Page 95 of Saving Ian Pope

“I think I can handle that, but you’re going to have to walk me through the whole family stuff. It’s foreign territory for me.” She pinched my chin. “I just have one question for you.”

“What’s that? How’d I find out about my...not my record company’s...payments to Chase Arts?”

“Oh, yeah, that too. Howdidyou find out? I know Jack didn’t tell you.”

“You know that meeting I had with my accountant the day you left. I saw the payments then and confronted Jack. He never could lie.”

“You’re not holding it against him, are you? I know he wanted to protect his job, but he really cares about you.”

“I already hired him back. He’s been texting me every five minutes to return to England for my first interview on the Brit Morning show in a few days.”

“And you’ll be there.”

“Only if you’re coming with me.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything, but that wasn’t my question.”

I teased her earlobe with my thumb. “What’s your question?”

“Did you really train with Marky Mark Wahlberg?”

Laughter bubbled from my lips, and I rested my forehead on the steering wheel. “I can’t believe I said that. It’s the first thing that came to my head. Are you going to be able to put up with all that rubbish from me?”

“You have a lot more to put up with from me, including my annoying brother.” She patted my arm. “No more crimes, though.”

“Yeah, about your brother.”

“I know. He’s the worst, but we don’t have to deal with him. I mean once he knows we’re back together, he’ll probably hit you up for money, but we can ignore him.”

“I paid off his Tesla today.”

She snapped her head around. “You didwhat? Why would you do that for him.”

“I don’t know.” I stroked her hair. “While we were talking last night and you were telling me all about your childhood, I felt sorry for Matt. Your mum left him, too. Your dad used him, too. Yeah, you were able to turn out okay, more than okay.” I kissed the side of her head. “But experiences affect everyone differently, look at me and my brothers in the band, and Matt probably would’ve been a different bloke with a different background.”

“You have to be the sea lion.” She shook her head. “It’s a good thing I’m coming back to England with you. You’re a babe in the woods.” She rubbed my thigh. “Emphasis onbabe. I can spot a con a mile away, and I’ll make it my mission to protect you from the vultures.”

I grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss against her wrist. “And I’ll make it mine to protect you from yourself.”

Epilogue

IVY

Two weeks later, Ian released “Lost and Found” to critical and popular praise and a week after that, it hit number one on the UK charts and was climbing the top ten charts in the US. When he released the second single, it looked as if it was ready to follow the same arc.

We spent the holidays with his family, who weren’t scary at all. His mom took me right under her wing, and his dad didn’t even ask me to commit any crimes with him. I met his adorable daughter, who had me re-thinking my entire stance on having children. Thea’s mom and her husband were gracious and allowed Thea to spend a lot of time with us ahead of Ian’s tour.

Even Jessica had conceded defeat and moved on with a bad boy from some reality show.

Ian’s tour started in two days, and I was coming along for the ride. He had several dates in the UK. The US leg of the tour was up next, and I’d definitely be there for that. Not sure what my days and nights would look like, but I knew I wanted to be with him. He’d made it clear to his musicians and the rest of the crew, that this was going to be a sober tour—no alcohol or drugs allowed on or backstage.

As he opened the car door for me, he said, “I feel like I’m back in the Five2Go days when I had to be the responsible one. It kind of sucks.”

When he slid into the driver’s seat, I said, “I know at least one of the musicians will be happy, as she’s two months clean and sober.”

“She?” He raised his eyebrows. “You don’t have to tell me who that is.”

“Oops.” I covered my mouth. “I just gave that one away. She’ll probably end up telling you herself. She’s very grateful.”

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