The only problem, Tess had said with evident frustration—he’d been on his best behavior. At least, where his wife was concerned. So good, in fact, that Tess was starting to think he knew that his wife was having him watched by private investigators.
So, we just have to wait and hope he messes up? Lila had asked in obvious dismay.
Tess had given us the most cryptic look of all time as she’d said, There might be another way...
Lila fidgeted beside me as a waiter came by with a tray filled with something I couldn’t even begin to identify. “She still hasn’t told me what she’s found on my mom’s computer,” she said under her breath.
I gave in to temptation and squeezed her hand again under the table. That was the one part that was still a mystery. With Vivien’s help—and by that, Lila and I assumed Tess meant ‘with Vivien’s money and resources’—Tess had gotten even more inside information on the shadier transactions being moved around in their dad’s accounts.
One payment, in particular. It came out of his account every month like clockwork. It looked like another alimony payment, except that it didn’t go to any of the obvious accounts. Tess had been working like mad to figure out where it was going and what it was for—if he and the person being paid were being so secretive about it, then she reasoned it had to be something that could be used against him.
Long story short, Tess suspected it was going to one of his old mistresses or wives. She’d ruled out any number of women before going to Lila and asking for her help.
Apparently, Lila’s mom was the only one who was super secretive with her accounts, and that was why Lila had her install the spyware on her home computer. But even if Jeanine was receiving the payments, that still didn’t tell us why.
A fact which was obviously driving Lila crazy.
For my part, it was the fact that I couldn’t so much as touch my girl in public that was driving me nuts. “So, how long do you think this ruse has to go on?” I asked, glancing meaningfully over at Brandon, who was smiling just a little too broadly at the guy beside him.
Lila sighed. “I should never have let him invite Richard.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said.
She turned to me with a knowing smile. “You’re just trying to distract me from all this spy business.”
I laughed. “Is it that obvious?”
She nodded. “You’re like an open book, Jack.” She patted my cheek. “But that’s what I like about you. No secrets.”
“No secrets,” I echoed. This was our promise. And with her, I meant to keep it. With Brandon… I glanced over at my best friend, who looked so absurdly happy it made my heart swell.
Guilt gnawed at me. He’d already been hurt once when I hadn’t told him that his father had attempted suicide. But to tell him that his mother was a murderer…
I looked back to Lila, who was gazing at me so sweetly. An open book, she’d called me.
My stomach churned with acid. Yup. This guilt was going to swallow me whole.
“You okay?” she asked.
Just wondering how to tell you and Brandon that his mother’s a murderer, that’s all.
“Fine,” I said. “Just fine.” I leaned over slightly and lowered my voice. “But I’d be better if I could have some alone time with you.”
She groaned, and I saw the same desire I’d been battling all night clear as day in her eyes. “I wish we could. Actually…” She glanced around as if someone was waiting to jump out of the bushes behind us. “Maybe we can slip away. Just for a little while.”
“Yeah?” I tried not to look too hopeful… too pathetically eager.
I failed if her answering smug chuckle was anything to go by. “Let me go work the room for a bit, make sure Brandon doesn’t accidentally give us away.” She reached under the table and touched my arm. “I’ll text you when the coast is clear.”
“I’ll be waiting,” I said.
We both saw Tess slip out a side door. She looked so different from the shy, nerdy girl I’d met in Pinedale. Different from the super secretive spy I’d seen the other day.
“She cleans up good, right?” Lila said, like she could read my mind.
Maybe she could. Sometimes I was convinced Lila and I had some sort of ESP.
“If only she’d make an effort more often.”
I shot her a sidelong look that made her laugh.
“What?” she said, all mock innocence.
I shook my head teasingly. “You can take the catty diva out of Hollywood, but…”
Her head fell back with a laugh that made my whole body feel like it was on fire. “You love me for it,” she said with a wink. “And so does Tess.”
She reached for her ridiculously tiny little clutch that she assured me held ‘the whole world.’ I had to assume that meant her phone. “I’ll text you soon.”
I nodded, hating the fact that my entire body seemed to sink into despair just because this girl was going to be on the other side of the party. Clearly I had it bad. Love had made me one hundred percent pathetic. I forced a smile and nodded toward Tess. “I’ll see what I can find out from your sister while you make Brandon look like a guy in love.”
She winked. “It’s a deal.”
Eleven
Lila
“There you are, sweetie,” I crooned in a sing-song voice as I wrapped an arm around Brandon’s and planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek.
He turned to me with a dazed blink, and I just narrowly bit back a sigh.
He blinked again and some of that lovesick dreaminess faded as Richard took a step back, making some excuse about going off to find a drink. “You go do that, Richard,” I said with a smile as fake as my tan.
Richard’s grin faded ever so slightly as he turned away.
“Was that really necessary?” Brandon asked.
I dropped the sharp-as-a-knife saccharine smile and met Brandon’s gaze head-on. “Yes,” I said. “It was.” I glanced around meaningfully. “There’s press here, you know.”
He arched his brows. “Which you seemed to forget while you and Jack were getting all cozy back there.”
My jaw dropped in indignation. “We were not.”
“Uh huh.” But Brandon was laughing as he took a sip of his champagne.
“I have nothing against Richard,” I said softly so no one could overhear. “I think he’s a great guy, and when you’re in the clear to come out of the closet, I’ll be your biggest cheerleader, but—”
“When do you think that will be?” Brandon asked.
I stared up at him. “Are you… I mean… do you want to?”
He glanced over at Richard again. “I don’t know, I think maybe? At least, I will be. I need to talk to my mom first. I need her to hear this from me. And also…” He cast a meaningful look over at Jack, who’d been joined by Tess.
Two antisocial brooders watching from the sidelines. Jack gave me a cute little smile that was meant just for me, and it took everything in me not to fall over in a swoon.
Brandon rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. Instead, he finished his original thought. “I think it’s time I confronted my mom about my dad’s death too.”
I sucked in a quick inhale. He’d told me all about how he’d found his suicide note. How Jack had known. But we hadn’t talked about it. Not really. “You’re ready for that?”
He let out a humorless huff. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for that, but it’s time.” He met my gaze. “Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple weeks. We’ve got a break in filming, and I’m sure Jack will want to go home to spend time with his dad.” He wrapped an arm around my waist as Evie and Siobhan walked past, giggling over something so loudly I had no doubt they were drunk.
“You should come with us,” he said.
I stared up at him. “You want me to go back to Pinedale,” I said evenly. “On purpose?”
He laughed. “I doubt Amber will be going back this time, so there’s that.”
“Right
,” I said. “That just leaves every other townie there hating my guts.”
“No one hates your guts,” he said.
“Your mother does.”
He winced as he reconsidered. “No one aside from my mom.”
I arched my brows. “Jack’s dad?”
Brandon rolled his eyes. “Jack’s dad isn’t capable of hatred, and besides, he always liked you and your sister.”
“Before I left and broke his son’s heart,” I muttered.
“He’ll just be happy to see Jack so happy,” Brandon said.
That made me smile. I glanced over to see Jack still watching me. Gah! I would never get enough of that sexy look. So smug, but so freakin’ hot.
“Think about it,” Brandon said. His gaze was fixed on my father, who was still parading around with Vivien.
I was startled to see that my father was watching us too.
“Smile,” I hissed at Brandon.
We shared a loving smiley moment as Brandon said, “Come home with us. It’ll be good for you.”
I opened my mouth but shut it quickly. My first instinct was to play dumb. To insist that my life here was fine. Perfect, even. But this was Brandon. My best friend.
He knew better.
“Is he still looking?” Brandon said through his smile.
He meant my dad. My father scared the crap out of Brandon… almost as much as he terrified me. I risked a glance and saw that my father and Vivien had moved on. I didn’t see them at all, in fact.
I let out a long sigh of relief. I had one job, as my father liked to remind me, and that was to make it seem like Brandon was a straight guy in love.
If I failed…
Well, I didn’t really want to think about that.
I grabbed Brandon’s hand in mine and tugged. “Come on, let’s make the rounds.”
The next two hours passed in a whirlwind of fake smiles, boring chitchat, and impatience on my part. Tess came and went from that table on the outskirts, but Jack seemed to have made it home base.
“What’s he doing?” I asked Brandon when we looked over to see Jack staring at his phone.
“Reading a book on his phone, I’d bet,” Brandon said.
I sighed. “Sad.”
Brandon laughed. “He’s fine.”
He probably was, but I was ready to explode. If watching me and Brandon parade around as a fake couple was Jack’s personal torture, then being at the same party with Jack but not being able to touch him was mine.
I missed him.
And yes, I knew exactly how ridiculous that sounded. But I couldn’t help it. He was so close, but I couldn’t talk to him. I couldn’t make him laugh, I couldn’t kiss him. I sighed.
Torture.
This was sheer torture.
Brandon took pity. “Look, I promise to be on my best behavior around Richard if you want to sneak off with Jack for a little while.”
I arched a brow. “Really?”
He rolled his eyes. “At least one of us should be having fun with our real crush tonight.”
I grinned as I leaned over and gave his cheek a quick peck. “You’re the best.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He called after me as I started to slip away. “You owe me one.”
He was teasing, I knew that. We both knew he owed me big time. But this ruse wouldn’t last forever. And for tonight…
Well, tonight I’d settle for whatever little window I could get.
With a quick glance around us, I headed toward the main house, slipping in the side door the way Tess had come out.
I passed a handful of waiters and servants as I headed through the kitchen and to the family living quarters.
I’d text Jack to join me in my bedroom whenever he could sneak away. I reached my room and turned on the light.
My bedroom still looked exactly the way it had when I was twelve and had gone through my pink phase.
Pink everywhere. Ugh.
I flinched a bit as I took it in through new eyes. Seeing what Jack would see when he came into my bedroom for the first time. I shook off the thought as I tugged my phone out of my little clutch and kicked off the stilettos that were making minced meat out of my feet.
I’d just started to text when there was a knock at my door. I grinned. Jack had beaten me to it. He must have seen me leave the party. “A little eager, aren’t we?” I threw open the door—and froze. “Daddy?”
The word came out of my throat right before my heart plummeted into my belly.
This wasn’t Daddy. This was the man he turned into when he lost all reason.
This was the monster Tess and I were trying to escape. I stumbled back a step, but Daddy followed.
“Expecting someone?” he asked.
His tone was deceptively calm.
Eerily pleasant.
I tried to swallow as I shook my head. “No, Daddy, just—”
He snatched my phone out of my hand before I could finish. “Jack,” he sneered when he read my half-written text. “Did you think I was an idiot, Delilah, is that it?”
He took a step toward me, and my heart lurched into my throat.
“No, Daddy.” It came out as a whisper as my lungs seized up at the pure fury in his eyes.
“You didn’t think I’d remember the name? Didn’t think I’d be keeping an eye on the boy who distracted you the last time?”
“N-no, it’s not like that.”
“Enough!” The cold edge slipped, and his voice rose in anger.
There was no going back now. I knew that. I knew it so well. My legs were shaking, and all I could hear was my own breathing and the rush of blood past my ears as I tried to think of something to say. Anything to make him calm down. But a part of me knew…
It was too late. For me, at least, it was too late. But not for Jack.
“He didn’t do anything. This was my idea,” I said. “It was all me.”
My father’s laugh was sharp and cruel. “True, he was an idiot to fall for your brainless, witless charms. But don’t think I didn’t see the way he’s been eyeing you all night, and I heard all about how he came to visit you the other day.”
“It wasn’t like that—”
He took another step toward me, and I could feel his anger like a vibration in the air. It seemed to coil in his body like a snake waiting to strike. It turned his stately features into a mockery of themselves—a sneering, cruel version of the smiling man the rest of the world knew.
“Really, Lila, what a stupid, stupid girl,” he said, the softening in his voice somehow making it so much worse.
Tears welled up and threatened to choke me as he moved slower, his movements dangerously smooth.
“If you couldn’t control yourself and play the part of a good little girlfriend to Brandon, the least you could have done was snare a guy with some money. Some power. But no, you’re just like your mother, going for the losers who can be broken just like that.”
He snapped his fingers, and I flinched.
“I can ruin his life, Princess. And you know that I will.”
No. No, no, no. Jack didn’t deserve my father’s wrath. It was me. I was the fool who’d thought I could sneak something past him. I was the idiot who thought I could steal some happiness and not have to pay. “Daddy, please. I can ex—”
Crack! The sound of his hand connecting with my cheek hit me at the same time as the sharp, shooting pain. My sight went black and then red as the backhanded smack knocked me sideways.
“You little slut,” he growled, stalking toward me as I tried to scramble backwards on the floor. “Just like your mother.”
I stopped when my back hit the edge of my bed. Terror had me staring up in horror as his nostrils flared and his face turned mottled and red.
“You had one job,” he said, his hands clenching at his sides. “One job, you worthless little whore.” He reached down and grabbed my jaw, cupping it so tightly that his fingers dug into my skin and I cried out at the pain.
“Please, Daddy,”
I tried to whisper.
He tugged me up and half dragged me to standing as his fingers dug in deeper, sinking into the skin of my neck. “I should have known you’d turn out to be like her. Useless little girl.” He shoved me back, and I fell onto my bed with a bounce.
“Stay here and keep your mouth shut, do you hear me?” He took a step back and ran a hand over his hair to smooth it, his chest heaving as he fought for control. He still wore a sneer as he eyed me one last time before walking away with a muttered comment that might as well have been another slap.
“Useless.”
The word followed him out the door. It filled the air as I choked on a sob.
It rang in my ears as I sank down onto my bed and let my tears soak the pink pillowcase, turning it a bloody shade of red.
Twelve
Jack
“Back again, huh?” I said as Tess slumped over the table beside me with a sigh. “I guess I’m just irresistible to you Devereaux girls.”
Tess arched a brow, but her lips twitched with amusement. “First of all, neither of us are girls, thank you very much.” She slipped off her heels and sank a few inches. “And I’m a Baker, not a Devereaux.”
I nodded. “That’s right. I forgot you took your mom’s name.”
She kept her mouth shut.
“I suppose there’s a story there.”
She gave me the side-eye but kept quiet. She’d been doing a lot of that tonight. I’d tried my best to get any info out of her about the latest findings when it came to their dad and Lila’s mom, but Tess had been oddly tight-lipped.
Well, maybe not oddly. It wasn’t like she and I were close friends or anything, although I’d always liked Tess, and I was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. But if Tess didn’t trust her own sister with family secrets, maybe it was asking too much that she let me in on them.
“So,” I said slowly, leaning forward and lowering my voice. “What exactly is your plan with the Vivien angle?”
Might as well try again, right? I was nothing if not persistent. Or maybe just stubborn. Either way, every protective instinct I had was itching to make things right for Lila any way I could.
Princess of Hollywood (The Glitterati Files Book 2) Page 10
