I didn’t know what to expect when I turned around to face her. Sure, I had saved her from the crowd of walking zombies with cameras tonight, but I was the one who put her on that path. I was the first one to snap a picture of her, and I was the one to blame for turning her life into a media storm.
Did I still care about her? Of course I do. I always will. I fell for her hard and the mere threat of someone taking her from me made me do unthinkable things in the past. But that wasn’t the case now. No one was blackmailing me. She knew who I was, and I prayed to every god, deity, and savior I could, I prayed that she’d be able to look past what I had done and just look at where I was and what I was doing now.
She had her hands covering her face, when I gained the courage to turn around. I went to say something to her, but I didn’t know what the hell to say. I pushed the sleeves of my already rolled up shirt up a little more and waited. She was as beautiful as the first night I’d seen her. I’d never admit it back then, but she took my breath away. I could remember standing in the crowd, waiting for Spencer to make an appearance at Mood. When Elizabeth stepped out of the limo after Gia, who had pranced around on the tiny red carpet like a pro, I felt bad for Elizabeth. I didn’t know who she was then, and I knew a lot of people.
The guy next to me faked gagged. I remember she had a blanket or something wrapped around her. It wasn’t really what people like me wanted to photograph. As she scanned the crowd with a deer-in-the-headlights look, she locked eyes with me. And I remembered in that moment thinking, Wow, she’s got a beautifully proportioned face. Just as that thought crossed my mind some ass yelled, “She’s a nobody.”
I didn’t think the deer-in-the-headlights look could get any more dramatic, but Elizabeth Monroe’s eyes grew ten times bigger. I had to look away. I couldn’t watch. I was messing with my camera when the guy next to me hit my arm. “Holy shit, dude, she’s a fucking bombshell.” I glanced back up out of curiosity. I didn’t expect this wide-eyed, covered-up, scared--all right, I’ll admit it, I thought she was bigger girl--to turn into a glamazon.
So when my eye’s landed on the red dress that hugged every curve of her body as if it was made for her, I nearly choked on my own spit from shock. Beyond that, I didn’t think anything of it. She’d had an ugly-duckling-turned-into-a-swan moment. A lot of celebrities did that. She was okay looking from where I stood. I’d had better, and I’d had worse, but most importantly, I had a job to do that night, and I didn’t have time for anything else. Honestly, I never had time for women. I was constantly working, betraying people, gaining their trust, and turning around and using it against them. I was in no way, shape, or form interested in bringing someone into that world with me.
From a corner in Mood, I watched as people ignored her. I wasn’t watching her, but I found myself keeping an eye on her. I’d scan the room for my mark and, every time, my eyes would land back on her. I didn’t think anything of it back then. Suddenly something caught her eye. I followed her gaze and finally saw my mark. Spencer Salvatore had entered the club, and it was my job to befriend him, get him to trust me, and then turn on him.
I watched from my perch as he entered and parted the crowd in front of him. He had his sights set on something--someone. When I put it together I noticed he was walking toward the girl in the red dress. From what I knew, he didn’t go after women, women came to him. So I pulled my phone out and snapped as many photos as I could as he touched her ankle and talked to her. It was a one sided conversation. The poor girl was frozen.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into my head. I called Natasha and told her my plan. Natasha agreed and, soon after that, I was cozying up behind the vixen in the red dress on the dance floor. I held her close and didn’t hate it. She smelled amazing, moved good. What was there to complain about? I inflated her with compliments, which were half true, half a ruse.
Everything was going great, until she saw through it. She called me out, and I was scrambling to keep her interested. I knew then I liked her spunk, her take-no-shit attitude, but I needed her to get to him. I could remember exact minute I knew I was going to be fucked. It was the moment her cheeks filled with that rosy blush. It was endearing, and she looked beautiful, and as her brother barged into our moment, I snapped back to reality. I shook the feeling off and left when I saw Spencer walking our way. I made myself scarce and snapped more pictures of them. I had to laugh to myself. She was falling for Salvatore’s good looks and charm. Here I thought she was going to be different with her little attitude and sarcastic tendencies.
I thought it was going to be a cake walk, but the more time I spent with her, the more I liked her. It got to the point I was begging Natasha to drop this stupid crusade. I felt responsible, hell, I was responsible for dragging her into this. I was stuck playing the part, if only to protect her then. If Natasha would have sent in someone else, it would have gotten worse. When she realized I was falling in love with her, Natasha used it as a weapon against me. She was able to keep me in line with one simple threat. She would tell Elizabeth exactly who I was.
“Thank you.” A delicate voice danced around in my ears, brining me back to the present.
“I--I’m glad--No problem.” Stuttering? Get your shit together, Nick!
Her smile lit her face up and the tension dissipated from both of us.
“Are you--nervous?” she asked.
I tried to laugh it off but fear was, without doubt, written all over my face. “No, why would I be nervous? Are you okay? Those people were pretty nasty out there.” Again, I tried to play my nervousness off. I wanted her to confide in me, let me take care of her, but I knew firsthand how stubborn and hard headed she could be.
“Something’s not right,” she stated.
I waited for her to elaborate. “You mean, aside from the walking dead outside of my building, trying to take your picture.” She nodded. I sighed. “You were looking for him, weren’t you?”
Chapter 23
Elizabeth
I placed my bag on the table behind me and took a moment to scan the room I was in. It was a studio apartment, large and grand. It was lacking that feminine touch but wasn’t as cold as I might have imagined it to be. Glancing around Nick’s home, I learned a lot in five seconds. One, he was single. Two, he wasn’t a struggling photographer. Three, he might be turning into a hermit. There were boxes lining the walls, mail stacked on the table that looked months old, and take-out bags covered almost all the counters.
I never expected to be standing in his place. I expected to be standing in my brand new condo with the man I was in love with. Is it really over between us? It didn’t feel over. It felt like he was running, hiding.
Turning back to Nick, I asked, “Was he there at all?”
I was praying he’d say yes. I prayed that he was going to tell me, “Yeah, he came and bought all your naked pictures.” That would have been the best case scenario. Unfortunately, the look on Nick’s face told me a different story.
I wanted to curl into a ball and melt into the floor. Then again, I wanted to find Spencer and beat him upside the head. I was mad, I was sad, I was confused. Last night was rough, but we made up. Didn’t we make up? I was fine, but he--he must have been saying goodbye--No, no way! He doesn’t get to do this to me again!
“Did you know about this?” I snapped at Nick.
I had a feeling he was behind this with Spencer. My hand glided over the fabric covering my stomach and I realized that he had to be. This was some sick way of recreating the night we met.
“No, I didn’t know--” Nick took a step toward me, holding his hands up in surrender.
I fisted my hands ready to punch the closest thing to me. “Don’t lie to me, Nick. I’m so tired of people lying to me!”
“I’m not the bad guy here. I had no idea he would actually go through with--” Nick abruptly stopped, scrunching his face and slapping his hand over his mouth, because he knew he’d let something slip.
“Spit it out, Nick,” I urged.
“If you know what’s going on, you need to tell me.”
“Elizabeth, all I know is that he came in here last night, asking me if I still loved you. He told me you were going to be here, and he told me it was in your best interests. He looked scared. He said that someone was close to his secret, close to destroying everything he has. That’s it. He didn’t say what it was or--”
“Fuck!” I did punch something, the air in front of me. I knew I had to get to the bottom of this. I wasn’t letting him walk over me and decide what he thought was best for me. I knew what was best for me, and that was him. I’d never felt so alive as when I was with him, and I’d do anything to get that feeling back.
I kicked my heels off and pulled my hair back off my face. With my hands on my hips, I decided then and there I was going to figure his secret out. If he wasn’t going to tell me, then I was going to figure it out myself and prove to him that it didn’t matter what it was, that I’d still love him, dirty past and all.
Just as I exhaled, nodded, and accepted the deal that I had just made in my own head, I realized Nick was looking curiously at me. I went to open my mouth but--surprise, surprise--his phone began to ring from his pocket. I tossed a half smile and urged him to take the call.
He pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered it, not bothering to look at the number calling. “Hello,” he answered.
I could hear the voice. It was a woman. Maybe he does have a girlfriend. The more I listened, the more familiar the voice became. It was raspy and at first could be mistaken for a man’s voice, but the feminine giggle gave it away. It was the same voice I’d heard every time the phone would ring when we were together. I never thought anything of it back then. Funny, my jealous side never spoke up, never planted thoughts in my mind like it did with Spencer. I soon realized the person on the other end was the same person who’d blackmailed Nick, the same person who’d had a hand in turning my world upside down.
“...I don’t know what you want--” Nick had been talking to her this whole time while I put everything together in my head.
I interrupted him. “Let me talk to her.” I wasn’t asking, I was demanding. I shot my hand out toward him and waited from him to place the phone in my hand.
He moved the phone from his ear, shook his head, and kept the phone just out of my grasp. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Give. Me. The. Phone. Nick.”
He shook his head but placed the phone in my hand anyway and let his hands fold over his broad chest. He had a this-is-a-bad-idea look on his face but I ignored it. The woman on the other end of the phone was toast--crispy, burnt toast that I was about to toss in the trash.
I put the phone to my ear and skipped the pleasantries. “Why the hell are you so determined to make my life a living nightmare?”
“My, my, it is nice to meet you too.”
I didn’t know her name, and I didn’t care to know her name. All I wanted to know was why, why was she so eager to hurt me? What had I ever done to her? Before that night at Mood, I’d kept to myself and stayed out of the limelight that followed my brothers. I kept my head down, studied, kept to myself. I didn’t get it.
“I’m going to ask you one more time. Why are you doing this?” I waited for a response but all I could hear on the other end was cackling--yes, cackling, evil, hyena cackling.
She took a moment to calm herself on the other end. I could hear her draw in a few breaths before she spoke. “Why don’t I introduce myself first? I’m Natasha, and let me just tell you, it is a pleasure to finally speak with you. Of course, I’ve heard so much about you via Nick. Oh, right, you might know him better by the name Simon. You know, I thought you’d be a bit sweeter. They say big girls should have a pleasant disposition to help cover up the pounds, makes them more likeable.”
It was my turn to take the deep breaths. My temper was already at the max, and this woman was only making it worse. “What did I ever do to you?” I spat into the receiver.
“Oh, darling, you didn’t do anything. You know who I’m really after. Unfortunately, in wars, there are sometimes civilian casualties. I didn’t mean to drag you into this but, man, has it paid off. Did you know that a single picture of you eating is worth over a hundred thousand dollars?”
I felt myself suck in air. Is she serious, or is this just another way for her to get under my skin?
“I know, it’s rather barbaric, but sadly the world wants to see you fall short. They want to see you crumble under the microscope. Did you know that for every overweight, naive woman who looks up to you, there are five who want to see you fail?”
“Stop!” I shouted. I wasn’t going to let her manipulate me, or make me feel bad. Because even if five people wanted to see me fail, that one woman who I helped gain some self-confidence was worth it. I might have been scared and unwilling to be the role model some thought I was in the beginning, but not anymore. I was strong, and I was standing up to people like Natasha who only wanted to hurt and crush people beneath her. “You don’t scare me. They don’t scare me, not anymore.”
“Your picture tonight says otherwise, my love.”
“What do you want from him?” I got back on track. If she wasn’t after me, then she was after Spencer, and if he wasn’t going to do anything about it, I was.
“Oh, back to the sexy billionaire. To be honest--” She paused for a dramatic effect.
I rolled my eyes.
“--I’m really enjoying watching him self-destruct. For example, I just found out that he’s drunk in public, in Vegas, with women hanging all over him. Now, we all know he never does that. His uptight façade is wearing down and the bad boy that I know is buried beneath all the suits and hair gel is dying to come out. It’s only a matter of time, and I’ll be sure to post everything along the way so you don’t miss a beat. If I were you, I’d stick with Nicky boy. He’s still in love with you, poor thing, and even though it kills me to say it, you should give him a chance. It was him, after all, who always saved you from that mysterious Salvatore. You don’t deserve him, but he’s like an S--don’t screw with him, or you’ll be next.”
I started to rip her a new one but Nick had yanked the phone from my hand and hit the end button.
“Why the hell did you do that?” I grabbed the phone and tried to bring up the number she had called from. I waited as it dialed.
“I’m sorry the number you have called doesn’t exist.” It was maybe thirty seconds, forty max from Nick taking the phone from me and me calling Natasha back. How could it not exist? I was just talking to her.
“It was a burn phone. You’re not going to be able to call her back,” Nick said.
I huffed in frustration. I shoved the phone back at him then rubbed my temples to help ease the pain in my head. “I can’t believe this is happening.” I said it to myself but soon realized I’d said it out loud.
“Neither can I. Come on, let’s sit down. I need a drink, you?”
“Please.”
I followed Nick and sat on his couch. I watched as he rummaged through his messy kitchen to find two glasses that weren’t dirty. It was obvious that he was nervous. He fumbled with a few things in the kitchen, and I couldn’t help but smile. I wish I would have gotten to know this part of Nick when I met Simon. It was cute and completely different from the confident man I first met at Mood. It was refreshing.
“All right two Coke and rums. Sorry, it’s all I have, unless you want to do shots of tequila.”
I reached out and took one. “This is fine, thank you.” I took a sip. The crisp soda hit my lips first then the warm rum as it slid down my throat.
We both took another sip. With our glasses up to our mouths, we locked eyes, and I wasn’t sure why, but both of us cracked a smile. Maybe it was the rum, maybe it was the fact that we never expected to be in this situation. All I knew was I felt safe. The last time I’d seen Nick, I didn’t feel that way. I was still convinced he was working for the enemy, still trying to make a buck off of me. But I
knew he’d moved on, I saw it firsthand. Oh shit, his gallery opening!
I pulled the glass from my lips and choked on the liquid still in my mouth. “Oh my God, Nick. Your photos--your gallery opening. You need to get back there.” I put the glass down on the table and went to stand.
“It’s fine, please sit back down. Trust me. No one’s going to miss me.”
“Are you kidding? It’s your big night, you’ve been dreaming about this.” He shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Nick, there are naked pictures of me in your gallery, beautiful artistic, elegant photos of me that you took. You need to get your ass back over there and make sure everyone knows who you are.”
He sat back and smiled a warm genuine smile. His brown eyes seemed to twinkle. “You know, I thought I might have to take them down.”
“Why’s, that? I did give you permission,” I joked.
“Well, to be honest, I thought Salvatore was going to have me sued or beat the shit out of me for having naked pictures of you hanging on a wall for the world to see. When he came in here last night, I seriously thought he was going to punch me in the face again.”
I sat back on the couch and drifted off to the previous night.
The fight with Spencer, his rambling about me moving out and us going our separate ways because he was scared he’d hurt me.
“I--Elizabeth, I didn’t mean to bring him up,” Nick said, probably noticing my reaction to hearing Spencer’s name.
“No, it’s fine. Listen, Nick--” Just then a thought crossed my mind. If Nick was able to trace down what happened in Vegas when Spencer was a teen, maybe he would be able to help me uncover whatever it was that Spencer thought I couldn’t handle. Even if he didn’t work for Fame anymore, he had to have some connections that I was never going to be able to make.
“What?” he asked.
“Would you help me? Would you help me find out what Spencer is hiding? Maybe if I can figure it out and show him that it doesn’t matter, maybe he can get past this paranoia that he’s going to hurt me.”
Mended-Hearts Page 15