Page 140 of See You There

He looked at his family scattered around his mother’s kitchen. His family, who hated these high-profile events as much as he did, were making plans to put themselves out for public consumption—because he’d asked. Luke’s chest swelled, and he blinked back the tears that sprang to his eyes.

“I don’t want to make anyone do this,” he said quietly when James finished his phone call.

His brother punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t be dumb. You knew we wouldn’t say no.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

The next morning,Dahlia’s new agent arrived at her hotel suite with coffee and a full breakfast. Simon was based out of LA but had expanded to Atlanta once the city had become the Hollywood of the South.

Simon was younger than many of the other agents Elizabeth had presented to her. To some, that might be a detriment, but Dahlia liked the idea of someone who would grow with her instead of telling her what they already knew.

Now as they shared coffee, Simon’s face wrinkled in concentration as he went over some of the latest press she’d received.

“There’s some negative,” Simon said, glancing up. “But now that it’s been out over twenty-four hours, the tide is turning a little.”

“I saw several articles about Victor,” Dahlia said carefully.

“The ones about him being an abusive predatory conman? Yeah, I saw those, too. A bunch of lawsuits have been filed against him. He’ll never work in the entertainment industry again.”

“Did you…”

Simon’s eyes widened behind his round tortoise-shell glasses. “Not me. Though if I’d had more time, I could have dug up that dirt on him.” He shook his head in disgust. “It’s men like him that give our profession a bad name. It’s obviously a coordinated attack though. It’s not a coincidence that it is all coming out at once. Someone is out to settle a score with Victor.”

Simon flipped through his iPad. “Did you talk to Dawn? She said she was available if you wanted to do a quick practice session before the red carpet tonight.”

“I did.” Dahlia thought back to the exhausting conversation.

The publicist had grilled her on everything from her family to Luke, asking the same question ten different ways until Dahlia’s answers were automatic.

“She says it’s good news that I have so many scandals going on right now. No one will concentrate on just one.” Dahlia rolled her eyes.

“And you’re not taking a date? I’ll be there, of course, but unless you want me to, I wasn’t going to do the press walk.”

The ache was back behind her heart, but she kept her face smooth. “I’ll be alone.”

“Are you sure? It can be overwhelming.”

No!“I’m sure.”

After Simon left, Dahlia put on her workout gear and headed for the hotel gym. She should rest, but nerves skittered through her body. She hoped some exercise would calm her down.

Everything was moving so fast. Her life was taking off, just the way she’d always dreamed. She had a Hollywood agent, a new entertainment lawyer, and a publicist. Her past was out, so Dahlia no longer had to live with the fear of exposure. Tonight was supposed to be one of the happiest nights of her life.

So why did she have such a pit in her stomach?

She knew why. It was because she wished Luke was there to share all these exciting things with.

Dawn’s repeated questions about Luke and his family in her practice session had brought home to her what this would be like. He would come to resent her for her dreams, just like Scott had.

In her hotel bathrobe, Dahlia picked at her room service salad listlessly. Beau, the assistant Simon assigned her, did his best to keep her entertained with small talk while she waited for the hair and makeup team to arrive. Two hours later, Dahlia was almost ready to scream.

Normally, she didn’t mind the time it took to be glammed up. But today, the effort felt like too much. She didn’t know Beau, or any of the people working on her, so she couldn’t vent her anxiety about the evening.

Dahlia was sipping her third glass of champagne when someone knocked on the door. It was probably either Elizabeth or Simon. Both were riding in the limo with her.

“Is Dahlia here?” At the sound of her sister’s voice, Dahlia whipped around in the chair, causing the makeup artist to jump back.

“Hannah! What are you doing here?” Clutching her robe closed around her chest, Dahlia ran to her sister and threw her arms around her. Relief and happiness pouring through her. “I can’t believe you’re here.”