Fuck.
Hunter tossed me into a corner. “Talk.”
I shrugged my shirt back into place. “Nothing to talk about.”
“Syn’s been clocked plenty of times on this set, but this is the first time you’ve ever spun out of control about it.”
“You know I have to sell it.”
“Gael, you and I both know you weren’t selling shit. Now, talk.”
I looked around to make sure no one was listening. As Hunter crossed his arms over his chest, I peered over his shoulder, watching as the medic helped Syn up. He gave the all clear before Syn stretched her arms over her head.
“Thank God,” I murmured.
“You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on with you.”
I huffed a breath. “Married life isn’t what I expected, okay?” I said.
Hunter quirked an eyebrow. “So?”
“So… I assumed I’d end up complaining about some image-obsessed actress and how much time I had to spend with her.”
“And you’re realizing it’s not like that.”
“Not at all. It’s worse.”
He furrowed his brow. “Worse, how?”
I shook my head. “She’s outstanding, Hunter. I mean, she’s not just talented and beautiful. She’s kind and caring.”
“Syn Sycamore?”
“Yes.”
“The woman who literally cussed out an interviewer for asking her about her personal life before spouting some shit off about whether or not ‘he would’ve asked a dude that question.’ That Syn.”
I nodded. “I have no clue what the hell you’re talking about, but yes. That Syn.”
He scoffed. “You like her.”
“Well, yeah. She’s a good person.”
“No, I mean, you like her. Like, you’re emotionally involved with her.”
I swallowed hard. “Possibly.”
He smiled. “Dude, you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“Ya think?”
“You weren’t like this with Elizabeth. What’s changed?”
“The woman changed.”
“Yeah, but… Syn? Really?”
“I’m serious. The woman you see in the media is not who she really is. She’s playful and funny and woefully insecure. She’s a softie, through and through. It kills her and drains her sometimes to play the part she does for the media simply for her branding. She’s a completely different person off camera. And I like who she is. A lot.”
“Well shit. I never thought I’d see the day. Gael’s got a crush.”
I punched his shoulder. “You’re going to have a dislocation if you don’t stop.”
He grunted. “Ah, ha, ha, that fucking hurt, you dick.”
I grinned. “Good.”
I heard a gasp from across the room, and I whipped my head up. I saw people pulling out their phones and pointing them in one general direction, so I slipped past Hunter. Where did Syn go? What was everyone gawking at? Why were there so many gasps and whispers wafting around set.
Then, I saw the reason.
I saw Liam stalking across the set.
“Gotta go,” I murmured.
I followed the actor and knew exactly where he was headed: across the set, down the hallway, and toward Syn’s dressing room. Oh, no fucking way this was happening without my being there. He wasn’t about to corner my woman and throw her off her game today. I jogged after him, painfully aware of the cameras on me right then and of people eavesdropping and filming every single part of this.
I watched Liam barge through Syn’s dressing room door without even knocking, and fury rose in my veins.
“What the absolute fuck were you thinking?” Liam hissed.
I felt someone grip my arm just as I walked into the room.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Syn said coolly.
“Over here. With me,” Nat whispered.
Liam pointed at me. “What the hell are you doing, going off and marrying some asshole you don’t know? Is this what you wanted? Huh? To embarrass me?”
Syn blinked. “Believe it or not, Liam, not everything I do is to better you or spite you in some way.”
He pointed at her. “You’re full of shit, and I know it. This entire marriage is full of shit, and I’m going to make sure the entire public knows it!”
I nodded. “Big words for a small man.”
Liam slowly panned his glare in my direction. “Shut the fuck up before I break your jaw.”
I stepped up to the plate. “Want to try saying that again?”
The man was spindly, lean, and very much a pretty boy. I had him by about four inches and fifty pounds of muscle and knew I could toss him out of the room with my bare hands. I crossed my arms over my chest, watching as his eyes fell to my muscles, the veins bulging with anger from underneath my skin.
“You think your muscles scare me?” Liam asked.
“I think they will if I leave a scar on that pretty face of yours,” I said.
“All right, that’s enough testosterone for the day,” Syn said.
She slipped between us and leaned back into me. And I wrapped my arms around her to protect her from this red-faced dickweed.
“I didn’t do this to spite you. Or do anything to do. I did it because I fell in love. Just like you did,” she said.
My heart leapt in my chest, because I so badly wanted it to be true.
Liam snarled. “You did it to pull the focus off me, you selfish bitch.”
“That’s the only one you’ll get with me around.” I glowered.
Syn patted my arms. “There, there, sweetheart. I can take him myself.”
I grinned. “You know you’d let me have the first punch, though. Just for shits and giggles.”
She giggled. “Maybe I would.”
Liam’s eyes bounced between us. Watching him struggle filled me to the brim with pride and joy. What an absolute nutsack, the man was.
“I’m going to find a way to prove that none of this is real. Because if it is, the story wouldn’t have leaked that fast. I know you, Syn. You’re private to your core. If this wasn’t fake? You would’ve tried to hide it as much as possible,” Liam said.
She shrugged. “I mean, no one knew a thing until we got married. I’m pretty sure that’s as private as it gets.”
I smiled. “You had a little help, though, right?”
She kissed my arm. “Always, from you.”
“You’re an attention-mongering who—”
“You better watch your next syllable,” I growled.
Syn snickered. “I can’t help it if people are more interested in me than you, Liam. Sounds like a personal problem, and none of my business anymore.”
Liam got in her face. “You’re sabotaging my career. So, consider this war.”
I unraveled myself from Syn and gripped Liam’s shirt. I moved out from behind her and shoved him out the door. No way in hell that man was getting up in her face like that. Threatening her. Calling her names. I’d had enough of him and his pompous ass. And when I lifted him to his tiptoes before tossing him out the door, his eyes widened with shock.
“Get. Out. Or I’ll have you arrested for harassment and escorted off the premises by a guard,” I said.
“I bet that would be more popular than my love life,” Syn said.
Liam pointed at me. “Put your damn attack dog on a leash.”
“Security!” I exclaimed.
Syn held up her hand as she walked up beside me.
“No need to call security. He’s not worth the energy. Liam, get the hell off my set,” Syn said.
“This used to be my set once, you know,” he said.
“Yeah, well. Now it’s not,” I said.
Liam looked me up and down. “You’re really selling this role, aren’t you? Are you even aware that you’re a publicity stunt?”
I grinned. “You’re one more sentence away from finding out how very, very real I am. And
how very serious I am regarding the protection of my wife.”
I let the word simmer on the tip of my tongue as Liam’s face paled.
“What the hell is your deal, anyway?” he asked. “I know Syn very well. I know she’s married to you for the media attention. She made you sign a prenup, right?”
“Pretty sure that’s standard in this business,” I said.
“So, what’s in it for you? Huh? The blogs say you’re in it for a green card. Is that true?”
I gazed over the man’s shoulder and saw people trying their best to listen in. My eyes fell to Syn, and I watched something flicker behind her eyes. Something that clenched my stomach. Something that sent off red flags in my mind. We needed to shut this confrontation down immediately.
So, I did.
“Look, Liam. I get that you’re jealous. I get that you’re upset that the news of our marriage dropped around the same time you planned to be seen with your new girlfriend. I’m sure that pisses you off. But you don’t get to storm onto a set you’re not welcome on any longer and confront the woman I love simply because you can’t wrap your head around the fact that she found someone better than you. Believe it or not, you’re not everyone’s world. You’re not that important. No one talks about you on this set. No one relishes stories regarding their interactions with you because at your core, you’re nasty. You’re vindictive. You’re selfish. That’s why it didn’t work with you and Syn. So, accept that, go home to your new girlfriend, and leave your ex and her new husband alone.”
He snickered. “And if I don’t?”
I took a step toward him. “Then, I’m sure the media would really like to know exactly what—”
“Okay! That’s enough. Out.”
The second Syn grabbed my arm, my brow furrowed. She pushed me out of her dressing room and leveled me with a stare that told me I was in trouble. I shook my head while Liam grinned, and I openly balked when she tugged him back through the door. Him. Her ex! After tossing her damn husband out of her dressing room!
“I can handle this. You aren’t my personal bodyguard,” Syn said.
Then, she closed the door.
Leaving me wondering what the actual fuck had just happened.
20
Syn
I was expecting a confrontation with Liam sometime soon. But I sure as hell wasn’t expecting it on set. Nor was I expecting Gael to be around when it happened. His reaction had me puzzled, though. Why in the world had he reacted so intensely? I swear, the man himself should be an actor because he really sold it. I almost believed the crap coming out of his mouth.
“Are you sure you want to d—”
I held my hand up to Nat, stopping her in her tracks.
“Close the door, Liam,” I said.
He chuckled as he closed the door behind him, leaving Gael outside so I could deal with this asshole in private.
“What do you want? I’m assuming you came here for a purpose,” I said.
Liam smiled wildly. “There’s the Syn I know.”
I rolled my eyes. “Get to the point. What do you want?”
“This situation can be mutually beneficial for us, you know.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure you’re about to tell me with the five minutes you’ve got left.”
“Just five minutes?”
“Four, now. With that attitude of yours.”
He sighed. “Fine, fine. Syn, I’m appealing to that fierce ‘take no prisoners’ bitch I know you’ve got locked up in your soul. I want to talk to her.”
I held my arms out. “You got her.”
“Good. If we work together, we could double our press exposure and propel both of our careers into the stratosphere because there’s no such thing as bad press if you have a really good PR person. And Madison is one of the best in the game.”
“I know. That’s why I pay her what I do. Get to the part where you explain this shit to me.”
“Why don’t we set up something where we’re seen in public? You know, just talking. Smiling. Hanging out, like we ran into one another.”
I nodded. “And get the rumor mills running on what we could possibly be doing together.”
“Right. I mean, it wouldn’t be our fault if they came to some conclusions about us cheating, or getting back together, or just being friends, or trying to smooth things over, or trying to work things out. That’s up for interpretation when we say ‘no comment,’ right?”
“You got anything else? Maybe something not so obvious?”
He scoffed. “Come on, Syn. I mean, how the hell do you really feel about that dog out there?”
“I feel enough to know he’s not a dog.”
“But do you care about him?”
“Does Anna know you’re here right now?”
He shrugged. “Semantics. She knows the game and how it works.”
I giggled bitterly. “Wow.”
“What?”
“Really, Liam?”
“What?”
“You storm onto my set accusing me of having a fake marriage when your entire relationship with Anna is fake?”
“I never said that.”
I snickered. “Just like you know me, I know you.”
“And I know you enough to know you really don’t like that guy standing out there. Do you?”
“I’m not telling you a damn thing.”
“You don’t have to. I know it’s fake. And just like Anna enjoys being at my side right now, I know she’d enjoy playing the victim to the media. So, what do you say? Are you on board?”
I licked my lips. “No.”
“Oh, come on, Syn!”
“I don’t trust you. At all.”
“Seriously? After all this time we spent together?”
“Seriously. Especially after you went behind my back and started something with Anna before ending things with me. You didn’t even alert Madison to the fact that shit was about to drop. Your publicist had to contact her about it!”
“And who do you think gave that order?”
“Yeah, the night before. Thanks for that, asshole.”
He grinned. “You just confirmed it’s fake, though.”
“What’s fake?”
“Your marriage to that oaf outside. You’re doing it to get revenge because you feel slighted.”
“It’s not fake. I just have unfinished business with you.”
He grinned. “Does little Syn still have a crush?”
I grabbed his arm. “Out. Now.”
“Okay, okay, okay. I’m sorry! Yo! Hold on!”
He wrenched away from my grasp, and I sighed.
“What, Liam?”
“This whole thing off just one encounter will lengthen the time of our exposure. It’ll give you more time to promote the new season, and I’m sorry, but you need the press without me here. And there’s a rumor circulating that the director on my current film is looking for a new female lead for his next project.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s why you came here.”
“What?”
“You want me to take that lead.”
“Why the hell wouldn’t I? It’s a badass female role, and you’re fantastic at what you do.”
“My passion isn’t for the movies. It’s right here, on television.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t honestly tell me you’re settling for mediocrity in your love life and your career.”
I snarled. “Stop talking about him like that.”
He snickered. “If I didn’t know this was fake, I would’ve actually believed you there.”
His words gave me pause.
“Come on, Syn. I could put in a good word for you. You can scratch my back. No harm, no foul, and you could get cast in your first ever leading-lady role. It films this summer, so it won’t interfere with your little television show.”
“A little television show you used to be on, mind you,” I said.
He waved his hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah. I got it. Rub my nose in it. Look, t
his is a fantastic opportunity. You’re an idiot if you pass it up. Seriously.”
I looked over at Nat, and she shook her head at me, telling me not to do it. But was I really an actress passionate about her career if I didn’t at least consider it?
“Give me some time to think about it,” I said.
“Think about it? Really?” Liam asked.
“Syn, don’t do this,” Nat said.
“You can hush,” Liam said.
“Don’t you dare talk to my assistant that way,” I spat.
“You don’t have long to think about this because I don’t have long to offer it. This movie is a high-profile project. My director won’t audition for long,” he said.
“Then, I have a little bit of time to think about it. Thanks. Now, get the hell out of here before you cause any more trouble.”
He grinned. “Trouble’s my middle name.”
I opened my dressing room door. “Well, it should be your first.”
I swung the door open and ushered him out. And while part of me expected Gael to still be standing there, he wasn’t, which was a relief for me. I watched Liam walk away as people snapped pictures and gawked at him. Then Voxx jogged up to me.
“So, we’ve got a script problem with your next scene. You’re done until tomorrow. Figured you could use some time anyway, after…”
He waved his hand after Liam, and I nodded.
“Thanks. I really appreciate that,” I said.
“You okay, kid?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Just tired.”
“Well, go get some rest. Tomorrow’s gonna be a doozy of a day, but we’ll all get through it. And we’re here for you. Just to let you know.”
I smiled softly. “I know. Thank you.”
I was thankful to be heading home early. It was rare that I got out of set before nighttime settled over Hollywood. The sun hung heavy in the sky for three in the afternoon. I parked my car in the garage and pulled myself inside, feeling more drained and emptier than I ever had in my life.
If I didn’t know this was fake, I would’ve actually believed you there.
His Secret Baby Page 12