Captivating

by Onley James

  Captivating

  Elite Protection Services Book 2

  www.onleyjames.com

  Copyright © 2019 Onley James

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction and does not represent any individual living or dead. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Cover Design by We Got You Covered Book Design

  Trigger warning: This book contains talk of past child sexual abuse.

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Elijah

  2. Shepherd

  3. Elijah

  4. Shepherd

  5. Elijah

  6. Shepherd

  7. Elijah

  8. Shepherd

  9. Elijah

  10. Shepherd

  11. Elijah

  12. Shepherd

  13. Elijah

  14. Shepherd

  15. Elijah

  16. Shepherd

  17. Elijah

  18. Shepherd

  19. Elijah

  20. Shepherd

  21. Elijah

  22. Shepherd

  23. Elijah

  24. Shepherd

  25. Elijah

  26. Shepherd

  27. Elijah

  28. Shepherd

  29. Elijah

  30. Shepherd

  31. Elijah

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  About the Author

  June 5th, 2009

  “Dammit, girl. How could you not tell me?”

  Elijah flinched at the fury in his grandpa’s voice. In the twelve years he’d been alive, he’d never heard the elder Elijah raise his voice at his mother. Even when she deserved it. Which was all the time. She badmouthed Elijah’s dad all the time. He was dead and she still couldn’t seem to stop blaming him for everything bad that happened in their lives.

  “Because it wasn’t any of your business,” his mother said, her tone cold enough to send an icy trickle of fear along Elijah’s spine. “Eli had no right to tell you. We could get in a lot of trouble.”

  “No right? No right? You’re lucky I’m a gentleman or I’d slap the taste out of your mouth. That’s my grandson. That man hurt him. Him, not you. He had the right to shout it from the goddamn rooftops if he wanted to. A right you stole from him with this… joke of a settlement.”

  She scoffed. “Easy for you to say. Elijah and I might need those seven zeroes if he can’t pull it together. He’s already had to bow out of one deal because of his panic attacks. If he can’t get past this, we’ll have to survive somehow.”

  Guilt curdled like bad milk in his stomach. He was trying. Couldn’t she see that? Elijah swiped at the tears on his cheeks, his face hot, pressing himself deeper into the tiny alcove at the top of the stairs. They wouldn’t see him. They didn’t know he was listening. There was no way to even know he was there, but still, he felt vulnerable. He pulled his legs to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his cheek against his upraised knees.

  He’d thought she’d be happy now that she had the money, but she wasn’t. Every time he cried, every time he woke up screaming, she looked at him with such disgust. Sometimes, she tried to bribe him with video games or candy. Just smile. Come on, Eli. You’re an actor. Just act like it never happened until you forget that it did happen. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but this could be the best thing that ever happened to us.

  “You greedy bitch.” Elijah’s gaze went wide, and he bit down on his lower lip until he tasted copper. His grandpa’s voice trembled as if he was barely holding it together. Elijah knew that feeling. “When my good-for-nothing son died and left you penniless, I made sure you and the boy would want for nothing. I gave you my home, I paid off your car and your thousands of dollars in credit card debt. Hell, I even paid for all three of your trips to rehab. But that wasn’t enough for you. You shoved that boy in front of a camera the first chance you got, profiting off my name and my legacy.”

  “Eli loves acting,” she swore.

  It was true. Elijah had loved it. There had been nothing better than putting on a costume and pretending to be somebody else for a while, pretending to be somewhere else for a while. It didn’t matter who. But was ruined now. The one thing that Elijah had loved more than anything was now dirty and ugly and twisted. Now, every time there was a camera on him his skin crawled like there were millions of ants underneath and his stomach swooped like he was on a roller coaster.

  “You treat him like he’s a cash cow. He has no friends, no hobbies, no life. Only work,” his grandfather shouted.

  “Elijah is a star. He has been in four blockbuster films. He’s walked a hundred red carpets. I did that. Not you. Not his father. He has a career because of me. He will be set for life because of me. Do you know what I was doing at twelve to survive? I promise you; I didn’t have a house like this.”

  “Jesus. Do you even hear yourself? You’re so desperate to make him into the star you could never be that you sold out your own son.”

  She gasped. “I did no such thing. How dare you? I love my son. He was supposed to help Eli. I never thought—”

  “Don’t give me that horseshit,” his grandpa snapped. Everybody knew the rumors. Hell, I haven’t stepped foot in Hollywood in ten years and even I’d heard what kind of man he was. You ignored it just like you ignore anything that doesn’t suit your narrative. You ignored it because of his connections, because of greed. You let that man—” Elijah went cold and then hot as his grandpa choked on a sob. His grandpa never cried. Ever. Not even when his dad had died. “You let that man take advantage of Elijah and then you signed this—” Papers slapped against a hard surface. “And you told him it didn’t matter.”

  There was the loud crack of skin on skin. “You smug bastard. It’s so easy to swoop in after the fact and act like you would have done things differently.”

  “Smug? Of course, I would have done things differently. I would have called the police.”

  “Right? Do you think the police would have done jack—”

  “I would have called the police,” he shouted over her. “And if that didn’t work, I would have called the FBI. I would have kept calling until they arrested him.” He halted, taking a deep breath and when he spoke again, it was softer. “I would have let that boy tell his story. You put a gag order on a twelve-year-old boy and told him what happened to him didn’t matter. How long before you shoved him back in front of the cameras?”

  His mother tsked. “What good does dwelling do? It won’t make it go away. It won’t change what happened. He needs a distraction. He needs to get on with his life.”

  “You’re a monster. I’ve always known it. I just let myself believe you would at least be tenderhearted with your own child. Now I see the truth. You’re not fit to take care of him. The boy’s coming with me.”

  There was a long silence. Elijah picked up his head, his hands trembling as he rubbed his eyes, his heart beating just a little too fast against his ribs. Oh, please. Oh, please. Oh, please. Dread pooled like tar in his belly. His mom would never let him go. She said it all the time.

  “You’re insane. I’ll never let that happen,” she said, clearly shocked at his grandpa’s words.

  “Oh, yes you will. You will or I’ll go to the press and you’ll be on the hook when this piece of shit sues your ass for violating the contract, and I promise whatever number he asks for will make this look like cab fare.”

  “You’d hang me out to dry like that
? You’d only hurt Eli. They’d demand the money back.”

  “My grandson will never want for anything. The boy is coming with me and don’t even think about touching this settlement. It belongs to Eli and I’ll go broke before I let you touch even one penny of that blood money.”

  “What am I supposed to do?” she asked, indignant.

  His grandpa sounded disgusted when he said, “I’d tell you to get a job, but I don’t trust you not to go adopt some poor kid from the orphanage and throw him into some dog and pony show. You leave us alone and I’ll make sure you get a nice big, fat check every month. But if you press this issue, I’ll ruin you. That boy needs peace and time to heal. He doesn’t need some harpy screaming in his ear every day, making him feel worse.”

  “I’m his mother. He won’t want to go.”

  “He’ll go. That boy needs somebody on his side… and that will never be you.”

  There was the sound of boots on the stairs and his mother sobbing from somewhere below. Elijah couldn’t bring himself to move. He just sat there, numb. Elijah felt like somebody had taken a sword and cut him into two pieces. The Elijah before and the Elijah after. Before Elijah had color and happiness and warmth but the other Elijah—the Elijah he was now—had nothing but gray and empty and cold. He was always so cold. He didn’t know if moving to Montana would put him back together, but he couldn’t help but feel like staying in Hollywood would only keep his two pieces drifting further apart.

  A shadow loomed above him and then his grandpa was hunkering down beside him, his long gray hair hung to his shoulders and his brown eyes were red where they should have been white, but he gave Eli a wet smile. “Your dad used to hide in this same spot when he was a kid.”

  Elijah said nothing, but he nodded, wiping the snot dripping from his nose on the sleeve of his black t-shirt.

  “How’d you like to come stay with me?”

  “For how long?” Elijah managed, his voice sounding raw.

  “For as long as you want. Sound good?”

  Eli managed another nod but couldn’t help but say. “She’ll come to get me eventually.”

  His grandpa ruffled his hair. “You let me worry about your mother. Let’s go get your things.”

  His grandpa’s hand was rough, but he gripped it, anyway. He held on for dear life because he just knew if he let go, all the monsters in his life would keep him there, and Elijah needed to be as far away from this town as possible.

  Elijah Dunne hated red carpet events. It made him sound like a complete asshole, but it was true. They turned his stomach; they had since he was little. It wasn’t the cameras or the reporters or even the screaming fans. It was the access. The moment he stepped out of the car, he no longer belonged to himself. Anybody could do whatever they wanted and all he could do was just take it.

  The limo driver lingered outside, hand on the door handle waiting for Elijah to knock and let him know he could open the door, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t put it off much longer. Other cars were waiting. He stared out the window, feeling like he had a boulder in his stomach despite not eating all day. Cameras flashed, causing lights to dance in front of his eyes.

  His co-star and date, Delissandra Cortes, squeezed his leg, bouncing in her seat a bit. “Look at all of them. This is surreal. I know it’s nothing to you but, like, holy shit. Nobody back home in Des Moines will believe any of this.” She turned away from him, taking a video of the lights flashing behind her.

  He spared her a glance, wishing he could shed his foul mood and just enjoy the night for what it was, a chance for the world to see all their hard work come to fruition. He was at Sundance. It was a huge deal. They’d all worked so hard on this movie. He needed to just suck it up. This was what he did. It was who he was. He was an actor. He could act like he felt something more than blind panic. If he could just get in the right headspace, he could be whoever they wanted him to be.

  “Jesus, Elijah. All these people are here for you. The least you could do is look happy. Just open the door and let’s do this before my hair wilts.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out before rapping his knuckles against the window. The driver swept the door open and a million flashing lights made him wince He never got used to that. Once he exited the car, he turned to help Delissandra from the vehicle. Her heels were so high, he doubted she could manage it on her own. Nobody showed up to Sundance in tuxes and ball gowns. No, Utah is where they came to out-chic each other. Everybody but Elijah and his boring black jeans and black button-down combo… Lucifer approved.

  His heart dropped at even the thought of her name. She was out there somewhere, swimming with the other sharks, even though she had no reason to be on the carpet. That’s why he had Paige, his publicist, for navigating events like this. But Lucifer always had an agenda. Fuck. He just wanted to go home.

  It only took about thirty seconds for the two of them to get swept into the usual chaos. Fans screaming, begging for autographs, tabloid reporters hollering questions from just beyond the barriers, handlers trying to move them down the gauntlet of journalists as quickly as possible. Elijah kept his head down to protect his eyes, knowing there would be another slew of cameras just around the corner. Delissandra’s rep waved them closer, leaning in to whisper something in the girl’s ear. Paige was nowhere to be found, neither was Lucifer.

  He gripped Delissandra’s arm hard enough for her to suck in a pained breath. “What’s wrong?”

  He dropped her arm, clenching his fists to quell the shaking. “Something’s not right. Paige and Lucy aren’t here.”

  The girl frowned. “I’m sure it’s nothing. They’re probably inside making last-minute arrangements.”

  He scanned the staging area as they moved down the line to the first group of photographers, looking for any familiar faces, but he recognized nobody. Delissandra elbowed him in the ribs, and he glanced up, striking a pose for the cameras without missing a beat before returning to his frantic search.

  A hand on his back separated him from Delissandra, moving him to the first journalist, Misty Jennings, with Hollywood Daily. As soon as he stood before her, he knew something was wrong. Her smile turned predatory. “Elijah, how are you feeling about the photos TMZ just released of you and Jeremiah Hastings? What do you say to their allegations that you’re gay?”

  Elijah froze, blinking as his brain fought to process the question. “What?”

  The reporter didn’t repeat herself. “Do you think you’re being gay will affect you getting the part of Eagle in the next Empire film?”

  The taste of metal flooded his mouth and his blood rushed in his ears. He needed to say something but nothing came. Lucifer’s voice cut through the fray. “No comment. He has no comment. Elijah, do not say a word.”

  That wouldn’t be a problem. Elijah had no words. Not a single one. He’d always known the day would come, but he hadn’t expected it to happen this way. Lucifer’s hand slid around his bicep and, for the first time, he could remember, relief flooded him.

  “Hey!”

  Elijah didn’t know why he turned around at the sound of the angry man’s voice. It was a miracle he heard it at all over the crowd and his own heartbeat, but he had. He turned to search for the voice behind the reporter. He had only a moment to register the object in the man’s hand before a searing pain had him covering his left eye. He had no idea what was happening, but something cold and sticky clung to him. A soda or a slushie? He couldn’t be sure. It didn’t matter. Within seconds, two larger men in black jackets tackled the man and Lucifer dragged Elijah down the carpet. He could hear the man shouting at his back, using every homophobic slur imaginable, but it wasn’t registering. He was having a nightmare and any moment he’d wake up back at home and all of this would just disappear.

  Lucy’s voice cut through the roar of the crowd. “We need a medic. Now!”

  “I’m okay,” he muttered, even though he was sure he was blind in his left eye. Did slushies cause blindness
? You’d think those kids from Glee would have all needed canes or seeing-eye dogs if that were true.

  He laughed out loud, but quickly cut it off as Lucifer’s nails dug into his arm. “Do you think this is funny? Do you know how hard I had to work to get you back on top again? This will ruin you. How did they even get that footage? What were you thinking?”

  Elijah just let her talk. There was no use attempting to defend himself when she was on a tear. Better to just let her talk it through.

  “Where the hell is Paige? We need to figure out how to spin this. Fuck. This is a disaster. You’ve ruined everything.”

  Elijah would have laughed again if he didn’t think it would get him murdered. Lucifer really needed to work on her tough-love approach. Had he ruined everything? Was his career over? He didn’t think so… but deep down, some secret part of him hoped it was true.

  “Jesus, Calder. Just stop fucking our clients. Is that too much to ask?”

  Jayne Shepherd tilted his head at the scene unfolding before him. He lingered in the doorway, not ready to draw attention to himself. He’d overdressed for the meeting, but that was probably for the best. Normal people concerned themselves with making a good first impression, especially for a job interview. He hadn’t dusted off his funeral suit, but he’d put on his nicest black pants and a crisp white button-down and pulled his auburn hair into a ponytail. He had trimmed his beard, so he looked less like a wildling and more like somebody who owned a microbrewery.