Alex's POV
*****
"What is it?!" Vincent's voice snapped me out of my trance as I stared at my phone with utter disbelief.
Last night was one hell of a blur.
I knew I shouldn't have taken so much vodka... But I kept telling myself I'd be fine and I have a high tolerance level.
Well, mister high tolerance level, here we fucking are!
On what seemed like a hotel room bed, a headache that seemed like all my bad karma was coming to claim my soul, a hangover from hell... And yet another scandal with my worst enemy blowing up online!
My eyes lingered on Vincent for way too long, my throat getting parched when I saw the bastard was shirtless.
Beads of sweat dotted his chest. The man looked carved — Michelangelo would be jealous.
And those annoying golden eyes were locked on me, knitted into a frown while also glinting with something akin to… hold all the way up!
Why am I judging his looks like this was an episode of Naked Attraction?!
"First off... Where the fuck are we?" I asked Vincent, blinking repeatedly to get my head back on track. "I remember... You dragging me in here and then—"
"Do you also remember accusing me of wanting to kiss you at the club last night?" He shot back with a plain expression, placing his arms beside himself.
He walked closer to the bed slowly, tilting his head. "Or calling me 'daddy' at some point?"
My face heated up so bad I thought the air cooling unit had suddenly gone faulty.
I cleared my throat, tearing my eyes away from him and bringing my gaze back to my phone screen.
The main issue.
"Unless you have video proof, I ain't believing I did none of that," I remarked, showing him my phone. "Here. Latest front page headlines. 'Moretti heir carries drunken co-star out of gay club... But is there more to this than meets the eye?"
I grunted with a hard eye roll. "Why does the headline itself sound like the writer had writer's block halfway and gave up?"
"That or a field day laughing at the footage he got." Vincent sniggered just then, making me realise he wasn't staring at my phone anymore.
He'd brought out his phone and had the most annoying smirk as he continued talking. "You didn't even bother opening the posts. This one's from the Daily Mail."
My jaw tightened. "Please. Their news is always exaggerated. Whatever they have on there can't be that—" I scrolled through my phone, actually clicking the post in question.
But then my blood ran cold when I saw the video glaring back at me through the phone.
There's no freaking way.
In the video, Vincent was walking me out of the club last night. No, scratch that. He had me carried over his shoulder like a rag doll while I giggled like someone's grandma on crack.
The worst part was when the video zoomed in on my face, showing how wasted I was and even showed an angle where I was fucking drooling!
This couldn't be happening.
This couldn't be fucking happening!
"Who the fuck took this?" I tried saying with a calm voice, mostly to myself.
But then I heard this aggravating voice—Vincent.
"Definitely someone with a good iPhone and a dream." He chuckled, shaking his head as he walked to the bed.
He sat on the edge beside me, causing me to swallow hard.
Dear lord.
"Are you seeing the comments on TikTok?" He went on, his teeth shone in a grin. "Hashtag daddymoretti. Alexander is out there, leaving the queer Hollywood dream. Can I be a third?"
My eyes twitched with each comment he read out until I just couldn't take it anymore.
"This is yet another fucking PR disaster." I flung the bedspread on my body aside, jumping off the bed so I wouldn't be so close to Vincent.
That way I wouldn't need to add "aggravated assault" charges to my résumé of scandals.
"If only Mathias and his fucking hooker hadn't messed with my mood last night, I wouldn't have gotten drunk and... and none of this would've happened!" I stuttered with frustration, holding back from kicking the lamp beside the bed.
But then—
"Really? You're going to blame all this on your boy toy?" Vincent scoffed beside me, causing me to stiffen. "Sorry... Ex-boy toy. I mean, he cheated, but that's on you for putting your trust in some backwater twink who was clearly after you for your money."
My nostrils flared as I slowly turned to face him, wishing I could smack the stoic expression he had.
How he could be giggling at my misfortunes one second and acting like an owl who swore off its emotions during the next second was beyond me.
"So you're going to blame me for being cheated on?" I tilted my head, smiling at the audacity.
Vincent arched his brow. "I'd never victim-blame. Oh no. But in this case, I will blame you for not doing any proper background checks on the moron. Which celebrity dates without doing that?"
I gritted my teeth. "Maybe celebrities who want to still live life like a normal fucking human being."
"Normal?" His voice rose a bit. "Please. Look around you. Everywhere you go, cameras flash and heads turn... Usually. Why would you risk—"
"I will not take dating advice from a guy whose list of exes outnumbers the population of sewer rats in this neighbourhood alone." I interrupted, shifting my gaze from him.
"Wow, nice burn." He chuckled, a low and dry sound. "You keep a scrapbook of all of them from high school?"
Before I could say anything else, the doorbell rang, forcing me to seal my lips.
I swung my neck in the direction of the hotel door and sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "Don't tell me you ordered room service so early."
Vincent shook his head, his eyes suddenly flashing with suspicion. "I didn't."
He got on his feet, walking toward the door.
After a few seconds, he came back with my manager walking beside him.
Marcello had a grin that I knew all too well, his black suit polished like he was here for a business meeting. Which he technically was.
"Marcello, I'm already having a rough day and it's not even happy hour yet." I rubbed my face with frustration. "If you're here to ruin my mood further I—"
"Well, good morning to you, too, Mr Cross." He spread out his arms, patting my back when he got to me.
I flinched but then glared at him when I saw the smile on his face. That and the sparkle in his eyes that basically screamed: "I see dollar bills".
"The hell you mean 'good morning'?" I swatted his arm off my back, taking a step back. "Did you see the chaos in the media this morning? The ships of Vincent and me have gotten worse, Marcello!"
He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well... Two of you sharing a hotel suite probably isn't helping with the allegations."
Argh, I oughta trangle him!
"You're my manager, Marcello!" I flung my arms into the air, speechless. "You could've called last night. Check if I was okay and ensure I don't... I don't know. Get wasted and make a fool of myself?"
He pouted his lips. "I'm your manager... Not your babysitter. Besides, last I heard you were driven to your penthouse by Mister Moretti. How was I supposed to know you'd stumble into a gay club and get drunk?"
"Life happens, okay?!"
He raised his hands in mock defeat, shrugging. "Whatever. Anyway, I'm here with some great news. That video is becoming so viral that fans are literally begging us to name the movie early."
He clasped his hands together with an excited grin. "The hashtags keep piling up. Heck, I even found out someone made a fanfic of who your two characters are. Plus, uhm... One awkward omegaverse themed—"
"Can you get to the point, Marcello?" I snapped with horror when I heard the last line, covering my face and taking deep breaths.
Inner peace, inner peace...
"Right, sorry. Got carried away." He said with the most unbothered tone he could muster, clearly enjoying this.
Meanwhile, Vincent just lingered close to the ceiling-high window, his naked back facing us as he stared at the city below the hotel.
If nonchalant were a person, they'd probably hit their head on a wall trying to keep up with how much Vincent Moretti embodies it.
"So, the director and producers had an urgent virtual meeting and decided upon a name this morning..." Marcello clapped a few times. "... Drum rolls..."
I was just about to tell him to shove those imaginary drumsticks up his ass when he finally relieved me of the suspense.
"Lights, Camera and Guns!" He yelled out, pointing a finger at me. "That's going to be the name of the movie. Catchy, isn't it?"
My lips parted, my eyes fluttering with confusion.
Uhm... What?!