Turning to Stone (Heart of Stone: Book 2)

Chapter 37: Party, Pt 4

Chapter 37: Party, Pt 4

"I'm not getting into this with you, Mac."

"Tell me, Ed: do you ever get tired of playing the good guy all the time?" Mac asked the sentence with genuine curiosity, but I could detect the cynicism in his tone.

"Let me past."

"Because I get it, you know. You've got your brand, and you've done a wonderful job of winning everyone over tonight with a no-doubt carefully executed strategy of nice guy meets normal guy. But when a woman who isn't your girlfriend offers to suck your dick, you shouldn't politely decline. You should tell her to fuck off."

I debated stepping in to diffuse their stand-off; it didn't seem right to eavesdrop. But if they had an issue with each other, they needed to hash it out. Better to do it here, tucked away from the rest of the party, than risk letting it bubble over in front of an audience.

"You want me to start telling fans to fuck off? Not exactly in line with that nice guy brand, is it?" A sharp bite cut through Ed's steady voice.

"Right. Is that why you said yes to Veronica? Because you're a nice guy protecting his brand? That backfired, didn't it?"

"I don't want to talk about Veronica. That's done now. She got her money. She's happy. It's done."

"Yes, I'm sure she's absolutely thrilled that you were kind enough to let her blow you, only to drop the nice guy act as soon as she got off her knees."

My heart leapt, then raced at double speed, as if wanting to run away from this private conversation. Hearing the accusation was a direct insight into how the settlement had played out. If Ed's team had spent nearly a decade cultivating his squeaky-clean reputation, any savvy lawyer would know exactly how to exploit that.

Ed huffed out a derisive scoff. "It wasn't like that, and you know it. If she told you it was, she lied."

"I'll never know for sure, will I? Because I wasn't there. It was just you, the most famous guy on the planet, alone with a starry-eyed twenty-one-year-old. No cameras. No phones. Total privacy... Total control..."

"I don't like what you're suggesting."

"Meh. You liked it enough to part with a large sum of cash."

"Do you know how many offers I get every day?" Ed lowered his voice, but it still held enough ice to send shivers rippling up my arms. "This is exactly why I have to be polite with them. Because if I upset one person—intentional or not—I face a lawsuit."

"I can only imagine how many offers you get every day. I'm sure it's a real inconvenience. But this isn't just about you anymore. It's about Sophia—"

"I do not need relationship advice from you, Mac."

"No? Well, here's some legal advice instead: hurt her, and I will fucking destroy you. Understood?"

My sprinting heartrate skidded to an abrupt halt. I snatched at the handle and yanked open the door to see the two of them standing chest-to-chest, bodies rigid with tension, fists clenched by their sides.

"Enough," I said.

They broke apart and spun to face me, eyes widening. Ed's lips parted, then clamped shut, as red tinged the tips of his ears.

"Palmer." Mac casually slid his hands into his pockets, but his voice carried a tremble that betrayed his guilt. "You eavesdropping?"

"Obviously." I folded my arms and leaned a hip against the doorframe. "Sorry to interrupt such a poignant conversation."