“Larry”—I turn to him—“I want everything in place in case Cassie tries to fuck me over.” He just nods at me and then grabs his things, walking out.
“You need to get drunk,” Edward says. “I’m going to go get a bottle of something.”
“Get two,” Ryan says. “I need to get drunk also.” Edward nods and walks out of the room. “Cassie was right,” he whispers. “She’s gone.” I look at him, and he goes back to sit down in his chair. “Quit her job, too. Stephanie called me, trying to get me to hire Jessica to handle the PR with the production company.”
“Stephanie? The same Stephanie who ran the fucking story and blindsided her?” I point out. “She was left out to dry, and she had no one at her back.”
“She had at least one person at her back,” he says, and Edward returns with two bottles of whiskey and three glasses. He pours two fingers of amber liquid in each glass, and I take mine, downing it in one shot, ignoring the burning. Ryan does the same. “She had to have had one person at her back to get out of New York without a trace.”
“Private plane,” Edward says, drinking his own drink. The past four days show on all of us. “She must have had a private plane.”
I pick up my phone and call Donnie, who answers right away. “Did you check private planes leaving out of New York?” I wait for him to answer.
“Yes, I did, and there is no record of her,” he says, and I hear papers being shuffled around, “there were five planes that took off that day.” I put my phone to the side and tell the guys.
“How many passengers in each plane?” Ryan asks me, and I ask Donnie.
“Five, six, ten, two, and one.” My mind starts going in circles. “The one with just one person was for Kellie Taylor.”
“The country star?” I ask him. “That makes no sense. She wouldn’t be traveling by herself.”
“The flight left New York and went to Montana,” he tells me. “Give me thirty minutes and I’ll call you back.” He hangs up the phone, and I look over at Ryan.
“What do you know about Kellie Taylor?”
“She’s on tour,” he starts saying. “Well, she was on tour. She just finished her tour.”
“Do you have her number?” It’s a long shot, but it’s the only one I have.
“You know I can’t give you that,” he says and then sees my face, “but I can make a phone call and see what I can do.” I nod, taking another shot of whiskey while Ryan gets up. “If this lead pans out, you really want to show up drunk?”
“If this pans out, there better be an army stopping me from getting to her,” I say to him, taking another drink of the whiskey.
“I hate to say Ryan is right, but,” Edward says, “if she’s there, you think she’s going to want you drunk?”
“If she even wants me,” I mumble under my breath. I shake my head. “I fucked up so badly.” I look at Edward. “I knew Cassie was crossing the line when it came to Jessica, but I never . . .” I shake my head. “I never thought she would do what she did.”
“She’s been in love with you for thirteen years.” He throws his head back and laughs when I look at him with my mouth hanging open. “You had to know.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I hiss. “She worked for me. I would never.”
“I know you would never”—he takes a drink of the whiskey—“but she was just waiting for you to see her.” I don’t have a chance to answer because Ryan comes back into the room.
“And?” My hands get clammy, my mouth suddenly drier than the desert in the summer.
“Well, I was told to fuck off.” He laughs, sitting down. “Then I was threatened that if I showed up there, she would shoot my balls off and feed me to her dogs.”
“I think I love her,” Edward says with a smirk, taking a drink of water.
“It gets better.” He laughs now. “She said that if you showed up”—he points at me—“she’d shoot you in the foot but only one.” He laughs into his drink. “Then you would die by papercuts.”
I shoot off the table, the chair flying back as I turn to run up the stairs to grab my keys and my wallet. “Where the fuck are you going?” Ryan asks me, meeting me at the bottom of the steps and ripping the keys from my hands. “You just drank half a bottle of whiskey, and no matter what Kellie says, having you dead right now isn’t going to be a service to America.”
“I have to go to her,” I tell them, trying to get my keys from him.
“What you need to do is calm down,” he says. “You need to fucking shower.” He grimaces. “I’ll get a plane ready, and you can sober up.”
“She’s there,” I whisper. “Is she really there?”
“I think so,” Ryan says, “but getting to her isn’t going to be easy.” I nod, then make my way upstairs. Taking a shower sobers me up, and I run my hands through my hair. I grab my black jeans and a gray shirt, buttoning all but the top three buttons. I put on my black boots, then grab my jacket, and make my way downstairs. I walk into the kitchen and see that Ryan is the only one there. “Edward left. He did say not to fuck shit up. He also said that your parents have called you fifteen times, and your father said that if you don’t call him back, he’s getting on a plane.”
Grabbing my phone from him, I nod as a headline comes in and look up at Ryan.
Tyler Beckett shaking down his inner circle.
“That is the same person who broke the story of me and Jessica,” I tell him, and it finally clicks into place. “Oh my God.”
“What?” he asks me.
“I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together before. That is one of Cassie’s best friends.” I shake my head. “Motherfucker.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he says as we walk out of the house. A black Escalade waits for us with Joseph behind the wheel. I get in after Ryan, and we take off. “I have a house rented for you right next to Kellie’s.” I nod, then send my father a text telling him I’ll call him tonight. “Whatever you do, please don’t get arrested.”
“I’m not making any promises,” I say to him and turn off my phone. “I’m not leaving there until she talks to me.” The rest of the ride is quiet, and I look out the window when the plane finally takes off with just me in it. A rental car is ready when I land, and I put the address in the GPS and make my way toward her. I start to get anxious, my thumbs hitting the steering wheel while I turn down the dirt road. Wooden fences all along with big trees. I pull up to the house and see four cars parked in the circle driveway. The crunching of the rocks under the tires makes it impossible for them not to know I’m here. I turn off the car, getting out and slamming the door. I walk toward the steps but stop when the front door opens and a man steps out. He’s wearing jeans and a shirt with a menacing look on his face. He must be about six-foot-four, maybe even six-foot-five.
“It would be in your best interest to turn around and leave.” His voice is firm as he stands at the top of the stairs, blocking the door.
I shake my head. “Man to man, my woman is in there, and nothing will keep me from her,” I say. “You could probably take me”—he smirks—“but in the end, there will only be one outcome and that is me getting to my girl, no matter what.”
“Is that so?” he asks, folding his arms over his chest. “I find it interesting that you show up here four days later.”
“I didn’t know where she was,” I tell him. “The minute I found out, I came right here.”
“The difference between a man and a boy is the ability to protect what’s his.” It’s a cheap shot, but it’s true. “You weren’t able to do that now, were you?”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I tell him.
“Oh, trust me, I know what I’m talking about because I had to carry a woman who couldn’t stand on her own.” The thought shoots through my heart. “A strong, independent woman who now walks with her head down and her shoulders slumped a bit, but she’s strong, so she’ll get back up there.” I don’t answer him because I hear the door
behind him open and then close. My heart speeds up, thinking it could be her, and at that moment, I would take anything she has to give me. To just look into her eyes if only for a minute. But once the figure steps forward, I see it isn’t her but Kellie. She walks to the man’s side and glares at me.
“Well, well, well,” she says, “look at what the cat dragged in all the way from Hollywood.” Her Southern accent coming out. “You aren’t welcome here.”
I shake my head. “I’m not leaving here until I see her,” I finally say. I’ve had about enough. “The past four days have about killed me.” I swallow now. “I just need to see her, to make sure she is okay.”
“She isn’t okay. Nothing about this fucked-up situation will make her feel ‘okay,’ as you put it.” Kellie walks down the stairs, the guy following her. “She hasn’t eaten in four days; her life has been turned upside down,” she says, coming toe-to-toe with me. “I also know you’re the only one who can fix her.” She folds her arms over her chest. “She’s going to be pissed.”
I nod my head. “She has every right to be.”
“I have your word that if she tells you to go, I mean, really tells you to go, that you’ll walk away and get off my fucking property no matter how much it hurts you.”
I don’t want to agree to this. I don’t want to tell her that if she really wants me gone, I’ll go, but I have to. “You have my word.”
“She’s out in the back where she’s been sitting if she isn’t sleeping or crying.” She digs the knife in deeper. “Walk straight out to the back.”
Running up the steps, I swing the door open and make my way through the huge country house, stopping at the door leading outside. She’s sitting in a white Adirondack chair with her feet curled up under her, looking out at the mountains. One look at her and my heart finally starts to beat normally.
I just pray that whatever the outcome, my heart continues to beat and isn’t shattered into a million pieces.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jessica
Looks like Tyler has tossed out his assistant. Appears she was the one who leaked the story.
I look out into the distance at the snow-capped mountains. The breeze is starting to pick up, so I tuck my feet under me. For four days, if I wasn’t in bed, I was out here. In four days, life as I knew it was over.
The day after I woke up from the nightmare, I drafted my letter of resignation. I wasn’t expecting Stephanie to answer, but she did, and she was actually angry with me for just leaving without notice. My phone never stopped ringing, and at one point, I couldn’t take it and just disconnected the line. There was no reason to have it anymore. I sat outside with Kellie, telling her how I would have to go back and somehow face the music. I heard from Mary who said that she tried to go over to my apartment but at least twenty paparazzi were waiting in the distance. So Kellie did what she knows how to do; she made shit happen. Well, not just Kellie but Brian also; the security firm he works for got me packed and moved out in I think they said twenty-five minutes. Now my stuff is in her garage in Calabasas, waiting for me to figure out where I go next.
Refusing to even think about it, I wrap my hands around my stomach when another cool breeze comes over. This thin sweater and scarf are helping just a bit. I hear the back door open and shut, but I don’t turn around. I’m expecting Kellie to bring me coffee. For the past four days, all she’s been doing is making sure I don’t collapse. She keeps cooking and sending Brian out with food. I hear the crunch of rocks under her feet. “You know, I could get used to the peacefulness here. I think I want to buy a house here.”
“If you give me a chance, I’ll buy you whatever you could possibly want.” I hear his voice and blink my eyes. It can’t be. No one knows I’m here, not even my family. I shake my head, not sure what is going on. Maybe I’m hallucinating. My head turns to the side in slow motion, and his face comes into view. My heart starts beating faster than it ever has. I turn in my seat, and I stand. He doesn’t move, and I look at him, and nothing, nothing is like I thought it was. The memories of him are nothing like the real thing. His eyes are darker than in my memories. “What are you doing here?” My voice shakes while I ask him that question. I try to settle my heartbeat, but it’s like pain ripping through me all over again. The burning now itching my eyes, the tears ready to come again. Today, I went a full three hours without a tear falling.
I look at him. He’s beautiful, but it’s nothing new. After all, he’s Hollywood’s golden boy. “I would have been here earlier if I knew you were here.” I wasn’t ready for the sound of his voice and what it would do.
I stand straight. “Maybe that should have been your first clue that I didn’t want to see you.” My hands start to shake now, so I clasp them together in front of me.
“Jessica.” My name on his lips is too much, and I shake my head when he comes forward as a tear rolls down my cheek.
“Please don’t do this.” I steady my voice, swallowing, but my lower lip quivering. “Just let it be. Let me be.”
“How?” he asks, his voice quivering now. “How can I let you be when I can’t breathe without you? How can I let you be when half of my soul is missing when I’m not near you? Tell me how, Jessica, and I’ll leave you and never come back.” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer, and I don’t think I would have anyway because had I spoken, the sob I am trying to keep at bay would have roared out of me. “I will never forgive myself for putting you in this position. Never.” His eyes fill with tears, and with one blink, they roll down his cheeks.
The need to go to him and wipe it away is so strong, I can’t stop it. My hands itch to touch his face, to rub his chin and then his cheek, but something stops me. Whether it’s from fear, hurt, or anger, it’s bigger than me. “I took that picture for me without even telling you the morning in Paris after that disaster on the red carpet.” I swallow as I watch him pour his heart out to me, his chest rising and falling. “I think it was then I knew I was in love with you,” he says, and I gasp out now. My hand covers my mouth, trying to stop the sob that rips through me. “I can’t do this, baby.” He shakes his head. “I can’t not come to you and not touch you when all you’ve ever done since we started this was absolutely complete me.” I stand in front of him with both hands on my face, trying not to sob, trying to breathe through the pain when I feel his arms around me. My face pushes into his chest as my body shakes with sobs. “I’m so sorry.” I feel his hands in my hair, his lips on my forehead. I don’t know how long I stand here with his arms around my shoulders. “It’s been torture,” he whispers, “pure torture. I haven’t slept in four days.”
“Tyler,” I finally say, moving out of his arms when my breathing gets back to normal, or when I stop breathing heavily. “My whole life shattered. And I’m not even kidding about this.” I take a breath. “I quit my job, and now they are suing me. I can’t go back to my apartment. I’ve been dragged through the mud, to put it mildly. I’ve had my life exposed and all because you took a picture of us and someone hacked your phone.”
“No,” he says, and I stop talking. It can’t be. He couldn’t have done it. “You must not have seen the latest. It was Cassie. I found out this afternoon and fired her.”
“That fucking bitch,” I hiss, angry now. “That fucking bitch,” I repeat. “I should have known.”
“No”—he shakes his head—“I should have known. She stepped over the line when it came to you, and I just didn’t see it.” He grabs my hand in his, his fingers rubbing over my knuckles. “I know that being with me is going to have its drawbacks, and it’s going to be a nightmare, to say the least. The press will haunt you, but that is just a little part of me. The other part of me is the real me; the one who took you on that motorcycle ride, the one who rowed the boat and treated you to sushi, the one who introduced you to his parents.” The memories are coming back. “I’m the one who woke up with you every morning. The one who held your hand while we walked around Paris, the one who lay in bed with you watchin
g Dateline. That is who I really am.”
“I don’t know if I can,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
He nods his head at me. “I get it.” He brings my hand to his mouth. “Thank you, Jessica, for giving me the best thirty days I’ve ever had.” He drops my hand. “Be good, Jessica.” He smiles at me, the smile not reaching his eyes, and he turns and walks away from me. I watch him walk up the step and through the door, the window clattering when he closes the door. I don’t know how long I watch the door, but the next person to come out is Kellie.
“Are you okay?” she asks, and I shake my head. “Yeah, he was pretty much destroyed when he left.”
“Yeah.” I bend down now, putting my hands on my knees. My breathing becomes irrational as I have a panic attack in the middle of her backyard. “He said he loved me, and I sent him away.”
“Well, obviously, he loves you,” she tells me, and I look at her. “You have to have known he loved you if he showed up here.” She smiles at me. “Honey, you’re in the middle of Montana. There is no way he knew where you were unless he had been searching for you. He would have had to pull out all the stops to track you down.”
“What?” I’m confused by her words.
“He found out you were here two, maybe three hours ago.” I stand tall. “It’s a two-hour flight.”
“Kellie, my life was destroyed by this.”
“No,” she snaps, “your life was not destroyed from this because you’re still here.” She comes to me now, hugging me. “They tried to destroy you, but all they did was make you stronger.”
“I don’t feel strong. I feel defeated. I feel like I’m at the bottom of the barrel, and I can barely see the light out. I don’t have a fucking job,” I shout.
“You hated your job,” she shouts back at me. “Maybe it was what you needed in order to move on.”
“My face is on every single magazine cover in the United States,” I tell her, “and not in a good way.”
Hollywood Playboy Page 20
