Page 57 of Notorious

“Oh?” Sam says, breaking off a piece of bread and dipping it in olive oil. “How can we help?” Sam’s gorgeous, and his style is rather twee, what with his bow ties and suspenders. He’s got pale blond hair and cerulean eyes. Jules is lean, dark-haired and dark-eyed, and covered in tattoos. They somehow match by being complete physical opposites.

“Did you see the news about me?” I ask.

“We don’t go online too much,” Sam admits. Oh. He and Jules would stay away from gossip, because they wouldn’t want to see what’s being written about them—and especially about Jules.

“Well. Um. I got married over the weekend,” I say.

Sam’s jaw drops before he gets the bread to his mouth. A blob of olive oil hits the tablecloth. “For the love of David Bowie, you did not.”

Raising my hands, I say, “It was not planned. I was … very, very drunk.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Sam asks. “Do I know him?”

I squirm. “Actually … it’s Johnny Haskell.”

I wouldn’t have thought his eyes could get wider, but I’d have been wrong. “Velvet the Cowboy?” he whispers.

I nod.

Jules chuckles. “Velvet the porn star?” His British accent sounds so posh.

“The same.” I sip my water.

“Nice,” Jules says, and Sam gives him a playful shove. Jules shrugs. “What? He’s a gorgeous man.”

“I didn’t know you knew him,” Sam says to me.

“I didn’t. I met him Saturday night in Vegas, at a bar. And I recognized him—though, let’s be real, I’d have wanted to talk with him in any case. He’s even more handsome in real life than he is in his videos—as you know. I think he recognized me from some of our old PSAs, not sure.”

“You met him on Saturday, and now you’re married to him,” Sam says flatly, then shakes his head. “Sorry, I don’t mean to judge. I’m just surprised.”

“Surprised the hell out of us, too,” I admit.

“Well … congrats? Shelby, our receptionist, had a spontaneous marriage, and he’s doing great and totally in love with his husband, so you’re in good company.”

Do Johnny and I have a chance long-term? It doesn’t matter right now. “I wanted to talk with you because he’s got some issues. And so does his mother.”

“Okay.” Sam clearly doesn’t know where I’m going with this. How could he?

“Johnny asked me to tell his lawyers about what’s going on with him,” I say, “so, Sam, can you please make sure to share this with whoever is working on his case?” He nods. I turn to Jules. “And I can trust you to keep a secret?”

Jules smiles. “Of course, mate.”

I let out a breath. “Johnny checked himself into a hospital for a few days, because he was having a mental health crisis.”

Sam’s brows furrow. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Can he have visitors? Would he want us to visit him?”

“I think so,” I say. “Maybe not immediately, but I’ll let you know.”

“I’m sure the guys will visit him, then. They really like him.”

“Yeah. I do, too.” I sigh. “Okay, so that’s part of it.”

Sam bursts out laughing. “Holy shit, Kurt. There’s more? You go from no news to lots of news.”

“Yeah, I know. The other part isn’t as surprising, I don’t think. I wanted to ask if you had any ideas about how to help his mother. You guys do some insurance law, right?”

“We do.”

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