Kyle chokes on his wine, sputtering some across the table. “Oh, hell yes,” he says. “Tell them the story, bro.”
“I’m not telling shit,” Chad says, looking embarrassed as he rolls the stem of his empty wine glass between his fingers.
“I was there, I’ll tell it then,” Kyle says.
“Whatever,” Chad says, stiffening in his chair. He chews on his inner cheek. Nobody else seems to notice that he’s bothered by this. But I can read his body language. I’ve always been able to.
I look around to see that everyone is done with dinner. “Chad, I’d really like to see the view,” I say. “Will you show me the balcony?”
He looks at me and sighs. He thanks me with his eyes. He’s happy I saved him. But it’s no big deal, really, it’s what we’ve always done. Saved each other. Except for the one time when I couldn’t.
He stands up and takes my hand, leading me away from the table as Kyle begins to tell his story.
Chapter Nine
Chad
Mallory is beautiful as she leans over the railing to see the street below. I tried my best not to stare at her throughout dinner, but I couldn’t help it. I swear her eyes have gotten greener. Her hair, that was always long when we were kids, has gotten even wavier. Her breasts . . . Jesus, my dick still thinks I’m a hormonal sixteen-year-old kid.
“This is incredible,” she says, enjoying the awe-inspiring view. “How far up are we?”
“Twenty-five floors,” I tell her. “So almost three-hundred feet I’d say.”
“Do you have a place like this out in L.A.?” she asks.
“I used to. But not anymore.”
“Why not?”
“I sold it along with three of my cars.”
She gasps. “You had three cars?”
“Four,” I tell her. “I kept one of them.”
It’s hard for me to keep my eyes focused on her face. It’s chilly out here and her nipples are standing at full attention under the thin fabric of her blouse. “Uh, do you want to go back inside, it’s pretty cold out here.”
“It’s nice. I like it,” she says, blowing out a deep breath that turns to smoke as she exhales. “So why did you sell your high-rise apartment and three of your cars?”
“Because I’ve changed.” I walk up next to her and join her taking in the stunning view. It’s one of the things I had taken for granted during those years. Watching her look wide-eyed at the city below is fascinating. She sees it like a little girl who’s looking over the city for the first time. “I went wild those first few years. I bought everything money could buy. And when I got my inheritance, things just got worse.”
She turns to me, holding my eyes with hers. “You keep saying you’ve changed. But what do you mean exactly?” I see her shiver and she wraps her arms around herself. “And what was it that made you want to change?”
I position myself behind her so that we’re both looking over the city. It’s truth time and I’m not sure I want her looking at me when she hears it. I rub her arms to try and keep her warm. “When I got signed for Malibu, my life changed in ways I could have never imagined. I was seventeen—just a kid. I wasn’t equipped to handle it. Money was rolling in. Everyone wanted a piece of me. Hollywood doesn’t care how old you are, it just cares who you are. Booze, drugs, women—they were all thrown at me like it was no big deal. My parents tried to keep me grounded, but there was only so much they could do. They worked all the time and I was good at hiding things from them early on. And then when I turned eighteen, I moved out, giving them no say at all. That’s when things got really bad.”
She nods. “That’s when I got that horrible email from you, when you were eighteen.”
“What email?”
“The one that wasn’t meant for me. I think you had intended for Julian to get it. You wrote about sleeping with one of your co-stars. You wrote about it graphically. I sent you an email back, don’t you remember it?”
I close my eyes, absorbing the words she just said. And for the millionth time, I berate myself for the asshole I became. I can’t imagine how horrible that must have been for her. “God, Mallory, I’m so sorry. I wish I could say I remember it, but there is a lot of stuff I don’t. Things that were important to me like friends and family just stopped being a priority for me once I started doing drugs. The only thing that mattered was when I could get my next high.”
She turns around, our bodies so close I can feel the heat radiating from hers. “What happened to change all that?”
“You mean, what was my rock bottom?”
She nods.
“You might hate me if I tell you.”
“I’m willing to risk it,” she says.
“Maybe I’m not.” I walk away from her and sit down on one of the lounge chairs. “This week has been one of the best I’ve had in years, Mal. Seeing you after all this time, it’s better than I imagined. I feel like a kid again.”
She takes the seat next to me. “You say you want to be friends again, Chad?”
“I do. More than anything.”
“Then help me understand you,” she says. “Because you hurt me back then. And I need to know it won’t happen again.”
“I hurt a lot of people back then, Mallory.” I sit forward and put my elbows on my knees. “I’d like to say hurting you was what I regret the most, but I can’t. I’ve done worse. And I promised myself I would never do anything like that again.” I look up and our eyes meet. “I promise you I’ll never hurt you.”
“Well, that’s the thing, Chad. You’ve broken so many promises before, I don’t know if I can trust you.”
I nod in agreement. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“You say you’ll never hurt me. You promised that once before, you know, that you’d never let anyone hurt me,” she says. “Do you remember that? I was six and you were seven and those bullies at the bus stop were making fun of me, and then I ran away and tripped over my own feet. You helped me up and then you stood up to them. They towered over you by a foot and you stood up to them and then you promised me you’d never let anyone hurt me again. But the irony is, you are the one who hurt me most of all.”
I nod regretfully. I remember every promise I ever made to her. “I also promised I’d never leave you.”
“Yeah, well in your defense, you couldn’t help breaking that promise. You were only sixteen when your parents moved. It’s not like you had a choice in the matter.”
“No, I didn’t,” I say. “But just because I left you geographically, didn’t mean I had to leave you emotionally.” But I couldn’t bear for you to see me like that. “Do you remember the other promise? The one we made at your aunt’s wedding?”
She laughs. “I had forgotten about that one,” she says, bashfully.
Mallory was fourteen and I was fifteen when we went to her Aunt Marie’s wedding reception. There were a lot of single middle-aged people there getting drunk and hitting on each other. We thought it was pathetic and we promised we’d never let it happen to us. We made a pact to get married if both of us were still single when she turned thirty. I pretend to check my watch. “If I’m correct, I have about six more years to fulfill that promise.”
“You can’t say things like that, Chad,” she says, getting up and walking back to the railing. “I’m not even sure we qualify as friends anymore.” She waves her hand around at our surroundings. “This is all just a favor.”
“Do you want to know why I wouldn’t tell the Santa Monica Pier story in there?”
She stares blankly at me and then shrugs a shoulder.
“I wouldn’t tell the story because I couldn’t tell it. I don’t remember it. I was cranked out of my mind. All I know is what Kyle has told me. And it involves something about a Ferris wheel and me sneaking in after closing to scale it. So if you don’t mind, I’d like not to ruin what has been a pretty great night by telling you other stories about how badly I fucked up back then and the other people I hurt.”
She looks dow
n at the ground. “Fair enough,” she says. “Maybe we’ve shared enough for one night.”
“You look like you’re freezing.” I stand up and offer her my hand. “Let’s get you inside.”
Mallory looks appalled when we join the others. “I’m a terrible guest,” she says to Charlie, eyeing the cleaned up table. “I’m sorry for not helping you clear the dishes.”
“Don’t be,” Charlie says. “The guys took care of it.” She pours Mallory another glass of wine. “So you teach fourth grade. That sounds very rewarding.”
Mallory’s eyes light up. “Oh, yes. It is. I love teaching. But my most rewarding job is the one I don’t get paid for. I volunteer at a place called Hope For Life.”
I ignore my brothers as I listen intently to the conversation the girls are having. Mallory tells her all about her charity work. Not that I’m surprised. Mal was always helping people when we were kids. She would run a lemonade stand and give all the profits—all twenty dollars of it—to some cause benefitting underprivileged kids.
“Would you mind if I tag along with you one night?” Charlie asks her. “I’d love to see what kind of work you do there.”
“Really?” Mallory asks, surprised. “I mean, yes, of course they’d love to have you.” She pulls a piece of paper out of her purse and scribbles something on it. “I volunteer every Tuesday night. Call me if you want to go sometime.”
I look at the clock on the wall, disappointed because I know the night must come to an end. Mallory has to get up early for her job. “I’d better get the teacher home,” I tell the group. “It is a school night, you know.”
I pull out my phone to text Cole. Mallory questions me with her eyes. “I’m asking Cole to bring the car around.”
“Does he go everywhere with you?” she asks. “Will he accompany you to Vancouver?”
I’m amused she knows where I’m headed after New York City. Maybe she follows my career after all. Or maybe she just heard Kendra talking about it. “No, he doesn’t go everywhere with me, but Kendra thought I’d need him here in the city. She wants me to hire him permanently.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” she says.
“Why?”
“I like knowing you’re safe.”
I can’t help the smile that overtakes my face. She knows where I’m going next. She wants me safe. I feel like I’ve won the fucking lottery and Mallory is the grand prize.
We say our goodbyes and then Kendra joins us in the elevator for the ride down to brief me on tomorrow’s schedule, reminding me of my meeting with my manager first thing in the morning. The elevator doors open and we walk out, only to find said manager standing in the building lobby. “It looks like someone can’t wait that long,” I say to Kendra. “What brings you here this late, Paul?”
He looks at Mallory as if she’s an annoyance. “What brings me here?” He pulls out his iPad and shows me a picture. Shit. It’s a picture of me leaving Mallory’s school today. The school name is clearly visible in the background. “Care to explain this?”
Kendra takes the iPad and examines the picture, reading the article underneath that says something about me making a surprise visit. “You visited a school today?”
“Does she have anything to do with this?” Paul asks, finally acknowledging Mallory.
“She has a name, Paul.” I turn to Mallory. “Mallory Schaffer, this is my manager, Paul Quinn.”
“Nice to meet you, Paul,” she says.
“Mmmm,” he gruffs, dismissing her. “We need to talk, Thad.”
“We have a meeting tomorrow,” I remind him. “Can’t this wait until then?”
“No. This can’t wait. When one of my clients goes rogue, we have to do damage control immediately.”
“Damage?” I ask, skeptically. “What fallout could there possibly be from me visiting a local elementary school?”
Cole walks in, asking me if we’re ready to go. Paul answers him. “Why don’t you take Valarie home. I need Thad here.”
“It’s Mallory,” I say, irritation pinching between my brows. “And I’ll be escorting her home.”
“No, it’s okay,” Mallory says. “I’ll be fine. Have your meeting.”
I grab her arm and pull her to the side, away from the others. “Mal, I brought you here, I’m taking you home.”
“Chad, this is your job. Your manager needs to talk with you. It’s okay. I don’t mind Cole driving me home. I had a lovely evening. Thank you for having me.” She starts walking over to Cole.
“Wait . . . uh, I want to see you again,” I say, pissed that I’m having to say goodbye to her in front of an audience.
She turns back around. “I thought you were leaving town tomorrow.”
“I’ve decided to stay in New York until I have to go to Vancouver late next week.”
“But you told Carly you were leaving. When did you change your mind?”
I shrug innocently. “As soon as I saw you walk down your stairs tonight.”
I watch as a blush works its way up her face. She looks over at Kendra and Cole who are both smiling. She looks at Paul, who’s scoffing. She looks back at me. “I’ll think about it,” she says.
“I know a bunch of nine-year-olds who think you should.”
She laughs. “We’ll see. Bye, Chad. Thanks again for tonight.”
She walks away with Cole and I’m left brooding because my bodyguard gets to take my girl home. The girl I wanted to walk up her front steps and kiss. It’s the kiss I’ve been dreaming about since I was fifteen. The kiss I’ve fantasized over but never thought was possible after all the shit I’ve pulled. Maybe my luck is changing.
~ ~ ~
Back up in Ethan’s office, I sit behind his desk, Kendra and Paul occupying the chairs on the other side. “What’s this all about, Paul?”
“What the hell do you think, Thad?” he asks, motioning to his iPad. “You can’t just make public appearances without clearing it with me first.”
I ignore his question and ask, “Kendra, is Mallory’s name on any of this?”
She shakes her head, still going through tabloid sites. “I don’t think so. There isn’t any mention of the teacher you went to visit.”
“Good. Then what’s the problem?” I ask Paul.
He scowls furiously. “The problem is you can’t do that shit without my approval.”
“Do what exactly? Go see a personal friend of mine at her place of employment?”
“This article says you talked to a group of kids about being an actor. I’d say that falls exactly under the umbrella of making it my fucking business,” he scolds me.
I shoot an apologetic look to Kendra. I feel guilty I didn’t warn her about this. “Listen, I didn’t even know I was going there until I was there. I just wanted to talk to Mallory and it ended up turning into some career day gig. Then I made a small donation to some charity fundraiser they were doing.”
“Oh, this is good,” Kendra says. “I can totally work with this. Thad Stone talks to local kids about acting then makes a charitable donation. Great human interest piece. I’ll release it right away to thwart off any rumors about why you were there.”
“See,” I say to Paul, motioning to Kendra. “No harm done. It’s really no big deal.”
He puts down his iPad and looks me square in the eye. “Who is this Valerie anyway?”
“Cut the crap, Paul. She’s an old friend of mine. One who I hope will be in my life for a very long time. So you’d better get used to it and learn her goddamn name.”
He blows out a frustrated breath. “Kendra tells me you plan to stay in New York until the Vancouver junket, is this true?”
“It’s only a week. We didn’t have anything planned for the break between cities anyway.”
“What about Blind Shot looping?” he asks, referring to voice-overs for the movie I filmed last fall.
“Done. Finished last week and I got an email two days ago that confirmed the studio got what they needed. You should know this, Pau
l.”
“Don’t you need to prepare for Vancouver?” he asks.
“I can do that from here. What’s your problem?” I stare him down. I can see him searching his brain for arguments when it dawns on me. “Oh, I get it. Mallory is not Courtney Benson.” I shake my head in disgust. “I really don’t give a shit if it’s not good for box office sales for me to be seen with her.”
“You just don’t get it, do you?” he asks. “You think you can act for nine weeks, collect a huge paycheck and sit on your ass until the next one? You have a lot to learn, kiddo. Acting is more about promoting. More about making the public fall in love with you off camera as much as on.”
“Funny, you don’t seem to care when the press brings up all the shit from my past. You don’t care if they pair me with ten actresses, as long as one of them is my leading lady.”
“It’s all about image, Thad. Where’s the Hollywood bad boy in dating a boring old school teacher? Hollywood bad boy sells tickets. Hollywood bad boy pays for your lunch.”
“Uh, Paul,” Kendra interrupts. “Although I agree with some of what you are saying, I’m not so sure Thad dating a school teacher is as deplorable as you might think. His female fans might appreciate the fact that he would date someone who’s not an actress. The girl next door so to speak. Someone who could be them. Who knows, it could have quite the opposite effect.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Paul says. “Nobody wants to see you with a school teacher.”
I stand up, almost knocking my chair over in anger. “This meeting is over. As my manager, I realize you have a say in my professional life. But I draw the fucking line at you thinking you can tell me who I can and can’t date. Remember that when your contract comes up for renewal, Paul. Remember that you are replaceable.”
He laughs a cocky laugh. “If I were you, I’d remember who got you to where you are today, Thad. You’ve been on top for exactly ten minutes. Replacing you with the next up-and-coming wouldn’t be hard. You’d be forgotten by next Christmas. Trust me.”
The Stone Brothers: A Complete Romance Series (3-Book Box Set) Page 38
