Page 138 of Believe it or Knot

“The reality is,” Liam says, still clutching my hand and beaming at the interviewer with his sweetheart smile. “We’re the ones who messed up with her, just like we said before. Sorrel has been nothing but loving and genuine with us.”

“She’s perfect,” Rafe growls out from under me, the words vibrating through my body.

“I’m sure you know we’ve had some negative experiences in the past,” Gray says, hand clamped over my ankle, thumb smoothing back and forth as the interviewer nods her understanding. “Unfortunately, those negative experiences colored our perception and every relationship we’ve ever had. And I… Well, I lashed out and didn’t give her the chance to explain. I didn’t look at the other possibilities.”

“One of those possibilities being Liam’s assistant and the production company he’s under contract with creating a false conversation.”

“Wait,” I break in. Everyone looks at me with concern and I clear my throat, and try again, keeping my voice level. “That’s what happened? It was them?”

Gray’s hand tightens on my ankle while Liam lifts my hand to press a kiss to my palm, and Rafe squeezes me against his chest a little harder. “That’s what happened, lovely,” Liam murmurs against my skin.

“Joey Klipner has been let go,” Rafe says, his voice hard. “And we’ve broken the contract with WJL Productions.”

I blink, my stomach tightening with worry and disbelief. “Wait, does that mean we won’t get any more Huntington Force movies?” There’s no hiding the sadness in my tone at the possibility.

Guilia smiles at me. “I take it you’re a fan of the franchise?”

I nod. “Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s kind of impossible not to be. Liam is just so perfect for the role of Force, all sexy and suave and sweet. The perfect combination.”

Rafe kisses my neck as Liam shifts in his seat so he’s completely facing me, brows arched. “Are you saying you want me to stay with the company just to make more spy movies?”

I wrinkle my nose and squint at him with one eye. “Maybe just… see what they’re willing to give you for not breaking the contract.” He looks like he can’t believe I would even suggest such a thing. I sigh and shake my head. “The last thing I want is for you to blow up your career and disappoint your fans for me, Liam. Everyone loves those movies. And we still don’t know who killed Elsbeth. We need to know.”

Liam’s eyes go soft as he leans forward and kisses me, a sweet kiss. One that makes me melt in the best way.

“I think you just made millions of fans very happy with that request, Sorrel,” Guilia says, watching us with a smile on her face. “Now, I want to talk about something else if you don’t mind a change of subject.”

Knowing what’s coming, I swallow and Gage tightens his grip on my thigh, reassuring me. “Sure.”

“Apex,” she simply says, leaning back in her chair like she’s just dropped a bomb in the center of the room.

And from the reaction of the men around me, she might as well have. They all growl and shift and bristle. As though the very name of the pharmaceutical company is enough to send their instincts on high alert.

As for me, that familiar serene smile curls my lips as I try not to remember how terrified I was twenty-four hours ago.

“What about them?” I ask, playing dumb because I don’t particularly want to rehash this.

Guilia risks leaning forward again. “They’ve accused you, Sylvie Werth and Sadie Falcone of sabotage. Of terrorism.”

I nod. “Yes. They have. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I-” I glance over at the producer with the clipboard who is glaring at me, like he knows what I’m going to say. “I can’t give specifics, as the investigation is ongoing. I don’t want to say anything that might impede justice. Not only that, but it’s not really my story to tell. I’m, more or less, simply a bystander caught in the crossfire.”

Guilia leans even farther forward. “We’re aware of the experiments they did on Sadie and Sylvie. A disturbing amount of evidence was recently leaked about the tests they’ve been running in response to ‘the Omega Problem’.”

Liam snorts. “You mean the problem that doesn’t really exist? The one they’ve created in their minds in order to make more money?”

He’s not wrong, but I ignore him in favor of asking, “who released the information?”

“We did,” Gage says, quietly.

I turn wide eyes to him and he slides his hand off my thigh up to cup my face. “You did?”

He nods while Liam kisses my palm, and Rafe nuzzles into my neck. “We did, sweet thing,” Gray confirms.

“It’s why we weren’t there, conejita,” Rafe murmurs. He doesn’t have to elaborate. I know what he means. It’s why I was alone when we made it out of that facility. It’s why I spent god knows how long huddled against that tree crying. It’s why I realized I would never, ever have a true pack.

My fake smile wavers. Tears fill my eyes. And I want to scream at them and hug them and slap them and kiss them all at the same time, but there are cameras on us, on me, and everyone already thinks I’m a fucking psycho and the last thing I need is to solidify that fact with actual video evidence of me losing my shit on them.

But fuck them for telling me this now.

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