by Stacy-Deanne
“What do you think?” Dash snapped at Corey. “What was all that stuff about Sierra?”
“It’s my job to dish.” Corey held his hip. “Something going on between you and Sierra?”
Dash exhaled, grimacing.
“Hugh, you okay?” Corey touched his shoulder as if he needed an excuse.
“I’d appreciate no more surprises, huh?” He fixed his collar. “What was that Lou crap?”
“Nothing,” Gabrielle said.
“What do you mean nothing?” Hugh snapped. “Since when does a man grab a woman, kiss her and it’s nothing? You got a habit of thinking kisses aren’t big deals.”
“I need some water.” Dash left the stage, and Corey mingled with the audience.
“Hugh, you’re being an asshole,” Gabrielle said. “He was a fan.”
“He was kissing you. What world do you live in that it’s okay for a man to kiss someone else’s chick?”
“The kiss didn’t mean a thing.”
“You didn’t act like it meant nothing.” He sat, huffing. “Looked like you were about to faint.”
“You’re gonna lecture me? At least my fans don’t throw underwear at me.”
“It’s my fault some woman threw her panties? I didn’t encourage that. You encouraged that kiss.”
She gripped the armrests of the chair. “How?”
He breathed in her face, eyes moving. “For being so hot.”
“Oh, please. How come when you interact with fans it’s okay but not when I do?”
Dash rejoined them.
“Because as a woman, it doesn’t look right for you to be flirting with strangers.”
“I wasn’t flirting.”
“My woman is supposed to act a certain way.” He slammed his fist in his palm. “Show respect, Gabrielle.”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Dash gawked at them.
“You keep acting like a sexist moron, and I might not be your woman for long.”
Hugh scoffed. “You’ll always be mine.”
“Who says?”
Hugh stuck his face in hers. “Me.”
“Lord, let this end soon.” Dash sighed, shaking his head.
Corey hurried back onstage, and the director signaled for him to start.
“Welcome back my darlings,” Corey said. “If you just tuned in you missed a fiery segment between Hugh Macintosh and an audience member. Hugh lost his cool. Let’s replay it for the people at home. Run the tape.”
“Ah, hell.” Hugh sighed.
Corey sat in his chair after the replay. “I guess that’s true what they say. You never know what to expect in Hollywood. Which brings me to my next question. What’s the deal between you and Sierra Delfino, Dash?”
“Ooh,” the audience sounded.
“There’s no deal.” He clasped his hands, wiggling his leg.
“Didn’t look that to us, did it, audience?”
“No,” they bellowed.
“What’s going on between you and Sierra, Dash?” Corey glared at him with the look of determination in his eyes. “I won’t let this go.”
“Let it go, Corey.” Dash raised an eyebrow. “Or you’ll be eating that microphone.”
The audience got loud.
“Threatening violence?” Corey laughed. “Oh, there’s definitely some T concerning you and Sierra. Spill the tea, Dash.”
“Spill the tea,” the audience yelled. “Spill the tea! Spill the tea!”
“All you do is spread gossip, Corey,” Dash said. “You can’t get ratings any other way?”
“Deflection, Dash. Answer the question.” Corey walked to him, but kept his distance. “I don’t see what the big deal is. Though I wouldn’t blame you if you were ashamed to tell us you had something going with Sierra.”
Dash jumped out his chair. “You egotistical, fat ass.”
The audience got on their feet, whooping.
“You wanna know the deal between Sierra and I?” Dash stomped to the edge of the stage, looking into the camera. “The deal is I love Sierra Delfino. I’ve always loved her.”
Everyone gasped.
“What?” Hugh asked.
“Yeah.” Dash turned to him. “Sierra and I had a thing, and we never got over each other. Sorry, I didn’t tell you, Hugh.” He faced the audience. “So, that’s the truth right there. I love Sierra Delfino, and I don’t give a damn what any of you think about her.” He kicked his chair over and stomped off the set.
“Dash?” Hugh yelled. “Where the hell are you going?”
“My.” Corey gripped his chest, mouth open.
“Jesus, Hugh.” Gabrielle groaned. “You never should’ve booked us on this mess. Corey’s always starting stuff.”
“I can hear you, Gabrielle,” Corey said.
“Good. Because I said it so you could hear me.”
The audience yelped.
Warner leapt from the last row of the audience and raced through the aisle. “You’re a two-faced maggot, Hugh.”
The audience exploded once again.
“Warner?” Gabrielle shrieked.
He ran onstage and punched Hugh.
“Whoa.” Corey moved back.
“Fight,” the audience chanted. “Fight!”
“You son of a bitch.” Hugh punched Warner, knocking him to the floor.
“Stop it both of you.” Gabrielle got out her chair. “Hugh? Corey, do something.”
Warner and Hugh rolled around, exchanging punches.
The audience went wild as if they were at a live WWE match.
“Security,” Corey beckoned. “Security!”
An audience member threw a chair onstage.
“Hey!” Corey shielded Gabrielle. “What the hell?”
The audience broke into a huge brawl, storming the stage.
“Oh my god.” Gabrielle ran backstage as security zipped past.
Corey followed, sweating. “You okay?”
“No.”
The backstage crew huddled around Gabrielle.
She ripped the mic off her collar. “Is Hugh and Warner still fighting?”
Corey peeked out the curtain. “Yeah.”
“This is horrible.”
“I’m sorry, Gabrielle.”
“Yeah, right. This will just be fabulous for your ratings.”
“I didn’t plan this.”
Five minutes later, Hugh came backstage with a bleeding lip, red jaw and torn shirt.
“Hugh?” Gabrielle ran to him. “Are you okay?”
“What the hell was that, Corey?”
“What?” Corey looked left and right. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“Don’t lie to me.” Hugh grabbed him. “Did you set this shit up?”
“No.” He waved his chubby hands. “I don’t even know who that guy is.”
Hugh let him go and turned to Gabrielle. “Did you know Warner was in town?”
“Hell no. I can’t believe he’d do this.”
Hugh panted. “He’s lost his mind.”
Gabrielle touched his jaw, which tightened underneath her hand. “Are you all right?”
“Better than ever.” He smiled through the swelling. “I’d take a million beatings for you.”
She hugged him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“Come sit down.” Gabrielle helped Hugh to her couch an hour later. “I’ll get ice for your face.”
He sat, rubbing his enlarged jaw. “I can’t believe Warner acted that way.”
Gabrielle went to the kitchen, put ice cubes in plastic wrap, and came back into the living room. “You sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
“Please.” Hugh laid the compress on his jaw, twitching. “Those weak-ass punches he was throwing?”
Gabrielle planted light kisses over his jaw. “I’m sorry he hit you.”
“You’re not mad at me for acting like a barbarian?”
“I’m disappointed in Warner. Why is he being like this?”
“H
e’s in love with you.” Hugh’s swollen face spread into a smile. “It can drive a man crazy, trust me.”
“There’s never a reason to act like Warner did. What can I do to make you feel better?”
His eyes twinkled as he pulled her into his lap. “You know the answer to that question.”
“Really?” She put her arms around his shoulders, and he swept her into a breathless kiss. “It’s good to see you haven’t lost your touch.”
He gripped her breast through her blouse. “Never will with you.”
“Miss Montane?” Mateo spoke through the speaker. “You have a visitor.”
Hugh pulled his lips from hers. “Whoever it is get rid of them.”
“Already ahead of you.” She ran to the speaker and pushed the button. “I’m not accepting any visitors, Mateo.”
“Gabrielle?” Warner shouted. “I need to speak to you. Please.”
Hugh scoffed.
“I have nothing to say to you,” she addressed Warner. “What you did was inexcusable.”
“You owe me a chance to explain myself.”
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“Please, Gabrielle.” Pain hijacked Warner’s voice. “Give me a few minutes. It’s important.”
She sighed, glancing at Hugh. “Let him up, Mateo.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Hugh looked at his red knuckles, mumbling.
She let go of the button. “Don’t be mad.”
Hugh adjusted the ice on his jaw. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I wanna hear his explanation.”
“Why?” He smacked his lips, rolling his eyes. “If he looks at me wrong, I’m knocking his ass through the wall.”
“Just promise me you two won’t tear my apartment up.”
“I make no such promise.”
Someone knocked on the door, and Gabrielle checked the peephole. “It’s him. Please cool it, Hugh.”
“I’m not the one who attacked someone on live television.”
She shot Hugh a warning glance before answering the door. “Warner.”
“Hey.” His yellow curls floated around his head as if they were running away from the purple bruises on his face. “May I come in?”
She stepped aside.
He entered, exchanging angry glances with Hugh.
“Don’t start guys.” Gabrielle closed the door. “You fight and I’m kicking you both out of here.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Hugh asked.
“I sure as hell didn’t come to speak to you.” Warner’s inflamed bottom lip interfered with his pronunciation.
“If you had any sense you’d apologize,” Hugh said.
“I’d suck your dick before I apologize to you.” Warner turned to Gabrielle. “Can we talk alone?”
“No,” Hugh blurted out. “I’m not leaving you alone with her with the way you acted today.”
“I’d never hurt Gabrielle.” Warner exhaled, flinching.
“You already have,” she said.
He moaned, touching his swollen chin. “Give me a few minutes. Isn’t that why you let me up here?”
“You attacked Hugh. How can you make up for that?”
“I did nothing he didn’t deserve.”
Hugh rose from the couch and Gabrielle held her palm out to him in warning. “You embarrassed all of us on national television,” she scolded Warner. “How could you behave that way?”
“How could Hugh steal the woman I love?”
“I didn’t steal anyone.” He marched toward Warner and Gabrielle jumped between them. “Gabrielle had a choice and chose me.”
“She had no choice with the way you were hounding her.”
“If this is why you came you can leave, Warner.” She pointed to the door. “I thought you came to apologize.”
“He shouldn’t be here, Gabrielle.”
“Who are you to say that, Warner? Hugh’s my boyfriend now and you gotta accept that.”
Hugh rocked his head, smiling.
“I’ve been there for you all these years,” Warner said. “Me, Gabrielle.”
“Your friendship is very important—”
“I’m not talking about friendship!” He pulled at his hair. “You knew all these years I wanted you.”
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t give me that innocent crap.” Warner jutted his chin, squinting. “You play men like fiddles. You did it to me and Hugh.”
“Watch your mouth.” Hugh got in his face.
“Why? You know it’s true. Look around.” Warner widened his arms. “Everything she’s gotten was because of a man.”
“That’s not true,” she grumbled.
“Isn’t it? If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be famous. I did your first portfolio that put you on the map.”
“What the hell does this have to do with how you acted today?”
“It has everything to do with it.” Warner lunged at Gabrielle, and Hugh shoved him. “You’ve been running this game on men your whole life.”
She looked away, butterflies tearing through her tummy.
“Sure is funny you want Hugh now you’re that starring in his big movie. Is that a coincidence? That these opportunities fall into your lap at the right time?”
“That’s enough.” Hugh grabbed Warner’s shirt. “You’re not gonna talk to her like that while I’m here.”
“Don’t turn things around on me to justify your own actions,” Gabrielle told Warner.
“What about your actions?” Warner pointed to Hugh. “What about his actions? What about the betrayal I feel?” His eerie gaze landed on Hugh. “And, you don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself.”
Hugh pulled her next to him. “This is the picture of true love, Warner.”
“True love?” Warner cackled. “You’ll be bored in a month because all you wanted was a challenge.”
“I wanted Gabrielle because she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.” Hugh pressed his hand in the curve of her back as if to tell her to ignore Warner’s claims. “I’ve wanted her for years, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“If it weren’t for me, you’d never have met her.”
Hugh grinned. “Guess I should thank you for getting us together.”
Warner grabbed him, raising his fist.
“Get out.” Gabrielle pushed Warner. “I don’t wanna see you again. Our friendship couldn’t have been real if this is how you’ve felt about me all this time.”
He uncurled his fingers from Hugh’s shirt. “You think Hugh’s more genuine than me?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I thought you were smarter than this, Gabrielle.” Warner stabbed his finger toward Hugh. “This is a man who’s gonna dump you the minute someone with bigger tits walks into the room. I’d give this farce of a relationship a month tops.”
Gabrielle lifted her chin, swallowing. “I’ve made my choice, and you can’t say anything to change that.”
Water pooled in Warner’s eyes. “All these years we’ve been friends and it ends like this?”
“That was your choice. Besides, if you have such a low opinion of me why would you wanna be my friend?”
“Get the hell out, Warner,” Hugh said. “Don’t make me say it again.”
Gabrielle sashayed past Warner and opened the front door. “Goodbye. I wish you the best.”
He strolled toward the door, smirking. “A month. It might not even be that long.”
“Warner?” Hugh stepped up, wide-legged. “It’s already been a month, Bro.” He closed the door in Warner’s face. “You okay?”
“I hope you don’t see me the way Warner does.”
“You don’t use men.” He rested his hands on her shoulders. “If Warner thinks that it’s his problem.”
“It’s going to be weird not having him in my life.”
“It’s a new chapter, Gabby.” He pinched her chin. “A new life waiting for the both of us. If Warner’s not inclu
ded that’s fine with me.”
“Do you regret how this has turned out?” She grabbed his waist. “How our relationship’s affected things?”
“I don’t give a shit what happens with anyone as long as you and I are together.” He hugged her. “I love you, Gabrielle. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life proving that to you.”
She smiled, laying her head on his chest. “I look forward to it.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“What the hell?” Sierra watched from her living room window as several news crew vans stopped at the front of her estate. Men and women leapt from their vehicles with cameras and recorders.
“Miss Sierra?” Yuricema ran across the hardwood floor. “What’s going on?”
Dash’s silver Aston Martin inched through the crowd.
Sierra called for her security guard. “Go out there and let Dash in,” she ordered him. “Make sure the press doesn’t get past the gate.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Sierra and Yuricema followed the guard to the front door, watching the chaotic scene.
“Sierra?” Dash ran across the yard. “Come out here!”
“You crazy?” She huddled behind the door. “Why did you bring these people here?”
He hopped onto the stoop and grabbed her.
She stumbled as he pulled her from the house. “What the hell’s going on?”
The press set up cameras and lights.
“You wanted me to prove my love.” Dash pointed at the paparazzi. “I’m doing that.”
“Dash, what in the world—”
“We’re on live television.” He kissed her cheek, beaming.
“What?” She gasped, touching her hair. “I look a mess.” She plastered on a smile for the cameras. “You’ve lost your mind?”
“No, but I almost lost you. I can’t do that, Sierra. You mean too much. I should’ve done this a long time ago. I love you.” He waved to the paparazzi. “That’s right! I love Sierra Delfino and I don’t care who knows it!” He dipped Sierra and kissed her. “She’s the only woman for me, and I’m never letting her go again.”
“Dash.” Sierra held onto him, woozy from the kiss.
“Forgive me for turning my back on our love. That’s the past.” He took a tiny, black box out of his pocket. “And, this is the future.”
“My god.” She covered her mouth as the press yelled and clicked pictures. “What is this?”
