Falling Star (Combustible Book 2)

by Brandy L Rivers

  Sam answered immediately. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Sam. You okay?”

  He snorted. “I am, but you’ve got a mess on your hands. I know who is after you. And he’s found you.”

  “Where are you?”

  “In Lakeridge. I came here when I realized your stalker wasn’t trailing me anymore. Can we meet? We need to talk.”

  She rambled off her address. At that point, if Logan knew where she was, hiding was no longer an option anyway.

  “I’ll be there shortly. Just warn your man I’m coming if he’s there.”

  Ella blinked. “He’s at work.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t know yet. I’ll be there soon.” The phone clicked off and Ella changed into jeans and a t-shirt.

  She nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang again. Trent’s name stared back at her. “Hello?”

  “Ella, have you seen the news?” His tone was far too urgent.

  “No. Why?” she asked as dread crept in.

  “Someone videotaped us the night we hid at my house.”

  She sank onto the bed. “What do you mean?”

  “All we can figure is he climbed up on my roof, outside my window and taped us making love. All night. Posted on porn sites.”

  “No. No!”

  “I’m so sorry. You needed to know.”

  She let out a strangled sound.

  “If I could be there with you, I would. I’m working with Marissa to figure out what we can do.”

  Pressing her hand to her head, she resolved to do what she could, which wouldn’t be much from her end, but she could get the ball rolling. When she found her voice, it came out empty. “Send me the link. I need to see where it’s posted. I’ll get my lawyers on it.” She needed to push her emotions down to deal with the mess.

  “I’m sorry, Ella. I have no clue what to do here.”

  “You’re not the one who posted it, Trent. This isn’t your fault. I need to make a call, then I’ll be there.”

  “I’ll text you in a few. We’ll figure this out.”

  She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. “I love you, Trent.”

  “I love you, too” he whispered.

  “I’ll be there soon as I can.” She hung up and hurried downstairs.

  The doorbell rang and she peeked outside. Her brother hadn’t shaved in days, his clothes were wrinkled. She’d never seen Sam like this. Frowning, she opened the door and stepped back.

  Sam entered and hugged her tight. “I’m sorry, Ella. I pushed you away and made things worse. I’m so damned sorry.”

  She closed the door and wrapped him in a bear hug. “Tell me you accept my decisions and it’s all water under the bridge.”

  “Of course.” He pushed her back and looked her up and down. “Other than the horror on your face, you look great.”

  She snorted. “So, you found out about the video?”

  “It’s all over the news, Ella. Everyone knows. How did you find out?”

  “Trent just called me. He’s talking to the police right now. I’ll go down to the station later, but first, I need you to tell me what you know?”

  He winced. “Way more about your sex life than I ever wanted to know. And plenty about your fireman.”

  Ella stepped back with a grimace. “Eww, you watched?”

  “I needed to find out what we were dealing with. There’s more than two hours of footage, Ella, on what I presume is one night. And in different rooms of a house. Not this one. At least, the downstairs didn’t look like this.”

  Ella paced away, trying to push down the nausea. “Not what I want to hear.” Her words came out in a squeak.

  “Yeah, well you need to understand what we’re working with. Even if you skip through most of it, you should at least identify where the video was shot.”

  “Damn it, this…” She looked up at the ceiling. “If this is all over the news, his parents know.”

  “You met his parents?”

  She nodded, closing her eyes. “Not sure how a sex tape of their son and his girlfriend will go over with them.”

  “Well, shit. And you didn’t tell me you were falling for a guy?”

  Ella folded her arms across her chest, a look of defiance on her face. “You haven’t exactly kept up with me. You disappeared and I haven’t heard from you at all until a few days ago.”

  He sighed. “I was trying to get this asshole to follow me, hoping he’d think I was eventually meeting you. It worked until that picture cropped up.”

  “It’s Logan Poole. Only he’s going by another last name now. And I’m almost certain he took the video.”

  “On a positive note, as soon as we give your team of lawyers the information, it should come down fast. And hopefully, we can find this asshole before he gets his hands on you.”

  “You drive. Let me see this video.”

  “Ella, I’m sorry about this mess. I’m sorry I tried to convince you to stay in Hollywood. I’m so damned sorry I pushed you away.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not important right now. You’re here.”

  Ella pulled her phone out and sent a text to Trent. I’ll be at the police station with my brother in ten minutes.

  His reply came in seconds. I’ll wait for you here.

  Sam handed over his phone.

  Holding her breath, she unlocked it and started the video.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered. The video was focused on her, but Trent was visible too. Everyone in town would know way more about both of them than anyone would have wanted.

  “He got it all, Ella. Different rooms, positions, everything.”

  She skipped past most of it. Sure enough, everywhere they’d been that night was taped. Even in the shower. The video on this site had hundreds of thousands of views already.

  Ella handed the phone back as tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t even comprehend what would make someone do this. It was a horrible invasion of privacy.

  Sam parked and turned to her. “We’ll get him.”

  “They can take it down, but how many people have copies? It’s not going to just go away.”

  “No. But if you two can get past this, then I think you’ll make it for the long haul.”

  She snorted. “He’s a small town boy who doesn’t want the life I lived. Hell, I don’t even want it. But this—what if he can’t handle it, Sam?”

  “You’re not the pessimist. Don’t start leaning that way. Give it a chance.”

  “Didn’t used to be, but now...” Everything seemed to be crumbling. Hopelessness crept in as she climbed out of the car. Then she realized she didn’t have her glasses. But really, what was the point now, anyway?

  Sam hurried to catch up with her. “Ella, what can I do?”

  “You’ve done what you can.”

  “It wasn’t enough.”

  “It was the best you could do. This is out of our hands.” She stepped into the police station. Trent met her at the door.

  “You okay, darling?”

  “Yeah.”

  He shook his head. “No, you aren’t, but neither am I.” He turned to Sam. “I’m Trent. You must be Sam.” He held out his hand.

  Sam shook his hand. “Hi. Sorry, we aren’t meeting under better circumstances.”

  “Yeah. Me too. Come on back. We may have figured enough out to help the lawyers.”

  * * * *

  An hour passed on a conference call with Ella’s attorneys. Marissa, Sam, and Trent all participated and answered questions the legal team asked. Ella was worn out by the end. Everything in her life was a damned mess.

  She met Trent’s gaze. “Can we talk a minute?”

  Worry strained his features. She forced a weak smile.

  “Outside?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “I need to get back to the firehouse soon unless you want me to come with you.”

  That would have been her preference, but she had issues to discuss with her brother.

  Trent stopped ou
tside and Ella pulled him into the alley, away from the entrance. She looked into his eyes but couldn’t guess what was going through his mind. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”

  “What are you saying?” he asked.

  “That no matter how fast they take the videos down, thousands of people already downloaded it. This isn’t going away. And it’s my fault.”

  “Stop right there. You didn’t do this. Some asshole with a camera is responsible. Not you, not me. No one gave permission. He violated us, the law, everything.”

  “You aren’t upset?”

  “Not with you.”

  The corners of her mouth tipped up. “Good, because I’m not leaving as long as you want me.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “The media’s going to be back in town at some point.”

  “Yeah, and I’ll have to deal with them. I’m used to it.”

  “You don’t have to do this alone.”

  “Don’t promise that yet. You don’t have a clue how bad it gets.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m with you every step of the way. Let me come home with you.”

  She shook her head. “Go back to work. Come to me afterward. Okay? It’s a few hours, that’s all.”

  “That’s not what I want.”

  “I need to talk to Sam alone.”

  “He doesn’t like me much.”

  “It’s not that. The first time he learns about my boyfriend, it’s through a sex tape. Shit… I can’t even imagine watching my brother with a woman. This is a mess, but he’s on our side.”

  Trent kissed her softly. When he pulled away, he said, “Call me if you need me.”

  “I will.” He backed toward his truck and she watched him leave before going back inside. She didn’t miss the way everyone watched her on the way back to Marissa and Sam. Ella slipped back into the office and met Marissa’s eyes. “Thank you. For everything.”

  “I wish I could do more.”

  “I appreciate that.” Ella turned to Sam. “You coming?”

  “Yeah, we need to talk.”

  “We do.” Before she even settled into her car, Sam asked, “Do you love him?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Then I need you to come back to LA. Hold a few press conferences. Talk to the lawyers in person.”

  She shook her head and started the car. “No. Look, Sam, I’m not going anywhere. No press conferences. I’m not putting myself in front of a bunch of asshole reporters who want a sensational story.”

  “They’re going to come here. You can’t get away from them.”

  “Rather deal with them here than back in LA.”

  “Really? You want to drag Trent through the mud over this?” Sam asked.

  “Of course not, but he’s not going to want me to leave. Besides, I can’t do a press conference, here or there. At least, here I can hide out. I don’t have to go to them. You don’t understand how bad the anxiety can get.”

  “What anxiety?” Sam demanded.

  She looked away. “I have PTSD. My last run-in with reporters triggered an attack. I’m not willingly putting myself in front of a room of reporters so they can blame me for some asshole tying me to a bed and molesting me for two days, then having them tell me I wanted it.”

  Sam’s mouth fell open. “Molested? The rape test came back clean.”

  She started the car. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he kept his hands off me. Shit. Don’t ask. Okay? I didn’t remember most of it when it happened. Pieces are still coming back now. I’m finally dealing with the aftermath, but a press conference is only going to throw me right back into that hell when I’m finally healing.”

  “Okay, you stay here. I’ll go back and figure this out with the lawyers.”

  “Does that mean you aren’t going to try to convince me to go back to doing movies?”

  He sighed. “Are you happy with Trent?”

  “Yes, and I’m terrified he’s going to see how it is with the reporters following and leave, but I’ve got to try at least.”

  “He’s not going to leave you. I saw the way he watched you, how he hovered, making sure you were okay the whole time. He doesn’t seem concerned with anything but you and how you’re taking this.”

  “I hope so. I really do love him.”

  “When this is all over, I want to get to know him.”

  Hope bloomed within her. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I know I was all business back there, but I was more concerned with stopping this video. I need to get back to LA. Do me a favor, and be careful, Sis.”

  “I will.” She pulled into her garage and got out of the car. She hugged Sam. “Come visit when you can.”

  “We’ll get through this,” Sam promised, before climbing into his Audi.

  She locked the house up, set the alarm, and headed upstairs for a bath. A smile pulled at her lips as she thought about the last time she’d been in the tub. Ella grabbed her phone and dialed Trent.

  “Everything okay, Ella?” His concern warmed her, and his voice, just his voice settled her.

  “Yeah, my brother went back to LA to deal with the legal team and all the loose ends there. At some point, they may need me there in person, but he finally understands why I can’t deal with the reporters or LA right now.”

  “That’s good. How are you coping?”

  “Very well. I’m about to slip into my bathtub.”

  “Shit… the images that brings to mind. I wish I were there.”

  “Me too, but I won’t be opposed to taking another bath with you later.”

  Trent groaned. “Great. Got to go, we’re getting called out, and now I’m hard enough to break down a door.”

  She laughed. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  Sliding into the bath, Ella closed her eyes. Trent didn’t blame her, and he wasn’t letting her go. She finally believed he wouldn’t let anything come between them.

  Chapter 37

  Trent climbed onto the fire truck. He was familiar with the area of town they were heading. His sister used to hang around there, getting high, disappearing for days. He remembered dragging her home one bad night.

  Isandro dropped into the seat beside him. “What did Ramirez say?”

  “To steer clear of Mitch.”

  “Asshole deserved everything you gave him and more.”

  “No shit.”

  “What about the video? Can they take it down and keep them from uploading it again?”

  Trent shook his head. “Doesn’t sound like it. Not anytime soon anyway.”

  “How is she?”

  He snorted. “Seems to be taking it in stride. Though, with the way the media is blowing up over this damned tape, I don’t see how. I’m dreading the call from my mother.”

  Kyle joined the conversation. “She hasn’t called yet?”

  He shook his head. “Not sure how long that will last. My parents really like Ella, but this… I don’t even know what to say. It’s not like we taped ourselves and it was stolen. Someone videotaped us without our permission. And even if the attorneys get it pulled down, some other asshole can reload it ten minutes later.”

  “Well, there are a hundred celebrities with dick pics, sex tapes and everything else floating around. This one was obviously done without your knowledge. I doubt your parents expect you to stay celibate at thirty years old.”

  “I’m sure they don’t expect to find me making love all over the internet either.”

  Isandro shrugged. “They dealt with Tina and all her shit.”

  Kyle shook his head. “I’m sure your parents will understand this isn’t your fault.”

  “Yeah. They won’t hold it against either of us, but talking to them about our sex life? Shit… I just hope this doesn’t make Ella run.”

  Isandro offered a smile. “You said she’s taking it well.”

  “Yeah, and she sent her brother back to LA. She said she’ll see me tonight.” Trent smiled, thinking about her in that tub and
wondering if she was touching herself while thinking about him. “I can’t wait until we’re done here.”

  Metcalf pulled up outside the same place Trent had found his sister just weeks after Randy died. He could still remember carrying her out of the decrepit building and taking her to the hospital. She’d gone to rehab but escaped a week later. He didn’t see her again for three weeks, when her two-year-old son needed her.

  Black smoke plumed above the trailer. Trent’s sense of dread increased as they worked to put out the fire.

  * * * *

  Relaxed and ready for a nap, Ella climbed out of the tub and pulled on the silk robe Trent had given her. The day had gotten off to a rough start, but it was looking up.

  She had plans for Trent, as soon as he got off work, if Mila was willing to help, since she couldn’t go anywhere. Forcing that out of her head, she focused on the positives in life.

  Ella stepped into her bedroom and froze. White roses and pieces of lavender were strewn across her bed. Her heart raced as she grabbed her phone and dialed Marissa. Frozen, she listened to the phone ring for what seemed like forever.

  Finally, Marissa answered. “Everything all right, Ella?”

  “No. I need you to come to my house.”

  “What happened?”

  Swallowing hard, she shook her head. “He was in my house. Just hurry.”

  “We’ll be right there.”

  Ella reached under her bed where a pistol was hidden. She’d learned to shoot in preparation for Midnight Daughter, and had started to practice in earnest after the stalker started leaving gifts. Then she grabbed the first pair of jeans and t-shirt she found and pulled them on before running downstairs.

  She thought about calling Trent, but he was dealing with a fire. Calling Mila would result in Trent finding out before she had a chance to talk to him, and if Logan was in her house, she had no problem shooting the sick fuck.

  She inched to the door and dialed Ryan. He answered right away. “Hello?”

  “Ryan, think you and your security guru could come out to my house and figure out why the hell my security system didn’t go off when I know I set it before going upstairs?”

  “Raven, Jesus Christ, I was worried about you. I take it your stalker taped you two?”