More Than Anything

by Serena Grey

  “Timing?” The housekeeper chuckled. “When you love someone, timing is nothing. What matters is how happy you are when you’re with them.”

  After she left, I sipped the fragrant tea and tried to think. I couldn’t hide forever, and Braden was gone. I had no idea when I would see him again. It could be another year, maybe two, or perhaps in a lawyer’s office, ending our marriage with a few signatures. The thought made my eyes ache with tears. I didn’t want to lose him, but I didn’t see any way to save us.

  I closed my eyes. I needed to leave. Being in the house where we’d fallen in love made me remember, made me hope we could be saved. Braden knew that, which was probably why he avoided the place. I needed to leave; maybe then I could clear my head.

  I found my phone in one of the drawers in the nightstand and called Meredith.

  “Everybody is going crazy over here. I think I might be forced to reveal your location via court order soon. Sean is having a fit wondering what to do about the New Year’s Eve gala appearance. It’s a madhouse out here…”

  “I collapsed on the red carpet, for heaven’s sake. They should be more concerned about my welfare.”

  “What’s a little fatigue when you’re the hottest property in Hollywood?” Meredith chuckled. “Do you need anything? More clothes? I can keep this up until my ass gets hauled to jail.”

  I laughed. “No. I need to go to the hotel in Manhattan. Get my suite ready, and yes…some clothes would be fine.”

  “You’re leaving the house?”

  I nodded. “Braden left this morning…”

  “Wait…” she crowed. “You didn’t tell me Braden was there.” I could hear the smirk in her voice. “I love a lover’s getaway.”

  I thought about the night before and blushed. “It wasn’t that at all.” I paused. “Tell Sean I’ll be at the gala. I’ll do that then return to LA.”

  “Okay.” She was quiet. “So…Braden…?

  “So…nothing.” I sighed. “See you soon.”

  “See you. I’ll talk to Sean…and is there going to be any off-the-cuff revelation at the interview, like the one you made after you got married? He’d like to prepare for something like that, you know?”

  When I got married.

  I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. I was happy then. It was exuberance.”

  “And now?”

  I didn’t reply, but the words hung in my head. Now, there was only loss.

  Twenty-Five

  Braden

  “You know, you always were so clever. You’re so smart in everything else that it boggles my mind how you can be so inexplicably and irredeemably dumb about love.”

  “Mother!” I glared at her over the gleaming marble countertop, and she shrugged. I’d arrived the previous night and found her alone in her apartment. After the entertainment over Christmas, she’d given Clayton the rest of the holidays off, and now she had the house all to herself for New Year’s Eve.

  “What? I can’t comprehend how you spend the better part of a week with Allison and then let her slip through your clumsy fingers again.”

  “What was I supposed to do? Chain her to me?”

  “No! Convince her to stay. Surely with the handsome face I gave you, you can convince a woman who’s already in love with you that you’re worth sticking with.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I look like Dad.”

  “Yeah, but slightly more handsome because of my genes.”

  I chuckled then my mind went back to Allie and I sobered. “She always loved her work more. That will never change, but anyway”—I got up—“I don’t want to talk about Allie.”

  Talking about her tore me apart inside. Thinking about her made me feel weak and helpless, and I hated that. I hated it almost as much as I hated the fact that I was without her, yet again.

  My mother wasn’t prepared to back down. “Face it, Braden, you’re letting the love of your life walk away, and you don’t want to. Instead of doing something about it, you’re here, blaming everyone but yourself.”

  “I’m not the one who thinks our relationship is a hobby for when there’s a little break between shooting movies.”

  “Neither is Allie. Maybe you should stop focusing on your anger and try listening to her.”

  “I have listened to her. Even if I go back to the house right now, Mother, we’re just going to get into another fight and end up in the exact same place.”

  “Oh, she’s not at the house anymore.”

  I frowned. “Where is she?”

  “She’s here in Manhattan, at her hotel. That’s all the gossip news is talking about. She hasn’t left the hotel, though.”

  “Have you spoken to her?”

  She pursed her lips. “I consider Allie to be my friend independent of her relationship with you, or her relationship to me as a daughter-in-law, so I’m not going to betray her confidences.”

  “You’re almost as infuriating as she is.”

  My mother giggled. “She’s canceling most of her events, but I believe she’ll be at a particular New Year’s Eve charity gala, and then it’s off to LA.”

  My heart tightened at the thought that she would leave so soon. “Thanks,” I said.

  “Are you going to see her?”

  “If she’ll see me.”

  My mother sighed. “You know she will.”

  Her words gave me hope.

  Twenty-Six

  Allie

  The flashbulbs exploded the second I stepped outside the hotel. I’d been in my room for a day and a half, protected from the maelstrom of news my arrival had generated. Now, I was back in their spotlight, and it reminded me of the red-carpet incident.

  “Ignore them,” Meredith said from beside me. She was wearing a sweater and pants, a jacket and a scarf, looking every inch the efficient assistant. She’d arrived in the morning to ensure all the preparations for the day went smoothly.

  The flashes continued as I took the few steps to the waiting limo. I heard the screaming, my name sounding over the flashbulbs, and I just wanted to go back a few days, back to Christmas, back to Braden.

  The drive to the center took only a few minutes, and when I finally exited the limo, another round of flashbulbs went off.

  “Where were you, Allie?”

  “Did you elope again?”

  “Who’s your new husband?”

  “Were you in rehab?”

  I ignored the questions and smiled and waved before making my way up the stairs and into the building.

  Meredith joined me inside and followed me up to the famous rotunda, where the temporary set had been constructed. It looked like a winter palace, with tinsel and crystal everywhere.

  “Sean says hi and please stick to the script,” Meredith said. “He sent your list of no-go topics to Sabrina, so no questions about Braden, and no digging around the Guy Fletcher thing either.”

  “Yeah. Denying I have a relationship with Guy just seems to make the Guylies believe it more. Best to avoid it.”

  An assistant came to usher me into a dressing room, and after a few moments, I went out to join Sabrina Tate.

  There was no live audience, just her and me on a plush sofa and an armchair. Sabrina was one of those women whose age was impossible to guess. She looked approachable and warm on camera but was sharp and hard-edged in real life. It was her job to be.

  She asked me questions I’d answered a million times before. She asked how I felt about missing the final premieres for my movie, which was now playing everywhere. With my love life off limits, there was really nothing new to say.

  “I know I’m not supposed to ask you this,” she said with a smile, setting off alarm bells in my head, “but there have been rumors that you spent all of Christmas with Guy Fletcher. Women around the world are dying with envy. So, what I want to ask is, will you finally admit you two are a thing?”

  “We are not,” I said firmly.

  She smiled and gave the cameras a coy look as if telling the audience I wasn’t tel
ling the truth. “You wouldn’t believe who we have joining us! Surprise!”

  Guy walked into the room and sat beside me on the sofa. He was wearing black tie, for the gala, and looked great with his tousled blond hair and blue-eyed cuteness. Women loved him, but I wasn’t one of them.

  “Hi Guy,” Sabrina said.

  “Hey, Sabrina. Hi there, Allie.” He smiled tenderly at me, and I forced a smile in response. I wondered how many people were behind this…the studio? My management? All the people who loved to keep the fiction of our relationship alive.

  “You know about the rumors, Guy,” Sabrina teased. “I’m just begging to know today, on the heels of your latest film…are they true?”

  Guy laughed. “Well, you know, Allie and I love and respect each other very much…”

  “But the rumors are not true,” I finished. “Guy and I have never been an item, and I’m sorry to disappoint the fans, but we never will be.” I smiled at Sabrina then at the camera. “I didn’t spend the past few days with Guy. I was with my husband, Braden Rhodes, and he means more to me than anybody else in the world. The biggest mistake I ever made was letting him go, and I’m not going to make that same mistake again, no matter what.”

  Sabrina looked disconcerted, but Guy kept his plastic smile on.

  “Is there any other question you’re not supposed to ask that you’d love to sneak in, Sabrina?” I smiled sweetly. “Any more surprise guests?”

  “No…I mean. I…” She looked at her notes. “Your stunts on the set of your last movie…”

  She ended the interview quickly after a few more mundane questions. I returned to the makeshift dressing room and found Meredith waiting for me.

  “Did you know?” I asked.

  She shook her head.

  “Tell Sean he’s fired,” I snapped. “Actually, don’t bother—I’ll do it myself.” I whirled as the door open, and Guy hovered at the entrance.

  “That was unnecessary,” he said, his angelic cuteness vanishing in the face of a threat to his public image.

  “This whole interview was unnecessary.”

  “You know that’s not true, Allie.” He shrugged. “The fans want a romance. It costs absolutely nothing to give them something to dream about.”

  “And the ensemble of starlets you sleep with love the idea of getting the guy who’s cheating on Allie Gilbert with them.”

  “Allie…” He sighed. “Think about the franchise.”

  “Haven’t you heard?” I said softly. “I quit the franchise. Somehow, I doubt the studio will want to continue with you now. I heard they’re thinking about a new storyline, totally new characters.”

  “That’s a lie.”

  “Call your agent,” I said then shut the door in his face.

  I went to sit down, and Meredith hovered. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Do you still want to go to the party?”

  What were my other options? Walking past the paps outside and going back to the hotel? Back to LA? Far away to join my parents on their latest medical mission? Or maybe back to Gracie House. Only, Braden wasn’t there anymore. I didn’t even know if he was at his apartment. For all I knew, he could be on the other side of the world.

  I went up to the floor where the gala was just starting. Every year, the chairman of the network held the event to raise money for a cause. My appearance was to add to the list of famous faces that ensured the event could claim star-studded status. At the entrance, I paused, unsure if I wanted to attend the glittering party. Meredith had gone back to the hotel, and now I was alone. I took a deep breath and instead walked toward a small glass alcove at the end of the hallway. From there, I could see most of the city spread out in the night.

  The glass kept the cold away, but I had a good view of the New Year’s revelry outside. I would be able to watch the ball drop and see the fireworks, but I didn’t plan to stay that long. The limo would come back and pick me up from a back entrance, and I would go to Braden’s apartment. If he wasn’t there, I would go to the house. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to say to him, but I knew being with him meant more to me than anything else, and I needed him to know that.

  I touched my hand to the cold glass as I gazed at the millions of festive lights. New Year, New You. The famous slogan slipped into my head, but I knew what I wanted this year. It wasn’t just a new me. It was my life with Braden, the way I’d always dreamed it would be after the next film and the next shoot and all the other obligations that never ever went away.

  “Champagne?”

  I started as a smiling waitress in white and black held out a glass on a tray.

  “Thank you,” I smiled.

  “The guy over there thought you might like a drink.” She inclined her head, and my eyes followed the movement. My heart hammered and almost stopped when I saw Braden standing just a few feet away.

  I closed my eyes and opened them again, convinced there was something wrong with my sight, convinced I was dreaming. I wasn’t.

  “He’s cute,” the waitress said knowingly before she walked away.

  That he was. He looked dangerously handsome in black tie, almost too good to look at. His hair gleamed, slicked back, emphasizing the sculpted planes and angles of his beautiful face. His eyes burned with a thousand blue fires, feeding the flames burning inside me, and when he started to walk toward me with his long, sure stride, I wanted to run to him. I held back, though, unsure of myself, unsure what exactly I was going to say to him.

  I opened my mouth and closed it again. He stopped a few steps from me but still didn’t say a word. I saw his chest rise and I swallowed, barely able to breathe.

  Music poured out from the party hall, and still, we stared at each other, unmoving. It felt like we were alone in the world, and I didn’t mind it at all.

  “Seriously, you have to stop staring at me like that,” I said quietly. Those were the first words I’d ever said to him, a long time ago. My voice shook as I continued. “Or else I’m going to start thinking there’s something wrong with the way I look.”

  His puzzled expression gave way to a chuckle. I breathed then, managing a smile.

  “You look perfect,” he said softly.

  “So do you.”

  He took another step then, taking a deep breath, he took my hand in his and held it to his chest.

  “I was on my way over to your apartment,” I told him. “I didn’t expect you to come here.” I paused. “I meant what I said at the interview.”

  “I haven’t seen it.” He raised a brow. “What did you say?”

  I frowned. “I thought you must have seen it. I thought…isn’t that why you’re here?”

  “No. My mother told me you were going to be here. I couldn’t let you go without letting you know I won’t be able to bear it if you leave again.”

  I closed my eyes. “I’m not leaving. It killed me the first time. Another time would be too much.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “For everything.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m sorry. God, I wish…I wish we could start all over.”

  “No.” Braden lifted one hand to stroke my hair. “We’re never going back, starting now.”

  I breathed. “Starting now.”

  He kissed me, a soft, gentle touch of his lips on mine. “What did you say at this interview?”

  I swallowed and held his eyes. “That you mean more to me than anybody else in the world, and that the biggest mistake I ever made was letting you go.”

  “Mine too.” He cupped my face. “You don’t have to give anything up because of me, Allie. I’m willing to take anything you can give.”

  “I’m not giving up anything I don’t want to,” I assured him. “I’m still going to work, just not as much as before, and not as frequently.”

  He kissed me again. “I have something for you.” He brought a familiar box out of his pocket: my rings.

  “You left these at the house.”

 
I closed my eyes. “I was…I thought there was no hope.”

  “I know.” His voice was quiet. “But there is, because I love you, more than anything.”

  “Me too,” I whispered. “More than anything.”

  The New Year’s clock started to tick, and from inside the hall, people were counting. Braden smiled at me, and I smiled back, happier than I’d been in a long time, maybe forever. He slipped the rings onto my fingers and I closed my eyes, lifting my face to his.

  Fireworks split the sky. From somewhere close, someone was calling on people to kiss. I could barely hear the words, because Braden was already kissing me, and there was no better feeling in the world.

  The End

  Author’s Note

  Hello!

  Thanks for reading More Than Anything. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Allie and Braden. If you loved this story, you should try my other books.

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  Sign up for my Newsletter to receive email updates from me. Also, like my page on Facebook. You can also join my reader group, Serena Grey’s Swans to talk books and get sneak peeks.

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