Page 163 of Paint the Town, Dove
Mallory jutted in. “I believe so!”
Tav crossed his arms. “We just need to wipe away the bad taste in people’s mouths, alright? The label’s gettin’ flack – ”
I winced.Flack.
Get outta here, go on Violet. Go on, no one’s gon’ miss you. Now get me the last can in the cooler, it’s warm. Right Sinead? Getting warm. If it’s the last thing you sorry selfish shit does for this house – get me that DAMN CA –
Ryden put his hand on my knee, squeezing once before removing it.
Heknewme, then.
Helovedme, then.
He knows you now, he loves you now.
“ – and we’ve just got to wait ‘till people see his numbers in the green, not red.” Tav pulled out a spreadsheet. “Even though Jaw & Lion’s view counts are climbin’, Mallory showed me – Mallory pull out your file,” he waved two fingers at her, palming the envelope. “The amount of negative publicity he’s gettin’ is out of control.”
“They’re calling him an abuser,” Mallory added.
“What?” He snapped, launching out of his seat. “People are callingmean abuser?” His eyes found mine. “Did you know about this?”
I did.
I saw everything.
I kept his socials hidden over the past few weeks, perfecting that distraction.
I thought that if I could shelter his view from the media, that he’d come back stronger –retaliate better.
And selfishly, I just…
I wanted to exist without the rest of the world knowing Scarlett and Ryden for one second.
Just Eagle and Dove.
Just… that.
“It’s typical bullshit nonsense,” I supplied, but he didn’t bite. I knew he wouldn’t.
The tabloids hit too close to home.
Suddenly, our honeymoon phase seemed like a distant memory. The mornings spent in silk sheets at his townhouse, wrapped up in each other’s bodies – it was playland. Make-believe.
Thiswas real.
And this was precisely the reason why I didn’t want to get caught up in the fantasy of feelingtoomuch.
It was distracting, all-consuming.
We’d slip.
We were already slipping.
I always knew that if we were to break the boundary, we’d fall apart.
I couldn’t juggle a million emotions at once.
I was his fucking manager. I had a job to do. And I hated myself for letting the soft parts in.
