Page 187 of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

He frowns. “They said that?”

“It was implied.”

“Hmmm.” He plants a soft kiss on my forehead. “This mess is quite the story.”

“How would you write it?”

His mouth twists. “Your next book?”

“I do owe them a manuscript.” I touch his hand. “Tell me.”

“I think Simone was one of those girls to Fred—the ones who are there when you need them but that you can never admit you’re with in public.”

“A hidden girl,” I say.

“Yeah.”

“You never did that, right?”

“No.”

“Good.” I run my hand on his cheek. It’s scratchy with stubble. “Go on.”

“So they have this on-again, off-again thing. Enough for her to know his parents and for them to disapprove. She has real feelings. He doesn’t. They break up, and then he goes on and becomes a huge star. But he keeps her around. Because she’s normal to him. He knows she wants to be with him because of him, not who he is.”

“Men think like that?”

“They do.”

“Noted.”

“Years go by. Fred makes some stupid decisions, loses his money, gets in a fight with Tyler, and is feeling pretty desperate. And then Italy happened,” Oliver says. “It was all over the news. And the book was back on the bestseller list.”

“And Tyler owned the rights.”

“TylerandFred.”

“Who suggested they make the movie to make them square?” I ask.

“Fred. He saw it as the solution to all of his problems. He also suggested they hire Emma, aware of her long-standing crush, and then he moved in. It was all laid out for him in the script.”

“And Simone?”

“They wanted to make the movie quickly. She was available...”

“When did she discover his plan?”

“Maybe she always knew.”

“I don’t think so. I don’t like her, but Simone wouldn’t see murder as a solution. In an emergency, yes. But not more than that.”

“You know her better than I do.”

“I guess.” I hug myself. “There’s still something missing. I can’t put my finger on it.” I think it over. “Who was tweeting? And what about the murder on the schedule...If the plan was to kill Emma, why signal it? Why put her on her guard?”

“To divert suspicion away from Fred?”

“Maybe? Anything else?”

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