by Lori Ryan
She straightened her spine and met his eye when she spoke, forcing her words to come out strong and clear. “Yes. It’s true.”
PJ watched as the muscles in his jaw twitched, and she could see him grinding his teeth together. He looked at her for another minute and she could see the disgust in his eyes.
She didn’t look away. She was through letting people judge her. Her whole damn life was being splattered across every social media platform that had been invented. She didn’t need him —one of the only people she’d begun to think of as a friend—judging her too.
Before she could think of what to say, Gabe spun on his heel and went back the way he’d come, heading out through the patio doors and back onto the beach. PJ watched him jog down the beach as she sank onto one of the bar stools that lined the kitchen island. She should probably pack her bags and leave, but she didn’t know where to go, or how….
She could go to Susie and Brian’s – try to help them deal with the fallout she was sure would be hitting them soon.
But honestly, she didn’t know if they’d want her there. Probably not. They probably wanted to deal with this as a family.
A family.
PJ went back in the house and showered, letting the hot water run down her body in waves, tilting her head back and feeling the water on her face. Maybe she should just go somewhere alone. She could fly to Europe. Maybe rent a little place in Italy for a couple of days. No, that didn’t make sense. She’d spend half her time away from the tour sitting on a plane.
It wasn’t lost to her that she had no true friends to turn to right now. She had her team, and she could always go home to her parents, but with her life on the road the way she was all the time, she didn’t have the kind of friendships a person needed at a time like this. Her team was wonderful and she loved her parents, but that wasn’t the same thing as having true friends to lean on. Ellis was younger than PJ, and he wasn’t exactly the kind of friend she could turn to for support at a time like this.
In theory, she and Lydia should be close. They were only a few years apart in age and they saw each other all the time, but they hadn’t ever really bonded. Lydia was frighteningly ambitious and career oriented. Which was great when she was running PJ’s tours, but the control and intensity Lydia needed to pull that off didn’t really translate into ‘girlfriend’ material.
PJ could rent a car and drive to that little spa she’d once gone to in upstate New York. That shouldn’t be too far from here and they could probably fit her in if she called ahead. They had been great about respecting her privacy the last time. It wouldn't be a bad place to go to stick her head in the sand. PJ squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of having to go back on tour, even if it was almost a week away. PJ swallowed and thought again about walking away from it all.
She’d been thinking a lot about that lately. About just going out while she was still on top. And now the thought seemed to take hold more firmly in her head than ever before. Earlier, it had just been an occasional note in her journal, quickly dismissed when she thought of her fans. But, now. Well, now things were different. Usually, if she got down or stressed out, she could work on her music, get out her keyboard or guitar and write something new. Or tweak something old.
Not in the last few days, though. She felt as though all the music had drained out of her. She didn’t have anything left to give. And, she hated that defeated feeling—it wasn’t something she was used to.
PJ turned off the water and stepped from the shower, taking a deep breath and telling herself to stop the pity party. It wasn’t anything but the truth coming out now. She needed to deal with the choices she’d made when she was young: the choice to get into bed with Jimmy Mondo, the decision to give up her baby. There wasn’t anything to it other than that. It was simply time for her to deal with the mistakes of her past.
***
Gabe dragged himself back to the house. He’d run a lot further than his usual three miles, trying like hell to get the images, of Jimmy Mondo seducing a much-too-young PJ, out of his head. What the hell had her parents been thinking about, not pressing charges? He’d essentially raped Pru, plying her with alcohol. Gabe had a feeling it was most likely Jimmy who had gotten her hooked on alcohol in the first place. That man should have been strung up – not walking around representing other artists.
Strung up. That’s what Gabe wanted to do to him. Hunt him down and tie him up by the balls and let him rot. He stopped just before the back doors and took a few deep breaths. He had to get ahold of himself before he saw Pru. Gabe opened the French doors and stepped into the kitchen just as PJ stepped out of her bedroom, carrying her bag.
“What’s wrong, Pru? Where are you going?” Gabe said, watching an almost guilty look wash over her features.
She fidgeted and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m just gonna get out of your hair, Gabe. I’m going to call for a rental car and drive to a spa for a couple of days.” She looked down at her toes as she spoke and Gabe hated to see her so fragile. So alone.
“Hey.” He stepped closer and put a hand to her cheek, brushing her face until she looked up at him. “I don’t want you to go, Pru. I want you to stay here so we can fix this together.”
Her eyes were like giant saucers looking back at him as if she couldn’t believe he wanted her to stay. “But, you...you seemed so angry with me this morning. And, last night....” She let her voice trail off.
Gabe felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. He hadn’t realized PJ would think he was mad at her this morning. How could she not know he’d be mad at what had been done to her, not mad at her? He wanted to step closer, pull her into his arms and breathe in the sweet scent of her skin. But, he forced himself not to do that to her. God, this woman had had people taking advantage of her all her life. He didn’t want her to think he was trying to add to that list.
“I wasn't angry with you,” he said shaking his head. “How could I ever be angry with you for what that...” He felt the bitter taste of hatred and disgust on his tongue at the thought of Jimmy Mondo. “What that asshole did to you. He took advantage of you, Pru. Manipulated and used you when he should have been protecting you. You were fifteen for Christ’s sake.”
"You were so angry when you left here."
"Not at you, Pru. Never at you."
PJ tilted her face up to meet his eyes. "So it's okay if I stay?"
"Of course. How else are we going to solve this problem if you don't stay and help me?" he asked.
“No, Gabe. This isn't your problem to fix.” PJ shook her head at him.
He ignored her objection. "The first step is tracking down your ex-manager. We need to see if there's any way to bring charges against him now—and if there isn't, I'll take care of him myself.”
“No, Gabe!” PJ said, a lot more sharply this time, and he could hear the desperation in her voice. What the hell was she trying to hide, and why? It was stupid, but Gabe actually felt hurt that she wouldn’t open up to him, or trust him, with whatever she was hiding. But really, why should she? They didn’t know each other all that well.
“You can’t do that, Gabe. You need to leave this alone––”
“Are you crazy, Pru? Your parents should have pressed charges against him a long time ago! They should never have let him walk away like they did,” Gabe spit out, and he knew he was doing a piss-poor job of hiding his frustration.
PJ took a deep breath. “Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you have to trust me on this. The time for going after Jimmy is long past. I'm over what happened and I don't want to bring it up again. Well….” She blew out a rough breath—half laugh, half groan. “Not any more than it's already been dredged up for the world to see."
Gabe opened his mouth to object but she cut him off.
“No, Gabe. Listen, please.” She softened her tone. “I need you to leave this alone for me. Please?” Her phone beeped again and PJ glanced at the screen. She went stark white, and Gabe didn’t miss the little intake of
breath.
“What is it?” he asked.
PJ stammered her response. “N-nothing. Just my manager arranging more interviews for me when I get back. PR, damage control, that kind of thing,” she said weakly and shoved her phone in her back pocket.
Gabe knew she was lying. There was no way texts from her current manager would bring that reaction—at least they shouldn’t— not even if they were texts about scheduling interviews PJ didn’t want to do. He crossed his arms and eyed her, but she remained committed to the lie.
“Will you at least let me help you figure out who’s got your journal so we can stop them from releasing anything else?”
Her teeth sank into her lower lip as she thought about it. “I don’t really see what you can do to help with that. I mean, there’s not really any way to figure that out, is there?”
“Well, you could start by telling me the truth about who just texted you and why they’re texting,” he said, trying one more time to get her to open up to him.
Nope. He watched her face shut down and go completely blank.
“I told you. It was Debra.”
Gabe ground his teeth together again. He’d been doing a lot of that the last few days. He purposefully loosened his jaw and shrugged a shoulder.
“Fine. Why don’t I make us a little something more substantial for breakfast and you can throw your stuff back in your room. We’ll be heading over to Jack’s for the party at three, if that’s okay with you,” he said.
The look of relief on PJ’s face when he dropped the subject had him worried. What the hell is she hiding?
He watched as she went to her room and shut the door, then stepped down the hall to his own room to change clothes. Once locked away in his room, he dialed Chad.
Chad Thompson was the head of Security and Investigations for Sutton Capital. If anyone could find the origin of the content of those texts coming to PJ’s phone, Chad would be the one to do it.
“Hey, Gabe!” came Chad’s voice on the other end of the phone. “You in town for the party?”
“Yeah, I am. I’ll see you guys later today. I assume you and Jennie and the baby will be there?”
Chad laughed. “Kelly and Jennie would both string me up if I missed it. I think they’re having pony rides for the kids.”
Gabe shook his head. Leave it to Jack to have pony rides for a two-year-old’s birthday party.
“Listen,” Gabe said and lowered his voice. “I need a favor. If I give you a cell phone number, can you see texts coming into that phone without me handing you the phone physically?”
Chad groaned. “Do I want to know what this is about?”
Gabe hesitated a minute before speaking.
“It’s Pru. She’s in trouble, but she won’t tell me what’s going on.” He didn’t have to explain who Pru was. Chad and Jack and Andrew all knew Gabe was more than a little infatuated with PJ Cantrell, and that he still called her by her pre-fame nickname of Pru. It was how she’d first introduced herself to him and it had stuck.
“What kind of trouble?” Chad asked.
“I really don’t know for sure. Have you caught any of what’s going on in the news?”
“Jennie said she’d been having a tough time lately. Something about rumors and leaks,” Chad said.
“It’s pretty bad. Someone has her journal, and they’re posting all kinds of personal stuff about her on the Internet and leaking similar things to the tabloids. But, I think there’s more to it than she’s telling me. She’s getting texts that seem to have her reeling, but she won't tell me what they’re about or who they’re from.”
Chad was quiet for a long time before answering. “Is she there with you at the house?”
“Yeah. She’s coming to the party later.”
“If I can get hold of her phone at some point during the party, I’ll duplicate her SIM card and put it in a blank phone for you so you can see what’s coming in. If we can’t get hold of her phone, I’ll have to load some software onto your phone and then, provided you’re both within range of the same cell tower and she isn’t having messages encrypted, you’ll be able to read them on your phone.”
“Thanks, Chad. I owe you one.”
“Shoot, you owe me a lot more than that. This is extraordinarily illegal and pretty damn immoral. Are you sure you want to spy on the woman you want a relationship with? This is beginning to feel stalker-ish,” Chad said.
“I can’t have a relationship with her if she’s not safe. I’m sure someone’s threatening her, Chad. I can tell from her reaction to these texts. I want to keep her safe, and if that means giving up a shot at a relationship with her, so be it.”
Chad was quiet for a long moment before grunting his agreement and hanging up the phone.
Gabe steeled himself against the guilt creeping into his gut as he remembered the kiss the night before. He went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. He needed to focus on PJ’s safety right now. Nothing else.
***
Lydia smiled to herself, taking a few minutes to really enjoy that she was finally taking PJ Cantrell down a notch or two. Still smiling, she climbed in her car to head to Los Angeles.
Time to pay Jimmy Mondo a visit.
Chapter Seven
PJ stared at the words that came through on her phone display moments before.
Pretty Pru? Are you having a good morning now that the world knows you’re a whore? Whores who spread their legs have to pay the price someday, Pretty Pru. Or did you plan to lie to the world forever? Did you think you could hide what you truly are forever?
Anger flashed hot and strong through PJ, past the fear and panic she was feeling. Who was this person and what reason did they have to do this to her?
What do you want? Why are you doing this? She typed and sent the text back.
It was a long time before a response came back, and she had begun to wonder if the person would even answer her.
I want the world to know the truth. To know how much you’ve lied to everyone all these years. But, if I think you’ve paid your debt and are truly repentant, perhaps I won’t tell your final secret.
PJ waited but nothing more came. She threw her phone across the room. Not hard enough to damage it, but enough for a satisfying thunk to sound through the room. She walked from the room without picking it up.
***
Gabe and PJ walked across the back lawn and through the wooden gate in the stone wall that split Jack and Kelly’s property from Gabe’s. PJ felt almost wistful at the idea of living so close to such good friends. Of course, Gabe didn’t live here full time. His life was almost as much in motion as hers. But, at least he seemed to be starting to put down some roots. She had no stability anywhere in sight, but the more she saw of the life Gabe was beginning to build for himself here, the more she thought about making changes in her own life.
“So, if you do end up selling your hotels, is this where you’ll come? You’ll live here full time?” PJ asked as they walked up Jack and Kelly’s lawn toward the back of the house.
“Yeah. I think so. I like it here and I have more ties here than anywhere else,” he answered, pulling her hand into his.
“What about your family?” she asked. She realized they’d never talked about his family. She had no idea if he had brothers or sisters or was close to his parents, but she didn’t miss the sadness in his eyes at her question.
“My mom’s in a home about an hour from here. She needs round-the-clock care,” he said. PJ squeezed his hand and he continued. “My dad and sister died in a car accident when I was in college. It was the day before my sister’s high school graduation and my mom…. She just never really recovered from that.”
PJ shook her head. “I don’t know how anyone could recover from that,” she said and his eyes met hers. Her breath caught at the intensity of the look in his eyes, but then the moment passed, as quickly as it had come and she felt Gabe break the connection.
PJ was about to press him further, but he laughed and
pointed across the lawn, clearly not wanting to talk about his family anymore. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, but would the words really offer any comfort? Most likely just letting him drop the conversation would be best.
“Not only did Jack get Maddie pony rides for her birthday, he’s got a bouncy castle and jugglers. Man, what will he do when she turns three? Or sixteen?”
PJ laughed and looked across the lawn at the large spread before them. There were kids and adults everywhere, some jumping and playing in the pool, others fisting cupcakes and hot dogs. Apparently, they weren’t going to wait until the birthday song had been sung to dig into the sweets. Gabe’s thumb moved back and forth over her hand and she felt her stomach jump. He’d made it clear last night that he didn’t want anything more than friendship so…. Apparently the jumping beans in her stomach hadn’t gotten the hint.
She was hyperaware of how she looked, what she was wearing and whether he might find her attractive. Enough so that she had a hard time focusing when several of the guests made their way over and introductions were made.
She tried to remember if it was Andrew and Jill who lived on the other side of Gabe, or Chad and Jennie. Jennie held a beautiful baby girl who twisted in her arms, reaching for the ground.
“Okay, Ella,” Jennie said as she put the little girl on the ground and watched her crawl into the soft grass of the large backyard. “Run amok, baby girl.”
Then there were Jesse and Zach and Jack and Kelly. With all the Js and Ks, PJ felt sure she’d get something wrong and mix them up. But Gabe stayed with her the whole time, and made more introductions and included her in the conversations. And, his friends were welcoming, too. Once she’d sorted out in her head who was who, she enjoyed seeing them all catch up with Gabe and fill him in on their lives since he’d been back for his last visit a few months before.
