Page 40 of Rebel Moon

“Blake knows? Rhett told her?”

“That’s right.”

“And you knew this last night?” Madeleine asked.

“That’s right. But Rhett cleared a few things up.”

“Such as?”

“Your reasons for keeping it a secret, for one,” I said. “You didn’t want to undermine our confidence by admitting you had to leverage your whole collateral with Wyatt Black.”

“That’s what he told you?”

“Yes, in a nutshell.”

“Why would he do that? He promised me he’d keep that to himself. And it was so long ago now.” She lifted my foot off her lap and set it down on the ottoman, careful, even while furious, and stood up. “Rhett doesn’t get to explain me or talk about me. I don’t want people talking about me ever. Especially not on film.”

“Madeleine—”

“He swore to me.” She was moving now, three steps to the window, three back. “He looked me in the eye and he gave me his word. He’s the only person in this whole business I’ve ever trusted.”

“But why did it matter if any of us knew?”

“Because I didn’t want you to, okay?” Madeleine asked. “And I sure as heck didn’t want him talking about it on camera.” She clamped down on the word camera so hard her jaw shook. “Who else knows?”

“Just me. Blake. Rhett. I think anyway. I actually don’t know.”

“And Nick. Nick was in the room, wasn’t he? Nick with the camera.” She closed her eyes. “It’s footage, Knox. It’s not a secret anymore, it’s content. It’s on a hard drive somewhere in this lodge waiting to get cut into a film that’ll go out to the world.”

I got up, wincing from the pain, and grabbed the back of the chair for support. “Hey. Come here.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Madeleine, look at me.” I put a hand out but she ignored it. “You did something wonderful for us. There’s no shame in it. Not for any of us.”

“It is not a wonderful thing.” Her eyes glittered, bright and terrible. “Do you know what you’re all going to think now? Every one of you. Jack. Grant. Beck. You’re going to look at everything that’s happened since—the album, the tour, the arenas, the life—and you’re going to see my hand in it. You’ll never be able to unsee it. Every single thing you ever earned, you’ll wonder if you deserve it. Which is exactly what I didn’t want.”

She stopped and pressed two fingers to her mouth. “Oh, God. You knew this since yesterday morning. You spent the afternoon and the evening with me, and you never said a word. Is it why you suddenly like me? Why you kissed me? After all these years of hating me and poof—it’s all better now?”

“No,” I said, stomach dropping. “No, that’s not at all⁠—”

“Ten years. Ten years of giving me a hard time and then one afternoon you find out I’m not the villain, and by suppertime you’ve got me in your bed.” Her expression was devoid of emotion, her voice even-toned and completely terrifying. “You’ll forgive me for wondering whether it was me you wanted, or the fact that you owed me.”

“Owe you? No.”

“I have to go,” she said.

“Please don’t.”

“Rhett had no right to open this all up.”

“He did it so that you’d finally get the credit you deserve,” I said. “He wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

“You don’t get to defend him.” Her hand was on the door. “This is between me and him.”

I opened my mouth to say something, although I had no idea what it would be. Regardless, she was already gone, the door swinging shut behind her.

Leaving me alone with my throbbing ankle, completely confused about what had just happened.