After several minutes he pulled back and wiped at his face. “I didn’t mean to tell you all that.”
She put her hands on the exposed skin on his jawline. It was the only part of him she could touch, besides his hands. “It’s all right.”
His gaze bore through her, his eyes speaking to her. Pleading with her. She knew what he meant. He wanted her to accept him—all of him—scars included.
A part of her wanted to slowly reach up and lift his mask. To let him know she loved him and accepted him. That part of her shouted at her to do it. To let him take that last step.
But the other side of her couldn’t do it. She couldn’t let him expose such vulnerability to her, a tabloid reporter out to tell his secret to the world. She was scum, and she didn’t deserve to be looked at like that. Guilt surged in her, and she dropped her hands. “It’s late.”
He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. His warm lips sent a shiver of delight through her. She pulled him to her and gave his lips more exploration. He accepted her advances, his hands gripping her upper arms, his lips moving over hers in a perfect rhythm. When she finally pulled back, she could barely catch her breath.
“I really should go,” she said, standing, her legs acting like she was a newborn fawn as she staggered.
“So soon?” He stood and pouted.
“Yes,” she said, placing one more kiss on his lips before turning toward the door. The one kiss turned into two, and then three, before she could tear herself away. Finally, she made it outside of his room.
“Good night,” he said, leaning against the door jam. His gaze traveled over her face. It was like a caress, and she felt it move over her skin.
“Night,” she said, unlocking her door. If she didn’t get away from him, she was going to lose herself completely.
Her heart pounded as she stood in her empty resort room, looking at the wall that separated them. A sudden coldness swept over her skin, and she felt the absence of his touch. An intense longing tugged at her chest as she walked to her chair and sat down. How could she miss him this much, when she’d just been with him mere seconds ago?
She picked up her phone to check her texts, but the screen didn’t light up. Had she run out of battery? She plugged it in and sure enough, the empty symbol showed in red. She left it plugged in while she got ready for bed.
Ten minutes later she checked and saw three unanswered phone calls, with three messages. She went to her voicemail and played each message.
The first one was from Mrs. Lewis. “Riley, I know you’re busy and I’m sorry to bug you, but our landlady stopped by today while I was cleaning your father’s place. She said you’re behind on rent, and if you can’t pay it, she’s going to start the eviction process on Monday. Honey, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Call me back when you get a chance. Bye.”
Images of dragging a shopping cart full of all their belongings as she tried to find the best cardboard to sleep under swam in front of her eyes. This was terrible. She couldn’t get kicked out. She played the next message, even though she didn’t want to.
“Hi, sweetie.” Her father’s voice. “Just wanted to let you know the doctor said I’m looking good and can go home in the morning. I’m sure you’re busy, so I won’t keep you. Call me tomorrow.”
She sighed. At least that was good news. She pressed to listen to the last one. Her boss’s voice came through the line.
“Riley, I saw a picture of you with Shadow Walker in The National Globe. You had better be getting me a story. Interest in this is soaring. Everyone wants to know who Shadow is. It looked like you were getting close to him. Get me that story tomorrow, and you’ll have an extra bonus. Three thousand big ones. Call me in the morning.”
Riley’s vision blurred as she stared at her phone. Eviction. Hospital bills. And her boss, wanting the story. The story that would launch her career into the stratosphere. The story that would save her and her father.
The story that would ruin Jalen.
She swallowed the horrible taste in her mouth. What if it wouldn’t ruin Jalen? What if she could bring in enough sympathy for him in her article that it would actually allow him to be free from his burdens? He could be himself and still perform.
She held onto that thought like a lifeline and sat down at her desk. It was late, but she didn’t care. This new idea of trying to help him through her story was something she hadn’t thought about before. She needed to explore what a story like that might look like.
Opening up a new document, she began to type. Maybe there was a way to save her career, save their apartment, and save her father, while saving Jalen as well.
Chapter 23
Jalen’s phone rang, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he had to pick up, but he was asleep and didn’t want to wake up. He’d been dreaming of Riley. But the noise continued, so he forced himself awake. He grabbed his phone and swiped to answer.
“Hello?” He tried not to sound like he’d been asleep, but it didn’t work too well. Sir Barks jumped up onto his bed and licked his face.
“Jalen?”
It was Jeff, the head of his security team. He patted his dog’s head. “Yes?”
“I need to talk to you about something.”
He sat up, running his hand through his hair. Sir Barks curled up at the end of the bed. “What is it?”
“After the break-in yesterday, the team decided we needed to tighten security even more. I have put two men at each door, and I’m digging into some of the people at the resort.”
“Okay. Thank you.” He’d been surprised by the fan sneaking into his room, but she hadn’t hurt him, and security had immediately burst into the room and removed her. She hadn’t seen his face.
“We’ve come across a problem.”
His brain must have still been fuzzy from sleep because he wasn’t sure what Jeff was talking about. “A problem?”
“There’s a tabloid reporter at the resort.”
He was so confused. “Yes, we know. We caught her yesterday.” Wouldn’t Jeff already know about that incident?
“No, another tabloid reporter.”
“Oh.” Another one? He hadn’t seen anyone else trying to get close to him. But they were sneaky.
“You hired her, sir.”
Wait…what? He didn’t understand. He hadn’t hired any reporters. “Excuse me?”
“Her name is Riley Campbell. You hired her to be Shadow’s personal assistant.”
Jalen’s mouth went dry, and he couldn’t breathe. Jeff continued to talk, but all he heard was a loud buzzing noise.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Do you want us to clear her out of the building?”
Kick Riley out? “No,” he said, his mind reeling. He didn’t want them to toss her out. They had to be mistaken, right? Somehow they’d gotten their wires crossed. Riley wasn’t a reporter. She couldn’t be.
“I’ll deal with the situation.”
He finished the conversation and hung up, then stared at the phone in his hand. They were wrong. She wasn’t a calculating tabloid reporter, there to write a story on him. She was too kind. Too caring. They had somehow made a huge mistake.
Needing time to think, Jalen got into the shower and turned on the water to almost-scalding. He pressed his hands to the shower walls, trying to let the water wash away the icky feeling that was growing inside of him.
Something odd had been going on with Riley. She had even told him she had a secret she couldn’t talk about. Was this it? Her secret was that she was a reporter, doing a story on him? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more he felt sick to his stomach.
By the time he was out of the shower and dressed, he felt like a giant gun had shot a hole into his heart. He didn’t want to believe it was true, but it sure explained a lot, if he thought about it. Riley was everything he’d ever wanted. What a perfect plan. Be the woman that the lonely pop star wanted, and in return, knab the
hottest story of the entertainment industry.
Riley had targeted him. That started to sink in as he put more food in Sir Barks’ bowl. She’d been playing him this entire time. And he’d willingly walked right into her trap. He practically told her who he was. What a fool he’d been. How had he not seen it?
He’d caught her wearing fake glasses. Was that because she was trying to act like someone else? He had noticed her shift in personality. There were times when she would act one way and other times where he’d see hidden pieces of her. So, which parts were real? How much of her was a lie?
His phone chimed, and he looked at the screen. It was a text from Riley.
Do you need anything this morning?
Her words sent a jolt of anger through him. Here she was again, playing a part. Yes. He did need something. He needed her to leave so he could sneak into her room and find out the truth about her. He wracked his brain for some errand he could send her on so he could dig around and find out some answers.
I’m out of my skin cream. I have sensitive skin, so I need a certain brand. Can you get me another container of it?
She texted back that she would, and he sent her the brand name. He knew it was hard to find and figured she probably wouldn’t be able to get it on the island. He waited until he heard her door shut, before leaving his room dressed as Jalen.
He walked to the front desk and asked the kid for a second key to Riley’s room. No one questioned him, since he’d booked it in his name. No one stopped to talk to him, either. That was one nice thing about being himself. No one seemed to care what he did or where he went. He slipped into her room, shutting the door behind him.
His gaze traveled over the room as nerves shot through him, making his stomach tighten. Her bed was neatly made. A phone cord lay on the desk, along with her laptop, which was open, the screen lit up, like she’d just been on it. A small part of him still hoped his security team was wrong. Hoped to get on her computer and find the obvious answer as to why they’d made that glaring mistake.
Guilt played a rhythm down his spine as he stepped forward. He shouldn’t be breaking into her room and going through her computer. He should leave. Yet, he couldn’t. He had to know for sure.
He sat down. A browser was open, and he read what she’d searched.
What happens when you get evicted?
Why was Riley researching eviction? Was she about to lose her apartment? He frowned, not liking that thought. But he wasn’t there for her Google searches. He clicked to the Word document she had open.
In bold letters across the top of the screen, it read, “Shadow Walker’s True Identity Revealed.” His hands shook as he skimmed the article and found his name. His mouth went dry, and he had trouble breathing.
It was true. Riley was a tabloid reporter, and she had lied to him to get close to him. She knew who he was, even though she’d pretended she didn’t.
And she was going to expose him to the world.
His mind spun as he tried to figure out what to do. His fingers itched to delete the article. Why not? She was a liar and a fake. Serves her right. He highlighted the text and hit the delete key.
For some reason it was satisfying to see the text on the screen wiped away. But that didn’t wipe away the cold, sick feeling in his gut. Nor did it really do anything to stop Riley from exposing him. She’d just write it again.
And if he left it deleted, she would know he had snuck into her room. He sighed, clicked on Control + Z, and the article re-appeared. Too bad. It would have somehow made him feel better to leave it blank. He clicked the save button out of habit, and the dialogue box opened with the name pre-populated. Right after he hit the return key, he realized what he’d done. Her article hadn’t been saved before. If she came back and noticed it was now saved to her hard drive, she would know someone had been in her room.
Or maybe she wouldn’t notice. Yeah, he’d go with that. Because he had no idea how to unsave something. Was that even possible?
His curiosity about something else piqued, and he opened her documents folder, looking for the novels she’d told him about. The ones she’d said were on her computer. Except, there were no novels. Only articles about famous people. She’d lied about that as well.
He clicked back on the Google search window and stood up, his legs shaking. He’d done what he came to do, which was find out the truth. Now he had to figure out what he was going to do about it.
He was in love with a woman who had lied to him and who was planning on betraying him. A cold-hearted, back-stabbing viper. A woman, who by all rights, didn’t even exist, because he was in love with the persona she made up. The one she’d used to seduce him into falling in love with her.
He felt like throwing up.
Chapter 24
Riley walked into the third store and crossed her fingers that they would have Jalen’s brand of skin cream. She was sure he needed it for his scars. Why else would he have her run all over the island looking for something so specific?
She scanned the shelf, but even before she got done looking, she knew she wasn’t going to find it. This was one of those all-purpose stores. They only had essentials. A little of this and a little of that. Nothing specific, like what Jalen needed. She pulled out her phone and texted.
I haven’t found your skin cream yet. I’ve checked the three stores near the resort, but none of them have it. I’ll need to take a taxi to the next one, because it’s a two-hour walk from here, and it’s starting to rain. Just wanted you to know I’m still on it.
His answer came a few seconds later.
No, it’s okay. I’ll order some to be shipped to my home.
Riley texted back.
Are you sure? I don’t mind checking the next store.
She bit her bottom lip, worried he was in pain. If his skin was delicate, which she could only imagine that it was, it could be really hurting him. He didn’t text back right away, and she walked outside, ready to flag down a taxi. But before she could spot one, her phone chimed.
Just come back to the resort. I need to discuss something with you.
She wondered what that meant. Hopefully he wasn’t wanting to rehash what happened last night. She’d thought she’d made it clear that she didn’t want him to reveal his real identity to her. Not that she’d decided on publishing her article. She’d written it but still couldn’t save it to the shared drive. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Jalen. Still, she needed to figure out how she was going to pay the rent.
She texted back.
I’ll be there shortly.
The sky was gray with rain clouds and tiny drops hit her skin as she walked. Her thoughts turned to her father. He was young, still. Only fifty-seven. If he could get a transplant, she could have many more years with him. She just needed to help him survive long enough to get the transplant. Maybe she could sell plasma to pay part of the rent. If she made a partial payment, maybe they wouldn’t evict her. Her father needed a stable home. A place to rest. She just didn’t want to sell Jalen out in order to provide that.
Her phone rang, and she pulled it out of her bag. It was Gary. He was probably calling to bug her about the story. She wanted to ignore his call, but that wouldn’t be good. Not if she wanted to keep her job. Swiping the screen, she picked up the call. “Yes?”
“You’re the best. Seriously. I could kiss you right now.”
She pulled her phone back and looked at it to make sure it really was Gary. He never talked like that. Mostly, he yelled at her for being late with stories, or for not being imaginative enough. And why was he so happy? She hadn’t sent him the article.
“What are you talking about?”
“That piece on Shadow Walker. We’re getting so many hits right now, the whole thing is blowing up.” Gary’s low voice was filled with excitement.
She stopped walking, dread sinking her stomach. “My piece on Shadow? I didn’t send you any piece on Shadow.”
“Yes. You did. And it’s amazing. You can have
that promotion, and the three-grand bonus. Your article is going viral.”
Riley couldn’t breathe. How had Gary gotten the article? In her sleep-deprived brain, had she saved it to the shared drive? She thought she’d been so careful. How could this have happened?
“Look, I just wanted to congratulate you. I gotta run. See you on Monday.” Gary hung up before Riley could say anything.
She stood there, staring at her phone in horror. The article had been sent to Gary. He’d published it. She’d ruined Jalen’s life.
Her mind raced. What was she going to do? How could she fix it? Gary had to take it down. Now. She called him back, in a state of panic.
“What is it?” he said after picking up. Yep, he was back to his brusque self. So much for thinking she was the best.
“You have to pull that article. I sent it by mistake.” Thunder rolled in the distance, and the rain began pouring down in earnest.
“Are you insane? I can’t pull it. Didn’t you hear me? It’s going viral.”
Riley’s vision wavered as she tried to gain control of herself. “Gary. Pull it. Now.” She realized she was yelling only after a woman with an umbrella jerked her head around to stare at her. But she didn’t care. He had to listen to her.
“Is it false? Because you know false stories get just as much traction as true ones. Even more sometimes.”
“No. It’s true,” she said, her voice cracking. “It’s just going to ruin him.”
“The story is already out. I can’t take it back now. You know what viral means, don’t you?” Gary huffed, like he was upset she was wasting his time.
Desperation shot through her and she broke out in a sweat, even though she was getting soaked from the rain. She picked up her pace. She had to get to the resort. “Please. You can keep the bonus money. I just want it taken down.”
“If I take it down, another paper will just run it and get all the credit. Half a million people have already read it. Look, I have to go.”
“Gary!” she shouted, but it was no use. He’d already hung up.
A Deception of Massive Proportion: A Romantic Comedy (The Billionaire Club Book 3) Page 14
