Everyone was yelling now, and several of the girls were fighting. Literally. Pulling each other’s hair and shoving until someone fell on their ass.
Cameron was on his feet. “Everyone. Please calm down. Take your seats.” It took several minutes to get them to relent. When the insanity dulled to a reasonable level, Katia plopped back down on the loveseat with her arms folded over her ample chest and her lip thrust out in a pout. She looked five.
“I think it’s time to bring out our surprise guest. Every accusation you’ve heard so far pales in comparison to what you’re about to find out after this commercial break.”
Jodi blew out a frustrated breath as the television switched to a shampoo commercial.
“Do you have any idea what that guy is talking about?” her dad asked.
“Not a clue.”
He shrugged and settled into his chair. “This could be interesting.”
“So now you like the show,” she teased him.
“Not even close. But I like Tucker, and I’ve been watching his face this entire time. He knows what’s about to go down. Katia doesn’t.” Her dad rubbed his hands together as if he were in cahoots with Tuck.
“I’ve created a monster.” She agreed though. Tuck knew.
When the show came back on, Cameron was still standing. “Welcome back. Like I was saying before the break, we have a surprise guest joining us.” He turned to swing his arm out toward the back of the stage. “Please welcome Josh Walters to the stage.”
The view suddenly switched to a split screen as whoever Josh was entered from the back while Katia jumped to her feet. She was pale earlier. Now she was white as a sheet. “What the fuck?” Jodi could read her lips, but that last word was bleeped out.
“Did you think you would get away with this forever?” Josh asked as he joined them and took a seat next to Cameron on the now vacated loveseat.
Katia was fuming. “You had no right to interfere.”
He shrugged. “You had no right to lie to the entire world.”
“I hardly know you.”
He shrugged again, lifting his brows slightly. “Not my fault. You’re the one who took off in the middle of the night a year ago and never returned my calls, texts, or emails. I even tried to reach out to you on Facebook and Instagram. Silence.”
“You can’t really expect anyone to believe a word you say.” She turned toward Cameron. Not Tuck. Cameron. “Whatever he told you is a lie.”
Cameron reached behind him and then turned back around holding out a piece of paper. “Is this a lie?”
Katia gasped. “Where did you get that?” She glanced at Josh.
“From the minister at the drive-thru chapel in Vegas. That’s your signature at the bottom. We may have been drunk and stupid, but you married me that night, and it’s a crime to marry a second man before you get a divorce.”
Jodi jumped out of her seat, nearly falling as she untangled her feet from under her. “She’s married?” she screamed.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Her dad chuckled.
Jodi walked closer to the TV as if what she was hearing would be more real if she got closer.
“That stupid paper can’t be legally binding. I was drunk.”
“Oh, it’s legal. If you would have responded to any one of my calls or messages, you would have known that all I wanted was an annulment. It’s easy enough. But instead you ignored me and married another man.” He sat there very calm, one leg crossed casually over the other.
“Why would you come forward now? You could have said something months ago.”
Josh narrowed his gaze. “You are a piece of work, Katia. I’ve contacted you dozens of times lately. I finally realized two things. One, the only way I was going to get that damn marriage dissolved would be to call you out on national television.”
“What was the other thing?” Cameron asked.
Josh glanced at Tuck. “Saving that poor guy from a life of hell in a marriage that’s not even legit.”
Jodi nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to her dad. “Is that true? Would his marriage to Katia be invalid?”
“Yep. Looks like it.”
“That means he doesn’t have to file for a divorce? He’s free?”
Her dad nodded, smiling.
“Thank you, God.” She turned her head to the ceiling and screamed her elation.
Chapter 23
“Talk to me,” Joanne said to Tuck an hour later in his dressing room. He was tossing the things that belonged to him, which weren’t many, in a bag, wanting to get the hell out of here and go find Jodi.
Joanne leaned her butt on the vanity and gripped the edge with her fingers. “You won’t even consider the contract I’m offering you?”
“Nope.”
“It’s a lot of money.”
“Don’t care.” He really didn’t. No amount of money in the world would lure him to do this again. He hated himself for doing this in the first place. He felt the need to grovel to get Jodi to forgive him for what appeared to be months of temporary insanity. How would she be able to trust that he wasn’t as big of a nutjob as his actions would imply? After all, he’d already been involved in this storm when he met her.
“At least take the contract with you. Look it over. Talk to your lady. Maybe she can convince you it’s worth it.”
He met her gaze, zipping up his bag. “I can guarantee that the woman I’m about to beg to give me a chance has no interest in being a part of this shitshow. Never.”
“Just…ask her.”
He shook his head. “Do not wait for my call. Find someone else. I’m done.”
“What if I guarantee you a completely different set of actors?”
“Nope.” He was growing frustrated, and he wanted to get out of here. It was late. He was tired. He was physically exhausted beyond anything he’d ever experienced. Even times when he’d been on duty surveilling an enemy in the Middle East for twenty-four hours at a time had not made him this bone weary.
She blew out a breath.
