Betting on Bailey

“No,” Daniel says, sounding frustrated. “If I could prove it was Cyrus, I could fight back, but I have nothing. The only people who have visited are you and Sebastian. And my housekeeper, of course, but she’s been with me forever.”

“And Juliette…” I say slowly, remembering something. “Remember? A few weeks ago? Juliette needed to drop off the proofs of Sebastian’s cookbook, and you told her to drop them off at your house?”

“That’s right,” he says slowly. “I’d forgotten about that. Hang on, Bailey, let me get Sebastian on the line. Talk to him while I go alert Stone.” I hear him call out to Sebastian. “It’s Bailey,” he explains.

“How are you doing, Bailey?” Sebastian comes on the line and asks me, his voice concerned.

“I’m fine, I think,” I tell him. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’ve already had quite the morning.”

“What happened?”

I fill him in on the happenings at the university, and he swears softly. “That sucks.”

“Yeah, Daniel’s going to make a call for me,” I tell him, wishing I was there in person with them. “I decided I’m not too proud to ask for help.”

“Good girl,” he says approvingly. “Ah, here’s Daniel. Let me put you on speaker phone.”

“Did Bailey fill you in about Juliette?” Daniel asks.

“No,” Sebastian sounds puzzled. “What’s Juliette have to do with this?”

Daniel quickly explains our discussion and Sebastian whistles. “You think Juliette planted that camera?” he asks. “I can’t see her doing something like that.”

“You guys. Listen to me,” I interrupt both of them. “She’s already warned me away from Sebastian once.” I tell them about the bathroom incident. “She’s obsessed with Sebastian’s career. And Daniel,” my voice rises with excitement as I remember something else. “She was talking to Cyrus at your party for the longest time.”

“Really?”

“You didn’t notice?”

“No,” he says. “They don’t really know each other.”

“Well,” I insist, my voice stubborn, “they appeared to be as thick as thieves. I know what I saw.”

“I’m not doubting you,” he says at once. “Not even in the slightest. I know how eager Juliette is to get this deal done.” His voice is grim. “I just didn’t think she’d stoop to this level.”

To be honest, neither did I. Yeah, Juliette’s ambitious and intense, but I didn’t think she’d resort to leaking photos of us to the tabloids. For starters, the plan makes no sense. Sebastian isn’t going to be more cooperative if this photo is front page news.

“I’m going to sort this out,” Sebastian promises. He hasn’t said anything for a while. “Bailey, if Juliette did do this…” His voice trails off. “I’m so sorry.”

“Will you stop?” Exasperation tints my voice. “God, you are just as bad as Daniel. Stop blaming yourselves for things that Cyrus and Juliette did. I’m not annoyed at the two of you. I’m saving my anger for the people that caused this situation.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line for a long time. Finally, Sebastian speaks, his voice very quiet. “We don’t deserve you, Bailey,” he says. I hear a phone ring in the background, and Sebastian picks it up. “Helen? What’s going on?” he asks. “Bailey, I have to take this call. Talk to you later?”

“Bye,” I tell him. “Daniel, you still there?”

“I am,” he confirms.

“You said you loved me earlier.” My heart is in my throat as I speak, but I have to know. “Was that a slip of the tongue?”

“Of course I love you, silly.” His voice softens. “Though it’s a rotten time to tell you that.”

A smile breaks out on my face. He loves me. One down, one to go. Now, I just have to confirm that Sebastian feels the same way. Because there’s three of us in my version of happily-ever-after, and I’m not going to settle for anything less than both of them.