Chapter 35

In hindsight, my first move should have been to call the police. If I had been thinking straight, I would have called the cops. Instead, I ran over to Barnett’s apartment and started pounding on the door, hoping he had spent the night there.

To my relief, he opened the door. He looked as though he had just been about to leave and was surprised to find my fist in front of his chest.

“Anna? What’s wrong?” Barnett asked.

I couldn’t say anything. I only dragged him by the hand to my door, where I showed him the red X and the note.

He stared at the note for a long time.

“Well, that is her signature,” he finally said. He didn’t sound overly worried or even mad, more…resigned, as though he weren’t too surprised this had happened but was tired of all of Julia’s shit.

I, however, was still freaking out. The more that I stared at it, the more that the red on my door and on the note looked like blood to me. It made my mind go to a million different ways that Julia could make me suffer just because a tabloid suggested I was in a love triangle with our ex-husbands—and get away with it.

“What do I do?” my voice almost squeaked. I was just relieved that words managed to come out this time.

He stayed silent, as though contemplating something, then nodded to himself.

“Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll take care of this.”

“Are you sure, Barnett?” I asked. My breathing had become labored and painful. “I think…shouldn’t we call the cops?”

He shook his head.

“No. Not yet.”

“But what if she gets dangerous?”

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The tone in his voice was sharp, like a knife. The expression on his face was set and determined. It made me feel both frightened and protected at the same time.

“All right,” I said. “I trust you.”

•* *

Barnett sat in the recliner of his midcentury bachelor pad. He had spent so little time in this house recently, ever since he had arranged for Anna to move into the apartment next to him. He had looked for any excuse he could to spend time near her, even sleep near her.

But this particular meeting required that he be far away from Anna, for her own safety. The other party was no longer welcomed in his office, so the next best option was his house. Hopefully, it would be over with quickly.

Barnett saw Julia’s red Porsche pull up on his security camera app. He quickly put his phone away and braced himself for what was to come next.

“Come in!” he called out when the bell rang.

Julia pranced in, joy oozing off of her. She wore a sexy black cocktail dress, black platform heels, and a string of pearls around her neck. Her hair had been left down in loose curls to frame her heavily made-up face.

“Happy to see me?” she asked coyly.

Barnett did not stand up to greet Julia, nor did he look her way. He merely motioned towards the couch and said, “Sit.”

Julia obeyed, though confusion danced across her face.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “Is something wrong? You asked for me to come here, after all.”

“Yes, I did.”

“And you told me it was of the…upmost importance,” Julia said with a wink.

“I did, and it is.”

Barnett pulled the note from Anna’s door out of his pocket and set it on the coffee table in front of Julia.

Julia’s smile wavered.

“Where…where did you get that?”

“You know exactly where I got it. Did you do this?”

Julia crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin defiantly.

“What if I did?”

“Anna and I could report you to the police, you know. You signed the note and everything.”

“You won’t, though. You care about me too much. And that bitch doesn’t have the balls to do anything like that.”

Barnett’s brows crinkled.

“Care about you? You think that I wouldn’t call the police on you because I…care…about…you?”

Julia appeared less sure of herself than before, but she still nodded.

“Well, yes. Why else would you confront me directly instead of calling the police on me? You don’t really want me to end up in jail, any more than I want something to happen to you.”

Barnett’s eyes went dangerously cold. He leaned forward and glared straight into Julia’s eyes, his lip lifted in a sneer. His hands clutched at the arms of the recliner until his knuckles turned white.

“At this point, Julia, I don’t give two shits about you. I told Anna not to call the police because I didn’t want the stress that it would put on her. And I don’t want the stress that you’re putting on her, either.”

Julia seemed momentarily taken aback, but she would not back down.

“Tell me the truth, Barnett. You were sleeping with her when we were together, weren’t you?”

Barnett snorted.

“No, I wasn’t. And it’s not your business if I am now or not, so don’t even bother asking.”

Julia sniffled, putting on the crocodile tears.

“What…what do you even see in her?” she choked out.

“Again, that’s none of your business. Who I see or don’t see, what I see in a woman or don’t see in a woman, is none of your business. We…are not…married anymore.”

She sobbed into her hands, but Barnett was having none of it.

“And I will not have you threatening women that I’m around just because you can’t handle not being my wife anymore.”

“Then why don’t you just have me arrested?” Julia screamed.

“I will have you arrested if you don’t leave Anna alone!” Barnett yelled back. “I’ll do more than that! I’ll sue you so hard that you won’t be able to find yourself out of the hole you’ve dug yourself into.”

Julia laughed, but it was the insane laughter of someone unhinged.

“You won’t be able to touch me.”

“Maybe not, but Anna will have a strong enough case against you. She will follow all of my legal advice, and you will have nowhere to turn.”

“I-I’ll hire better lawyers than she can.”

“I’ll hire lawyers for her.”

Barnett stood up and towered over Julia. She shrank back into the couch. When he spoke, Barnett’s voice was barely above a hiss.

“And don’t forget, I know things about you that no one else does. Bad things. All it takes is one call to the right news outlet, and you will lose everything—your career, your fans, your reputation, everything.”

Barnett wished he had a camera at that moment. Julia’s mouth flopped open and closed like a fish out of water. She was utterly speechless.

“You need to remember that you’re no longer Mrs. Cogsworth. You don’t have my money or my influence to protect you. Stop acting like it.”

Julia’s hands curled into fists. She stood abruptly and stomped to the door.

“Julia.”

At the sound of her name, Julia turned toward Barnett, hoping that maybe he had changed his mind.

“Never come back here or to my apartment complex. You are now banned from both properties, and my security detail will recognize you.”

Julia’s face flushed deep red. She stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind her.

After Julia left the house for the final time, Barnett picked up his phone, punched in a phone number, and brought it to his ear.

“Bob? It’s Barnett. We need to talk about Anna.”