“Tim first wanted to set me up on a blind date. I told him no blind dates. I was done with women for a while. I didn’t want another messy relationship. So I guess Tim and Holly figured that they’d get me to go out with Sabrina nevertheless. So they concocted this whole elaborate scheme and told Sabrina to pretend to be an escort. But that it was really kind of a blind date.” Well, it wasn’t the entire truth, but it was close enough to the truth.

“I liked Sabrina from the moment I met her. Hell, I paid to see her again the next night. We fell in love.” Daniel shook his head. “It was all very confusing at the beginning. But the point I’m trying to make here is that Sabrina is not a call girl. She never was.”

“I’m not sure what to say.” His father stood and went to the mini bar in the corner. He poured himself a drink and took a sip.

“I still don’t understand how Audrey fits into all of this. Obviously this was a private arrangement between Tim and Holly. No escort agency was involved. They were just playing,” Raffaela said, her forehead furrowed.

“Audrey didn’t handle the breakup well. She convinced herself that I was going to take her back. So she showed up at my hotel room in San Francisco when Sabrina and I were . . . ” He glanced at his father who seemed to understand instantly. He didn’t have to spell it out. “I don’t know how Audrey could have found out that Sabrina was pretending to be an escort. The only people who knew were Tim, Holly, Sabrina, and myself. She must have been suspicious when she found me and Sabrina together in the hotel room two days after our breakup. I guess she figured for me to find somebody so quickly, she would have to be a call girl.”

Daniel huffed. “Hell, it’s not the first time that she’s tried to sabotage my relationship with Sabrina. Audrey is an insanely jealous woman and she can’t accept the fact that I’m going to marry Sabrina. Audrey knows I’d never come back to her, so she’s out for revenge. I don’t know how she managed to convince the reporter of her lies, but she must have fabricated something. And I’m going to find out what it is.”

“How are you going to do that?” his mother asked.

“I went to Audrey’s apartment to confront her, but her housekeeper told me that Audrey left a couple of days ago, and she doesn’t know where to or when she’ll be back. But I’m going to find her.”

“Even if you find Audrey, do you really think she’ll just confess to lying?” his father asked.

“Of course not, but I’ll find a way to force her to admit to her lies. In the meantime I’m going to threatened to sue the paper for libel. I’ve already spoken to my attorney on the drive home. He’s contacting legal counsel at the New York Times and will be threatening them with a lawsuit.”

“You realize that this will get messy, right? There will be no way to keep this from Sabrina,” his father cautioned.

“Which is why I’m not going to pursue any lawsuit until after the wedding. And no one is going to tell her either,” he said, looking first at his father then at his mother. “I don’t want anything to ruin Sabrina’s wedding day. She deserves a dream wedding. And I’m going to deliver it.”

“Agreed. Sabrina doesn’t need to know,” his mother said with a nod. “Holly promised me to not tell her anything either.”

“Holly knows about the article?” Daniel asked. “Shit.” Not that he didn’t trust Holly, because he did, but the more people knew the more likely it was that somebody would slip up.

“She was with me when Linda alerted me to the article.”

His father placed a gentle, reassuring hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I’m sorry we jumped to conclusions about Sabrina. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure she doesn’t find out.”

“With Linda knowing about the article, soon all of the Hamptons will know, even those who don’t read the New York Times. Do you know what that means? Your reputation, Dad,” Daniel prompted, looking up at him.

“What about my reputation?”

“This scandal will rub off on you and Mom. Your reputation—”

“—can withstand the storm,” his father claimed.

His mother smiled up at her husband. “This wedding will come off as planned and everything will be perfect.”

Daniel smiled, more for his mother’s benefit than his own. He just hoped she was right, because not marrying Sabrina wasn’t an option.

6

“Is it just me or does it seem like today went on forever?” Sabrina asked as she climbed into bed next to Daniel.