I tipped my head back to look at him.
He shot me a sheepish look and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Would you be mad if I told you I’d asked Jasper to make a copy of your key one night when you stayed over?”
“Forced Jasper to make a copy you mean,” Jasper called from the living room.
I jumped, startled by his voice, I hadn’t realized he was here too.
“Jasper?” Hannah called timidly from inside the still locked bathroom.
“Yeah, barbie?” Jasper called back as he strolled into the hallway, casual as anything, as though it wasn’t well after midnight on the most exhausting day I could remember having in a long, long time.
I heard the lock on the bathroom door unlatch before it opened slowly and Hannah appeared.
“I’m not giving you two grand,” she told me as she breezed past, heading towards Jasper.
I giggled and shook my head.
“I think I need a hug too,” Han teased as though she wasn’t bothered in the least. She wasn’t fooling me though. She’d been more rattled than I had.
“Bring it in, you little fruit cake,” he told her as he opened his arms for her to cuddle in to him.
I couldn’t help but notice how comfortable they were together, and I hadn’t missed the fact that Hannah had only deemed the situation safe once she’d heard Jasper’s voice… I made a mental note to talk to Hannah again about the ‘one time only’ situation these two idiots had agreed to – it was obvious they still both meant something to one another.
Jasper rested his cheek on the top of Hannah’s head and took a deep breath almost as though he was as relieved to have her in his arms as I was to be in Parker’s.
I looked away.
That was another mystery to be solved another day.
“God, I missed you,” Parker whispered as he held me tight, rocking me gently side to side, kind of like you would do to soothe a baby.
“I missed you more,” I whispered back.
“I’m so, so sorry this happened, legs… the thought of you being hurt by something like this cuts me so damn deep.” He looked down into my eyes as he spoke, and I could tell just how distraught he was by the situation.
I didn’t blame him for this – not at all. All he’d done was be his famous self… the madness just followed him.
“I’m just so tired,” I told him as tears pooled in the corners of my eyes for no real reason at all. I tried my best to hold them back. “Could we talk about this after a few hours sleep?”
Parker nodded at me quickly. “Of course, baby, whatever you need.”
I snuggled into his chest. “I just need you.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in the familiar scent of the man I loved.
Nothing has ever smelt this good…
I could feel the exhaustion taking over as my eyelids got heavier. I took another deep breath.
Not even bacon smells this good…
I was vaguely aware of Parker lifting me off the floor and into his arms – much the same as he had on that first night in the club. I heard the conversation Parker and Jasper had about them both spending the night, but it was like I was listening to it from the other side of a hotel wall… I couldn’t make out the exact words.
Parker carried me into my room and somehow managed to hold me up with one arm as he stripped back the covers from my bed and placed me gently down onto the sheets.
“Charlotte?” he murmured quietly as he brushed my mane of hair to the side.
“Mmm hmm?” I answered sleepily.
“Thank you for believing in me,” he said, his voice betraying his emotions.
My eyes flickered open so I could look at his gorgeous face. “Thank you for being someone I can believe in,” I replied simply.
He placed a soft kiss to my lips before stripping off and crawling in next to me and holding me tight like he couldn’t get close enough.
I’d never felt so safe or loved in my entire life.
The phone rang aloud in the room. Charlotte had asked me to put it on speaker phone and I’d agreed, on the condition that she stayed quiet. I didn’t want her losing her shit and giving Katie the satisfaction of knowing that this little stunt had hurt her. And I knew it had hurt her – no matter how strong or level headed she had been, seeing me with another woman, even if it were in the past, had hurt her.
“Hello?” a frazzled-sounding voice answered.
“Hello.” I frowned. “Is this Katie?”
“Speaking,” she replied.
“It’s—”
“Don’t you dare throw that in the house!” she yelled, obviously holding her hand over the mic and speaking to someone on her end of the phone.
I shot Charlotte a ‘what the fuck’ look and she shrugged in return.
There was a series of bangs and then she spoke again.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that, who is this?”
“It’s Parker,” I told her quickly.
“Parker?” she asked, confusion colouring her voice. “As in Parker Sloan?”
“Yes, Katie, it’s Parker Sloan.”
“Parker? Really? Um… hey?” she replied. She seemed distracted, like she had something important going on in the background.
I had no idea what the hell was going on here, but this conversation wasn’t going as I’d expected it to. I’d been expecting a smug, ego-filled reply. But that wasn’t what was happening.
“We need to talk,” I told her sharply.
“Can you give me two seconds?” she asked, and I heard her put the phone down before I could give her an answer.
Unbelievable…
There was some yelling, some crying and the sound of footsteps before the line went quiet.
“Are you still there?” she asked.
“I’m here.”
“So… hi…” She sounded confused. “What can I do for you, Parker? I haven’t heard from you in a really long time. Is something wrong?”
I felt my anger rising, I wasn’t in the mood for playing games. Charlotte must have sensed I was running out of patience, because she reached out and took my hand in hers, stroking the side gently with her small thumb.
I took a deep breath, her touch calming me. “I think you can figure out what we need to talk about, Katie. I don’t have time for this shit.”
I heard her suck in a breath. “What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded.
Even Charlotte couldn’t placate me now. “Cut the shit, Katie. You and I both know that you released that photo to fuck with me and Charlotte.”
“What?” she screeched. “I don’t have god damn clue what you’re talking about… Parker, I don’t even know who the hell Charlotte is, let alone why I’d want to ‘fuck with’ you both.”
“It’s all over Facebook, you can’t pretend—”
“I don’t have a Facebook account,” she interrupted me, her voice rising with agitation now too. “I don’t even have internet in the house.”
What?
Now I was confused.
“I don’t understand,” I stated dumbly.
“No, Parker, I don’t understand. You call me, totally out of the blue, when I’m busy with my husband and my children, and then you start throwing accusations around that are totally outrageous.”
I felt like a scolded child.
“You have children?” I asked, unsure of why I was surprised.
“Yes, I have a nearly two-year-old and an eight-week-old with my husband, Jack,” she replied, sounding tired.
Shit, shit, shit.
I knew from the tone in her voice that she was telling the truth. She wasn’t responsible for this.
“I think I should explain,” I offered.
“I think that would be a good idea, Parker.”
“Well… that was… interesting?” Charlotte said it like a question.
I was more confused now than I was when I’d gotten on the phone in the first place. I’d let myself believe that it was Katie being a
shit-stirring bitch, even though I hadn’t heard from her in years. Now that it was clear she’d played no part in it, I didn’t know what to think.
Katie was not only completely in the dark about the whole situation, but now she was fuming mad too. She had as much, actually more to lose than I did. Charlotte and I had even spoken briefly to her husband, Jack, who happened to be a lawyer, about what could be done about this image being posted without our permission. I had my own lawyer, or course, but the guy was a douche and I didn’t like to ring him unless I had no other option.
I’d gotten off the phone after promising to do what I could to find out who was responsible. I didn’t like Katie much after what she’d done to me, but it was obvious she’d turned her life around and was doing her best to be a good wife and mother.
So, what now?
I couldn’t even figure out where that photo had come from, or how someone had gotten their hands on it. It had been on social media once, but that was years ago, and I’d pulled it down after we’d broken up.
That had to mean that someone had kept that image, all this time.
And for what purpose? Just to fuck with me?
I’d given J the job of calling every social media site that had posted it, and threatening to sue if it wasn’t pulled. There was no way it was ever going to disappear now, but at least we could try and minimise the exposure.
Jasper was one hundred percent convinced that Nelly was responsible for this, but I had my doubts. She had nothing to achieve by being a bitch, she had already been fired and there was no way in hell I would ever offer her a job working for me again. There was nothing for her to gain by doing this – and if I knew one thing about Nelly, it was that she was only out for what she could get for herself.
The last thing she’d want was me coming after her with a lawsuit.
None of this made much sense… but I was famous – I got it. Weird shit happened to famous people. But it wasn’t as though I had some scorned ex-lover, or some feud with some other musician. There was no genuine reason for somebody to want to mess with me and Charlotte. She had her own demons from the past, but from what I understood, Stephen was married, on the other side of the world, and hadn’t bothered her for years.
We were right back to square one, and I was well out of my depth playing detective.
We spent the better part of the day trying to figure out what the hell had happened, and the longer we took, the more the view, like and share count grew on both Charlotte’s post, and also on Shelley’s.
This thing was blowing up big time.
Being without a publicist currently was terrible timing, I’d probably never required damage control quite as much as I did right now. Jasper was doing his best, he’d spoken to what seemed like hundreds of people, and I’d heard him making some pretty creative threats.
I think he’s enjoying himself a little too much.
The one person we really wanted to speak to – that silly bitch, Shelley – wasn’t available to talk, or so her assistant told us. She was the only person that was going to be able to offer any real insight into where the photo had come from… and she wasn’t talking. Chances are, she would never reveal her sources anyway.
I did know one thing, if she didn’t call back soon, I was going to get my asshole lawyer on the phone and have him sue her for defamation.
She might have been a big deal in the world of reporting, but she would not want to go head to head with me over this thing – I had more money than sense, and I wasn’t afraid to use it.
I woke up covered in sweat, mid-scream – something that had never happened with Parker asleep in the bed next to me.
Images of Stephen flooded my mind and I felt a tear slide down my face and fall onto the pillow.
“Legs?” Parker asked drowsily, reaching around for me.
I let out a deep breath and realised I was shaking from the intensity of the dream.
“Baby?” he asked again, his voice slightly panicked now.
“I’m okay,” I choked out.
Parker sat up straight at the sound of my voice. “Oh, Charlotte, what’s wrong?”
He reached around until he found me and pulled me in tight against his chest.
I let out another shaky breath, feeling better for being in his arms already.
“It was just a bad dream,” I whispered.
He stroked my back slowly. “Tell me about it.”
I shook my head. “I don’t remember.”
“Don’t lie to me, legs,” he replied quickly, his voice turning hard. “It was about that bastard, wasn’t it?”
I nodded into his chest, embarrassed by the fact that Stephen still had a hold over me.
“About the way he treated you?” he pushed.
I nodded again.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his tone gentler now.
I shook my head.
No.
Stephen’s words were still weighing me down – doing their best to make me feel worthless.
I don’t know why he was making a reappearance now of all times. I was happy… I had Parker, I had a good job, I had so much more than I did when I walked away from him, yet the memories of him had chosen now to come back with full force.
It was almost as though my subconscious was trying to get a message to me. What that message might have been, I had no idea.
“I’ve got you,” Parker soothed as he held me tight, nestling us back down under the covers. “I’ll have you every night if you let me.” He tucked his body around mine, my back to his front, and hummed into my ear. I recognised the song as ‘Only You’ by Aaron Krause. He began to softly sing, and I felt my body relaxing into his, his voice a soothing rhythm that eventually lulled me to sleep.
“I’m going to have to call Ty,” I groaned.
We were having no luck finding out what this photo was all about, and honestly, I didn’t really care anymore, but Parker was pissed, and he wanted to find out whose life he needed to ruin.
I’d really been hoping it wouldn’t have come to this. I really, really didn’t want to involve my brother in my drama… in fact; I’d been hoping he was off on vacation in some faraway land where there was no Wi-Fi...
I already knew that I’d be shit-out-of-luck with that idea.
Ty would never go anywhere without Wi-Fi.
“Your brother?” Parker asked with a frown. “What’s he gonna do about it?”
I sighed, and Hannah smacked me lightly on the arm. “I didn’t even think of that. We should have just called him in the first place.” Her eyes danced with excitement.
“I was specifically trying not to involve him,” I groaned again.
Hannah snorted. “That’s cute. He’s probably already figured it out and is just waiting for your call.” She rolled her eyes.
She’s probably right.
“Is anyone going to explain what the hell you’re both talking about?” Parker interrupted us.
Hannah bit into an apple. “Her brother, Ty, is one of those hacker geeks,” she explained between chomps.
“He’s a qualified computer programmer,” I corrected her.
Who am I kidding… he’s a hacker…
She snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, that might be the ‘official term’.” She waved her hand. “But he’s totally a hacker,” she insisted to Parker, who was watching us with a look of amusement on his face. “And he’s good too.”
I grimaced. Hannah had been known to flirt with the oldest of my brothers from time to time. She batted her eyelids and he gave her whatever she wanted. One time, she’d managed to have him hack into a well-known online store and lower the price of a designer purse she wanted, to cost price. She’d paid a fraction of the retail price and had it shipped out to her. I couldn’t tell you exactly what Ty had done on that keyboard – but the store was absolutely none the wiser.
He’d even offered to just get it for her for free, but she’d insisted she wasn’t a thief, she just didn’t see the sense in payi
ng a four-thousand-dollar mark-up.
I rolled my eyes at the memory.
“I could do with a new purse actually.” Hannah smiled, obviously thinking about the same thing I was. “Let me call him,” she offered as she reached for the phone.
I snatched the phone away from her. “No. No freakin’ way. You two are going to get yourselves arrested one of these days,” I hissed.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s an insult to your brother,” she accused. “He’s too good to get caught.”
I pointed a finger at her in warning. “For God’s sake, Han, just behave yourself for two minutes would you?”
“Come watch a movie with me, barbie,” Jasper called. “Let the adults deal with the boring shit.”
I’d forgotten Jasper was even still here. He could be as quiet as a mouse sometimes and these past two nights had been no exception. There was a neatly folded pile of blankets and a pillow on the couch each morning, from where he’d supposedly slept, but I was doubtful that he’d even used them. I made yet another mental note to find out from Hannah what was going on between them.
Hannah pouted, but went and sat next to Jasper on the couch – it was an interesting dynamic to watch, he seemed to be able to tame her when nobody else could.
“You’ve got a kooky-sounding family, legs,” Parker teased.
“You’re telling me?” I rolled my eyes as I scrolled through my contacts looking for Tyler’s number.
“You think he’ll be able to help trace where it came from?” Parker asked, his voice sounding hopeful.
I sighed in defeat that I was giving in and calling him for help. “He hasn’t come across something he couldn’t hack yet, so yeah, I’d say the chances are pretty good.”
Parker looked impressed.
I dialled the number and waited for the telling off I was sure to be getting.
The phone rang only twice and I held back a groan, knowing that Hannah had been right when she said he was probably waiting for my call.
“I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to call me,” he drawled.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and cursed under my breath. “Sorry, Ty, just don’t be a dick… just this once, okay? We need your help,” I pleaded.
Paper, Scissors, Rock Page 17
