by JA Low
Things turned when I told Wayne that I didn’t want to do this fake relationship anymore; that I had had enough. Vivian was becoming a diva and I just wasn't interested anymore. Vivian didn’t like it when Wayne called us into a meeting to discuss our very public break up. She liked the attention we got as a couple, but I had just had enough. She threatened me that day in the office and also Wayne telling him she would fire him from representing her if he allowed us to break up.
We didn’t think her threats were real, until the first article came out. That’s when I realized the depths she was willing to go for fame. She announced she was pregnant with my baby, that I had dumped her as soon as I had found out and that I wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. That I was never faithful, I was screwing groupies behind her back, she even had girls I had hooked up with write about their experience with me, adding more lies into the already massive cauldron of lies that she has created. She had somehow doctored text messages and emails between us that said all these horrible things from me to her about getting rid of the baby. Saying the vilest and hurtful things, stuff I would never say to a woman. My family was devastated by the news printed in the gossip magazines about me and it took me a while to convince them it wasn’t true. Every week a new lie was being spun by Vivian and her new management team. The photo shoots of her crying, walking into the doctor’s office; the staged photos of her looking at the ultrasound photos of “our” baby. I hadn’t slept with Vivian in months, there was no way in hell that baby was mine. I didn’t understand why she was doing this to me. Why she was destroying me.
“I don’t know what to do anymore, Issy.” My hand flinching as she works on my wounds. “She’s ruined my reputation, the fans are turning on me, on the band. Maybe it would be better if I wasn’t around anymore.” Isla’s eyes open in shock as I tell her one of my darkest realizations. Some nights when things have gotten really bad for me I’ve thought about maybe ending it all.
“Stop.” Her voice strong yet vulnerable. “I never ever want to hear you say things like that ever again. What the hell in the world am I meant to do without you?” Her ice-blue eyes glisten with unshed tears. “I never want to know a world where you're not in it.” My stomach sinks at her words, knowing it would hurt her if I wasn’t in her life anymore. I reach out and touch her cheek, my thumb brushing against her soft skin.
“I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you in my life, Issy.” Her face presses in against the palm of my hand.
“I’m never going to leave you, Finn. You’re stuck with me, no matter what.” A single tear falls down my cheek. In the mountain of chaos that is happening all around me, knowing Isla is going to stick with me through it all, is all I the encouragement I need to fight this, to find out the truth of what Vivian is playing at. I lean over and press my lips against hers in a tender kiss. “Thank you.” Our foreheads press against each other.
Six months later
“It’s going to be okay.” Isla tries to calm me down as I enter the lawyer’s office. She’s been an absolute rock during this whole saga, as has everyone. The boys are with me as well, a solid united front against the world. Vivian had the baby a month ago, a little boy called Leo Wright. The photos of him in the magazine were adorable. He’s very dark haired, which is kind of weird especially since Vivian and I both have fair hair, but I don’t know anything about babies. The images of Vivian with the dark haired baby raised questions on some gossip sites. That maybe the denials of being in a sexual relationship with this woman around the time of baby Leo’s conception might actually be true. Of course now they are trying to work out who could possibly be the child's father if it isn’t me.
I enter the glass doors of the meeting room, leaving my support network behind in the foyer of our lawyer’s office. Today is mediation and the day we find out if I am actually the biological father of this baby. If I am, it’s going to hurt. I wasn’t there at the birth; I wasn’t there throughout her pregnancy. If it is true, I missed out on a month of his life. I can’t get that time back. He’s going to see all the vile magazine stories about what happened between his mother and I when he gets older and he’ll probably hate me over it.
We take a seat at the wooden boardroom table and wait for Vivian to arrive. She eventually swans in with her entourage, looking every inch the Hollywood starlet that she is. She refuses to look at me when she sits down and I let out an unsteady breath.
“Thank you all for making it. We are here to discuss the paternity of Leo Wright,” the mediator starts. “I have the DNA results here.” He holds a white envelope. He slowly opens it and pulls out the results and I can feel an uneasy tension ripple through the room. This is it, months and months of drama all comes down to a couple of numbers on that piece of paper. “Finn Connolly is 99.9% not the father.” The room is silent. Did I hear him correctly? Is he seriously saying those words right now? The silent spell is broken by a wailing Vivian.
“No. No this isn’t right. He’s the father. He has to be the father. There was no one else.” She’s putting on a performance of a lifetime.
“Miss Wright, these tests are very accurate. I have faith that this test is true,” the mediator tells her, hoping it will calm her hysterics down.
“You.” She points at me. “You paid someone, didn’t you? You tampered with the results.” The venom coming out of her mouth is astonishing. She stands up abruptly and storms out of the room, everyone a little shell-shocked. I follow after her refusing to listen to my lawyers who are telling me not to chase after her.
“Viv, Vivian,” I yell after her down the corridor, Isla and the boys looking at me strangely. She turns left and I follow after her. She opens up a door and I rush behind her, catching it before she can close it. It shocks her and she stumbles back a couple of steps in her high heels. I slam the door behind me locking it; we are going to hash this all out now. I want to know why she has made my life a living hell for all these months, tarnished my reputation, ruined opportunities for my band.
“Leave me alone, Finn.” Her perfect face now a mess from crying.
“Why did you lie?” I demand. “Why did you make my life hell?” My voice rises, making her jump. Shit, I don’t want to scare her but I am fucking pissed.
“I…I…” She splutters over her words.
“You knew Leo wasn’t mine, yet you tried to destroy me. Why?”
“I didn’t have a choice, Finn.” That was the first time she’s been honest with me. I can see it clear as day against her mascara soaked face.
“If someone was threatening you, I would have helped.” She laughs a little manically.
“Always wanting to be the white knight. Finn Connolly, the wholesome all-American boy. He was going to destroy me if I told anyone, he would lose everything and I would as well.”
“So you pinned it all on me.”
“He told me too.”
“Who?” She hesitates for a couple of beats. “Malcolm Fletcher.”
“From American Eagles?” I know who he is, their band came up the same time Dirty Texas did, we traveled the festival circuit together. Malcolm hated that we started to become more popular than his band. He also hated that I had slept with his high school sweetheart. I had no idea who she was, I just thought she was another backstage groupie on the scene when we hooked up, so when he found us it wasn’t pretty. He vowed that he would destroy me one day and I’m guessing he found his chance.
“Fuck!” I rake my hand through my hair. “So, I’m assuming the baby is his?” I question, raising my brows.
“Yes.” She lets out a sigh. “I loved him, Finn, but when he found out that you and I were only together for publicity not because we were truly in love he dumped me. He told me he was only with me to get back at you.” Fuck. “Do you know who his father is?” Vivian asks me. I shake my head. “His father is Tony Marshal, the head of one of the largest studios in Hollywood.” I think I am starting to see what is going on here. “When I told him I was pregnant,
he told me to get rid of it.”
“They were his text messages that you published.” She nods, a sniffle escaping. “When I told him I wouldn't he threatened that he would tell his father that I was a gold digger and had trapped him, that I probably put pins in the condom to get knocked up, that I had planned it all and he would make sure that I never worked in the film industry ever again.” What a fucking prick. “I knew it was wrong, Finn. He promised me that he would privately accept the baby, that behind the scenes he would be a father to our son if I did this for him. So I did.” She breaks down sobbing.
“Do you have any fucking idea the hell you put me through, Viv?” I start pacing again. “It was so bad there was a point where I thought it would just be easier to end it all, stop this pain I was causing everyone.” Vivian gasps at my admission.
“I’m so sorry, Finn.”
“I’m sure you are. But what you have done, none of that can be erased. It’s out there forever. I can never escape from it.”
Tears are pouring down her cheeks again. “I know, Finn. I know. But what choice did I have?”
“You could have come to me. You could have told me. I would have done something. I would have helped you.” She shakes her head.
“I’m sorry,” she wails. “I’ll fix all of it.”
“It’s damn too little too late, Viv. The damage is done.” And with that I turn on my heel and walk out of the room. Fuck my life.
There’s a knock on my door, then I hear it squeak open, the soft padding of feet filters through my home.
“Finn,” Isla calls out. “Are you okay? Where are you?” Her voice echoes through my home. She finds me sitting outside on the back deck, nursing a beer in my hand. A couple of days after the mediation session Vivian made a public video and confessed to everything, basically ruining her career. Apparently, American Eagles’ record label dumped them, Malcolm’s band members left him for ruining their careers and his father publicly denounced his son’s role in all of this. Apparently, Viv has moved to the country away from the bright lights of Hollywood to bring up Leo on her own. Malcolm on the other hand is being his normal arrogant self and partying it up in Vegas where there is no shortage of women fawning over him. I’m guessing girls really do love an asshole. Isla’s hand rests on my shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. “It’s all over now.” I nod and sip my beer, staying silent. She takes a seat beside me, I can feel her staring at me.
“I’m not ready for kids, not by a long shot, but…”
“But the chance that maybe he was yours started to make you think.” I turn to where Isla is sitting, her icy blues staring back at me.
“Kind of. But all I could think about was if the baby was mine that I wished I was having it with someone else.” That’s the annoying thing about all this baby stuff, deep down in my soul I always thought maybe one day I would have kids with Isla. I know we don’t have that relationship anymore, but when I see myself with a family, it’s with her. She stares at me, as if lost in her thoughts.
“I promise if you knock me up, Finn, you’ll know about it.” Isla gives me a smirk, swiping my beer from my hands.
186
Isla
Six years later
“You’re engaged?” Oscar raises his voice at me as I show him my diamond ring. Maybe in the middle of a tour meeting is probably not the best time to break the news to your brother that you’re engaged. I was just so excited. I can’t wear the huge diamond ring out in public until Liam’s agent announces the news, so I only have my Dirty Texas family to share the news with. I was kind of hoping for a little more enthusiasm than what I’m getting. My eyes fall to where Finn is standing beside Oscar, a look of shock resting on his face. “Do you seriously love this dickwad?” Oscar asks. Why am I surprised that this is my brother’s reaction? Liam and Oscar don’t get on at all, two giant egos can’t be in the same orbit as each.
“I’ve been with him for five years, we live together, of course I’m serious about him.” How is this a shock to Oscar? Five years I’ve been dating Liam. “I love him.” I notice Finn wince ever so slightly beside him, which surprises me. He’s never had a problem with me dating Liam before, he genuinely seemed happy for us to be together. It’s been nine years since Finn and I have been together, we had a couple of slip ups during those early years working with the band, but their rising stardom opened the doors to a bevy of beauties chasing him, they soon distracted him. It was fine, people change over the years, you grow up, young love can’t last forever, plus we are friends, best friends, and in the end that becomes more important.
I wasn’t looking for love when I stumbled onto Liam hiding away in a corner of a Hollywood party I’d been dragged to by the boys. He was hot off the prairies of Montana, dealing with the twinkling shine of his star rising in Hollywood. We started up a conversation about hiding away and before we knew it the night flew by and we were swapping numbers. Both of us a breath of fresh air the other wanted but didn’t realize they needed. Liam and I both understood each other’s jobs. I was off touring with the boys, he was off on locations and when we were both in the same city we would hole up with each other and spend it just the two of us in our own little bubble. Now, Liam is one of the hottest guys in Hollywood, his star is most definitely glowing high above and he wants to marry me. He could have any woman in Hollywood but he’s chosen me to spend the rest of his life with, and honestly I couldn’t be happier.
“Congratulations, babe.” Vanessa pulls me into a hug. Thankfully someone is happy for me. “The ring is stunning.” Finally, the engagement giddiness hits me.
“Congrats, babe,” Axel and Christian add next, giving me a hug.
“Congrats.” Finn gives me a quick hug before moving back to his chair.
“You know I love you, sis, but…” Oscar starts again.
“Just say congratulations and stop trying to change her mind.” Vanessa chastises my brother. Oscar rolls his eyes and gives me a tight hug.
“Love you, Issy.” I wrap my arms tightly around him and hold him tight.
News of my engagement breaks before Liam and I have had a chance to announce it, someone at Montgomery Records overheard the news and leaked it, which is pretty shit of them. Of course the rumor mill is in full force, all the social commentators are out giving their two cents worth on my engagement. “Are you sure about this guy, Issy?” Oscar walks into my office at his home, holding up a tabloid magazine about some girl’s magical night with my fiancé which is bullshit. “Another rumor has come out.”
“I know but just like the million and one about you, these too are false.” He should know how the media works, they are always reporting about him and the boys and what they get up to which is all false.
“Not every rumor about us has been false.” He raises a brow at me.
“Like what?” I fold my arms; I know my brother pretty well. There isn’t anything I don’t know about him.
“That we have orgies at Finn’s house.” That stings a little, him confirming that rumor.
“So what, it’s expected of you, you’re a rock star.”
“That I frequent a sex club and like things, you know, kinky.” I make a gagging sound.
“I’ve walked in on you so many times with women, do I really need to know any more about your sex life,” I moan.
“What I’m saying is that some of the rumors about your fiancé could be true. There are so many about him and his co-stars you don’t think there isn’t smoke without fire, Is. Come on, you’re smarter than that.”
“I’m marrying Liam. Deal with it.” I push him in the chest with my finger, probably breaking it, he is so hard.
“Issy, I’m just protective.”
“I know, Oscar, and I love you for it, but I’m not some stupid thirteen-year-old anymore who is being swept along by some older guy who is trying to take advantage of her.” Oscar’s face softens.
“I want the best for you.” I understand why he is protective, I don’t always make the
right decisions when it comes to men, I know this. But Liam has never given me anything to worry about before. “I want you to be happy and if this douchebag makes you happy then I guess I’ll have to deal with it.” I give him a big hug, my heart bursting at him finally giving me his blessing. “But if he hurts you, do I have permission to make his life hell?” I nod against his chest.
Four months later
“I’m glad the guys want to take the plane back early, I’m so looking forward to my bed and a good massage,” Vanessa groans. We’ve been on a long American tour, which finished in New York last night.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Liam again it’s been too long.” I’ve missed him. He started a new movie a month ago and I’ve been stuck on this huge North American tour with the boys, our days off just haven’t meshed up like we hoped so we haven’t seen each other in quite a while.
“I bet you are gagging for it, it’s been months.” Vanessa laughs. “I know that vibrator of yours probably isn’t cutting it anymore,” she teases.
“Shut up, like you can speak. You’ve been going through batteries more than I have.” She gives me a shocked face and bursts out laughing. “So true, so true.”
I leave the guys and take a car over to the studio to surprise Liam.
“Isla, so good to see you again. What a surprise.” Denny, Liam’s assistant greets me at the front of the studio. “Liam is going to be so happy that you are here. He’s missed you.”
“I’ve missed him too. He feels a little distant at the moment, is everything okay with him?”
“He’s thrown himself into this role, he’s living and breathing it. He wants everything to be authentic, this is his serious break out role from you know, the hot, young, frat boy or cowboy kind of persona he’s always had.” I know all this, that’s why he’s taken such a pay cut to do this movie, to push himself out of the mold he’s been pushed into.