“Son! How goes it? The renovations coming along okay? Things going well?”
“Everything’s fine, Dad. Thanks. Well, something came up I need to talk to you about.”
My father shuffled in his office chair looking intently at the screen. “Shoot.”
“I had to go see Denny Holloway.”
My father’s expression turned to a grimace. “You need to stay away from that man. He’s bad news. Always has been. You can’t trust a demon, son.”
That was true. I was taking the word of a demon. But then he’d had the video.
“Denny said you were supplying him with drugs. He had a video.”
My father burst out laughing. Proper hearty laughs where he had to clutch his stomach. “I’m a billionaire several times over but I’m supplying some two-bit bar with narcotics. Jeez, whatever next.”
“But you were on video. Sat in the back of a car.”
“Well, someone’s obviously good with editing equipment because I’ve not left the island and the staff can prove it. Red hot alibi’s over here, Smith. I assure you.”
The relief I felt was tangible. “I just wanted you to know what he was saying. He’s also trying to blackmail me over a photo of me and Cynthia Delaware. Dad, in the photo I’m biting her neck but I don’t remember it. Not at all. Cynthia says it was taken recently but I don’t see how. I’m so confused.”
“You seen Cynthia?” My father had never seen eye-to-eye with Cynthia’s father and held the family in the same contempt I did. “Yeah, I compelled her so that she remembers nothing.”
“Good. Well you leave Denny to me. I’ll text you when it’s all handled.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Smith. You’d tell me if there was anything else wrong, wouldn’t you?”
I got the underlying message—if you were going to try anything stupid again.
“Of course, I would. There’s no need for you to worry. I have good friends here and I’m getting some more treatment for my problem. I felt I needed a little more support.”
“Well, I’m always here, son. I’ll fly out to you whenever you need me. Now, no worrying about that little shit. It’s time he moved onto pastures new and I’ll make sure he realizes he doesn’t have any choice in the matter.”
We said our goodbye’s and ended the call.
I felt so much better about things. I’d dealt with Cynthia. My father was not a drug dealer and would take care of the Denny situation. I was handling my addiction, and best of all Serena was back. It was time for me to go admit to her and the guys what had been going on with me.
The truth wasn’t pretty and having to admit to not knowing what I did with Cynthia had me worrying about what Serena would say. But I needed everything in the open. No secrets.
I decided I’d visit the clinic next to seek treatment the vampire way, and then I’d head on home.
19
Serena
My mind wouldn’t leave me alone. One minute I wept, the next I was incensed. The fury burned through my veins and I had to rein myself in from using my new vampire strength to cause destruction of hotel room furniture. I wanted to tear the place apart. My father couldn’t get here until the morning and so I faced a night of this. That was until I received a text from Leonie inviting me on a girls night out.
Could I do this?
Could I try to discover what was happening with her and Smith? To see if her behavior gave me any clue that she was behind the hate campaign currently ruining my life.
I sent a text back arranging to meet her in the bar of the Dream. I just hoped I didn’t run into any of the guys while I was out.
Leonie walked toward me and I could tell there was something there. It was hard to put my finger on what exactly, but there was a hesitance, a general unease, though she tried to greet me as usual.
“You recovered now?”
“Yes, thank you. I’m feeling a lot better.”
“And did you have a nice time with Flynn at the Award Ceremony? He did fantastic, didn’t he?”
“Yeah.” I hesitated. She seemed to know everything that had been going on in our lives.
“Well, shall we go through to the bar? I told the others to meet us there and then we can decide where we go next.”
“Sure.”
I followed her into the bar and we took a seat at the counter.
I ordered a whiskey, ready for the alcohol to fire through my veins. It made me think of Smith and my neck and shoulders tightened.
“So have you seen much of the others while I was in hospital?” I asked her.
“Not really. I’ve seen Smith. We had lunch one day.”
“Ah, good.”
“I’ve settled into my job. I love it, Serena. In fact right now I am just so happy. I have a great job, new friends…”
“You just need a new lover now and you’re all set.” I smiled through gritted teeth.
“Oh, that’s okay. I have someone. It’s very early days but I like where it’s going.”
I bet you do.
I took a sip of my drink; it was time to get this over with. “I think Smith’s drinking again, Leonie. Did he seem okay to you when you saw him?”
I saw her swallow before she answered. “I wouldn’t know. That’s something you should probably discuss with him, isn’t it?”
Liar.
Leonie’s head swung over to the entrance. “Ah, here they are.” She smiled at me. “I’m not sure who you know, so let me introduce you.”
But she didn’t need to introduce me at all because there they all were:
The woman who kissed Jayden.
The woman who kissed Carter.
Cynthia Delaware.
They stood there along with Carter’s co-star, Catalina.
“Oh hey there, Serena.” Cynthia said, smiling at me. “The boys given you a night off?”
But I couldn’t look at her, or the others, I could only focus on Leonie.
“Oh well played, Leonie. Well played. I really thought we were okay. That we were friends. But you came back, and you ruined my life.”
Leonie shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“I know you’ve been seeing Smith much more than you’re admitting to, and this.” I pointed to the women. “Inviting all these here. Oh my God. Well played. Well fucking played.”
And then I ran, I ran out of the hotel while it killed me to not use my vampire speed, but that was okay, I was dying inside anyway.
My father arrived and he found me laid on the couch staring into space.
I told him everything; I showed him everything.
“My God, Serena. Well I’m here for you. Whatever you need. I know we don’t know each other well, but I can be here as much as you like and if you need space I’ll stay in my room next door.”
“I feel stupid. We only just met and here I am reaching out to you. But I don’t have anyone else.”
“Serena, do you know how long I have waited for this moment? Not you in a crisis, but being able to be there for my daughter? I never thought this day would come. I’m here. Understand? I. Am. Here.”
I burst into tears and threw myself into my father’s arms.
20
Smith
I texted Leonie to see if she might accompany me to the house but she told me she was going out with Serena.
Fuck.
Did I still go home and tell the others, or wait until Serena was home?
No. I needed to get this off my chest. I’d tell my friends and then I’d tell Serena when I saw her. It was good she was having a night out without us. She needed friends and her and Leonie seemed to get along okay. This would be good for her.
I walked into the house and gathered everyone in the living room.
“What’s going on?” Flynn asked, his brow creased.
“Is it Serena?” Carter panicked.
“No, it’s not Serena. She’s out with Leonie. It’s me. I need to tell you something.”
And I did. I told them everything, from my cravings to the blackmail to the meetings Leonie had been accompanying me on.
“Shit, Smith. Why did you not tell us? We have your back. Do you not know this by now?”
“I don’t know what the fuck’s been going on with me. But everyone was so happy with our new situation and I just didn’t want to spoil the vibe. I thought I could handle it. Leonie worked out what was going on with me. Apparently she had a family member with addictions. She’s helped me and I’m already feeling better. The human meetings work, so I’m doing both. That and I’m back under the clinic.”
Jayden shook his head. “I can’t believe this.” He walked over and embraced me in a killer hug. Did he not realize how fricking stacked he was? “Man, you always have me. Okay? Never keep this shit a secret again. You got me?”
“Yes. I got you. I’m gonna try my best not to let my addictions win, but obviously I have a problem and I need to keep on top of it.”
Flynn scratched his head. “While we’re on the subject of confessions. While I was in New York, I got a text from Rose. She was there with her husband. You know they have the brownstone there?”
“What did she want?”
“She’d heard I was in New York and said it would be nice to say hi. I was going to Tiffany’s, so I met her in a coffee shop near there. I was only there around thirty minutes. It was nice. We’ve both moved on. She’s happy, and she was pleased for us all. Wished us all the best. She’s five months pregnant now, though her bump is so tiny you’d hardly know.”
“What did Serena say?”
“I didn’t tell her. But the thing is, and I didn’t think of it until I got home. How did she know I was in New York? She spoke about the competition and yet I was entered under another name. It’s weird and it’s bugging me. I wish I’d thought about it at the time.”
“Gabby turned up out of the blue to try to rekindle our romance.” Jayden interrupted. “She said she’d seen our relationship in the press and wanted to see if there was any chance of us getting back together before it was too late.”
“This can’t be a coincidence. Our exes turning up all of a sudden.” I said.
“Right at the time Leonie returned.” Carter announced.
We sat in silence mulling over our thoughts and then my cell rang.
Leonie.
“Hello?”
“Your crazy ass girlfriend just accused me of some shit. I have no idea what she was ranting about. Apparently I’ve been trying to ruin her life. She knows about your addiction. She also saw my friends and went postal before high tailing it out of the bar. If she comes home, you need to find out what she’s got going on in that psycho head of hers.”
“Something’s going on. We were just talking about other coincidences. We think we’re being set up…”
“Well I sure as shit am not taking the blame for it. You’d better not think I had anything to do with it, Smith Henderson. Not with how I’ve been there for you lately. Now I need you to be there for me. Find her and give her the facts—straight.”
“I will. Thanks, Leonie. For everything. I’ll be in touch.”
Ending the call, I looked at the eager faces of the others. “It’s not Leonie. She called to say Serena knew about my problems and she went crazy when she saw Leonie’s friends. Do you think the turning has had some ill effects?”
Flynn sighed. “Call Leonie back and ask who the friends were. Put her on speaker.”
I did.
“It was Carter’s co-stars Catalina and Maya, Cynthia Delaware, and a woman I hadn’t met before who used to live here, Gabby Marrantz.”
We called Serena’s cell again and again with no response.
We asked if she was at the Dream.
We toured the area looking for her, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“She can’t stay angry forever. Leave her tonight and we’ll start looking for her again in the morning. Maybe she caught a flight to New York, back to her old stomping ground?” Flynn said.
“And her dad.” Added Carter.
“First thing tomorrow we call Vern.” Jayden sighed. “See if he’s heard from her.”
It was a long night and we didn’t have any more luck. Vern’s cell was turned off. Serena was still missing.
Finally around lunchtime the next day Vern answered his phone when Flynn called him. We were all home. Carter didn’t have filming, but I knew he wouldn’t have turned up if he had.
“What do you want? Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” He snarled his words out. We had the call on speaker phone so we could all hear.
“We don’t know why Serena isn’t here, but we know something has gone down. Leonie called us. Things aren’t adding up, Vern. We need to see her to discuss things, like why she left and isn’t speaking to us.”
“Well let me give you a clue. There’s the video of Carter kissing the dark-haired woman at a party.”
Carter’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Then there’s you meeting your ex in New York, Jayden kissing a woman outside a hotel, and Smith attending addiction meetings and kissing that friend she thought she had.”
“None of this is how it seems, Vern.”
“Well, I’ve seen it with my own eyes, so you’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.”
“Look. We need your help. Can you meet us and bring this supposed evidence? There has to be an explanation.”
“Fine. But the only reason is because my daughter’s heart is breaking right now and I’ll do anything to help mend it. You piss me off and I’ll make sure I put a spell on you that makes blood thirst look like a walk in the park. You hear me?”
“Loud and clear. Where do you want to meet?”
“You choose. I’m near Surfrider Beach.”
“Let’s meet at Waves. There’s my room there, where I store my surf gear. It has chairs and WiFi. Delphine from Waves will supply us with drinks if I tip her nicely.” Carter suggested.
“Fine. I’ll see you there in an hour and this better be worth my time.”
“It will be.” Flynn confirmed before ending the call.
“What the fuck is happening?” I said.
“I don’t know but we’re about to find out.” Said Flynn.
Just over an hour later we were all in a room overlooking Surfrider Beach. Delphine had indeed sent wait staff round with refreshments.
Vern came in carrying a laptop bag and after stilted hellos, Carter helped him set it up.
“So the first thing she received was this…”
It was a recording of Carter at a party where he kissed a fellow actress. The words and actions were damning.
“Well?” Vern turned to him.
“It was at Catalina’s after filming. She insisted that we act out the next day’s scene because we had to kiss and she didn’t want it to be awkward. There were about a hundred people watching us. Whoever filmed that did a great job of making something innocent look guilty.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You don’t have to.” Carter went into his pocket and took a business card out of his wallet. “Call the director. He has the footage of the scene we did the next day. It will be on next season’s show.”
Vern nodded. “Okay.” He went back into the laptop case and brought out some photographs which he handed to me. I flicked through them and then handed them around. “There’s a tape too. Of you in a meeting.”
“Inside a meeting?” I stood up, spinning around, clutching at my hair. “Those things are confidential. Fuck.”
Jayden stood and placed an arm on my shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll sort this. Sit down and let’s get through all this and then we can make a plan.”
I nodded and sat back down. “I have addiction problems, Vern. Leonie noticed and went to a meeting with me. That kiss.” I pointed at the picture. “Was just me thanking a friend for being there for me. It was a peck on the cheek though the photo makes it look more. I admitted everythi
ng to the others last night. If Serena had been there, she’d have known. I wasn’t keeping secrets from her. Well, I was at first. I was trying to deal on my own, but I realized my idiocy and that I needed my people.”
Vern sighed and got out another set of photos that he handed to Jayden.
“I told you this was weird.” Jayden said throwing the photos down. “She’s someone I had a fling with at eighteen years old. All of a sudden she appears from nowhere asking to meet. When we’re outside, she flings herself at me. It’s a fucking set up and when I find out who did it I’ll drain the bastard.”
“Last but not least.” Vern announced, and he showed a video of Flynn meeting his ex.
“We were just talking about this last night. I have no idea how Rose knew I was there. The competition I was there for, I entered under a different name. Plus you can’t see from the photo but Rose is five months pregnant. She’s happily married.”
“Can you call Rose and find out how she knew?” Vern asked. “It could give us a clue.”
I watched as Flynn took out his cell and hesitantly called the number. I knew he didn’t really want to contact his ex again, but we had no choice. Once again speaker phone ensured we all heard it.
“Hey, Rose. Sorry to trouble you.”
“No problem, Flynn. I can’t stay on long though. I’m out to playgroup in five.”
“Sorry, I never asked. Who told you I was in New York? I was so caught up with things I never asked you.”
“Oh she asked me not to say, didn’t want you thinking she was out to cause any bother.”
“It’s important, Rose.”
There was a pause.
“It was Cynthia. We’ve kept in touch since I left. I know it’s strange, but I spent a lot of time at Carbon Beach and I like to know what’s happening there still.”
Filthy Rich Vampire Husbands Page 11