Savannah Series Boxed Set: Four Full Novels and One Novella

by Jamie, Danielle

  Walking up to the check-out line, I start setting my items on the conveyer belt, and stop dead when I see the cover for the new In Touch Weekly beside me. On the cover is a picture of Kayden and some girl I’ve never seen before. They’re sitting together at a bar, and the headline reads, “My wild night in Paris with Kayden Knox.”

  “What the fuck is this!” Brooklyn snaps the magazine from the shelf before I can.

  “I don’t know.” I say in a daze, shaking my head. I’m snapped back to reality when the cashier asks me to please pay because there’s a line forming behind me. Taking out my debit card, I quickly slide it through and pay for my items. Grabbing my bag, I dart out of the store and into Brooklyn’s Jeep.

  A few moments later, Brooklyn’s sitting in the driver’s seat, breaking every speed limit as she drives back to the beach house. “I don’t believe that shit for one minute Savannah, and neither should you. That man loves you; anyone who’s not blind can see that!”

  I can’t contain my sobs as the words bounce around in my head. Kayden was in Paris just before my birthday. Would he cheat on me? Then the next day, ask me to marry him? I don’t know what to think. I never in a million years thought Logan would cheat on me. Man didn’t I get a big fat slap in the face that night; I never had a clue that Logan was cheating on me.

  Kayden has been so open with me, and allowing me to look at his phone whenever I’m feeling moody or insecure. I have his Twitter and Facebook passwords, and he has mine. We agreed on being completely open and honest with each other like Dr. Wilcott had suggested. He’s not given me one reason to doubt his devotion to me. I know better than anyone how people can sell false stories to the press.

  “You need to talk to Kayden before you do anything rash Savannah.”

  “Your right, I’ll talk to him as soon as he gets home tonight.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Kayden

  After spending the entire afternoon in meetings, I’m happy to finally have a second to breathe. I had to skip lunch for a phone conference with China, so now that I have a few free minutes, I want to run down the street and grab something to eat. Exiting my office, I head down the elevator to the lobby. When I step into the lobby, there are people everywhere; it’s busy for a Thursday afternoon.

  “Crappy day, isn’t it.” I say to the doorman as I step out into what is now a torrential downpour. Sprinting to my car, I jump into the back seat.

  “Jesus, I’m out there one second and I’m drenched!” I say, sliding in to escape the rain.

  Turning to look at me, Jax has a serious look on his face. I don’t like that look one bit. Every time Jax looks like this, he has something bad to tell me. “Yeah mate, this weather really sucks. But I guess we need it, after the drought we’ve been having.”

  “Yeah…I suppose.” Staring at Jax, I contemplate prying whatever it is he has to say out of him, but decide I better feed myself first.

  I ordered my sub before leaving the Beaumont Industries building, and told them I’d tip whoever was willing to bring my food out to my car, very well. I don’t want to get wetter then I have to. There’s nothing worse than sitting in a stuffy office with the AC cranked all afternoon while wearing a soaking wet suit.

  After finishing my sub, I decide it’s time to ask Jax what’s going on. “Are you going to tell me what’s got you looking like you’re chewing on something sour?”

  Parking the car out front of the office, Jax turns and looks at me, immediately sending chills down my spine, when he says, “Did you sleep with someone when you were in Paris?”

  What the fuck did he just ask me? The real question here is what the fuck is possessing him to ask me this? “What?! No! Why the fuck would you even ask me that, Jax?”

  Sliding his hands over his face, I can see he’s struggling with telling me what’s going on. “Jax, why would you ask me that? I would never…I mean never...cheat on Savannah. You of all people should know this! You’re one of my best friends, for Christ’s sake!”

  “Don’t you think I know this? You don’t think it’s killin’ me havin’ to ask my best mate these questions?” Reaching into the passenger seat, Jax grabs something and then tosses it into my lap. Looking down at the magazine laying there, I feel like all the air just got sucked out of the car. Picking it up, I read the cover and flick through the magazine, trying to find the article.

  “This is a bunch of shit! I met this girl in Paris, but nothing happened! She was there with Giselle. Fed me some shit about being a huge fan and wanting to take a picture with me. I swear to you Jax; that’s all that happened. I love Savannah, and I would never cheat on her. I just asked her to marry me! Do you seriously think I’m that fucked up? That I’d propose to her the day after sleeping with someone behind her back?”

  My mind is spinning right now as I try to process all of this. I feel like someone just smashed a brick over my head. Digging into my briefcase, I find my bottle of aspirin; quickly washing two down with my bottle of water. I already know they won’t even come close to touching the headache I now have. Nothing will make me feel better until I get this fixed.

  Pulling out my cell, I text Savannah, telling her that the story out right now is complete BS. I’ll fix this. Dialing the woman that’s head of my PR, I make it clear I want this story retracted. I want them to find this woman and make her confess to everyone that this is all a big ass lie.

  ~~~

  Savannah

  Lying on the couch, drowning in a tub of mint chocolate chip ice-cream and chocolate chip cookies, I stare at my cell. Kayden text me a little over thirty minutes ago telling me he knows about the story and not to believe it. I just don’t know what to believe. I know there has to be some truth to the story, seeing they have pictures of them together. Photos don’t lie, and they’re both all smiles.

  “Will you wipe that sad look off of your face?!” Brooklyn shouts at me, sitting down on the couch beside me. “This is all one big fat lie. I know it and you should too, Savannah. We’ve been around this shit for so long. You know half the crap they print is half truths.”

  “I’m trying! It’s just, after everything I went through with Logan I don’t know what to believe. I never thought he would cheat, and he was screwing half of Los Angeles!”

  “I knew Logan was a douche bag from the moment I met him, so him cheating was only a shocker for you, Savannah. Kayden, on the other hand, is nothing like Logan! That man has eyes only for you, and if you can’t see that, there’s something seriously wrong with you.” Snapping the ice cream from my hand, Brooklyn gives me a look of death. Her eyes are burning hot right now with anger.

  I spent the next thirty minutes staring at the clock on the wall, watching it slowly tick by. Each second that ticks by, I find it harder and harder to breathe. I hear the roar of Kayden’s Raptor pulling up to the house, and my heart literally stops beating.

  “That’s my cue to leave!” Jumping to her feet, Brooklyn gives me a sympathetic smile and heads out onto the deck.

  I feel like my stomach is in my throat as I wait for Kayden to enter the house. Twisting my fingers together, I stare down at my lap as I hear the front door open.

  Kayden slams the front door, making me jump. Turning to look at him, he looks like a complete mess. Tossing his dress coat onto the chair, he runs to the side of the couch. His hair looks as if he’s ran his fingers through it over a hundred times on the drive over. His face is red and flushed with anger.

  As soon as our eyes lock, I lose it. I fall apart, curling into a ball on the couch. I cry so hard; my head is pounding, my throat’s burning and my stomach is doing summersaults right now.

  Pulling me off of the couch and into his lap, Kayden hugs me tightly against his chest. “Please don’t cry. It’s not true, please, baby. I swear to you it’s not true.”

  Feeling torn and confused, I don’t answer him. I just lay there a shattered mess in his arms, and cry. With my heart telling me to believe him, and my head shouting at me not to
believe him, I don’t know what to think. I know he loves me, but he’s a man. Being away on business trips, what’s to say he won’t give in to temptation and sleep with someone. This woman is gorgeous; she’s a model for crying out loud. How do I compete with that? Her body makes me look like a plain Jane.

  “Savannah, please talk to me.” Running his fingers through my hair, he kisses my forehead. It kills me hearing the desperation in Kayden’s voice. I love this man with everything I have. I just don’t know if I can believe him. I want to, but I’m scared I’ll find out its true, and then I’ll look like the biggest fool.

  “I don’t know what to believe, Kayden.” I finally say in between cries. “I need some time to think.” Climbing out of his arms, I make my way up the stairs to our bedroom. I just finished unpacking all of my things, thinking this was the beginning of our happily ever after. Now I don’t know if when I walk out that door it will be just for now, or forever.

  Walking into the bedroom, and leaning against the doorway to my closet, Kayden looks down at me. I’m on my knees tossing some clothing into my Louis Vuitton bag. Not sure where I’m going or what I’m doing, just that I need some time to let all of this sink in.

  “What are you doing, Savannah?” He finally asks, breaking the silence in the room.

  Zipping my bag, I toss it on my shoulder and stop in front of him. “I just need some time to think, Kayden. I need to find this woman and find out if this is all a lie. Why would she do this? Ruin someone’s happiness for a couple grand? Or what if, in fact, what she said is true?!”

  Grabbing my shoulders, Kayden stares into my eyes, pleading with me to believe him. “It isn’t true! The fact that you would believe this fuckin’ lie speaks volumes, Savannah. Logan fucked you up so much that you can’t see when someone is lying to you or telling you the truth! I’ve done nothing but be open with you about everything. Never once have I ever given you a reason to doubt me. Now the first sign of trouble, you’re running?”

  Letting out a gasp, I step back. I can’t believe the words that are coming out of his mouth. Before I can react, my hand’s connecting with his cheek. “How dare you!”

  “Feel better? If not, go ahead, Savannah, slap me again. You have gone through so much shit between Logan and then the kidnapping. I understand your struggle to trust someone. But I thought you loved me enough to believe me over any bullshit story sold to the press!” Pushing through Kayden, I run down the stairs and burst out the door. Standing in the pouring rain, I stare up into the dark skies. Letting the raindrops fall onto my face, I scream as loud as I can. Letting out all the frustrations that I have bubbling inside of me that are ready to erupt out of me at any moment.

  Kayden’s arms wrap around me, snapping me out of my trance. “You’re going to catch pneumonia standing out here in the rain. Please come back inside and talk about this.”

  The tug-a-war between my brain and my heart is overwhelming. The feeling of Kayden’s arms around me, even though I want to hate it, I love them holding me tightly against him. A slight whimper escapes my mouth. “I am so confused, Kayden.” I say defeated. I don’t have the strength to fight with him anymore.

  Going into autopilot, feeling my entire body going numb from the pain, I stare up at his beautiful green eyes, now darkened with pain and sadness. “I just need time, please just give me time, Kayden.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  One Week Later

  Sitting on the set of As The Days Go By feels surreal. Brooklyn has been killin’ it all week, nailing all of her lines. She’s so talented; I know it won’t be long until she catches her big break. Watching her act every day this week has been a nice distraction from my chaotic life. It’s been a week since I left Texas and flew out to LA with Brooklyn. Kayden pleaded with me to stay so we could figure this out together, but I need to do this on my own. I need to find out the truth myself, so I know what I’m told is the real story.

  It’s killed me every day being away from him, because without him with me, I feel like a piece of me is missing. I Googled the girl who claims to have slept with Kayden in Paris. Her name’s Nadia Vanero, and she’s some up and coming model. Brooklyn has made it very clear that I’m stupid for not ignoring the article. Everything in me is screaming to just get on a plane and run back to Kayden. Just say screw the damn accusations, I love him and that’s all that matters. I should love him enough to believe his version. But I can’t; no matter how badly I want to. I. Just. Can’t.

  A sliver of me is thinking what if it is true? What if he had a lapse in judgment and slept with her. Kayden has texted me every day since we arrived in LA. Every day I’ve gotten beautiful bouquets of flowers with cute little I love you’s written on the cards. I understand completely that this is hard for Kayden, too.

  I don’t want to be one of those women who marry a rich, powerful man who sleeps around behind their back, and the wife just turns a blind eye to their behavior. I hate that this is happening right now. We’re supposed to be planning our wedding. I thought I would be spending this entire week mailing out engagement announcements to friends, family, and the newspapers. Instead, we’re thousands of miles apart with our future questionable.

  Staring down at my engagement ring, I feel myself doubting my decisions. How do you know what is the right choice to make in a situation like this? If I stayed and tried to figure out what was the truth, and what was fabricated, I would feel torn because I stayed, even though this woman is suggesting my fiancé cheated on me with her. I’d be just as torn as I am right now after leaving. But would it make the pain a little less still having Kayden by my side? Or would it make it even more excruciating?

  I talked with my mom a few days ago, letting her know Kayden has flat out said there’s no truth to the story. She’s even agreed with Brooklyn, telling me she doesn’t see it. The way Kayden talks about me to them, she knows how much he loves me. I let her know we’re still together; I just came with Brooklyn to LA to get some space to think.

  Brooklyn’s convinced that Giselle had something to do with all of this. After Kayden mentioned that Nadia was with her at the hotel that night, Brooklyn said she would bet a million dollars that Giselle planned this whole thing. She’s been jealous of mine and Kayden’s relationship since day one.

  We’ve tried to get in contact with Nadia, but she’s refused to take any of our calls. Brooklyn’s on a mission to track her down and beat the truth out of her if she has to. I just hope once we finally do reach her; she doesn’t confirm my fears and tells us that she did, in fact, sleep with Kayden that night.

  Bouncing across the stage, Brooklyn grabs my hands, pulling me out of the chair, and out of my thoughts. “Ready to bust outta this joint?”

  “Yup, let’s go.” Following her through the studio, we head outside to the cab waiting for us.

  Sliding into the back of the cab, we give the driver the directions to Dee’s Café. We’re meeting Reagan and Rebecca there for dinner before we all go out to Vertigo tonight.

  “You hear from Kayden today?” Brooklyn asks while texting on her cell.

  “Yeah, he called me earlier while you were in hair and makeup. He said he just wanted to see how I was doing and told me he misses me.” It takes everything in me to not cry right now. I’ve been an emotional mess since all of this happened. I was finally getting to a good place and then had the rug pulled out from under me…again.

  “I hate that you two are going through all of this. I’m not going to rest until we find that little home wreckin’ tramp. Once I’m done with her, she’ll be telling the world what a lying little skank she is.”

  ~~~

  Walking into Vertigo, I can’t help but be consumed with thoughts of Kayden. Twirling my engagement ring, I nervously watch as Brooklyn texts away on her phone. “Who are you texting?”

  “Xander.” Ignoring the shocked look on my face, Brooklyn pushes through the crowd of people. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, we make it to the bar. “Two bottles of Twi
sted Tea, please!” She shouts to the bartender over the music.

  Handing me my twisted tea, she tries to dodge my questions, but I’m not giving up that easily. “Brooklyn! Why are you texting Xander? I thought things with Jax were getting serious?”

  Letting out a loud sigh, she climbed up onto a stool at the bar. “He’s in LA for a concert and texted me asking if we would be in LA Sunday night. If we want to go, he’ll set tickets aside for us at the doors, along with some back stage passes.”

  “Oh. I guess it could be fun, as long as you can behave yourself. Don’t go all crazy. I know what a sucker you are for hot sweaty rockers; a backstage pass spells danger…maybe we should skip on those?”

  “Hell no! I want to meet the other band they’re opening for! I love them! And you know the only rocker I would go all fan girl on and jump his bone’s backstage is Jared Leto.” Winking at me and flashing an impish grin, she drank the rest of her twisted tea and sashayed onto the dance floor.

  Finishing my drink, I wave the bartender over and ask for a shot of whiskey. I need something stronger than a twisted tea to numb my mind tonight. Tipping it back, I welcome the slow burn as it rolls down the back of my throat. “Another!” I shout, slamming my shot glass down on the bar.

  “Well, what do we have here?” Not recognizing the voice, I decide to tune it out and toss my next shot back. Signaling to the bartender, I have him fill the glass up to the brim.

  Not taking the hint, the guy sits down beside me. “So, you off duty tonight?” Well that just perked my interest. Snapping my head around, I lock eyes with Shayne.

  Oh, shit! “What?” I ask, trying to play dumb.

  “You’re not carrying any handcuffs tonight. So I’m assuming you’re off duty…Officer Savannah, if I remember correctly?”

  Oh, double fuck me! “Another! Please…” Not skipping a beat, I quickly swallow down the next shot.

  “Rough night?” He asks with laughter in his voice as he watches me tip back my shot. Waving the bartender over, he orders whatever’s on tap. My eyes are instantly drawn to his arms and I find myself staring at his many tattoos as he lifts the mug of beer up to his lips. His black hair is still cut short, and his dark brown eyes are warm and welcoming, but have a glimmer of mischief in them.