One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [90]
Colby rolled her eyes. “There’s no such thing as a Hamilton curse. But there is such a thing as bad choices. I hate to say this but all the Hamilton men before you simply made bad choices.”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Now getting back to that picture, where was it taken? The article claims it was taken right outside Diamond’s hotel room door at three in the morning.”
Sterling nodded. “Unfortunately, that’s probably true. Because Diamond was thrown into things at the last minute, she hadn’t had time to prepare for her part in the movie beforehand. So I volunteered to go over the script with her. Diamond is sort of a huggy person and when I was leaving, she hugged me to thank me for my help. That was all there was to it, but, of course, the papers wanted to make it out to be more than that.”
He gently squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t think how bad something like that would look. Jake trusts me with Diamond completely, and I’m so used to not caring what others think. But now I do care what others think because I have you to think about. I don’t want anyone thinking you’re being made a fool of or that you’re unloved.”
“I’ve told you, Sterling, it doesn’t matter what others think as long as—”
“It matters to me. You’re my wife and I love you, and I want the whole world to know that. I plan to call a press conference in the morning and publicly deny I’m having an affair with Diamond.”
Colby looked up at him. “That may not be necessary.”
Sterling raised a brow. “Why not?”
“Because if I guess correctly, tomorrow the media’s interest will be shifted from you and Diamond to Angeline Chenault.”
Sterling was quiet for a moment before asking, “What do you mean by that?”
“What I mean is that I received a call from Nicholas Chenault tonight and it appears Angeline is concerned with all the bad publicity the papers are giving you and Diamond, so she has decided to do something about it.”
Sterling looked at Colby thoughtfully, making sure he was following her. “She wants to shift the media’s attention elsewhere?”
Colby nodded. “Yes. She has decided to place the heat on herself. She’s holding her own press conference in the morning and she’s going to announce that she’s your mother.”
“What! Does she know what she’s doing? The media will have a field day with that. They’ve been trying to figure out who my mother is for years. They’ll start digging into her past, hounding her for information and smearing her good name.”
“Yes, I know,” Colby said smoothly. “And I think those are the things she’s counting on happening.”
Sterling looked astounded. “Why?”
“To shift the attention from you to her. By the time the papers finish broadcasting her announcement, the news regarding you, Diamond and Rachel will be old news. At least it’ll take a backseat to your mother’s revelation.”
Sterling placed Colby out of his lap and onto the seat next to him. Then he stood and walked over to the window. Since leaving Florida he had been in contact with Nicholas daily regarding Angeline’s condition. Then when Angeline had gotten better enough to talk on the phone, he had spoken to her countless times.
“I can’t let her do that. She’s a sick woman. Although she’s no longer in the hospital, she’s still not completely well. I won’t let her do it.”
“I told Nicholas you’d probably feel that way, but he told me to tell you that Angeline’s mind is made up, and there’s no stopping her. She’s going to do it.”
A few minutes passed before Sterling spoke. “And she’s willing to do that for me?”
“Yes, she and Nicholas both are. He’ll be subjected to just as much heat from the media as Angeline.”
Colby sat for a while and stared at Sterling’s profile as he stood across the room. She couldn’t believe he was actually there with her, and that because of his love for her he had walked off the set of his movie and