Deepest 1 2nd Ed ebook EPUB

by Thomas, C. M

  “I just wanted to tell you both something.”

  “You tell me, and I will tell him tonight.”

  “I started dating someone.”

  “That’s great, honey. Who?”

  “Zane.”

  “The drummer? The one who sleeps with everybody?” I just knew I should have kept my mouth shut.

  “Yes, him.”

  “Are you happy?” Wait, what?

  “Yes, I am. And he’s a good man, Mom. Ask Kylie.” I smiled. I knew she couldn’t see me, but just talking about Zane made me smile.

  “All we want is for you to be happy. I don’t care who he is, as long as he treats you right.”

  “He really does, Mom. I like him a lot.” I didn’t tell her I loved him. She would just give me some lecture about moving too fast.

  “Then I’m happy for you. And your dad will be too.”

  “Thank you for supporting this. I wanted to tell you because someone told the press. And by tomorrow my face might be all over the tabloids.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. You okay with all this?”

  “I don’t know. But I want to be with him, so I guess I have to be?”

  “Don’t read what they write about you, okay?”

  “I won’t. I just want you and Dad to be okay with this.”

  “Don’t worry about us. We only worry about you. Call us if you need anything, okay?”

  “I will, Mom. I have to go; I’m meeting Zane for dinner.”

  “Bring him home sometime, okay? Love you, Anna. Say hi to Kylie for me.”

  “Love you too, Mom. I will tell her.”

  So now everyone knew. At least, everyone who mattered. And tomorrow the world would know. I didn’t know what to think about that, but I guessed it was part of his world. And I wanted to be a big part of his world. I would see how this would go, and then we’d see what happened. What would this do to “D”? Would he come after me? Would he hurt Zane?

  It was happening again. I started hyperventilating, feeling my breathing becoming more and more intense. I was scared. Alone. Looking around the room, I tried to keep focus, but failed. My chest started to hurt badly. I felt like someone was sticking a knife in my heart, over and over again. I was terrified. I felt sweat all over my body. I felt so hot. And more pain. I needed help. Somehow, I managed to get my phone, and I just hoped I called someone who could help me.

  “Hello.” I heard Dax speak.

  I couldn’t speak, I had so much trouble breathing.

  “Anna, are you okay?” he asked.

  Still nothing. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I started crying. It hurt so much.

  “Anna! Where are you? Are you okay,” he yelled. I tried one more time to tell him what was wrong.

  “Can’t… breathe,” I said, or at least I hoped I did. I didn’t know if he could hear me. It came out like a whisper, and for a moment I was afraid he couldn’t.

  “On my way. Stay on the phone for me, okay? Are you in your room?”

  I could hear him talk to someone, but didn’t know who.

  “Anna?”

  “Yes…” I said. Then it all went black.

  I heard noise around me as I tried to open my eyes to focus on my surroundings. I was no longer in our hotel room. I started to panic again. He finally found me. No, he can’t have. The pain in my chest was coming back, now even more painful than before.

  “Anna, you are safe.” I heard Dax talking. I looked to my left side. Dax was sitting on a chair holding my hand.

  “Where… Where are we?” I looked around at the white walls, and the machines standing beside the bed I was resting on. Hospital?

  “We’re at the ER, Anna. You fainted, and I couldn’t wake you up.” Dax looked like a blend of concern and relief.

  “I’m sorry.” I looked at him. He had more important things to do than to babysit me.

  “What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “For not controlling this fear. I know you and your team will keep me safe.”

  “You did nothing wrong. And you need help to control the fear.”

  “What kind of help?”

  “Let’s wait for the doctor.” He took my hand. He was this big strong man, but he had this sweet side to him. He was almost like a second father. He must be in his forties, so he could technically be my father. Just thinking of this, I let out a small laugh.

  “Nice to see you smile. What were you thinking?”

  “That you’re like a second father. And that you could be my father.”

  “I could. I have a daughter around your age.” I looked at him, surprised.

  “You do? Where does she live?”

  “She’s studying in Europe right now. Her mom is living in France, so she is staying with her.”

  “You miss her?”

  “Yes, but I know she’s having the time of her life. And that makes me happy. Besides, I talk to her all the time.” He smiled when he talked about her. It was nice to see this side of him.

  “Thank you for being here for me.”

  “Anytime. I need to call Zane and Kylie. They need to know this, okay? I will be just outside the room.”

  He walked out of the room. I was alone, but I didn’t feel alone. I felt protected. Feeling tired, I closed my eyes and just tried to relax. I’m safe. I’m safe. I kept telling myself that repeatedly until I fell asleep.

  Chapter 22:

  Zane

  “We done?” I was so ready to get out of this room. We’d been practicing all day, for almost eight hours straight. I just wanted to go get dinner and then be with Anna, alone.

  “Yes, I can’t feel my fingers anymore,” Cole said.

  “We just need to wait for Kylie to come. She has something to tell us,” Liam added.

  Right. She called earlier when she and Anna came back from the spa. I wondered what happened now. I just for once hoped it was good news. We needed that. Not that the tour wasn’t going well or anything. I just needed some good news, something that could bring some peace to my mind. All I could think about was Anna and her safety. I kept hoping that I would wake up to know that the bastard was gone. I knew Dax and his team were working around the clock to locate her stalker. Still, I wanted this to be over so we could move on from it, and Anna could get control of her life.

  I got up from my chair behind the drums and walked over to the table. I grabbed one of the bottled waters and took a big swig. Kylie stepped into the royal room moments later.

  “Can you please take a seat? I need to talk to you all.” She sounded nervous. But Kylie didn’t get nervous. This must be serious. The look in Cole’s eyes when I looked over at him told me that he was thinking the same thing.

  “Are you okay, Ky?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m more than fine. But I need to tell you guys that I won’t come back on tour with you after the summer break.” She looked down at her hands.

  “We already knew that,” Cole said.

  “What?” Kylie looked up at Cole, surprised.

  “Kylie. You and Marco are getting married. You have been giving Anna more and more of your responsibilities. And you have applied to the school. Do you think we’re dumb?” Caleb said with a smile on his face.

  “You’re not mad at me?”

  “Of course not. We want you to be happy. You’ve done so much for us over the last three years. How could we be angry at you?” Liam said.

  “And you’ve been training Anna the past month to take over for you,” I added.

  “The only problem with Anna taking over is that Zane now thinks he can do nothing wrong.” Cole grinned and slapped me on the back of my head.

  “Shut up,” I snapped with a smile on my face.

  “What about Marco? Will he finish the tour with us?” Liam asked her. We knew
Kylie would stop this summer. But we hadn’t talked about Marco.

  “He will finish the tour. Then I hope he will find a job closer to home,” Kylie said with a big smile on her face. She’d been smiling a lot lately.

  “Are you going to work for Happy Childhood?” Cole asked. I knew he had asked her to consider being a part of the foundation.

  “I am. And I hope to do something good for the kids. And I hope to see you guys go to more fundraisers over the next years.”

  “Tell Anna the time and place, and we’re there,” I said. “And about Marco, I think he should consider working for the foundation too. Cole and I have been talking about teaching these kids self-defense.”

  “That would be great. But you tell Marco that. He loves working as a bodyguard.” Kylie grinned.

  “I will tell him that he has a job with the foundation if he wants it,” Cole said. “I have to tell you something else. The tabloids will break a story tomorrow. And it might create some shit storm from your fans.” Kylie looked at me when she said this.

  “What did you do?” Liam narrowed his eyes, looking at me.

  “Nothing!” I snapped, holding my hands over my head. “I haven’t done anything wrong for weeks, okay?”

  “Easy, guys. This is not something bad. The press knows about Zane and Anna,” Kylie said.

  “What, how?” No, that can’t be right. Who the hell told them? What about her stalker? Shit, this isn’t good.

  “I don’t know, Zane. I’ve called all my sources in the press; no one knows anything. Anna has told our mom, and your parents know too, right? So that means everyone who you wanted to tell yourself know.”

  “But what about her stalker?” Cole asked before I got the chance.

  “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Dax for the last hour, but he isn’t picking up his phone. But Marco knows this, and he has talked to Ryder already. They will keep her safe.” I just nodded, not knowing what to say. I needed to talk to Anna. To know that she was okay with all this. I was used to seeing my face all over the tabloids; she wasn’t.

  “Wait, Ky, you can’t get a hold of Dax?” I asked.

  “No. Marco has tried to. No one knows where he is.” That was weird. Dax always picked up his phone. And like he knew we were talking about him, he was calling me.

  “Hey, where are you?” I asked.

  “I need you to keep calm, okay?”

  “What’s happening, Dax?” I snapped.

  “Anna is in the ER.” When I heard that, I dropped my phone on the floor. The fear that something happened to her was running through my body. Cole reached down to pick it up. He looked over at me while talking to Dax. A few minutes later he gave me my phone back.

  “What’s happening, Zane? You looked like you just saw a ghost.”

  “Anna…” I couldn’t finish that sentence.

  “Anna is in the ER,” Cole said. Kylie gasped. “She’s fine now. But she had some serious chest pains, so they are doing some tests right now. Dax is with her, that’s why he didn’t answer his phone.”

  “I have to go to her.” I jumped out of the chair and was halfway through the room before I heard Kylie talk to me.

  “Wait, I need to go with you.” She came running after me, and I saw Cole talking on the phone.

  “Marco will meet you guys outside now,” Cole said. I nodded and took Kylie’s hand. We walked out to Marco, who pulled Kylie into a hug.

  “She is going to be fine, sweetheart,” he said to her before letting her slide into the backseat. I sat on the front seat and waited for Marco to drive us to the hospital. This can’t be happening. She has to be safe. I can’t lose her. I closed my eyes and just thought of Anna.

  When we got to the hospital, we all ran through the doors and to the front desk.

  “She’s in there.” Dax stood down the hall, waiting for us. Kylie ran down to him and into the room where Anna was.

  “What the hell happened?” I asked Dax.

  “I don’t know. She called me, telling me she could not breathe. When I got to your room, she was passed out. I called 911. She told the doctor that she had a lot of pain, so they have done some tests. But I don’t know what induced the panic attack this time,” Dax replied.

  I needed to see her, so I walked into her room. Kylie stood beside a bed, talking to Anna. She walked over and gave me a hug when she saw me.

  “I will just give you guys a minute,” Kylie whispered before she left the room. I walked over to Anna and kissed her.

  “Baby, what happened?” I took a seat on the side of the bed.

  “Kylie told me the tabloids knew about us. And I just realized that he would know about it too. I don’t want him to hurt you,” she said with tears running down her cheeks. She was scared that her stalker would hurt me?

  “He can’t hurt me. But more important, he can’t hurt us, okay?” I took her hand up to my mouth and kissed it.

  “But you don’t know that. I can’t put you in danger, Zane. I won’t,” she snapped.

  “You are not putting me in any danger, baby. Don’t even think like that. Just know that Dax will find that piece of shit. And then we will move forward together.” I leaned down to hug her. “Always together, remember that, okay?” I told her before I kissed her just under her ear.

  “I will still worry about you until then. I told my mom about you.” She smiled at me.

  “You did?” I knew that. Kylie had already told me. “What did she say?”

  “That as long as I’m happy and you are treating me well, then she and my dad are happy for me. Us.” Another tear rolled down her cheek.

  “Don’t cry. I will never treat you bad; you know that, right?”

  “I know, Zane. I love you. Thanks for coming.” She sobbed.

  “Anytime, baby. I love you. And I want to be here for you.”

  “The doctor said that I have to stay here tonight. Will you stay with me? I know it’s not the night we planned. I don’t want to spend the rest of my birthday here, but I think it’s for the best.”

  “Try and make me leave.” I winked at her.

  The rest of the night we talked a lot. The doctor talked to us about the different options Anna had to try to get her panic attacks under control. Kylie and Marco left about an hour after we got here. Dax was still here, and two other guys from the security team were also here. They were all out in the hall. It was just me and Anna in the room. Even though it was not the night we planned, we still got to be alone together. After we watched a movie, I looked at Anna.

  “Baby, get some sleep. You look exhausted.” Her eyes were red, and she almost couldn’t keep them open.

  “Okay, but don’t go.”

  “I’m right here next to you, baby. All night.” I moved from the chair to kiss her. “Sleep tight. I love you.”

  “Love you too,” she said before she fell asleep.

  I sat back down on the chair, resting my legs on the foot of Anna’s bed. I couldn’t believe that this had happened to her. That some freak was causing her this much pain. I wanted to find him and make him pay. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. When I looked at it, I saw Cole had texted me.

  Cole: Is she okay? Do you need anything?

  Me: She is okay. She is tired, but okay. The doctors want her to talk to someone about this. But for now, she doesn’t want to.

  Cole: Then wait. Don’t push her. As long as she is talking to you, let her do this her way. We will help her when she wants it.

  Me: Thanks, man. I’m sorry if this is causing some shit to the fans.

  Cole: We’re all happy that you’ve found love, Zane. Don’t think that will change just because some crazy fans want you to be theirs.

  Me: I know. What about Tristan? I know he won’t be happy about my relationship.

  Cole: Then fuck him. We have already
talked about firing him. Maybe that’s what we need to do.

  Me: Maybe. Let’s talk about it when we hear what he has to say about this.

  Cole: Okay. Are you coming back tonight?

  Me: No. I can’t leave her here alone.

  Cole: Thought so. See you tomorrow then.

  I put my phone back in my pocket and pulled the blanket up over me. I needed to try to get some sleep.

  The next morning, I woke up when a nurse came into the room. She walked over to check something on the machine that was monitoring Anna’s heartbeat.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yes, everything looks great. The doctor will be here within the next hour. Then I think you can take her home.” She smiled at me.

  “Thank God.” I put my head in my hands and let out a deep breath.

  “I know this is the wrong time to ask, but do you think I could get your autograph for my daughter?” She looked nervous.

  “Of course. You have a pen and paper?” I signed the paper she gave me and handed it back to her.

  “Thank you. And again, sorry for asking.”

  “It’s fine. That’s part of the job.” I smiled at her. She walked out of the room. I went to the bathroom to get some cold water in my face. I hadn’t been sleeping well. Every time Anna moved in the bed, I woke up. I wanted to make sure she was okay. But at least it seemed that Anna got some sleep tonight. And that was the important part. I could catch up on sleep later.

  When I was done in the bathroom, I heard Anna.

  “Zane?” I walked into her room and saw her looking around for me. When she saw me, a big smile came on her face.

  “Morning, baby. You slept okay?” I walked over and kissed her on her forehead.

  “I have. You?”

  “Not so much. But as long as you are okay, then it’s okay. I can sleep later when we get back to our hotel.”

  “When can we leave?” She took my hand and pulled me close to her. I sat on the side of the bed, taking her hands in mine.

  “The doctor will come in and talk to us sometime in the next hour. Then I hope I can take you back to the hotel.”