As soon as he saw her, he lifted his arms. “Where the hell did you go?” Paul asked.
She’d think that was pretty obvious given that she was standing right here. “We need to get Trick,” she said. “He’s inside—”
“I’ll get him,” Paul said. “What’s the problem?”
“Nothing,” she said because she knew Paul did have a relationship with Bunyan, so it would probably be best that he didn’t know about Curtis’ fight with the man, at least before he had to.
“I asked Lyla back to mine,” Curtis said. “I’m only a few blocks over.”
“You did?” she asked. Curtis made a face at her that suggested she should go with it. “Ok, but I need to get Trick and—”
“Ok,” Paul said and put an arm around him. “They won’t let us back in this late. I’ll radio our sound guy; he’ll get Trick and meet you over there.”
“Meet me over there?” she asked because she hadn’t noticed that Curtis had gone ahead to stop a cab.
“Sure, we won’t all fit in one car anyway,” Paul said, smiling as he urged her forward. “We’ll be five minutes behind you.”
Yeah, because he’d want to make sure that everything was filmed. That could cause problems for Curtis. Anything the show got on film could be seen by Bunyan and that wouldn’t be good for her friend if he said anything negative.
“Ok,” she said, ducking into the cab after Curtis. “Tell Trick to meet me there.”
“Yep,” Paul said, urging her into the car.
Something felt off. She couldn’t tell what it was, but she was thinking about it as the cab pulled away from the curb. When Curtis picked up her hand in his, she looked at his profile. Why was he holding her hand? For comfort? Did he need the physical connection to make him feel better?
Curtis was her friend, he’d been her only friend for a long time, she trusted him… didn’t she?
THIRTY
Trick never showed up.
Lyla would have been pissed off except when she woke up on Curtis’ couch, she panicked. What if something had happened to her husband and she hadn’t been there for him?
After talking to Curtis for a while last night, she’d been ready to go home. But she hadn’t taken a purse to the club. Trick had assured her that she wouldn’t need anything because she’d be with him all night. Except that meant she didn’t have her cell phone to call him and had no money for a cab.
Curtis let her use his phone, but Trick’s just kept ringing out over and over again. If he was still in the club, he’d never hear it over the music. She couldn’t get in a cab if she didn’t know Trick was at the other end with his wallet, and she didn’t feel confident walking the streets that late by herself.
Trick would probably be mad for endangering herself like that anyway. He didn’t like her out and about at night alone. At Curtis’ she was safe, and so when he offered her a blanket and a pillow, she conceded. Trick would show up when everyone was done at the club and he noticed she hadn’t come back from the bathroom. When he did, she’d be on the couch, ready to shout at him for not answering his phone.
But she fell asleep and no one ever knocked on the door.
Curtis offered her breakfast, but she wasn’t going to hang around at his place. They were both due at work anyway, so she persuaded him to take her straight into the office. She went to reception and requested to use the phone. The receptionist said she had to dial the number out and when Lyla said she was calling Trick’s cell, she was told that Trick was already here… in a meeting with Bunyan.
Good.
Thank God.
At least he wasn’t in danger or dead.
Curtis was there at her shoulder when she turned around. “Do you think I should go to Bunyan and apologize?”
“Couldn’t hurt,” she said, racing toward the elevator.
Trick was never at work this early unless he’d been called in for something. But what could he have been called in for? What did Bunyan want with him?
“Will you come in with me?” Curtis asked.
To Bunyan’s office? “I’m going there anyway,” she said and it made no difference to her if Curtis buddied her up the stairs.
The elevator seemed to take an age to ascend. Eventually it got to the executive floor and she dashed to Bunyan’s office. If Trick was in there, she didn’t need to knock, so she strode straight in.
Trick was standing at the desk opposite Bunyan. Sadie was on her feet at the end of the desk. Everyone turned when she came to a rushed halt. “Trick,” she said, but his eyes were cold as they scanned her figure up and down.
He exhaled a tut and then his lips sloped. “Guess I do have it in me to corrupt even the purest,” he muttered. “Haven’t been home yet, sweetheart?”
Damn.
Looking at herself, Lyla saw that she was still in last night’s outfit. It hadn’t even occurred to her that she’d be a mess, but she hadn’t combed her hair or brushed her teeth, all she’d thought about was getting to Trick.
“I didn’t have money for a cab,” she said.
Trick looked over her head. “You’re a real gent.”
“There, you have your answer,” Bunyan said, dropping into his seat. “She was screwing this guy.”
Her jaw swung loose and she gasped. “No! No, I wasn’t… doing that.” Bunyan was evil, through and through, but she didn’t think that Trick would believe him, at least not until she looked into her husband’s stony eyes. “Trick,” she said and took a step to him, but he took a reflexive step back and cast his attention to Curtis.
It was fine, Curtis would tell him the truth, and then she could be pissed at Trick for believing the worst of her. “I’m sorry, Strickland,” Curtis said.
Spinning around, Lyla couldn’t even recognize the man she’d once thought of as her friend. His look of contrition. His shifty posture. What the hell was he doing? “What the…? Curtis!”
But Curtis was still looking at Trick. “We’ve had feelings for each other for a long time… But I guess you knew that. That’s why you went off at me, right? You saw how we felt about each other.”
“How we…?” The shock of this was making her numb, but she couldn’t shut down, not now. Pivoting to set her sights on Trick, Lyla sought for some sign that he was messing around. “Nairn, you don’t believe any of this.”
“That I never deserved you. That I always knew you were going to find something better? Someone… better suited to you. I told you if you did that you should go for it without hesitating, didn’t I?” he said, his words almost callous. “Congratulations, Malloy… Be happy.”
When he headed for the door, she tried to reach for him, but he twisted his whole body away from her and kept on going. The door slammed so hard that she was sure the room shook and for a minute she just stood gaping.
But it was when Sadie began to move that she snapped out of her daze. “Sadie,” she said. The woman stopped, wearing a look of such hurt and disappointment on her face that Lyla sank into a pit of shame. “I promise you… I wouldn’t—”
“Guess it wasn’t him we should’ve worried about playing away,” Sadie said. “I’ll have your stuff packed up and sent back to your apartment. Don’t call him. Don’t come near him. Stay the hell away… from all of us.”
Her apartment was on the market, due to be sold; she’d already had an offer on the place. Lyla was supposed to be living with Trick, dedicating her life to him as he did the same for her.
One night out and everything had fallen apart.
Sadie carried on out of the room, leaving Lyla alone with Bunyan and Curtis. When her eyes crept up to Bunyan, she was disgusted to see the satisfaction pasted across his face.
“When an asset is no longer valuable, we sell it,” he said, reciting what he’d said before. “I think this news will be getting to Ms. Levine later today… She’ll console Trick for you and I’d expect her to be a regular feature in his life from now on if I were you… They do make a very beautiful couple, don’t
they? And now that she’s expecting his child…”
“That child is not his,” Lyla spat out. “Is she even pregnant? Was this some kind of game all along?”
“It’s all a game,” Bunyan said, opening his arms to the ceiling. “It’s entertainment.”
Heartbroken and infuriated, Lyla couldn’t stay calm. “These are our lives,” she said. “That petition was right. The lawsuit… it’s everything you deserve. You do enjoy playing with people’s lives… with their happiness… and their sanity. Why would Kira want to be anywhere near this station after the—”
“The footage of you and Trick waiting for the results of your pregnancy test was golden, some of the most interesting we’ve had. And let’s face it, Miss Malloy… you’re not exactly interesting to watch… unless you’re taking your clothes off on Boys Night.”
Was it spite? Was this guy really that pissed at her for having fun on Boys Night and not playing by his rules? Or was it less contrived than that? Was he so shallow that he’d do anything to produce what he thought was great television?
“Trick is smarter than you, he’ll figure it out,” she said. “And when he does, you’re going to lose your biggest star.”
“Trick is in contract for another three years, he’s not going anywhere… You on the other hand…”
Oh, she was happy to jump, she didn’t need to be pushed. “You can consider this my notice.”
“Accepted,” he said. “Though you’re required to fulfill your Opposites Marry contract.”
“Whatever,” she said. If Trick was going to hook up with Kira, they wouldn’t be filming much of her and there was less than three weeks left on that contract.
“Consider your credentials revoked. If you have to come back to this building, you’ll be escorted by security.”
“Fine,” she said, turning around to head for the door. She didn’t even look at Curtis, couldn’t bring herself to. The bastard had sold her out and whatever he’d been paid was blood money that ruined any chance of her finding happiness.
“Lyla,” Curtis said.
The apology in his voice meant nothing to her. “Go to hell,” she said, and marched out of the room, sick, heartbroken, and pissed as hell.
THIRTY-ONE
She deserved everything she got.
It didn’t take Lyla long to realize that Curtis had to have been in on the con from the start. When she got the call from Paul to say she’d be required to go to the Prem Halloween party, she hadn’t been surprised. The Wild West theme was an excuse for the guys to carry guns, because she’d eat her braids if a single one of them weren’t thrilled to have an excuse to carry fake weapons… at least she hoped they were fake.
The Native American costume that had been couriered to her was short and low-cut, but as she entered the studio that had been cleared for the in-house party, she saw that she was in good company.
“The restrooms are in the east corner,” the guy at her side, Ivan, said. “You can use those, but you are not permitted to leave this room for anything else.”
“Sure,” she said.
The tall guy was built like a quarterback. When he’d come to her apartment door, she’d almost swallowed her tongue. Despite reminding herself not to be intimidated, it was difficult when he got into the cab beside her not to be because he took up more than three quarters of the backseat, just with his shoulders.
But, as Bunyan had reminded her by email, she was technically no longer a Prem employee. She was merely a participant in a show, so she had to be escorted on and off the premises. Fine by her. All she wanted to do was show up, play the damn games and leave again. The sooner the better.
They’d lost a week of filming when her father died, Bunyan had decided to write that off, but it did mean that Opposites was airing only a week behind. Watching their clubbing night had been difficult. She and Trick looked so happy and then there was the alleyway footage.
Now she understood exactly how they’d cut the footage to look like Trick and Kira had done more than they had in the woods, because they’d cut the footage of her and Curtis in the same way. It did look incriminating, but she didn’t care.
The world knew she and Trick had split up. The tabloids had been outside her apartment. But it didn’t matter. She had nowhere to be. Paul came to the apartment to do her interviews; she wasn’t even invited into the studio for those.
The cameras in her apartment seemed to be on constantly. Lyla knew they couldn’t use all the footage, but she was so tired of seeing the red lights beaming from her walls.
Her aunt had come to visit her and it was infuriating. Lyla couldn’t ask her if she wanted to go anywhere because the paparazzi were outside. But the studio was inside. It didn’t help that all her aunt wanted to talk about was Trick. Lyla tried to remind her about the cameras, but Ann just didn’t understand that everything they said was being recorded.
Ivan, her security guard and escort, pointed at the barrel of miniatures that flanked the stairs, but she shook her head. “I don’t want a drink.”
“It’s pot luck,” he said. “It’s fun. Some are liquor, some are fruit juice.”
He’d been so stern that she was sure he’d been instructed to be mean to her. But when he offered his arm, she smiled.
“I like your costume,” Lyla said, if she was stuck with him, then she might as well be polite.
“Thank you,” he said.
Descending the stairs, she hoped they’d just find a table in the corner and keep to themselves. Somehow, Lyla knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
“She brought the goddamn Hulk,” Tate said.
Trick saw Green and Tate’s shock and Sadie slanted to the side to get a better look. Turning around, Trick saw Lyla at the top of the stairs with a guy four times the size of her. But she was smiling at him as she took his arm, and he saw her lips move in speech as the couple descended the stairs.
“Good for her,” Trick said, turning his back on the room again.
All he wanted to do was get blitzed, Sadie had told him to keep his wits. The cameras were in the room and they’d be looking for any kind of drama because there was less than two weeks left of filming. Less than two weeks and they’d be able to divorce.
Damn.
Divorce.
Grabbing his drink, Trick swallowed down the rest of it and snapped at the bartender for a refill.
“Yeah, you’re handling this well,” Green said.
Trick was so sick of his friends looking at him with that damn pity in their eyes. Yeah, he’d been treated like a chump, but it was his own fault. He had known that Lyla would figure out she was worth more than he could offer her, he should never have fallen for her. He should’ve stuck with his original plan and just been a dick the whole time.
Damn Josie and her bright ideas about honesty.
“I wonder why she didn’t bring the other guy,” Tate said.
Green snorted. “He’s probably scared that Trick would beat the crap outta him, that’s what I would’ve done to any guy who thought about touching Sam.”
Sadie put her hand on his arm, and he tried to pull away, but she persisted. “You could forgive her,” Sadie said. “If she’s not with him tonight, maybe they’re not together… If it was just a one-night thing…”
Trick had thought about that, actually thought about asking her to stay with him. He had even considered giving her permission to mess around if she had to. He’d had years of indiscretion. Years of being crazy and sewing wild oats. Lyla was just starting out.
Yeah, twenty-eight was a late start, but she had time to screw around and make her mistakes before settling down. He’d just been the first in what could be a long line of guys and relationships for her. Shame, he’d wanted her to be his last, and he’d been her first. Their timing was shot and he was paying the price.
But he shook his head and took the drink from the bartender, God bless open bars. Though it was probably only provided so the studio could write off the liquor and if it was fre
e, they probably didn’t need a license, what did he know? What did he care?
“He can’t forgive her,” Green said. “That kind of thing messes with a guy’s head. And after Kira…”
He was just a piñata for women, and Trick couldn’t even argue or feel hard done by. This was karma. Green had been stupid when he was young, but he’d found Samantha. They’d stayed the course. Stayed together. Got stronger every day.
Trick figured that love obviously wasn’t on the cards for him. It was impossible for him to picture himself with anyone other than Malloy. Lyla had come into his life and he’d wanted that to be it. He wanted her to be it.
Kira had shown up on his doorstep last weekend; just a couple of days after he’d walked out of Bunyan’s office. He’d laughed in her face. It was hilarious that the woman thought he might be stupid enough to take her to bed.
But she’d tried. Boy, had she tried.
Paul appeared between Green and Sadie. Trick groaned and sank his mouth into his glass again. Just the sight of the director made him sick and angry. “Damn, what do you want?” he asked. “Film, do whatever the hell you want, just stay the hell away from me.”
“The games are about to start,” Paul said.
“So?” Trick asked.
He wouldn’t be playing any damn games. He was staying right here, propping up the bar, with his best friend… liquor.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” the host on the dais called for the attention of everyone in the room. “Welcome! It’s time for the first in a series of games, our scavenger hunt! Everyone will be given a list and a basket. Every couple must bring every item on their list back to the stage in their basket.”
“Tate,” Trick said, slugging from his glass. “Wanna forfeit with me? I’ll race you to the bottom of the bottle.”
Picking his partner quickly was vital. Sadie would give him earache and Green was competitive, Tate cared only about having fun.
“Everyone’s name is on the screen above me!” the host shouted and a list of names flickered up on the huge screen over his head. “You’re listed next to your partner, seek them out, then come up here and grab a list!”
Getting Tricky Page 30