm, PR princess Gail DeMarco, stems from an evening the two spent together almost a month ago. Although details remain murky, and both sides are rushing to cover it up, there has been talk about a sexual assault....
Ignoring the coffee fanning out on the expensive carpet, Gail leaned on her desk so she wouldn’t fall. “I’ve never accused Simon of assaulting me,” she gasped.
“The article doesn’t claim to have proof,” Josh said.
“But the media will be calling day and night, hounding me for details. If this was true, it’d be the biggest story of the year. And—” She reached into her purse for her cell phone. No doubt she already had dozens of messages. She’d turned it off when she went to the gym to save battery power and hadn’t yet turned it back on. “I’m going to be sick.”
“I know the feeling,” Josh said.
“What made you think I’d ever condone such a lie?” She pressed the button on her phone that would start the power-up sequence. “Simon is trying to get custody of his five-year-old son.” She held the paper in front of her. “Even though none of this is true it’ll give his ex-wife one more stone to throw at him in court.”
Wearing a sheepish expression, Josh lowered his hands and sat up. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I was so…angry. And she says talk.”
He’d already pointed that out. It didn’t help. “She says I was Simon’s victim! And now I will be his victim. He’s going to strangle me! He’ll destroy the company, and then he’ll come after me. And I can’t blame him. Don’t you understand? All he cares about is regaining contact with Ty. It’s the divorce and what he did to cause it that’s eating him up inside. This will… Oh, God. I’ll refute it. Of course I’ll refute it, but that won’t help.”
“He deserved to have his wife leave him. He was cheating on her with half a dozen other women—”
“I know. It doesn’t make much sense. But he loved her. A lot. Even I could tell that much.”
Josh got up and began to pace. “I admit, now that I’m sober, what I did seems…reckless. And impetuous. And foolhardy. But…he gets away with whatever he does, and I didn’t want to let him get away with what he did to us. I wanted him to pay a price.”
The phone rang, the sound jangling Gail’s nerves. It was eight o’clock, the time the answering service transferred all calls back to the office.
She glanced across her desk but didn’t reach for the handset. She remained rooted to the spot until Ashley poked her head into the room. “A reporter from The Star is on the phone. They’re offering loads of money for the exclusive. But…I’m not sure you’re going to be interested in that.”
“I’m definitely not interested. Tell him so.” She needed to get her bearings, make a plan to stop the spread of this story. She could do that, couldn’t she? Avoiding this type of disaster, or minimizing it, was what she did for a living. She’d just never had to do it for herself.
“Got it.” Ashley lowered her voice. “I know this can’t be easy for you. I have to admit I didn’t agree with refusing Simon’s business. But now I don’t blame you one bit. I’m sorry I’ve been complaining behind your back about what a stupid decision it was.”
“You might try thinking before you open your mouth next time,” Gail muttered.
Ashley winced. “Not exactly behind your back. Yeah, I guess I’ll shut up. But…I am sorry. Are you okay?”
No. She wasn’t okay. She was in the middle of the worst nightmare of her life and couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten there. She was always the one in the right, the problem-solver, the first with good advice. She’d made a living out of these strengths, only to have Josh shove her firmly into the wrong.
Ashley stepped closer. “What can I do to help?”
She curled her nails into her palms. “Get Josh out of here before I start yelling.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry.” Josh was distraught, but Gail wasn’t ready to hear his apology. Not yet. Maybe he’d done what he’d done in some misguided attempt to defend her, to defend them all, or at least get in a good swing at the Goliath in their lives. Considering the situation, that was understandable, especially if he’d been drinking. But there was no escaping the fact that he’d crossed the line, and she was going to pay dearly for it. They all were.
“Josh?” Ashley said uncertainly. “You coming?”
“I’m sorry,” he said again, and burst into a full-blown wail.
Gail breathed deeply as he ran out. “Let him cry.”
“So…what should I do when other reporters begin to call?” Ashley was still waiting for direction, and not about how to handle Josh.
“Tell everyone that I’m unavailable. Whatever you do, don’t even hint that I’m here or put anyone through. Not until I give the word.”
“Does that go for the police? Because they left a message with the answering service.”
Oh, no…