“I need your phone.” I motion with my fingers for her to hand it to me. She looks at me and frowns as she goes to her cute Chanel purse and hands me her phone. I take a breath. “Shit. I need alcohol and give me a cigarette.”
She runs over to the nightstand and grabs the pack. “What is happening? I haven’t seen anything on the news.” She hands it to me.
“Axel,” is all I say.
“Yes?” She looks confused.
“What the hell, Julianna? The wedding is in two days. In Los Angeles. We’re in Manhattan.” I sit down in a gaudy, high-backed gold chair. “This is bad, so fucking bad. I… we have to go. Do you think your dad would let us use his private plane?” I lean back and light up as she stands there staring at me like I’m growing horns.
“I can’t go to LA.” Her face is pale.
“Um, as my best friend, you ha—”
“Sebastian is your best friend,” she states and leaves the room.
“Fantastic,” I groan, looking at her phone. Leaping up, I follow her to the only normal spot in this monstrosity of a kitchen. It’s state of the art, but it has stuff that would be better suited to some creepy French castle.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I scream because she’s dumping ice into a blender.
“Nothing.” She grabs the Jose Cuervo Gold.
“God, no, not that.” I take the bottle away from her and hand her Cazadores.
“Whatever,” she mumbles.
I’m wearing one of her cute little silk pajama shorts sets and leaning against the marble island. It’s freezing against my bare legs.
“Julianna, I can’t deal with this today. Do you understand that—”
She turns on the blender and my mouth drops open. She might be snapping, which is pathetic. She couldn’t stand Matthew. He was a balding gay guy she married because he was rich. Not wealthy, but rich, and he had a title. Oh, and her dad loved him. I begged her not to marry him, but did she listen? No.
So this crazy behavior is throwing me. During one of our drunken rants, she confessed about the cringeworthy sex they had, but I’m the one whose life is ruined. I’m the one who’s nursing a broken heart. Who can’t seem to move, breathe, eat, sleep without feeling his touch. I’m madly in love with a man who has completely destroyed me twice, or maybe I fucking left prematurely. It doesn’t matter now. I’m gone and he’s fucking other women, if the Internet can be believed. And let’s not forget that I’ve been so self-absorbed, I completely forgot about my brother’s wedding.
I suck.
I take a deep breath and wait for her to finish. As soon as her finger is off that blender’s button, she says, “No.”
“What has happened? Because I—” Droplets from the wet, freezing margarita hit my hand while she dumps it into two glasses.
“Julianna, are you okay?” I walk over to the sink to rinse my hands.
“I can’t go.” She brings the margarita glass to her lips and starts downing it.
“You have to, I need you. I can’t go by myself. Everyone in that wedding party is happily married. I’m calling in the best friend card,” I announce and proceed to chug my margarita, only to get brain freeze. I’m blowing out air to stop the pain when her phone rings on the island where I left it.
“That’s stupid. What does that mean? Best friend card?” She rolls her eyes and grabs her phone.
“It’s Sebastian. What do you want to do?” I look at her and mime no by shaking my head.
“Hey, Sebastian,” she answers, looking straight at me. “Yep, here she is.” She hands me the phone.
I glare at her. “You’re going with me,” I mumble, grabbing the phone. “Sebastian.” I clear my throat. My voice is raspy from too much crying, along with all the booze and cigarettes.
“Gia? What the hell? I’ve been calling.”
“I destroyed my phone,” I snap, still on the fence about my feelings toward Sebastian. I’m starting to worry I overreacted.
He sighs. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened. I probably could have handled it better, but seeing you walk out of that bathroom with him… and hearing about the groupie getting pregnant.”
I take a breath. “I don’t understand. Do you know how many times I look the other way when it comes to your… shall we say, bad behavior?”
“You bitch at me all the time,” he says. “Have you forgotten Jenny?”
“She was insane. Whatever, it’s done.” I rub my forehead with the icy glass.
“You need to get your ass to LA. Axel has been calling.”
My eyes snap open. “What? Why would you talk to him? Where are you? You need to come back and go with me.” I sound crazy, but at this point I don’t care.
“Christ.” He sighs again and I grit my teeth because I can just see him shaking his head. “You’re a fucking mess, aren’t you?”
“I can’t deal with you right now, Sebastian. I can’t turn off my heart like that. I love him, always have. So excuse me if I’m not perfect at this moment.”
“Then you shouldn’t have left. I’m not having you put all this on me,” he says tightly.
“I’m not putting anything on you. That’s your own conscience talking,” I retort.
“We’re in Rome. Take Julianna. I’m sure you’ve dragged her down to your level anyway. Call Axel and tell him you can’t get your shit together to go to your only brother’s wedding. That ought to go over well.”
“Sebastian, I swear to God—”
“I have to go. We’re filming.” The line goes dead. I look at Julianna.
“Well, that went well.” She reaches for the blender to top off my glass.
“You have to go with me. I can’t do this alone.” And I’m actually serious. I don’t think I can handle flying for six hours alone.
She shakes her head. When her phone rings and it’s an 818 number, I grab her hand. “Don’t answer.” I squeeze her wrist.
“Ow, stop it.” She takes the phone as I back away, knowing who it is.
“Hello.” Her face pales and I want to scream, Who did you think it was going to be?
“Oh my God, Axel.” She looks at me, her eyes the size of giant blue saucers. “Hi, congratulations… Is Gia here? Um…” She reaches for me, but I step away, shaking my head.
“You have to go with me,” I whisper.
“Gia. Take the phone.” She hands it to me as we both jump at Axel’s voice coming through the phone.
“Give it to me.” I grab it.
“Hey, I’m on my way—”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I have to have Sebastian track you down?” I attempt to talk, but what can I say? So I let him go off. “Do you have any idea what is going on over here? My wedding. That’s what. Now I have no fucking idea what you’re doing in New York instead of being here with Antoinette and the girls like you promised. But I do know you’re getting on the plane today.”
“I had to stop and get Julianna. She’s coming.” I ignore her choking on the margarita.
“Great, I’ll let Rip know to get both of you. Call me with your flight, and Gia?”
“What?” I cringe.
“I’m only saying this once. Do not disappoint me.”
“I won’t. We won’t. I can’t wa— Hello?” I look at her screen. It’s gone black. When I peer up at Julianna, her eyes are watering, and she continues to cough.
“How could you?” She wheezes.
“Stop it. It will be good for you to get some fresh air, get out of New York and all the grayness—”
She grabs her phone and holds it up. “Call him back and tell him I’m not going.”
“You call him.” I motion to the phone. “He’s crazy right now. He told me to tell you not to disappoint him.” So, I’m twisting the truth. It’s actually true—Julianna does need to get out of this apartment.
“I… Gia.” She takes a breath. “I can’t go to a Disciples wedding.” Her eyes are filled with tears.
“Stop. I know what
you’re thinking, but this is going to be a super nice wedding. Like Antoinette has spent a fortune on it.”
“That’s not why I can’t go,” she says quickly, picking up her margarita. “I’m insulted you would think that’s why I can’t go.”
My head is pounding, so I either need to sober up and take Advil, or I need to keep drinking, and since I need to fly, I guess I’ll keep drinking.
“Then why? Because I shouldn’t have to beg you. This is fucking pathetic. Do I have to go tit for tat with you? Remember when I rescued you—”
“It’s Ryder, okay? I can’t go because of Ryder.” She blows out air as if that’s been hanging over her for years.
“What?” Trying hard not to freak, I blink at her. Holy fuck… Ryder? And how is she only saying something now?
“It’s not that big of a deal, but I don’t want to see him.” She rubs her face, and all her perfect makeup is not that perfect anymore. Dropping her hands, she looks at me.
I set down my glass and walk to her. “Julianna, I… what is going on? And how is it that this is the first that I’m hearing about this?”
She holds up her hand as if to stop me from getting too close as tears fall from her eyes. I’m floored. In all the time we’ve been friends, I’ve never seen her cry. I’ve cried, but not Julianna.
“Gia… I just… couldn’t tell you. It was a long time ago and… he didn’t…” It’s like the flood gates have been opened and she’s full-on hysterical. It’s hard to understand her.
“Come here.” I hug her. Julianna, the perfect one, the one who’s always sensible, is a fucking mess. And I had no idea.
I grab the blender, forgetting the glasses as I guide us to the kitchen nook area and sit her down, placing the blender in front of her. She looks up and starts to laugh, then cry again, as I take a drink from the side of the glass blender.
“Okay.” I pull out the other antique chair. It’s uncomfortable, but what in this place is comfortable?
“Did something happen when you came to the compound to pick me up?” My voice is gentle, almost coaxing as I put this all together. She nods.
“And you have kept this inside for eight years?”
She nods again.
I take another sip from the blender, starting to feel the wonderful tequila take away my pain. Unfortunately, it also takes away my filter.
“I just… I have to be honest. This is rather shocking. I mean, I know I was a mess, but how… what is wrong with you?” I stand and start to pace.
“Not everyone is you, Gia. I can’t vomit out all my shit all the time,” she yells, then looks horrified. “I’m so sorry.” She wipes her runny nose. Her mascara drips down her cheeks.
As I stare at her, tears form in my eyes, and I drop back into the seat. “You’re right. It’s not easy being my friend, but come on, I love you. Why wouldn’t you say anything?”
She sniffs loudly, tosses her blond hair off her shoulder, and reaches for my hand.
“It happened when I came and got you. I thought he was everything, and you were in such pain I couldn’t tell you. Then he vanished. It was like he dropped off the earth and I… was so humiliated. And my dad…” She sighs, trying to get a good breath. “I couldn’t tell him about Ryder. I mean, could you imagine?” She shakes her head. “Then I didn’t hear from him. It went from one day, to a week, then a year, and now here we are.”
I bite my top lip while still piecing this together. “So. Ryder was your first?”
She nods.
“And you haven’t seen him in eight years?”
“Exactly. So you understand why I can’t go.” She takes the blender that I was preparing to drink from and starts to swallow the contents in big gulps. Thankfully the ice is melted, so hopefully it’s watered down. Standing, I take it away.
“Well, that definitely explains a lot of things.”
We sit in silence as we both let everything sink in. At last, Julianna says, “I feel so much better letting that out.”
I nod. “I bet. So what time should I book our flights? I need to do it before I’m too drunk.” I reach for her phone.
“What?” She jumps up.
“You’re coming. Fuck them. I had to deal with Rhys. You can deal with Ryder. Call it closure. Trust me, this is meant to be… for you.” I start searching for flights. “We’re going first class, unless we can use your dad’s plane?” She only stares at me.
“I’ll take that as a no.” I start booking us on American when she stands and straightens her shoulders.
“You know what? You’re right,” she says.
I glance up at her, my brain somewhat sluggish, but I’m not going without her. Sure, Ryder has some weird thing going on with Cindy, but if Julianna is his soulmate it needs to be explored. Also, one of us needs to be happy.
“I know I am.”
“Fuck him. I need to go to at least tell him what I think.”
I glance up. “Well, maybe don’t tell him off right before the wedding. That’s why we should get there today because tomorrow is the wedding. There.” I smile at her, trying not to look at her puffy, splotchy face. Not that I look any better, but I still had to remind her to hold off until afterward.
“We’re booked for six p.m. We should be able to get our shit together in four hours, right?”
“We need showers, and I’ll get Dean over here to do hair and makeup. I don’t care that he might have fucked Matthew. He’s the best.” I nod supportively. Either she’s in shock or completely smashed.
I stand and make my way to my horrible bedroom to shower. “I need to raid your wardrobe. Actually, just pack for both of us.”
“Already on it.” She waves me off, causing me to frown. God, I hope she’s not going to make a scene. She’s acting weird.
Screw it. My brother is far from perfect and has caused numerous scenes. And fuck Ryder. How dare he blow off my best friend. She deserves answers.
Screw all of them.
GIA
Present – Twenty-five years old
Los Angeles, California
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles. If you have checked luggage, please go to carousel three, and thank you for flying American Airlines.” I blink my eyes open and look around. Thank God we made it.
My mouth is dry. I lick my lips and clear my throat; I’ve got to quit smoking. I passed out about twenty minutes ago—enough time to screw up my neck, but not enough time to sleep off my hangover. I blink again and look over at Julianna. If I look as bad as she does, we might be in trouble.
“Hey, we landed. They’re getting ready to open the doors.” Her eyes pop open and she groans as if it’s only now dawned on her where we are and what we’re doing. We got fucked up with Dean while he did our hair. Of course, we missed our flight and had no choice but to take the redeye. Now we’re landing at 9:00 a.m. on the day of Axel and Antoinette’s wedding.
I grab my bag, praying I kept that bottle of water I bought at the duty-free store. I need Advil and a large black coffee.
“Oh shit.” Julianna stares at the woman across from us in first class who’s reading a magazine. And there he is on the cover in all his glory.
I want to throw up.
People magazine’s sexiest man. I should try to be happy for him, because if there’s one thing he is, it’s sexy. But I’m not happy at all. Everything is crashing down on me. I need to get through this wedding and hold it together until I can lock myself in my bungalow. Julianna will have to stay with me.
My heart pounds as I stare at the magazine. His signature smirk haunts me. I should have taken the picture—mine are so much sexier. Except I gave my camera to Hunter, and I need to get it back.
Standing up, I sling my bag over my shoulder. “Let’s get this over with.”
She nods. I reach up to open the overhead bin to pull down our carry-on but a man in front of us takes pity on me.
“Here, let me.” His voice is deep, reminding me of Rhys, and I want to burst in
to tears.
“Thank you,” I mutter as I take in a breath. I’m about to smile, but freeze when I stare into green eyes and a fucking gorgeous face.
Holy shit, he’s one of the Saddington twins. It has to be Jax; his hair is longer. Why the hell is he flying commercial? The Saddingtons are billionaires. I’ve been trying to get a photo shoot with one of them for years. David, who’s like a second brother to me, is best friends with Reed Saddington. I tried to get him to call Reed, but he kept coming up with excuses, so I just dropped it. That and Axel said over his dead body, which is absurd. I photograph many big names.
I need to say something, grab my opportunity. I mean, what are the chances?
“Excuse me.” He looks down at me, his muscled arm on display as he brings out my carry-on.
“I’m Gia Fontaine. I’m actually good friends with David McCormick. He and Reed—your brother—are good friends.”
He grins. “I know David.”
“Yes.” I smile back. “Anyway, I’m a freelance photographer and I would love to photograph you sometime. I… shit, let me get my card.” I drop my bag back on the seat and fumble around for my wallet to give him my card, almost hitting my head on his arm as I stand back up.
“Oh God. Sorry.” My face heats up as he cocks his head, his eyes caressing my face.
“Thank you. Let me check my schedule and I’ll be in touch.” He takes my card, looks at it, and flashes me a smile that should make me wet.
“You two need a lift?”
“No,” we both say at the same time.
He raises a dark brow and laughs. Jesus, this man is beyond beautiful. He’s also looking interested. I should say yes and get in his car. It’s Jax fucking Saddington. If anyone can make me forget about Rhys, it would be him. Unfortunately, I feel zero. Nada.
“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Gia Fontaine.” He hands me my carry-on and starts to walk out. The flight attendants look like they want to faint, and one of them is a man. He smiles as Jax passes.
“Just walk,” Julianna says under her breath because I’m not moving. I’m just sort of shell-shocked that in this moment, I finally admit to myself that I’m full-on fucked.
Rise: A Second Chance Rockstar Romance (Rock God Book 1) Page 25
