Absolutely Famous (24 page)

“It’s about the eavesdropping
, Syd. The story is out and it’s freaking huge!” Her eyes are bugging out and she’s bouncing around nervously on the couch. I swear, sometimes I think she’s hyperactive.

“It’s out?
I thought that it was being kept under wraps by the authorities until they could catch everyone involved? They said it could take months considering it spans three countries and two continents. No one called to tell me.”

“No, they figured it out already. And you’re not going to believe who was involved,”
.”

I pull out the stack and glance at the headlines. My heart begins to race so fast that I feel like it might explode out of my chest, and my hands are so shaky that as I read each cover I can barely keep a hold on them. Leah puts her hand over mine and tries to calm me down. I need to swallow but my mouth is so dry that I can’t seem to be able to move my tongue.

“Syd? You’re freaking me out girl.”

“I … it was … all this time? On purpose …” I can’t make the words come out right.

We hear the lock deactivate and Drew bursts through the front door, calling my name in a panicked voice. “Syd? Syd!” I hear him scramble into the bedroom looking for me.

“Drew! We’re
in here,” Leah calls to him.

He comes into the living area and sees my face and the stack of magazines in my lap. Leah jumps up and gets in front of him, her tiny body blocking him from me. “Drew, calm down and let her process this
.”

His face darkens.
“Move, Leah.”

“I’m warning you Forrester, let her figure this out before you fuck it up!”
She get right up on him, a scowl on her pretty face.

He exhales, clenching his jaw to rein in his
hair-trigger temper. Spinning on his heel he stalks over to the windows and stares out.

Leah sits back down next to me.
“I’m going to leave so you guys can discuss this, okay? But call me if you need me to come back here. I’ll just be down the hall in my room.” I nod and she hugs me while I sit there, on the verge of becoming catatonic.

I hear the door click
shut. Drew is still standing in front of the wall of windows, his hands fisted in his hair. I stand up, put the magazines on the couch and walk over to stand behind him.

He flinches when I put my arms around his waist, then turns and sags into me, pulling me close. “Syd, I’m so sorry
. I had no idea.”

“I know. You’re just as much a victim as me
.”. He stiffens at my words and releases me, walking over to the couch and grabbing the magazine on top.

“This? This is completely my fault Sydney!”

Drew holds up the cover so I can see it. On it is a picture of Kiera Radcliff on one side and me and Drew together on the other side. The giant yellow headline reads
“Studio PR Machine Tries to Break Apart Couple to Market Film”
. He grabs another one and holds it up,
“Studio Exec Records Tannen and Forrester to Promote Movie”
. Then another,
“Radcliff in on Attempt by Studio to Tear Apart Forrester and Tannen”
, and another,
“Media Manipulates Hollywood Couple to Sell Film”
. He throws the rest of the stack on the floor in disgust.

“How is it your fault that a marketing executive at the studio hired
CelebCast
to do stories painting you and Kiera Radcliff as a couple?” I ask him.

“Because I knew they wanted me to pretend to be with her to promote the film, Sydney
!” I wince in pain at his words, even though I already know this because Kiera told me herself. “When I told them to go fuck themselves, they were not happy, and that’s putting it mildly.” I remember Drew arguing on the phone with a studio exec back in Vancouver.

“But that doesn’t make what they did your fault
, Drew.”

“No, but I wouldn’t play along with their bullshit, and that doesn’t always sit well with some of these studio pricks
. I can’t believe that they would stoop to hiring some shitty tabloid to listen in on our conversations to try and break us up.”

“It certainly explains a lot of things
. Like how they knew where we were staying, why the articles always painted it as though you and Kiera were alone when you weren’t, how all of those stills from filming were leaked …”

“It’s fuckin bullshit Sydney!” he roars. “And that bitch, she knew about it all along.” Drew clutches his hair again and stomps around the room in frustration. Before I can react, he pulls back his arm and punches the wall, his hand smashing into it and cracking the plaster leaving a huge dent. “Goddammit!”
He continues punching it again and again until there’s a gaping hole in the wall.

“Drew, stop!”

Holy fuck!

He either can’t hear me or ignores me, because his fist keeps hitting the solid wall.

I run over and grab his arm, fully aware that I shouldn’t get between Very Angry Drew and whatever he’s hitting. I just can’t stand by and watch him injure himself, even though I know his anger is justified. He stops and lets me hold his hand up to inspect it, hanging his head in defeat. I slide my fingers over his bleeding knuckles, the skin split open and his hand already swelling up to twice its normal size.

“Let’s get some ice babe
.” I lead him to the couch and have him sit down. He does what I ask without complaint, totally lost. I grab the ice bucket off of the bar and head into the kitchen, glad that the larger suites have their own ice machines. Filling it halfway, I bring it back to the living area and set it on the side table. Carefully, I pick up his hand and place it in the ice.

Drew watches me warily, his gaze never leaving my face. I get back up and fetch the bottle of ibuprofen that I got for Allie a few weeks ago and shake a
several into my hand. I bring Drew a bottle of water from the fridge, uncap it and hand him the pills. He tosses them back and takes the water from me, draining half the bottle.

“Are you okay?” I
hold his good hand as I sit on the coffee table and face him, our knees pressed together between us.

D
rew barks out a sarcastic laugh. “I’m pretty fuckin far from okay, Syd.”

I ha
ve no idea what to do for him. Even when he’s angry, he’s always so in control and confident in a crisis. When he’s broken like this it’s impossible for me to handle.

I pull his hand out of the ice and he cringes from pain. I gasp when I see his hand; it’s huge and purple around his middle and ring fingers. “I think it’s broken
.”

His eyes meet mine and I want to cry. The look he
gives me, it’s almost lifeless. He’s overwhelmed by this situation. I lean forward and press a gentle kiss to his lips. It’s time for me to return the favor and be the strong one. New Sydney can do this for him. I’m tougher than I used to be, resilient; no longer the girl that hides in the corner and watches life pass by.

I get my phone and call Steve.

He answers on the first ring. “Miss Tannen.”

“Hey Steve, I need you to have the car brought around front and then can you come to our suite please? And bring the other guys with you.”

“I’ll be there in five,” he says in his sharp military tone.

I disconnect and call Jane.

“Sydney! Oh my God! I just found out about the studio, what’s going on?” She is freaking out, unable to hide the hysteria in her voice.

I can only handle one
person losing their shit at a time.

I get up and walk into the bedroom
so I won’t upset Drew further. He doesn’t even attempt to move. “Jane, listen. I need you to calm down and call Quentin and Rhys and get them on this immediately. Rhys can call my phone to run Drew’s official statement by me before he releases it. Tell him he can just come up with something fitting. I need Quentin to look into Drew’s contract with the studio and contact his lawyer, Sam Jennings, to discuss possible litigation against the studio, the executive behind this mess, Kiera and
CelebCast
.”

I hope I got everything.

“Where’s Drew?” she asks me nervously.

“He
… he’s not taking this well. He punched the wall of the hotel and I think he broke his hand. I’m taking him to the hospital now, but I need you to call
me
about everything not Drew. Can you do that?”

“Of course Sydney. I’m so sorry a
bout everything that’s happened.” I can hear her choking back tears.

“I know Jane. C
an you make those calls right away please?”

“Yes right away, of course. I’ll call you when I’m done
.”

“Okay Jane. C
all my phone and leave a message if I don’t answer. I’m not sure if I’ll have to turn it off at the hospital. Bye.”

“Bye Sydney.”

I grab my purse and stuff my phone in, walking out of the bedroom just as Steve knocks on the door. I let him in and tell Drew we’re leaving. He just stares at me blankly. I kneel down in front of him, picking up his uninjured hand, “Drew, your hand is really bad. If we don’t go to the hospital it may not heal right. Come on.” I stand up and tug on his good hand.

He rises without protest, content to let me lead for once. This
situation has upset him more than I thought if he’s allowing me to take charge. I grab the ice bucket and give it to Drew so he can put his left hand back in then run my hands through his messy hair. “In case there are reporters out front,” I say to him, smiling. I notice the corner of his lip twitch just a fraction and feel infinitely better. My Drew is in there somewhere. He just needs time to sort out this betrayal.

We pile into the elevator and head down to the lobby. When we exit the elevator, Sal is waiting for us.
I overhear him speaking to Steve. “There’s a mob of people out front. Evan is waiting with the car.”

Steve nods and we continue through the lobby and toward the front door. I ignore the stares and whispers from the other guests and employees as they watch us leave. I’m sure seeing Andrew Forrester surrounded by bodyguards with his hand in an ice bucket makes for i
nteresting gossip, but I could give two shits right now. My only thought is getting Drew fixed up and back with me.

I
pay no attention to the mass of reporters that line the front walk, shoving against each other and shouting at us as we exit the hotel. Steve elbows his way through the over-enthusiastic throng, clearing a path for us to follow. Sal stays behind us, keeping fans and reporters from shoving. I clutch Drew to me, staring straight ahead, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze. It doesn’t stop the surging horde from screaming out to us.

“Andrew, any comment on the betrayal by your studio?”

“Sydney, did you know Kiera was in on stealing your man?”

“Did Kiera wear a wire to record you both?”

“Is it true that Kiera threatened you Sydney?”

“I love you Andrew!”

Of course
, the fans showed up too, holding signs up for Drew and a few for me to show their support. Then there are the Kiera fans, booing and hurling insults at me, telling me I ruined everything by stealing her man.

Evan jumps out of the SUV and holds the door open for us,
shoving the crowd back to make room. I push Drew forward and he climbs in the back behind Steve and I hop in after him. Sal gets in the front seat and Evan gets in the back with us. Drew and I sit in the very back row of seats in the Mercedes, ice bucket between us. Our British driver pulls away from the curb and takes us to the hospital. Drew gave Bruce time off since he didn’t really feel comfortable driving on the left side of the road and being responsible for our safety.

It takes about fifteen minutes to drive to the private London Orthopedic Clinic, a non-descript row house on a busy street. The driver stops in front of the door and Steve gets out and goes inside. We wait in the SUV while he checks it out.

“You feel okay?” I ask Drew.

“Fine,” he says calmly, not meeting my eyes. I squeeze his knee and press a kiss to his rough cheek. If anyone knew how difficult fame really was, I wonder how many people would want it. Look at what it’s done to me, to Drew, to his family. It’s nothing but a giant target on your chest for liars, thieves and whackos.

Steve comes out of the clinic and opens the back door. “We’re good.”

“Sal, stay with Ed,” I tell him, referring to our driver. “We’ll let you know when we’re ready to be picked up. Evan, Steve, come inside with us. We’ll probably need you to keep people away.” I climb out of the car and grab Drew’s ice bucket, tossing the contents into a drain and placing it back on the seat. Dr
ew stares at me as if I’m crazy. “What? We’re here so we don’t need it anymore right?” Again, I notice the tiny movement in the corner of his mouth, the beginning of a smile.

We enter the lobby of the clinic and
it instantly goes from empty to crowded. With the two huge SEALS, six foot three inch Drew, and me, the tiny waiting area seems to shrink around us. Only one other person is waiting. Unfortunately, she’s fairly young, and by the way her mouth is gaping and her eyes are popping out, I’d say she recognizes Drew.