UNCHAIN MY HEART—DELETED SCENE
This is a deleted scene from early in the novel. I hope readers enjoy!
The journalist followed Natasha’s bodyguard across the empty restaurant. As he approached, she smiled up at him from her cushion at the low, Asian-style table.
“Miss Bernard.” He leaned down to shake her hand. At least he didn’t try to kiss it; Americans could hardly ever carry off such an affectation.
“Andrew, right?”
“You can call me Andy.” As he dropped onto a cushion opposite her, Natasha studied him. Dark, shoulder-length hair. Blazer and jeans. Intense dark eyes. Pretty hands, with long, tapered fingers.
The server came with their appetizers. They spent a few minutes sipping tea and nibbling spring rolls.
Finally, Andy leaned forward. “So, Ms. Bernard, what made you decide to reinvent yourself?”
“I think it’s time to move past the slinking villainess thing. I have much more range than some of my recent roles have showcased.” And whose fault was that? Listening to her agent’s bad advice? Or was she just getting lazy?
“It has nothing to do with a certain looming milestone?”
She chuckled. “You mean my birthday?” In just over two weeks, she’d be thirty. “I suppose that’s part of it. At some point, I outgrew the wide-eyed ingénue, and I could never be the girl-next-door. So I ended up falling into the classic femme fatale role.”
“For good reason, if you don’t mind me saying so.” His admiring glance took in her perfectly made-up face, her long, auburn hair, and the silk blouse that displayed her figure to good advantage.
“You know that tired old saying?” she said. “Don’t judge a book by its cover? I’ve always found it ironic how untrue it is. We’re all judged by just how good our packaging is.”
“So, you want to rebrand?”
“Exactly.”
Andy glanced at his notebook. “It seems you’ve been staying busy.”
“Indeed.”
“Your recent bruising pace seems to have come about at just about the time of your break-up from Sloan … and Richard Mac.”
Natasha took a sip of tepid tea and wished a black hole would swallow Andy. “I never dated the Bastard—I mean Richard.” She waited for Andy to correct himself. I mean, your affair with Richard Mac, which resulted in the breakup of your marriage to Sloan. As if Richard the Bastard ever would have touched her. He’d always loathed her.
“Excuse me,” Andy said smoothly. “Maybe it’d be safer to say you’ve had a, um, complex association with the members of Mephisto.”
Not bloody fair. A two-year-old scandal, and they still hounded her about it. She swallowed against the shriek rising in her throat. No one had believed her when she’d tried to set the story straight. Rather hard to deny it when Sloan wrote a song that pinned the scarlet “A” squarely on her chest. And Richard said nothing. Not a word to set the story straight. As if he didn’t care if the entire world thought him the sort of man who’d betray his best friend. Ha. Not that it mattered; if anything, the scandal had only enhanced his bad boy image.
Focus. Andy was still waiting for a response. “As thrilled as I am to speak about my personal life, I’m afraid any response I might make would be unprintable.” She softened her words with a smile. “In any case, it’s old news, hmm?” In other words, change the bloody subject.
“Well, it might be, only …” Andy’s dark brows lifted. “I’ve heard rumors that a tell-all exposé of the band is in the works. Word has it there’s an entire chapter about the rock-and-roll love triangle.”
Natasha gulped her tea. All that time and effort spent reinventing herself, only to have it all come unraveled thanks to some trashy book.
Not. Fucking. Happening.
As she changed the subject, she promised herself that tell-all would never see the light of day. Even if she had to confront Satan—AKA Richard Mac—himself.
Unchain My Heart
Nadia Blair
(Mephisto, #2)
Publication date: May 10th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
What’s a bad girl to do when the world won’t let her be good …
With her thirtieth birthday looming, actress Natasha Bernard wants to reinvent herself as something other than Hollywood’s favorite villainess. When she hears rumors that a tell-all exposé reveals details of her love life with her rockstar ex, she decides to put a stop to it. Even if that means confronting his bandmate, Richard Mac—the man who let the world brand her with a scarlet ‘A.’She’s his nemesis … his secret obsession … and the only woman who can incinerate his life …
Guitarist Richard Mac is a control freak, whether he’s working on a new album or using his custom leather toys in the bedroom. When “Hurricane” Natasha storms back into his life, he risks everything to claim her. But he can’t risk losing control and letting her guess his darkest secret … that she’s the one woman he’s always wanted and could never have …
Author Bio:
Nadia Blair writes steamy contemporary romance featuring outrageous bad boys and gutsy girls who give as good as they get. She has a thing for snappy dialog, humorous situations, and swoon-worthy happily-ever-afters.
When she’s not having conversations with fictional people, she enjoys summer thunderstorms, top-shelf whiskey, and rockin’ out to a classic guitar solo.
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