Deepest Book 2 ebook EPUB

by Thomas, C. M

  “Don’t do this. Don’t give up on me. Please, I love you.” Liam had tears in his eyes. I didn’t want to hurt him.

  “I’m not giving up. I’m trying to figure out how to live in this life. How to deal with all the stories and lies. Please give me time to deal with that. I will not give up on you, but I need to make peace with this.”

  “Alana can stay with me tonight. But please call or text me if you need me. I don’t feel good about leaving you here alone.”

  “I’ll be fine. Promise.”

  Chapter 22:

  Liam

  I didn’t want to leave her alone. When I walked out of the door at her house, I knew I should turn around and walk back in. Make her talk to me. Make her understand than we could work this out, that we could deal with the paparazzi together.

  I knew she needed time to deal with this, I just didn’t want her to do it alone. So that was why I was standing in front of Zane’s house. I knocked on the door, and a minute later, Zane opened the door.

  “What happened?” he asked, and moved so I could walk inside.

  “She doesn’t know if she can deal with this.” I sat down at the kitchen table and rested my head in my hands. “I can’t lose her again.”

  “I know. She will come around. Let her deal with this and talk to her.” Zane sat down at the table.

  “She doesn’t want to talk to me, that’s why I’m here. She wanted me to take Alana tonight, so she could be alone.”

  “What can we do? You need us to take Alana?” Anna came into the kitchen and joined us at the table.

  “No, I will take Alana.” I looked over at Anna. “But I need you to do something else.”

  “Anything.” Anna smiled.

  “Talk to her. You’ve been where she is right now.”

  “You want me to go over there now?” she asked.

  “If it’s okay with her. I don’t want her to feel like we’re ambushing her. I just don’t want her to be alone tonight. And Amy doesn’t have the same experience with the paparazzi as you do.”

  “We can both go over there if you want us to?” Zane said.

  “No, babe, I think it’s best if it’s just me. Liam is right, I’ve been there. I know how she feels, and no offense, but you can be a little annoying sometimes.” She kissed him on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder.

  “Fine, but one of the security guys will go over there with you,” Zane said.

  “There is one there already.” She might not want me to be with her tonight, but I wanted to keep her safe, so I texted Dax before I left her house. I made sure one of the guys was there all night, keeping her safe.

  “Call her and ask if it’s okay I’m coming by,” Anna said.

  “I’ll just text her, as she probably won’t answer her phone.” I took my phone out of my pocket and sent Evie a text.

  Me: Hey, just wanted to know if it’s okay if Anna comes by tonight? I don’t like you being alone.

  I was surprised that she answered me right away.

  Evie: There is no need. I’m fine alone.

  Me: I know, but it will make me feel better if someone is at the house with you. If not Anna, then Amy or Gia.

  Evie: Fine, Anna can come.

  Me: Thank you… Remember I love you more than anything, Sunshine.

  “She is okay with you coming over. But be prepared that she probably doesn’t want to talk about it.” I shrugged.

  “Never underestimate girl talk. At some point I will make her talk.”

  “Thank you for this. I need to go. Alana is at Mom and Dad’s. I need to get her so she can get home to sleep.” I stood up and walked over and gave Anna a hug.

  “I will call or text you later. Maybe first tomorrow morning. We will see how it goes,” she said.

  “It’s fine. I won’t be sleeping much tonight anyway.” I walked out of the house and drove up to my parents’ house and got Alana.

  “You need to sleep, baby girl.” I kissed Alana on the top of her head. She didn’t want to sleep without Evie here.

  “Mommy, where is she?” Alana cried.

  “She is with Anna. You can sleep in Mommy and Daddy’s bed tonight, okay?” I lifted her up from her bed and walked into our bedroom. I put her down on the bed and lay down beside her, pulling the covers over us and holding her in my arms. “Love you.”

  “Love Daddy.” Alana snuggled into my arms.

  “Good night, baby girl.” I kissed her on her cheek.

  I held her close, and soon she was sleeping. Maybe being in this bed calmed her down. I never thought she would sleep that fast. Not when I’d been trying to get her to sleep for an hour in her room, before giving up and letting her sleep in here.

  I still didn’t feel good about Evie not being here with us, but it helped that I knew Anna was with her tonight. Zane texted me just before I got home with Alana that he had driven Anna over to Evie’s house. Now I just hoped Anna could help Evie deal with this. And hopefully she would give me and our relationship a chance. If I lost her, I would break down. I couldn’t go through the loss of her one more time.

  I knew I had Alana, and of course I would always be here for her, no matter what. But Evie was a part of me, just like Alana. We were soulmates. I knew it might sound cliché and like some fairy tale. Then so be it, our story would have a happy ending. I wasn’t giving up on us.

  I slowly moved out of the bed and went to the bathroom. I took a quick shower before I got back in bed. Alana was sleeping with her head resting on Evie’s pillow. I smiled at the sight of my gorgeous daughter. I turned off the lights and hoped to get some sleep. But just before I fell asleep, I got a text from Anna.

  Anna: She is crushed. But she is talking about it.

  Me: Do you need me to come over?

  Anna: No, stay with your girl. I’ll be here for Evie.

  Me: Thank you so much. Talk to you tomorrow.

  I put my phone back on the bedside table and tried to get some sleep and not worry about Evie. But that was not as easy as I thought. We need to work this out, Sunshine.

  “Where is Mommy?” Alana looked up to me from the floor. She was playing on the floor and I was trying to concentrate on things other than the fact that the love of my life was not here. And that she was struggling with the fact that I was famous, or more with everything that came with that.

  “She’s having girl time with Anna.” I smiled. I didn’t want Alana to know that something was wrong, which was why I really tried my best not to show how sad and worried I really was.

  “Zay come here?” she asked.

  “We can go to Zane. You want that?”

  “No, Zay come here.” She stomped her foot on the ground and pouted. I tried my hardest not to laugh. She looked so cute when she was angry. She looked like her mom.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent a quick text to Zane.

  Me: Alana misses you.

  Zane: On my way.

  A second later, I heard him open the door.

  “That was fast.” I looked over at him, surprised.

  “I was already on my way, thought you might need some company.” He smiled before he walked over to Alana and sat down on the floor with her. “Hey, Lana, what are you doing?”

  “Playing. Daddy is sad,” she told Zane. Shit, I really didn’t think she noticed. But I guessed I was wrong. Zane looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

  “He just misses your mommy. But she is having so much fun with Anna.”

  “Okay.” Alana seemed to accept that, and got up and walked down the hall, probably down to her room to get even more toys. My mom bought the whole toy store for Alana, or at least that’s what it looked like. Her room here was full of new toys, and so was her room at my parents’ house.

  “Have you heard from Anna?” I asked Zane, when I was sure Alan
a wasn’t listening.

  “I have, that’s why I came here.” He got up from the floor and walked over to the couch and sat down. “She and Evie have been talking most of the night, and now they are waiting for Dax to come talk to them.”

  “Why Dax?” I asked, even though I knew why. Anna was trying to comfort Evie and to convince her that Alana would be safe, which was Dax’s job.

  “You know why.” Zane looked at me. I nodded. “Do you need me to take Alana today?”

  “No, then I don’t have her to distract me. I didn’t sleep much last night. All I can think about is how wrong it is that I’m not with Evie. That it’s Anna and not me trying to comfort her.” I shrugged.

  “I understand that. But Anna will call if she needs you.” I nodded. He continued, “We are used to the paparazzi, tabloids, and reporters. Evie isn’t. And not long ago, Anna wasn’t either. Not that she is totally fine with it, but she is getting there.”

  “I know. But if I lose her over this, then I don’t know what I’ll do.” I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

  “You won’t. If she didn’t want to fight for this, she would have run yesterday, you know that, right?”

  “Yeah. Still, I’m not sure if she will stay here. I know she won’t keep Alana from me, but herself? I’m not sure where our relationship stands right now. I kind of feel like we’re at the end of a road and we’re about to walk our separate ways.”

  “Don’t even think that. You guys are meant to be together.” Zane looked at me and smiled.

  “I hope we are. I love her so much that I don’t know what to do if she decides that this is too much.” I sniffed. I was not going to cry, but I could feel the pools in my eyes. I needed to change the subject before I started crying like a girl. “How about we take Alana outside? I need something else to think about.”

  “Sure, we can have a fun day with her. I will call Mom to let her know we will stop by for lunch.” Zane smiled and called our mom.

  I walked into Alana’s room and saw that she was sleeping on the floor. I guessed it was not just me who didn’t sleep well last night.

  I walked out of her room and told Zane that we would stay here until she woke up. We talked about the recording studio and the upcoming second part of the tour. An hour later, Alana was awake, and we walked outside to play and soon it was lunch and we walked up to our parents’ house. I really hoped Anna was making progress with Evie.

  Chapter 23:

  Evie

  “Did you get any sleep?” Anna asked when I walked into the kitchen. Last night after Liam left, she came over. Liam texted me to know if it was okay. That he didn’t want me to be alone. I knew it were more than that. But I didn’t mind her coming over.

  We talked a lot, about how to deal with the fact that the guys were famous and how to still have a private life. That it was okay to want some kind of private life. That not everything needed to be spread all over the tabloids. That it was possible to live a relatively normal life, even though I was dating a rock star.

  “Not much. I couldn’t seem to stop crying.” Last night I couldn’t stop the crying; my eyes just kept dripping with silent tears. Every wall I had built up over the last three years came crashing down on me. Some of them were already down, but the rest crashed last night. Raw tears and raw emotions—that was how I would describe last night. “You didn’t have to stay here.”

  “Sure I did. I want to make sure that you are alright.” She put a cup of coffee in front of me and sat down on the other side of the table with her own cup of coffee. “I called Dax. He will be here soon. I also called Zane, just to let him know what’s going on.”

  “Did he call?” I ignore what she said about Dax and Zane. We talked about it last night. She told me she would update Zane, let him know what was going on. And Dax, I needed to talk to him about this. I needed to make sure that Alana was safe. I wouldn’t make any decisions before I knew that for sure.

  “No, but Zane is with him and Alana now. I texted him last night, and other than that, I haven’t heard from him,” she answered, knowing that I was asking about Liam. I missed him last night.

  Making him leave was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. The disappointment in his eyes and the countless times he asked me not to make him leave damn near killed me.

  But I needed time. Time to get my head around all of this. I knew that he didn’t kiss that girl, I really just thought that it was the last drop. I needed the talk I had with Anna last night.

  She had been through this with Zane. The feelings about suddenly not being an anonymous person on the street but someone a lot of people had an opinion about. The fact that I had Alana to think about too just made this a thousand times harder. I knew Liam thought about her too and would do everything to keep her safe. But he was used to the tabloids. He ignored them for the most part, and it didn’t seem to bother him what they wrote.

  I needed to get to that point too. At least if I wanted our relationship to move forward. And I really wanted this to work. I loved him so much.

  “Are you alright?” Dax asked the moment he sat down at the table.

  “Not really.” I sniffed. I didn’t burst out crying right now; it seemed that my body was finally out of tears.

  “What can I do to make it better?”

  “I need to know that Alana is safe. That if we go with Liam on tour that she will be safe there. I want to go with him, to be with him. But not if she’s not safe,” I told him.

  Anna added, “Like I told you, she needs to know that you guys can keep both Alana and her safe. Kind of like I did.” Anna smiled and took my hand and gave it a small squeeze. I thought we would be really good friends.

  The fact that she spent the night here, hearing all about my concerns and all my crying, showed me that she wanted me to stay, and she gave me the courage to fight for this. For Liam and me. For my family. For Alana.

  “First of all, you’re safe. Alana is too. If you decide to go on tour with us, I think that I might add a guy or two to my team. That way we can make sure that Alana is safe from the reporters and paparazzi. I don’t want her to be afraid when you guys are in public.” Dax smiled. “I’ve done this job a long time. I know what I’m doing. But I do understand your concerns. I also think that the moment the tabloids don’t chase the first picture of Alana, they will calm down a little. But they will always be there. It comes with the territory now that you’re in a relationship with a rock star.”

  “I know. And that is okay, I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is if they hurt my baby. If she can’t be on a playground without a camera in her face. I understand that we can’t keep them away, but I need them to be at a distance.”

  “I will make sure they are at a distance, that she will have a great experience if you join on the tour. Have you considered a nanny?” Dax asked.

  “No. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.” I was not sure I would ever be ready for that.

  “I understand. If you at some point want a nanny, let me know and we will find one that both you and Liam are comfortable with. And someone who knows the issues that come up when working for a famous couple.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled at him.

  “You’re welcome. You need anything else?” he asked.

  “I might need one more thing. I will call you about that later. I want Liam’s name on her birth certificate.” I’d thought about that a lot. I always knew that at some point his name would be on there, but I thought that it was the right way to show him that none of us were going anywhere.

  “You’re staying, then?” Anna asked, a big smile on her face.

  “I am. I think I knew that last night too. I just needed to get all the fears and insecurities out.”

  “You just call me and we will figure it out. Always remember that I’m only a phone call away,” Dax said before he got up from the c
hair and started walking over to the door.

  “Thank you for coming and for talking to me.” I smiled at him.

  “Anytime. See you two later,” he said before he walked out of the house.

  “You ready?” Anna asked. We were about to drive back to Liam’s house. I’d packed the things I brought with me yesterday, and I was ready to go back to my girl and her dad. This time I wouldn’t run.

  “Just a moment. Do you mind if Alana stays with you guys for a couple of hours? I think Liam and I need to talk—alone.”

  “Not at all. Do you want me to call Zane?”

  “No, I will text him. I don’t want Liam to know I’m back just yet.” I smiled. I took out my phone and texted Zane.

  Me: Need a favor.

  Zane: What do you need?

  Me: Can you make sure that Liam walks back to his house alone, in about a half an hour?

  Zane: Sure. But what about Alana? He won’t let her out of his sight today.

  Me: Make something up, just make him go get something…

  Zane: So bossy. I will figure something out. You okay?

  Me: Yes, thanks for being okay with Anna staying with me last night.

  Zane: Anytime. We’re family, remember?

  Me: I know.

  I put my phone back in my bag and walked over to Anna, who was standing by the door, waiting for me.

  “Now I’m ready.” I smiled.

  “Great. What’s the plan?” she asked when we got in the car.

  “Let’s drive the back way. That way Liam won’t see your car. If it’s not too much trouble, I would like for you to drive me to Liam’s house and then drive back to your house, through the front gate.”

  “No trouble at all. What did you tell Zane?”