With every interview and every photo, I find myself looking at the door, wondering where she is. I still have no idea how she pulled off the shit she did. Liv doesn’t have the kind of money to buy them off, I’m not even sure how the hell she knew what I was up to.

Grabbing a beer from the makeshift bar set up behind the practice ring, I try to make my way over to Elle, but I’m stopped with every step by someone offering me congratulations. Nico’s brothers alone take up almost an hour. Great guys, but sure as shit can talk your ear off.

It’s after midnight by the time I’ve made the rounds, and the GIMPs have started to trickle in. Word spreads quickly when a gym party pops up, the groupies know it will be filled with fighters. Avoiding passing by two aggressive women that have no qualms letting me know their plans for the evening entails them sharing, I find myself standing off to the side with Nico.

Raising his beer to clink with mine, he smiles, “Tonight, we celebrate.” Drawing a long swig, he nods his head to me, “tomorrow, we talk about what the hell almost happened out there.”

Fuck. I nod my head. He must be happy, normally he’d be in my shit, never giving me space. “Where’s Elle?”

“Babysitter needed to go. She went up.”

Shit. “I really need to talk to her.”

Pushing off from the wall he’s casually leaning against, Nico chugs the rest of his beer. Slapping me on the back, he smiles. “She said you wouldn’t rest till you had answers.”

I wait, hoping she’s given him some to pass along to me. Help me make sense out of the last few hours.

“She said to tell you to go talk to your mother.”

“Really?” My mother has the answers? She’s usually the question.

Nico walks away and then stops, looking back at me pointedly and smirks. “Oh yeah, she said to tell you when you’re done with that, pull your head out of your ass and go get your girl before it’s too late.”

Seven in the morning is not usually a time my mother is awake, unless it’s from the night before. I quietly enter her apartment and I’m surprised to find her standing in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee. She smiles at me and pulls down a second cup.

“I watched on TV.” She hands me a full cup of steaming black coffee, not letting go, forcing my eyes to hers. “I’m so proud of you.” Searching my mother’s tired, weary eyes, I’m surprised to find sober staring me back. I nod, accepting the compliment.

She sits at the kitchen table and sips her coffee, motioning for me to sit as she begins, “That woman loves you.”

My jaw clenches, she sees the anger in my face, it’s difficult to hide. She’s cut me deep.

“This is all my fault. You shouldn’t blame her. My lies got us here. I know it will be hard for you to understand, but she was only trying to protect you. Keep my lies from hurting you.”

“Start from the beginning, Mom. I don’t need protecting, I need answers now.”

Two hours later, and a bucket load of tears from both of us shed, I have my answers. It reads like a fucking tabloid story. One that Liv was supposed to write. But instead she lied, trading keeping my secrets for the job she’s dreamed about since she was a kid. And then sells her keeping that secret to my rich scumbag of a father, only to pay off my drug addict mother’s debt so that I can take a shot at my dream. Only in my life does shit like this happen.

Kissing my mother on the forehead before I leave, she reaches for my arm. “I have no right to give you advice. I’ve been a shitty mother to you. But if you love her, find a way to figure it out, because you’re a good man and you deserve to be happy.”

“Where’s your boss?” Skinny ass Summer turns at the sound of my voice.

“She’s already gone.”

“Did I ask where Liv is? I’m looking for your boss.” Her mouth hanging open, she points to a nearby closed door. I knock once and let myself in without waiting for his response.

Liv

Ally drops me off at the airport. “Be nice to my car. I’m coming back soon to check on it.”

“You better.” She smirks. We’ve been best friends a long time, she knows I don’t care about the car…I’ll be back to check on her.

“I’ll drive it back Labor Day when I come to visit for the long weekend.”

“If you change your mind…” Ally hugs me hard and then pulls back to look at me, concern evident on her face. “Our door is always open.”

Still another hour before my flight, I stop at the coffee bar before going through security, waiting in the long line, staring blankly at the television monitor behind the cashier’s head. Lost in thought, it takes a few seconds for the words my brain reads as they scroll on the bottom of the screen to register. Breaking News - A Daily Sun Times Exclusive - Senator Preston Knight has a love child. I watch in horror as seconds later a photo of Vinny flashes on the screen.

Numb, I stare at the TV, a real wave of nausea rolling over me. Cold sweat percolates from within, sheathing my body, while dread and sadness consume me. How? I’d destroyed the evidence and the only people that knew had everything to lose and nothing to gain by leaking the story.

Shock still keeping my feet firmly planted, my brain finally reignites and begins to fire on all cylinders. I need to get to Vinny. Warn him. Tell him it wasn’t me. Make him believe me. I’m not sure why it’s so important, I only know I need to do it. Now. Grabbing my bags, I turn and take two steps back toward the exit, stopping in my tracks at the vision a few feet before me. Vinny.

Bags falling from my shoulder, I stare, confused, feeling nervous and anxious to see him, yet relieved at the same time. Four feet of empty space between us, my words barely loud enough to make their way to him, I whisper with emotion blanketing my face, “I didn’t leak the story.”

Hesitantly, Vinny takes one step closer. “I know.”

“You know?” Confusion clear on my face.

Another step closer. “I did.”

Eyes wide, I hear his words but don’t understand. “Why?”

One more step, he closes the distance between us. Every hair on my body stands at attention, my body inexplicably drawn to him like every other time before. Nothing quells my desire for this man. Not anger, not sorrow, not years of separation.

“Traded the story for your job back.” Gently, Vinny reaches for me, brushing his warm hand softly over my cheek.

“But why?”

“You and Elle run off to D.C. to sell your silence to pay off my mother’s debt, seemed like the least I could do.” He pauses. “Although I should also put you over my knee for putting yourself in danger like that.” The corner of his mouth twitches.

A small smile bubbles to the surface, although it’s quickly extinguished when my heart reminds me of how I’ve hurt him. How he hurt me. Again. Thoughts of Vince with Summer cause physical pain in my chest. Looking down, I draw a deep breath in, stealing a few precious seconds to compose myself. The words pass through my lips tasting like bile, “You and Summer?” Head still bowed, I steady myself for his response. But nothing comes. Without words or seeing him, I feel the intensity of his stare burning into me.

“Look at me, Liv.” His tone firm, but words soft, I take a deep breath in. Hesitantly, I lift my eyes and find his. Our gaze locked, he’s quiet for a moment before he speaks. Eyes searching mine, I find my own sorrow and sadness reflected back at me. “Nothing happened with Summer.”

“But Summer said…”

His voice is low and calm, yet his tone is firmer, more commanding. “Nothing happened, Liv.”

I want so badly to believe him…my body aches to trust his words. He sees my internal struggle on my face.

“You need me to tell you the details?” The words sound cruel, but he’s offering them to me because he knows how I am. Even if I told him I believed him, visions of the two of them would consume me, subconscious doubt never allowing me to fully forget. I need the full story, so my imagination doesn’t make up its own.