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CHAPTER 46 SIDNEY

February 2007

New York

When Cass returned from Los Angeles, she was shaken. I’d never seen her so upended. Which was saying something. I reassured her that the story had been killed. That seemed to relieve her, but only momentarily.

I hadn’t foreseen this response from her—crestfallen—so I was slow to react, distracted by how satisfied I was to have won, to have her out of LA and back with me. Now we could go back to normal. I’d taken care of everything, including changing her cell number. When I told her this last piece, she seemed pissed.

“Without asking me?”

“There was no other choice,” I said. “It was compromised.”

I guess I’d miscalculated—Cass packed her bags and left the following day. She told me she didn’t know where she was going, but that she’d send a forwarding address. When she was walking out of the apartment, and we both knew it was for good, she hugged me and said, “Thank you, for all of it. But we both know this is broken.”

It was probably the most honest thing she’d ever said to me.

I thought about following her into the hallway, telling her she was making a mistake, but I couldn’t muster the passion. That’s when I knew she was probably right—we were done. Nothing I did would make her love me. And I was done trying.

I did take pleasure in having pried Cass out of Ry Channing’s hands at least. People in Hollywood think the whole world is theirs. That all they need is to care enough to want something and they can have it. Cass deserved better than to be some movie star’s prize, to be just more proof of Ry Channing’s world-class charm and lovability.

Plus, SoulCycle had me digging deep, doing the work. And I’d started wondering if maybe my favorite part of our relationship wasn’t Cass, anyway—but Cate Kay.