“No, you just got here.” Sean wouldn’t let go of my hand. His fingers were like a vice. “Leon, have you met Katie,”
“Yeah, man,” Leon said, rolling his eyes at me. “I’ve met Katie.”
Then, like a storm that I knew was coming but couldn’t avoid, Madge burst into the room. “So, how’s my favorite client…”
Her mouth snapped shut when she saw me standing beside the bed holding Sean’s hand.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, giving me a look that nearly made me wet my pants.
“Madge, hey,” Sean said with a dopey grin on his face. “Do you know Katie Holmes from Playboy Magazine?”
Madge blinked at him for a moment, then glared at me. “No, but I know Kate Asher from Sports Insider Online.”
Sean frowned between us. “Who?”
Leon shook his head. He wagged a thick finger at me. “Now I know why you looked familiar,” he said. “Shit.”
“Shit is right,” Madge said. Her eyes filled with anger. She curled her lip into a snarl. “What’s going on here? Why does he think you’re someone else?”
“What’s going on?” Sean asked, confused, still clutching my hand. He gave Madge a hard look. “This is my girlfriend. This is Katie Holmes, like the actress, only hotter. Be nice to her, Madge.”
“Sean, my dear, this is a low-level reporter named Kate Asher from SIO,” Madge said, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at me. “She’s one of those awful people who is banned from Kings Stadium.”
“What? Bullshit.” Sean let go of my hand and rolled his head on the pillow to look at me. “Tell her who you are, Katie.”
I licked my lips and took a deep breath and prepared to lie, but it was no use. The ruse was up. Lying further would have only dug my grave deeper a foot deeper.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice quivering. “I didn’t mean for things to get out of hand. I was just trying to get an interview.”
“Get out,” Madge said. She nodded at Leon like she was sicking a dog on me. “Get her out of here before I call the police. And tell security she is not allowed back into this room.”
“Please, let me explain,” I said. Tears were streaming down my cheeks as Leon came around the bed and gently took my arm.
“Come on,” he said softly. “You don’t want to go to jail.”
I looked back at Sean, who was glaring at me with tears in his eyes.
“I let you in,” he said quietly. “I let you in and you lied to me. It was all a lie. You just wanted a fucking story, like all the others.”
“It wasn’t a lie,” I said desperately. “Sean, please, let me explain.”
“Out!” Madge shouted, coming at me with her finger pointed toward the door. “Now!”
“Come on,” Leon said again. I let him lead me to the elevator. I dug tissues out of my purse as he pressed the down button and stood waiting with me.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” I said, wiping my eyes.
“I know,” Leon sighed. “But it did happen. Now you just need to leave him alone and let him recover. He doesn’t need a lot of drama right now.”
The elevator doors parted and he put a big hand on the door to keep them open. I said, “Please tell him I’m sorry.”
He gave me a slow nod. He looked back down the hallway toward Sean’s room. Madge was standing in the doorway, glaring g at us.
He said, “He thinks you are gonna write a story about the real Sean Donovan. Is that true?”
I wiped the snot from under my nose and gave him a slow nod. I said, “Yes, that’s what this was all about. I wanted the world to see all sides of Sean Donovan, not just the bad boy party side.”
“Write your story,” he said. “Then leave him alone. He’s got enough shit to deal with now. He doesn’t need to deal with you.”