FRAUD: An Unfit Hero Novel

by Faiman, Hayley

  I let out a laugh. “Maybe I would be, but I’d have been happy with or without the fame. That’s where we differ. You both crave money and fame. I don’t, never did. I just wanted to be heard, to have my songs mean what they do to me to someone else.”

  “Bullshit, you’ve got that big ass fuckin’ house in Texas. You have fancy cars, and a million-dollar home in California. You’re benefitting from your fame and fortune just like the rest of us. You aren’t a goddamn victim,” Daniel growls.

  Shaking my head, I let out an exhale and take a step toward them. “I do enjoy those things, but I’ve worked my ass off for them, too. The thing is, I would be fine if they went away, though, you can’t say the same.”

  Clearing my throat, I glance down to them, looking from one man to the other and then back again. “If I ever see either of you snakes slithering around me or anyone I know, I’ll have you arrested for harassment. If you ever send Andi to do your dirty work again, I’ll do the same. So, I would suggest you just stay the fuck away from me and everyone that I know.”

  Pulling my bag behind me, I walk away from them. I hear some crashing around and by the time I arrive at the car that I called while I was packing my shit, Brian and Daniel are both outside and their shouting voices cause me to pause.

  Turning to face them, I watch as they stop in their tracks, both men focused on me and the anger inside of them practically boils out of their bodies.

  “You’ll be sorry, Beaumont. You’ll never work again. I’ll make sure of that.”

  I shrug a shoulder. “I know plenty of honky-tonks that would be happy to have me.”

  “Honky-tonks in hillbilly, Texas are the only places you’ll be able to get a gig by the time I’m through with you,” Daniel screams.

  I don’t respond to his idle threat. He can say what he wants, think what he wants, but I know that won’t be the case. Even if it was, I know that I would be fine with that anyway. Hell, I’m sure I could get a job with Wyatt and Rylan working on powerlines. I’d probably enjoy it a hell of a lot too.

  Right now, none of that matters though. Nothing does, nothing except getting back to Texas to my woman.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  BEAUMONT

  The plane lands and I immediately power on my phone. Luckily, I was able to catch a direct flight from Portland, which I wasn’t too far from. It’s been four hours since I’ve been able to check my phone, to see if Louis has updated me on what’s been going on at home.

  I still have about an hour drive back to my house, then I have to try and find Hutton. Fuck, this whole situation is a goddamn clusterfuck, but hopefully tonight I’ll be falling into bed next to the woman that I love.

  I’m done allowing other people to run my shit. My career, my sobriety, my life, my heart—it’s mine to control now. I’m done with allowing anyone else to have any kind of say over any aspect of my life.

  After I’ve rented a car, I dial Louis’ number since I don’t have any voicemails from him.

  “Brother,” he says softly.

  “Update me,” I demand.

  “Where you been?” he asks.

  I think about not telling him, but I don’t want him to think that I was avoiding anything. I haven’t been. I never would. Not something this important, not Hutton.

  “Caught a plane. I’m just leaving Austin, heading out your way, should be there by the time the sun rises.”

  “That bitch you fucked for far too long was asked to leave town,” he chuckles. “Hernandez also told her that you’d be filing charges against her for trespassing if she ever showed her face on your property again. It was fucking epic, she almost shit her pants.”

  I guffaw, unable to control myself. “Shit, wish I were there,” I admit.

  “It was pretty epic, but brother, I haven’t seen Hutton. Was thinking about going over to Laurie’s and seeing if she could get ahold of her this morning. Just want to make sure she’s okay, you know?”

  Humming, I continue driving toward my hometown, the place where I’m most comfortable, the place where I met and fell in love with the girl of my dreams.

  “She went to her PawPaw’s, I already know. Don’t know where he lives, but she has work today, so she’ll be at the salon. She wouldn’t cancel on her clients, if I know her at all, I know that much.”

  “You got it all figured out,” he murmurs.

  “Not yet,” I admit. “Quit the tour, fired my manager and my backup guitarist and collaborator.”

  Louis whistles. “You don’t fuck around, do you?” he asks.

  “Never.”

  “Hit me up if you need me, this has been the most exciting time I’ve had since the drama with Wyatt and Rylan’s women,” he murmurs.

  “You ever gonna talk about Tulip?” I ask.

  There’s a moment of silence, then he repeats the word that I said just a moment ago back to me.

  “Never.”

  “That bad?”

  He clears his throat, and the emotion that’s in his voice is new to me. I’ve never heard Louis like that before, not this raw at least.

  “She’s engaged, Beau. So, it don’t matter anymore.”

  Frowning, I wonder how that can be. I heard they hit it off extremely well. I feel for him, because I understand how it feels. How being in the limelight can make you the target for social climbers and gold diggers.

  Having someone down to earth, someone like Hutton, Channing, or Exeter can make you feel at peace. I thought that Tulip was going to be that for him, hell, I think we all did.

  “What’s meant to be will be, brother,” I say, unsure if I even feel those words down to my core.

  I’m not sure, but maybe they’re true. Because here I am, ten years after walking out and turning my back on her, and I’m going to ask her to be mine—forever. So, maybe we were always destined to be, maybe I just needed to pull my head out of my ass, to forgive the woman who wronged me all those years ago and just let that shit be in the past.

  “Right,” he clips.

  Clearing my throat, I decide to let sleeping dogs lie. “Okay.” I nod as though he can see me. “I’ll call you when I get into town, when all this is settled.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Louis ends the call and I can’t help but feel that I fucked up somehow. Glancing at my clock, I notice that it’s nine in the morning. This has been the longest fucking twenty-four hours of my life, but if it gets Andi gone and done and out, Hutton at ease, that’s all I care about.

  Deciding not to let Daniel and Brian get ahead of me, I find my attorney’s number and press call. I’m going to get everything drawn up for the split with Daniel and Brian. Then, I’m going to have a publicist that my lawyer recommends start damage control on the canceled concerts and in the media.

  I may not care if I’m famous or not, but I can’t deny that I love writing songs. I love going out on stage. I’ve worked my ass off for a decade, to make the things that I love my career. I’ll give it up if I have to, but I’m not going to do it lying down.

  HUTTON

  Gripping my steering wheel tightly, I grind my teeth together as I stare at the windows of Baker’s Square Salon. I have spent my entire adult life building this business all on my own. I didn’t get any help from my parents, not even my grandparents. I did this, all on my own, and some rich entitled skinny, for lack of a better word, bitch, vandalized it.

  The evidence from the day before is all gone, but I can see it all crystal clear. My body on display for the entire town with less than flattering words splattered all over it. All because she wants to have her cake, eat it and not gain an ounce from it.

  She wants Brian and Beaumont, she wants to be in the spotlight, she desires money, and I’m sure there are a million other things that she would gain. We’re complete opposites and I wonder how Beaumont could want me after being with someone like her.

  A knock on my car door causes me to practically jump out of my skin. It’s Louis and although I shouldn’t be surpri
sed to see him here, I am. He tugs my car door open and I quietly slip out and stand to my feet.

  “You scared him, ignoring him like that,” he softly explains.

  I nod. I knew what it was doing, but I needed the space. I needed some time to think. Being confronted by a naked woman in his home was not what I’d expected. The mature thing would have been to text him and let him know that I was okay, that I was safe.

  “She was responsible for the vandalism. She spied on us when we were at our most vulnerable. I’m not sure how to process that.”

  Louis nods, he turns his head to look at the store, then shifts his gaze back to me. “You may not like what I think about the whole situation,” he begins. I bite the corner of my lip and wait for him to finish. “I think that you’re going to have to let anything and everything that isn’t part of your relationship with Beaumont go. It will drive you crazy. People do mean shit, they do stupid shit, and you will not be able to stop them. Especially when it comes to social media and jealousy.”

  Inhaling a deep breath, I close my eyes for a moment, then reopen them. “I never wanted to be famous. Not even when I was a little girl. All I wanted to do was be able to live a simple life without being scared. That’s all.”

  Louis grins, but it’s an almost sad smile. He reaches forward, wrapping his fingers around my shoulder and gives me a small shake.

  “I think everyone wants that, Hutton. One way or another, living a good life, not being scared, not being judged, it’s what we all crave. You may not want to be in the spotlight, but you fell in love with a man who lives in it, front and center. You’ll either have to accept that part of him, or not…”

  Nodding, I shift my gaze toward my shop, then back to Louis. “Love is stronger than whatever the media could throw our way, or women like Andi.”

  Louis shakes his head. “He had the sheriff come out last night. Threw her out of there for trespassing. He’ll be filing a temporary restraining order against her, and you know what that means, babe?”

  “Hmm?” I ask, too in shock to even speak.

  He leans forward, his face just inches from mine, his white teeth smiling as he tells me. “Means, it’s going to be all over. As soon as the media gets ahold of that little bit of information, things are going to go crazy, are you ready for that?”

  I bite the corner of my bottom lip, my eyes shifting to the ground, then back up to meet Louis’ gaze. “Honestly? No. But if it happens it happens. The only thing that I care about is Beaumont.”

  “What about yourself?”

  “If I have him, then that’s all that matters.”

  His lips twitch into a grin. “Good girl.” He chuckles.

  He lifts his other hand, wrapping his fingers around my other shoulder then slowly turns me around on the sidewalk. He releases me and takes a step back. I don’t turn around to see where he’s gone, I don’t care.

  Because there is a man standing in front of me. He’s got a gigantic bouquet of lilac roses in his hands. They’re so massive that they cover his entire face. Slowly, he lowers them. Revealing the man that I already knew was behind them.

  “Darlin’ girl,” he murmurs.

  He doesn’t move, his eyes just roam over me. I know what he sees, because I saw that girl in the reflection of my PawPaw’s mirror. My eyes are tired, a bit bloodshot, and there is no hiding the dark circles and puffiness from the tears that I cried all night long.

  “What are you doing here?”

  His lips immediately lift into a smile. “My woman needed me. I needed to take care of some shit here, apparently.”

  “Beaumont,” I breathe, taking a step toward him.

  He still doesn’t move, I don’t know if he can or if he purposely isn’t, but his entire body is solidly in place. Closing the distance between us, I stop before I crash into his body and smash the most beautiful bouquet of roses I’ve ever seen.

  “I’m never going to be a girl who wants to be famous. I’m never going to look like a supermodel, and I’ve honestly never wanted to. I’m always going to be me, always going to be Hutton Baker who owns and loves working at her small salon in Burnet, Texas,” I rapidly say.

  Beaumont’s brows shoot up and his eyes widen for a moment before his face completely relaxes in front of me. “If I wanted someone who craved attention, I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you, Hutton. I know that you don’t want to be the center of attention, neither do I. What I want is a nice quiet life, with a family.”

  “But you aren’t going to just quit playing, are you?” I ask, confused by his words.

  He shakes his head. “No, never. But my life here, my home in Gallup, this is my sanctuary and I hope that you’ll share it with me, darlin’.”

  “What about the rest of your life?” I ask on a whisper.

  He drops the bouquet to his side, reaching for me and wrapping his hand around my waist, pressing his palm to my back before he pulls me against his body. Tilting my head back, I look up into his dark eyes.

  “You’ll be at my side for every part of my life, darlin’. Whether you want to be thrust into that bright light or stay in the shadows. That’s all up to you, but you’re mine and I ain’t ever lettin’ you go, Hutton. I’ll take on the spotlight just as I always have, and my life here in Gallup will be separate, just as it always has. Our life together is going to be what we make it though, you can count on that shit.”

  Without another word, his lips slam against mine and his kiss takes my breath away.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  HUTTON

  “Darlin’, you okay?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

  I don’t realize it until his hand moves from around my back and I feel his fingers wipe the falling tears from my cheeks. My bottom lip trembles as I look up into his eyes. Nodding, I don’t verbalize that I’m okay, but I am, more than.

  “I have to get to the sheriff station this afternoon, make sure that paperwork is done, file for a restraining order against Andi.”

  “That’s going to cause drama…” I say, letting my words trail off.

  He smirks. “Darlin’, this week I’m causin’ nothing but drama. Firing my manager and Brian, then this whole Andi debacle. Plus, putting my Los Angeles place on the market. The media isn’t going to know what to report on about me.” He grins.

  “Why, why all of that?”

  “Andi, Brian, and Daniel are all intertwined. They need to go. I’ve finally just seen their true colors and I don’t like them much.”

  “What about Austin?”

  His face softens, his eyes smile and he lowers his head, running his nose alongside mine. “Seems Austin is getting himself together, as best as he can. He and Jesse are going to possibly stay on, but I can’t keep Brian, he’s going off a deep end that I can’t be part of.”

  Nodding, I lift one of my hands and wrap my fingers around the side of his neck, then slide them around until my fingers are twisted in the hair at the back of his head.

  “You wanna give it a cut?” he asks.

  Tugging gently, I shake my head, rising to my toes. My lips are so close to his that I could touch them with very little effort. He doesn’t wait for me to kiss him, he closes the short distance and touches his lips to mine in a soft kiss.

  “Never,” I breathe. “I love it like this, it’s more you than some fashionable cut.”

  “Thank fuck.” He chuckles. “Love feeling your fingers gripping it. Love the way you run your nails through my beard. Love everything about you, Hutton. Love you,” he mutters against my lips.

  My breath hitches at his declaration. I blink, looking up at him, my lips trembling. “I love you, too,” I state.

  He laughs softly. “I know, Hutton. Always known, darlin’. It’s why I left. I knew you loved me and I wasn’t in the place to give that to you. I was young, hung up on Chelle’s treatment of me, on my mother’s abandonment, of their betrayal. I was lost.”

  “God.” I smile. “You’re so damn cocky.”
>
  He smiles down at me, lowering his head and running his nose alongside mine. “Nothin’ wrong with knowing my girl loves me. Doesn’t mean you need to stop showing me.”

  Touching my lips to his, I keep him from speaking. Sliding my tongue inside his mouth, he takes over the kiss almost immediately, controlling and owning me like he always has. Slowly, we break apart, he nips my bottom lip before I take a step back.

  “I didn’t love you back then, you know?”

  Beaumont tilts his head to the side looking confused and maybe a little hurt. “I thought that I did, but I couldn’t have.”

  “Why’s that?” he asks when I don’t elaborate completely.

  Smiling, I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. “Because I didn’t know all of you, Beaumont. I only knew what you showed me and I really liked that, but it was all surface. I see you now, the man that you’ve become. The heart that you have and the way you love the people you truly care for.”

  “What do you think of me now, then?”

  Smiling, I place my hand on his chest, feeling his heart thump beneath my fingertips. “I think that I love you more than I could have ever thought possible. I think that you’ve healed parts of me that I didn’t even know needed mending.”

  “Fuck, darlin’ girl.”

  Laughing softly, I reach for the bouquet of flowers that are still dangling from his fingertips. Holding them in my hand, I’m not surprised by the weight of them, but maybe a bit by the way he was just nonchalantly holding them to his side.

  “Get to work. I’m comin’ by as soon as I get my shit handled. Tonight, you’re comin’ over to my place and you’re never leaving.”

  “Never?” I breathe.

  He grins. “Never. You’re giving notice and moving in with me. I’m not fuckin’ around. I got you where I want you. You love me and I love you. Not much else to discuss except moving forward.”