by Alice Ward
“We met this guy on our vacay. He’s one of the creators of the Coachella Music Festival in the California desert, and he wants you to be one of their sponsors. They never have sponsors, cause they’re a ‘for the people’ kinda thing, but your company is so in line with their philosophy, he wants you.”
I tapped one of the newspapers. “I’m sure he won’t touch me with a ten-foot pole now.” I wanted to close my eyes and let the world fall to pieces around me. I was tired of having to construct and manage everything.
“Some douche set you up with that article. This’ll all blow over by then.”
I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Tell him no. I don’t need any more public humiliation right now.”
“Sorry, Romy, I already agreed for you. He was there when we heard the news. We have total faith you’ll find the asshole who’s making all the bad press. The festival isn’t until April. We assured him you were the real deal, and he’s gonna hold judgment, so he’s solid.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back farther in my chair. “You can’t just agree to a business transaction for me, Peter.”
He was being supportive, and Coachella would be great publicity for us. However, the taste of defeat was still sour in my mouth.
On any other day, this would’ve been great news. I usually didn’t let shit get to me, but this wasn’t just a rumor. Someone was at work here to ruin my company. No, not someone. It was Jack Marshall, the bastard. And if I could prove it, I was going to ruin him.
Adam knocked on the door, which was still partially open.
“What?” I answered, irritated.
“Sorry, Mr. Wellington, the earliest flight I can get for you to Espírito Santo is tomorrow. They don’t have anything available before that.” His eyes were wide and fearful.
I didn’t want to make any more enemies, so I nodded, adding a tight smile. The look of surprise on his face was priceless.
“Great, book it,” I said, and ignoring Peter, went back to looking over the books for the coffee farm in the mountains near Espírito Santo, Brazil. I would get to the bottom of this, even if it killed me. I didn’t want to leave Adara right now, but maybe it would be for the best. It would give her time to get settled, rest, have some peace without me waving my dick at her every five seconds.
“Adam, in response to reporters who call, tell them I’m looking into who is spreading lies about the ethics that we hold so dear to this company. Thanks.” I smiled again, and he backed into the doorframe before stumbling into the outer lobby.
“You’re going to Brazil?” Pete’s eyes lit up.
“To investigate. I don’t believe anyone in this company would commit the atrocities we’re accused of, but I won’t know for sure until I speak to the ones interviewed. But Adara’s at my house…”
“The girl? You, no-second-date Romansky, has a woman staying at his house?” Peter’s eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open, making him look like a goofy cartoon character. “I’ll go to Brazil with you, dude. We’ll film the whole thing. And in the meantime, I may know someone who can get a line on Mr. Jack Marshall.”
I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was to take a trip with Pete, but maybe it was right. I needed to get this scandal under control. I couldn’t let its nastiness smear onto Adara. She’d been through enough.
My cell rang. It was Thomas and I snapped it up. “Yes.”
The detective exhaled a long breath. “Nothing on Jewel, but I wanted to share an interesting piece of news I’ve uncovered.”
My balls tightened. “What’s that?”
“I was putting our feelers and spoke to Adara’s manager, Neil Ferguson. Apparently, the manager, her record label, and about an army of people have been looking for her for months, and have kept it under the radar in the hopes they would find her unharmed.”
“Seriously?”
Thomas made an affirmative noise. “Seriously. Apparently, they’ve been looking for her because they have some big opportunity. They are wanting her to come back for some type of award, and they want to relaunch her career. But she’s been so well hidden away, even their damn PI couldn’t find her.”
“Thanks. I’ll let her know.”
“I’ll be going out to your estate to interview her tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. The day I was leaving for my own personal crisis. She would have to go through the interview alone.
As I disconnected the call, I stared at the phone.
Adara was on the cusp of returning to stardom, and she didn’t even know it.
She would soon.
I called the contractor I used for all my renovations and ordered a sound studio to be built in the guest wing. I wanted it stocked with a fucking guitar and every damn thing a super rock ‘n’ roll star could ever possibly need.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Adara
After I emptied my emotions out on the page, I’d wanted to play but didn’t have a guitar. So I put on my mask and another outfit of Roman’s sister’s and went downstairs, determined to do something to take control of my life.
I hadn’t told Roman that I didn’t have access to my money from Jewel through a normal bank account. There was money in an account, but one that was only accessible inside Jewel so that no records could be traced.
I needed my money, but I almost needed what little things I had more. Everything from my life before was in that one bag.
Roman texted me that there would be a detective coming to interview me tomorrow and that he would give me the details later.
I fixed a coffee and grabbed a couple of apples for Sissaleigh and went out to the barn. The smells there seemed to soothe my soul, and the company couldn’t tell me what to do.
I fed the apples to Sissaleigh, who was actually as bossy as she could manage without words. The horse had a definite backbone, and I could probably take a few lessons from her.
On my way back from the barn, Janis called. She was probably the only person from Jewel I had the stomach to talk to, so I answered.
“Hey, Adara. How are you? I’ve been so worried. You just disappeared.” She sounded nervous, but maybe that was because she was worried.
“I needed to get out of there.”
“Well, everyone is looking for you. You have rehearsal in an hour, and Brandy’s been frantic.”
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart rate spiked. Even hearing Brandy’s name made me feel sick to my stomach. I could never go back there. “I’m not coming to rehearsal today.”
“Why?” Her voice held an accusing tone.
“I’m no longer working at Jewel. Can you help me with something though? There’s a suitcase near the door in my apartment, it has all my important things in it. Can you grab it? I’ll tell you were the key is—”
“I’m sorry. I can’t, Adara.” Her voice lowered. “Things have changed since you left, security is tighter. More cameras.”
I couldn’t control my racing heart as my nerves sky rocketed. Something seemed off.
“What do you mean? Are you okay? Is Brandy okay? You don’t sound right.” The Janis I knew would have tried to help me if it were possible.
I hated this, hated these feelings, this worry. I felt so helpless, unable to do anything to stop all of the injustices at Jewel, to stop all the women from suffering there.
With her next words, the toxicity of Jewel bled through the phone and tried to wrap around me, pull me in. “Brandy’s her usual self. She wants you to come back. She wanted me to tell you that if you can come back in time for your number tonight, they’ll negotiate you getting your money and possessions back.”
Her words sounded rehearsed. Was there someone else listening?
“No.” I swallowed hard, making my voice calm and steady. “Please tell her I won’t be coming back. But if anyone there wants out, I’ll try to help them get out.”
I kept the tears out of my voice until I hung up.
They’d used the one friend I had left against me. I fel
t bad for not going back, for leaving them, but I couldn’t stay. I was disappointed in Brandy, but wasn’t completely sure she wasn’t being coerced. And Janis had a kid to think about… they were all victims.
But what if I could help them somehow? What if, when the investigation was through, I could help them find themselves again? If I could get even one Jewel out of there and back on her feet, it wouldn’t matter that all I had left in the world that was mine was a mask. A mask I wasn’t willing to wear any longer.
That night, when Roman came home, I was deeply involved in making plans and jotting them in my new notebook. I’d waited for him for dinner and given Martha the evening off.
“Adara?” He sounded tired. “What are you doing in here in the dark?”
It had gotten dark in the kitchen, and I’d barely noticed. I’d been writing by the light shining in from the hall.
“Jewel takes everything from anyone who goes there,” I said in a voice that sounded like ice. “They want to negotiate to return what’s mine. I’m going to help the detective stop them.”
“Sounds like your day’s been as shitty as mine.” He was as stiff as his starched suit, standing there in the doorway with his impenetrable gaze. “There will be someone coming with the detective tomorrow, someone who may be able to help you with that.”
I slapped my pen down on the table. “Roman, I don’t understand you. You sound so cold and cryptic, when just yesterday we were having the time of our lives splashing around in the hot tub. So much for wine and candles.” I gestured at the spread Martha fixed earlier. It was very romantic. If I’d had the energy to laugh I would’ve.
He carried the box he held over to the kitchen counter then opened it and stared at the contents long enough to make me wonder if something else had happened besides what I saw on the news today.
“Why was your day so bad?” I asked, feeling bad for having jumped down his throat.
“So bad?” He chuckled sardonically, reaching his hands into the box, and pulling out a mound of Krave Koffee bags. “It was so bad because someone is trying to ruin me. The press has accused me of ‘raping the underprivileged masses’ for my own gain. Add a million views just in the first hour after the latest story hit and over one hundred thousand comments calling me a fraud, liar, and a greedy piece of shit, and you have my day in a nutshell.” His face showed no emotion.
“I’m sorry, Roman. I hope none of this is because of me.”
Of course it was because of me.
“It’s not your fault.” He stared out the window, even though all you could see was the dark. “I’m flying out to Brazil tomorrow. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
A hole punched through my gut. “What? Why?”
“I have to make sure none of what they said is true.” He looked haggard as he rubbed his forehead with his hand. “For the company.”
“For the company? What if it is true, Roman? What if the Brazil government is telling you one thing and doing another? What about those people? Are they just going to have to remain that way while there’s an ‘investigation?’”
I knew I was being unfair, but I couldn’t seem to stop the words from coming from my mouth. What was happening with his scandal felt similar to what had happened at Jewel.
And Roman had possessed a membership to Jewel. A sliver of ice ran up my spine.
“What are you saying?” he asked, his expression glacial.
“What I’m saying is that I can’t figure out who you are. One minute, you’re this funny, charming man, the next you’re cold as ice. One minute, you want to save the word. The next minute, you’re taking your clients to brothels.”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s me. Cold as ice. A bastard and a contradiction. I only care about money. Money is the reason I took my clients to Jewel. Isn’t it the reason for everything?” His eyes dragged down my body when he said it.
I felt my chest go very hot and my chin come up. “Your money doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. And don’t insinuate that your money is the reason I’m here. I didn’t go to get clothes today like you ordered, because this isn’t Jewel and you can’t give me orders. I’m not a whore.”
“I don’t buy sex, Adara.”
I lifted my chin. “So you’ve said. You can’t buy me either. Why do you even care about what people say about you? It’s not like you’ll go down the tubes if your business tanks.” I waved my arms wide.
Roman’s eyes met mine across the kitchen and went from dark and dead to so full of emotion I was frozen in my chair. He turned back to the box, gripped the cardboard, and ripped it in two, throwing the contents in a heap on the floor. “Because I care! I care about my company and the people who work for me. And I care about the people who may have been abused because of it. I won’t hide behind money the way people seem to think I do, the way you hide behind that damn scar you think rules your life now.”
I gasped. “I’m not hiding, Roman! You’ve been treating me like I was going to break, like I was a piece of fragile china since you laid eyes on me. But I’m not going to break, I’m not! I don’t need you and your money to hold me together.”
But he was right. I was hiding behind this scar, acting like I was going to break. Hiding behind what had been done to me that night, and every night at Jewel since I set foot in the godforsaken place.
Roman buried his fingers in his hair and turned away from me. When he turned back, all the emotions I’d seen in his eyes were carefully hidden. “I’ll take you to Jewel tomorrow. We’ll get some officers to go with us, and we’ll get your things. But then I’ve got to go to Brazil.”
Without giving me time to answer, he walked out of the kitchen without looking back.
What was left of my heart cracked in two, falling into the black well that was my hope. I’d thought Roman and I were building something, but I’d been wrong. There was no place for me here, and if anyone ever connected me to him and to Jewel, it would make what he was dealing with ten times worse.
I had to let go.
Let go of Nate.
Let go of this scar that was the only thing I had left of him and that time of my life.
Let go of the only man who had ever shown me the type of kindness I thought was only found in stories. The man in the kitchen was the man he really was. A businessman. Ruthless when his whole empire was being threatened. Protective of his own. Seclusive.
And I couldn’t hide anymore.
It was time for me to face the world. Scar and all.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Roman
Thomas woke me early the next day, asking me to bring Adara to Jewel to gather her things. There would be a police escort, and Thomas thought the invasion would rock the boat enough to stir something up.
On the way to Jewel, I kept thinking of things to say to her, things that would make it better for her, but my lips remained sealed.
What could I say?
Sorry, I’ve been alone for so long it’s made me into an asshole. That’s what you’re going to have to deal with if you’re with me?
How about… I’m in love with you but if you stay with me the shit is going to hit the fan eventually and some asshole somewhere is going to break a story that sounds like you were a prostitute when I met you and any hope you had of a new career would be up in flames… because of me?
No, it was better this way. Better to go to Brazil and make sure while I was gone that she had everything she needed to take back her old life.
A woman as vibrant as her didn’t deserve to be hidden on a ranch in the middle of nowhere with a man whose reputation and company had just been ripped to shreds. My family could deal with it. Adara, on the other hand, needed to be welcomed back into the world without a shadow hanging over her head.
All the better if she thought I was a greedy piece of shit.
I drove in silence and pulled up behind the police cars who were waiting for us outside the gate. They waved me in front of them and the guard just nodded to us, letting us
in. It had all been set up in advance.
Driving up the entrance, I marveled at the man I was now and wondered how I could have come here, brought my clients here, and never felt an ounce of remorse.
“They wanted me to come back to Jewel,” Adara said beside me, holding herself very straight in the seat. She’d chosen today as the first to go out in public without her mask.
I was so fucking proud of her. But I hadn’t said a word about it. Cause I was a dickhead.
“Of course they did.” I clamped my jaw together to stop myself from saying more. I wanted to wrap my arms around her. Protect her. Take her away from any harm that could come to her.
“I wouldn’t have. Even if I couldn’t retrieve my things or the money in my account. I would never have come back here the way they wanted.” There was pain in her voice, and it made me feel like the biggest asshole in the world.
“I know,” I whispered.
Then we were at the front of the main entrance, and before I could say anything else, she got out of the car. I watched as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs that looked so grand and inviting, and realized she was that woman who enchanted me with her voice and her mystique, but she wasn’t the one who hid behind a mask anymore. She was transitioning back into the strong, confident megastar I’d watched from a VIP lounge a couple years before. She’d take back her life and make it into what she wanted it to be.
And she didn’t need me in it to do so.
I was only a hindrance.
I joined her, and together we met Brandy in the lobby, leaving the police officers on the porch as they had no warrant and were only here at our request for safety. The sweet sickening scent choked me. It was the same one that had wrapped around me the night Adara had changed me for good.
“Where the fuck have you been, Mona?” Brandy spit as she nearly trotted toward Adara on tall spike heels. Her fake blonde hair was piled perfectly on top of her head, the rest of her made up to reflect a mirage of dreams come true.
“I couldn’t do what they wanted, Brandy,” Adara said quietly, her eyes wide.
