by C. J. Anaya
“Midge believes that Felicia is using someone else to deliver these threats,” Talin said, after sharing the details of his previous conversation with Madelyn.
Brody pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. It hurt to think that when she had finally decided to confide in someone she’d confided in Talin.
“Talin, I know you wanted to continue to keep Felicia on the show in order to catch her red handed, but that doesn’t seem likely if she’s leaving the dirty work to someone else,” Knightly said.
Brody had brought more of his concerns to the group immediately after he found the box with the spider in Midge’s room. Brody and Knightly had thought it best to eliminate Felicia from the show rather than attempt to press charges of harassment since there was nothing concrete they could pin her with, but Talin had worried that Felicia’s elimination would cause her to become more dangerous, and he wouldn’t be able to keep tabs on her actions if she weren’t present on set, but keeping tabs on her hadn’t seemed to prevent Felicia’s attacks. An accomplice definitely filled in a few blanks.
“I think at this point we’re damned if we do and we’re damned if we don’t. Even with Felicia off the show, she still has an accomplice here working for her.”
“What’s the likelihood that it’s Cambria?” Brody asked.
“I don’t know, Brody. You’ve spent more time with her than any of us, and you certainly looked like you enjoyed it. What do you think?”
Brody felt annoyed at Talin’s verbal dig, but decided now wasn’t the time or the place to have a confrontation.
“I’d never pick her out of a crowd and label her Felicia’s minion, but that might be what makes her so perfect. She isn’t the obvious villain here.”
“Midge is sharing a room with Cambria tonight,” Knightly said. His voice held a hint of panic. “What are we going to do to ensure her safety?”
“She can bunk with me,” Talin said. “Putting her with any other contestant is only going to endanger them both, and she’ll be much safer with me in my room.”
“If she’s going to be staying with anyone, it’s going to be me. She’s my girlfriend after all, and I think I’m just as capable of protecting her as you are.”
“Right, because you’ve had just as many years of military training as I’ve had.”
Brody scowled at Talin, ready to take this argument to the next level if he had to when Knightly interrupted.
“Personally, I’m not happy with the idea of Midge sharing a bedroom with either one of you. A father shouldn’t be privy to such details, but I agree she can’t stay in a room with Cambria if we aren’t certain of the young woman’s innocence. Brody, she’ll stay with you in your room tonight, but I must insist that you sleep on the couch, or carpet, or possibly in the tub.”
“I think I can manage that,” Brody said, deciding it would be unwise to mention the other times he had spent the night with Madelyn.
“Fine,” Talin muttered. “What are we going to do about Felicia then? Has your man come up with anything in her background that we can possibly take to the police?”
Brody shook his head. “Nothing concrete.”
“Then I think it is better to keep her on for now and observe her interactions with Cambria. At some point we’ll catch her doing something underhanded, and hopefully we’ll catch it on camera.
Brody nodded, though he was ready to eliminate Felicia and be done with it. In truth, he was ready to elope with Madelyn and leave the cameras, the spotlight, and the threats to her safety far behind them.
Unfortunately, he was contractually obligated to continue on with the show, and since he had no intention of proposing to anyone but Madelyn he couldn’t eliminate her in order to protect her, and who was to say she would be safe without him by her side. He simply didn’t know how far Felicia intended to take this.
Talin took off in a frustrated huff after that, and Brody sank back in his seat with worries of Madelyn’s true affections for him plaguing his thoughts.
She shared a long history with Talin, and they were obviously very good friends. She trusted him enough to go to him when she was being threatened while Brody had tried to patiently wait for her to come to him, not wanting to force her trust or confidence, but fully expecting that their developing relationship would eventually nudge her in that direction. He had no idea what to make of her current actions.
“Talin is a big brother to Midge and nothing more, Brody.” Knightly gave him a knowing smile. “Try not to get into your head too much over the guy.”
Brody gave him a rueful chuckle and let out an uneasy breath.
“Is my jealousy that obvious?”
“Yes, but so is her affection for you.”
“And you approve of your daughter remaining in a relationship with me?”
“Brody, I’ve done everything in my power to protect and provide for my daughter. I’m not saying I was always one hundred percent perfect at it, but I took her with me everywhere I went, tried to keep her out of the spotlight when it came to the media, and eventually I put her through college even though I wanted to keep her close to me.”
Brody’s eyes raised in astonishment.
“Hold on a second. Are you saying you were the one funding her scholarship?”
Knightly shrugged. “Of course I was. Madelyn only applied for one, and some other doofus with zero intelligence got it. She would have had no way to pay for her tuition, and after the fight we had where I behaved like a tyrant, she wasn’t going to accept any help from me, so I had to do something to make her dreams a reality. I contacted some bigwig at the school and set up funding for Midge under the agreement that it would be presented to her as a scholarship.”
Brody shook his head, marveling at Knightly’s actions and gaining much more respect for him than he’d previously possessed.
“So why cut her funding now? Why not offer her trust fund to her after she got her degree?”
“Do you really think Midge would have accepted it? She needed a compelling reason to take it back, and I was groping for a way to become relevant in her life again. So I cut her funding and forced her to face me. I’ve spent the last six years giving her the space she needed to become her own person rather than Corbin Knightly’s daughter. She needed that independence. She needed to get away from the Hollywood scene for a while, but I’ve missed her.” He shrugged his shoulders again. “I just wanted my daughter back in my life again, Brody, but I’ve never been very good at communicating all of that to her.”
“Are you ever going to tell her about the scholarship?”
“No. I won’t take that accomplishment away from her or cheapen it in any way. She thought she earned that tuition money and in my opinion she did. I never did pay her for all the work she put in on my projects. I consider it back pay.” He smiled unseeingly at a picture across the room. “I know she’s upset that she was forced to come on this show and then stay, but like I said, I’ve done my very best to provide for and protect my daughter, and when it comes to what’s best for Midge, I’m convinced the eternal solution to that problem is now going to be you. So to finally answer you, yes, I approve of your relationship with my daughter.”
“I won’t let anything happen to her, Corbin.”
“I know you won’t.”
Cambria and Midge stopped short in the entryway of their door. The navy blue cocktail dress Midge had planned on wearing the next night was lying on the bed in shreds.
“What in the world is going on? Who did this?” Cambria cried as she ran over to the bed and began gathering pieces of the dress into her arms.
Midge was stunned at the ferocity with which the material had been destroyed.
“I have no idea, but it looks like someone has some serious rage issues.”
Midge surveyed Cambria’s heartbroken expression and couldn’t deny that it was very convincing.
“Why weren’t my things ripped to shreds? It’s almost like this was a targeted attack on you? I don’t unde
rstand it.”
“I’ve received a few pranks here and there that have led me to believe someone on this show wants me gone,” Midge admitted with reluctance.
“I think we better get Rhodes in here and let him know what’s happened,” Cambria said. She immediately whipped out her phone and called him before Midge could comment on her surprise that Cambria actually had Talin’s phone number.
Unfortunately, there was no way she could keep this quiet now that Cambria was involved. Talin arrived moments later with Brody quick to follow.
Midge cringed as his eyes took in the damage and his skin became blotchy with anger.
“Madelyn, you’re staying in my room tonight,” Brody said.
“Look, I’ll admit this looks bad, but I really think it’s just a prank.”
“Just a prank? Are you really going to pretend you don’t know what’s going on here or should I leave the room so you can continue to confide in Talin?
Midge’s jaw went slack and her eyes widened in surprise.
Talin eased himself over to Cambria and grabbed her by the arm.
“Midge, I think you and Brody have a few things to work out. Cambria, let’s relocate you to a different room. Possibly mine,” he said with a wink in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. “I can come back and take a look at the damage in a few minutes.”
He ushered Cambria out of the room as quickly as possible.
Brody slammed the door behind them and then turned to face Midge. His chest was heaving with the obvious anger and frustration he felt.
“Do you mind telling me what that was all about?” Midge said.
“I’m not the one responsible for explaining myself. When were you going to tell me about the spider and the threatening messages?”
Midge grimaced and bit her bottom lip.
“How did you find out about that?”
“I saw how nervous you got staring at that box and checked it out when you were in the bathroom.”
Midge nodded, feeling relieved that he finally knew the truth.
“I should have told you about the threats, but I didn’t because I knew you would overreact.”
“Overreact? Your life is being threatened. Any reaction at this point isn’t going to be nearly strong enough, and then you go and tell Talin all about it? Apparently, you trust Talin enough to worry about your safety, but you don’t trust me.”
“You are taking this the wrong way, Brody. I have no interest in dating Talin.”
“Then why in the world would you turn to him as if he were your boyfriend?”
“He’s head of security and he’s a good friend. He was the obvious choice.”
Midge bit the inside of her cheek, immediately aware that hadn’t been the best thing to say.
Brody’s eyes darkened and he took a step toward her.
“Is he the obvious choice now? Is he your only choice, Madelyn?”
She pointed a finger at him.
“That’s not fair and you know it. I have been honest with you about my feelings toward you, Talin, and everything else you’ve ever asked me. I am only interested in you.”
“Then why didn’t you come to me the moment you knew you were in danger? Why go to Talin.”
“Because I was afraid if I told you what was happening you would eliminate me from the show to keep me safe and then I’d have to watch you on live television proposing to some other woman who will never be capable of caring for you the way I do.”
Midge gasped at her own admission fully expecting Brody to laugh at her or worse, admit that his feelings weren’t as strong as hers, but her words seemed to ignite a burning fire within him. His eyes flashed then darkened and the hungry gaze of a predator set in as he crossed the distance between them.
“Good answer,” he said before grabbing her roughly by the shoulders and devouring her lips with his.
She responded to his lips with equal passion, wholly immersing herself in the possessive feel of his arms wrapping around her and pulling her snug against his chest. He pulled back just enough to give them time to breathe and then he was kissing her again. Her lips, her cheeks, the freckles across her nose, and then back to her lips again.
“For the record, I would never have eliminated you from the show, not when I can get rid of Felicia instead and never let you out of my sight, and I’d certainly never propose to anyone else when I am completely and madly in love with you,” he said in a hoarse voice once they finally came up for air. “You are rooming with me tonight.”
“Yeah. I think that’s probably a good idea,” Midge agreed.
“Your father has given me strict instructions to sleep anywhere but in the same bed as you.”
Midge snorted. “You’ve already discussed this with him?”
“Corbin, Talin, and I have been working on keeping you safe for some time, and even though I would much rather share a bed with you, I think I may need to take a cold shower and then stay safe in the bathtub for the rest of the night.”
“How exactly will you keep me safe if you’re in the bathtub and I’m on the bed?”
“A very good question. Perhaps I’ll allow you to posit that one to your father.”
Midge laughed. “Just hold me tonight like you did the last time, and we’ll be okay.”
Brody kissed the top of her head and snuggled her into his arms more securely.
“I think that’s an excellent idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“How could you be so reckless?” Liz hissed as Felicia sat at the ornate vanity brushing her long hair. “We agreed that our next move was to blackmail Midge with her own manuscript, not shred her dress like some psychotic hell cat.”
Felicia’s eyes narrowed into slits. She wasn’t about to take any lip from this particular peasant.
“I lost my temper momentarily. Who cares? No one saw me go in their room.”
Liz’s grunt amused and annoyed Felicia.
“Have you downloaded Madelyn’s manuscript?”
“Yes,” Liz replied becoming all business. She handed over a jump drive and a large purse. “The drive has a copy of the manuscript, and the purse has a hidden camera embedded in the lining on the side. You’ll need to keep the purse pointed in front like so in order to film Midge’s reaction.”
“Tell me again why I’m the one blackmailing her instead of you? I’ll be caught on camera blackmailing a contestant.”
“And you’re worried Brody will eliminate you for it, I know. We’ve been over this several times. You are going to let him know that you suspected Midge’s feelings were fake all along and just had to do something to protect him. You can even lie and say you never really hacked into the computer and stole her manuscript. You were just bluffing to get her to confess. He’ll see you did it for love and keep you on the show. Once she’s out of the way, there’s no reason to think he won’t chase after you like he should have from the beginning.”
“Yes, he certainly will, won’t he?” Felicia studied her reflection in the mirror and then grabbed a tube of bright red lip stick and smeared it over her collagen filled lips.
“This needs to be recorded and given to Brody before the diamond ceremony tonight. When is your one-on-one with Brody?”
“Right now. We’re doing some rose garden tour and eating a light breakfast. You can confront her while I’m gone and when I get back I will edit the recording and burn it to a disk for Brody.”
“Just remember that you’re going on a date with my future husband. Keep your claws to yourself.”
Felicia took sick joy in the annoyed grimace that flitted across Liz’s features. So much so that she had to dig the nail just a little bit deeper. “While you’re at it, make sure to be the worst, most annoying version of Charlene Dubois you can be.”
Liz came out of Felicia’s room so fast she didn’t think to check the stairway to see if anyone was coming. Her shoulder bumped into someone and she let out a startled gasp nearly losing her footing in the process.
<
br /> “Charlene, are you okay?”
Brody Prescott held her firmly by the shoulders, helping to steady her as she slightly wavered.
“I’m fine,” Liz said.
Responding to her alias was difficult when she was consumed with so much rage after every encounter with Felicia.
Brody looked behind her, noticing the door from which she had stumbled out of.
“Isn’t that Felicia Davenport’s room?”
“Ah, yes. Yes it is, and unfortunately I got stuck rooming with the heinous cow. Worst roomie ever. She just flagged me down and asked that I bring her a mojito and some all natural fruit yogurt of all things. Since she’s kind of scary, I decided to actually do it rather than ignore her.”
Brody chuckled, his serious expression relaxing as he motioned for her to continue to walk with him down the hallway.
“I can understand that instinctive need to protect oneself in the presence of Felicia Davenport.”
Liz smiled at his candor, enjoying the feel of her arm in his as he escorted her down the hallway. He may have had feelings for Madelyn, but she hoped that once Madelyn agreed to leave the show that he would see her as the best option left for him. After all, they had always gotten along great on the group dates and their personal conversations during the cocktail parties were easy and comfortable. He clearly liked her. Possibly as just a friend and nothing more, but great relationships always started off with great friendships. She could wait for him to come around so long as Madelyn was out of the picture…in a non-lethal way.
“Are you ready for our date?” he asked.
“Absolutely. I’ve been looking forward to this since the start of the show.”
“You mean you’re not sick of me yet?” he joked.
“I imagine I could probably throw out several compliments to convince you of my enthusiastic interest in you, but would you believe me or would you just assume that I’m after your money?”
