Free Finding Love's Wings by Zoey Derrick Page B

person breaks the silence. Gradually his pacing slows. I finish my cigarette, ignoring the food in front of me.  
    Finally he breaks the silence and starts to talk. "Why are you not eating your breakfast?"
    "You asked me to join you. I figured it would be best to wait. To be honest, my appetite is on a mini vacation back in the States." I try to smile, but it's a strained attempt.  
    He ignores my joke. "I—I can't. I am trying to figure out how best to explain this to you." Finally he stops pacing and sits down in my overstuffed chair, elbows on his knees, looking down at the floor again. With his head in his hands he explains, "Layla cheated on me. From my understanding, it was with half of the staff from the movie she just finished filming."
    The angst I felt earlier about seeing the pictures of Tristan with Layla dissolves in an instant. They were obviously having some major issues and are no longer together. Hope blossoms in my heart that maybe, just maybe, this can be more than a professional relationship.  
    "That's not a reason to go running," I whisper. God, what kind of hypocrite am I? "Though, I, um, ran for a similar reason. I actually caught him in the act."  
    His head pops up. His eyes, which are normally so light as to be almost translucent, grow dark and hard. "Well, at least we figured out the first true thing that we have in common. Though of course your sex life will not be plastered all over the headlines of magazines and newspapers." He takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair so violently that I'm afraid he's going to pull it out at the root.  
    "Cami, there are pictures. Pictures taken by an unknown person and submitted to a magazine that intends to publish the story. This is what we were fighting about. Not about her cheating, but about the effect this will have on her career and mine. I blame her for being so stupid. This was not the first time she's cheated on me, but this is the first time it's going to be made public with proof."  
    He trails off as he takes in my expression. I'm raging mad. Not at him, of course, but mad is an understatement. Murderous might be a better word for how I feel at this moment.

PART NINE

    My rage is so unbelievably out of control; I can't even begin to fathom how Tristan can be so calm about this. Rage flares for my own reasons, but mainly because Tristan has to face her infidelity publicly and he doesn't deserve it. He needs to put a stop to this, and why he hasn't done that already is a driving force in my rage. "You really need to contact Trinity. Immediately. One, she needs to know where you are, and two, she needs to know what is going on so that she can stop this madness. Whatever it is that needs to be done to get those pictures or keep this quiet, Trinity will do just that, I ca—"
    "I'm not entirely convinced that I want this kept quiet," Tristan interrupts. He starts pacing again and running his hands through his hair.
    "Why in bloody hell not?" He smiles at me then. His smile is warm, almost seductive. I know he likes that expression, but why the smoldering smile? My head starts to swim. It’s no doubt a distraction tactic, and it's working. Dammit. Taking a deep breath, I continue, "Why would you want to let this spread like wildfire? Do you want the world to know that she cheated on you and have your image plastered all over the tabloids under headlines like 'Tristan Michaels Cuckholded' or 'Star of Love is Burning Gets Burned'?"  
    For a minute Tristan just stands there, hands in hair, elbows out, almost like he’s going to start flapping like a bird and fly away. Then he takes a deep breath and says, "The main reason I want to see this story unfold is because Layla is in desperate need of help. She's addicted to drugs and her career is going down the toilet quick. Word has gotten out how difficult she is to work with. If she keeps going this way she's going to end up washed up, homeless, or even dead. The only way at this