‘So you’re trying to tell me that picture is Photoshopped?’
‘No, but—’
‘It’s not you he’s kissing?’
‘Yes, it’s me, but—’
‘It’s not your dress that’s ripped?’
‘The dress isn’t ripped. The stitches came undone.’ Feeling like a fox with a pack of hungry hounds snapping at her heels, Taylor gritted her teeth. ‘They sewed me into it which I knew was a stupid idea right from the start.’
The director looked disgusted. ‘This story is everywhere. Tell me how I’m supposed to deal with this. How am I supposed to focus on making this movie when every single person on my set is looking at the bare thigh of my leading lady and sniggering? Just being this close to you is making me feel dirty.’
The whole world is going to know you’re dirty, Taylor.
Her breathing grew shallow.
Anger burst free inside her. This was all Luca’s fault. Because he didn’t care what people thought of him, he’d exposed her. He’d stripped her, almost literally, with no thought to the consequences. If he hadn’t been so careless with that Portia woman’s feelings, this would never have happened.
‘The press have embellished this to make it look bad, but it isn’t how it seems.’
‘The truth doesn’t even matter.’ The director made a hand gesture to signify two minutes to someone over her shoulder. ‘I can’t work in this circus. You’re off the movie.’
Those words turned Taylor’s limbs to water. ‘What? No!’ Composure deserted her. She wanted to act. More than anything else she wanted to act. It was all she wanted to do.
‘You can’t do that. You can’t get rid of me because of what the media say. You can’t give them that much power and control. I need to speak to Luca. Give me a chance to sort this out.’
But he’d already moved on. People were shouting things at him and his eyes were on the phone in his hand as he read a text. ‘You can’t sort this out. Wherever you go, trouble follows. It’s always about you and never about the film. You’re finished.’
Furious at the injustice of it, Taylor straightened her shoulders. ‘That’s Santo Corretti’s decision, not yours.’
‘Fine. He can tell you himself.’ Standing back, the director gestured towards the low, expensive sports car that had just parked behind her.
Taylor closed her eyes. This was a nightmare. She had to do something but nothing she said was going to rub out that picture of Luca with his hand on her thigh.
She forced herself to stand still as Santo strode towards her, his face black as the sky before a storm.
Judging from the little she’d read about the aborted wedding, he’d had a worse weekend than she had.
‘It isn’t how it seems,’ she said, trying and failing to keep the desperation out of her voice. Part of her hated herself for having to try and excuse herself but she was willing to do anything to keep the part. ‘She’s one of his exes and she obviously followed him and spied on him.’
‘And what were you and Luca doing together in the first place?’
‘I was—’ She broke off, suddenly furious with Luca. If he’d just paid the woman they wouldn’t be in this mess. Her mind raced ahead. She’d make him pay in another way. ‘We were meeting each other. You told me I couldn’t have a relationship, so we were trying to be discreet.’
‘Luca is never discreet. He does exactly what he wants to do with whomever he wishes to do it. He doesn’t care.’
‘But I do, and he respected that. He understands what the press are like and he wanted to protect me.’
Santo shot her a look of undiluted incredulity. ‘Your date at the wedding was some guy called Zach. I heard you on the phone.’
‘And you heard me tell you that Zach isn’t my boyfriend,’ she said truthfully. ‘He’s just a friend.’ And by that she meant that he was allowed one layer closer to the real her than most people.
The truth was she trusted no one.
‘So you were using him to cover the fact that you’re with Luca? You’re trying to convince me that you and my cousin are an item?’
‘That’s exactly what I’m telling you.’
‘My cousin isn’t capable of a relationship.’
‘I think he was as surprised by how quickly our relationship developed as I was. After what you said to me, I made him promise to keep it a secret. I couldn’t change the way we felt about each other, but I thought I could stop you finding out. There is nothing sleazy about that kiss.’ Making a last-ditch attempt to halt the free fall of her career, she shot a look at the director. ‘It was two people sharing a special moment and that woman exploited that. We love each other. Now can we move on?’