Luke held out his hand. “I need to see the video.”
“I don’t know, dude.” Ryan made no move to get his phone out.
“He should know.” Raven pulled her phone out and brought the video up. “I don’t have the whole thing. Just the part that makes you look like an asshole.”
She stepped forward with the phone.
Right away, he saw Tara’s blond hair, her ass and thighs while she seemed to ride him. The initial thought was yeah, he did something stupid while he was drugged.
But then he really looked at himself. His eyes were glazed over, he was totally unresponsive. And there was red smeared on the wall where his head was rocked against it.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, I need to find her.”
Raven shook her head. “First look, all you see is that you’re with another woman. You have to look really close to see what’s wrong with the whole picture. If I were her, and saw that, I would leave too. I wouldn’t look closer. I would be too hurt. Mona says her phone is off. She’s not answering anyone. Not even her mother.”
Ryan nodded. “You can’t really blame her for thinking the worst.”
“I don’t.” He rubbed at his head.
Ryan traded him phones. “Look at the whole thing. They’re going to release it, and as soon as you’re ready, Sam wants you to do a press conference.”
“I’ll do it now,” Luke answered.
“They need to release you from the hospital first. So, watch.”
Luke pressed play.
He stumbled into the bathroom and slammed into the sink. After twisting the knobs, he splashed his face.
A grunt escaped. “Fuck.” Luke lost his balance, careening to the side as he went down. His head bounced off the wall, then the sink, leaving blood behind.
Blond hair flew past the camera, then Tara glanced back with a grin. “Good, you’re here.” She crouched in front of Luke, who was blinking, but not moving, not looking at anything, just fucking out of it.
She opened his pants, yanked off her panties, and climbed into his lap. He wasn’t even hard, not even a tiny bit, when she started rubbing herself all over him, making it look like sex.
He didn’t do a damned thing. Probably couldn’t. He was out cold.
Manny charged past the camera, threw Tara off Luke, and pinned her against the wall. The camera panned to them and back to Luke as Ryan laid Luke back and started CPR.
Five minutes of Ryan saving his life, then the paramedics were next, followed by the cops. While Tara pleaded and cried she hadn’t meant to kill Luke. That he was her soulmate.
The door creaked open and the nurse said, “Calm down. Relax. Or I’ll have to give you something to help.”
He let out a frustrated cry. “Calm? My girlfriend thinks I fucked another woman, but I was dying on the floor. How am I supposed to stay calm?”
“Please, try to relax,” the nurse requested. “I understand you have people trying to sort out the video problem. Right now, your health is at stake. Let us help you get well, then you can go after her.”
Luke flung himself back and attempted to calm himself. Without Leona, that was impossible.
“Should I send Mona in?” Raven asked.
He rubbed at his face. “First, thank you. You tried to find her. I appreciate it.”
“Wish I’d found her. I’m sorry.” She walked over and hugged him. “We’ll find her.”
“Thanks.”
Raven left the room.
Luke turned to Ryan.
“I’m an asshole. I’m sorry. We should have skipped the club.”
Luke shook his head. “This isn’t your fault. It’s not even Manny’s.”
“Fuck. She’s trying to press charges against him.” Ryan leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. “She hit her head when he slammed her against the wall. The bitch is fine, though. And considering she could have killed you, I doubt she can make anything stick against my brother.”
“Is he okay?” Luke asked.
“He’s a fucking mess. He blames himself. So do I. And I can’t even imagine what you think of any of it.”
“I don’t blame you or your brother. I blame Tara and myself. If I had just left, I wouldn’t have passed out so she could do that.”
Ryan touched his shoulder, making sure he had eye contact. “You should press charges. The cops said she’s definitely guilty of attempted assault and sexual assault. Apparently, she saw Frank Slant, the same asshole who took pictures of Tara with Jackson a few years back, and convinced him to tape the whole thing. He’s an accessory to sexual assault. They’ll both serve time.”
Luke nodded, but he was focused on what he could do to find Leona.
Mona peeked in. “You want me in here?” she asked softly.
“Please. I need to find her,” Luke answered.
She stepped inside but stayed across the room. “I definitely didn’t help last night when I saw that video.”
“Why?” he whispered.
“They showed you the video?”
He nodded.
“Thought the worst,” she admitted, meeting his gaze. “I sent her a text, saying I was sorry, asked how I could help. She never responded. I called her mom, and she called her, but all June said was that Leona was going on vacation. She wouldn’t tell her mother where she was going, and her phone is turned off. None of us knows where she could have gone.”
Luke rubbed at his face. “She thinks I did it.” He couldn’t breathe. He wanted to be mad she didn’t have faith in him. But that damned video, he almost didn’t have faith in himself. How the hell could he blame her for leaving?
“Help me find her, please.”
Mona nodded. “I’m doing everything I can. Email, calling, trying to think of any place she could have gone to stay away from assholes with cameras.”
“Does June hate me?”
“No. And she caught onto the fact something was wrong with you. She pointed it out to me even before Roach called to tell me you were in the hospital.”
“We should have gone to Da Vogue. Maybe they could have stopped the video from getting out there.” Ryan shoved his phone in his pocket and took a seat next to Luke.
Mona wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m sorry I didn’t look deeper before I sent the text. But all she had to do was go on Instablast to find it. I’m sure I’m not the only one who sent her the video.”
Luke nodded. “If she left, she saw it. I wish she stuck around to say how much she hates me. At least then I could find her.”
Ryan shook his head. “Aren’t you the least bit worried what Tara did to you?”
He threw up his hands. “Right now, my main concern is Leona.”
Mona moved closer. “Your first concern needs to be pressing charges. The more that’s in the media about what Tara did to you, and why the video exists, the better chance you have of finding Leona and convincing her of the truth.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Ryan cleared his throat. “Luke, Tara nearly killed you. She sexually assaulted you. And I don’t care if you think the world will consider you a pussy, that shit needs to be out there.”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. Last thing he wanted to think about was Tara. What the fuck was her goal?
Luke blew out a breath. “I’ll press charges. Whatever I need to do. But right now, I need to find Leona. I know she’s hurting. Her ex cheated on her. Now she thinks I did. I don’t ever want her to think I could do that to her.”
Ryan nodded to the door. “I’ll grab Sam and Ms. Claire. Maybe they can talk some sense into you before you talk to the police.”
“Ryan, shit, thank you.”
He leaned down and hugged Luke hard. “This is a mess, but we’ll fix it. I’m on your side.”
“Thanks, man. And tell Manny it’s okay.”
Chapter 43
Three days passed with her on the couch, staring at her laptop. No words flowed, just pain.
Leona dropped her head bac
k and thought about taking a shower, maybe going into town to the market. She needed food, maybe coffee.
Yeah, coffee. She needed caffeine. Maybe that was the problem. Not the gaping hole full of pain where her heart had been.
And every time she closed her damned eyes she saw the way Luke looked into her soul when he made love to her. She believed him when he said he loved her.
Then he fucked another woman in a club, hours before he was supposed to pick her up.
She slammed her laptop on the coffee table and shot to her feet. She had to grab onto the couch before toppling over.
Food, definitely need food.
She made her way to the bathroom, flipped on the water, and stripped down. Then she stood there, letting the water fall over her while she stared at the wall.
Seemed all she did was cry and stare at the wall. Food appeared on her counter while she was sleeping, but she didn’t touch it. No appetite, except her stomach continued to growl.
Grabbing the shampoo, she washed her hair. Conditioner followed and she leaned against the wall, wondering where it all went wrong.
Was it her? Was it him? Was it just a drunken mistake?
God, that was worse than him having an affair with someone he cared for. Instead of waiting a few hours to have her, he fucked some random woman.
She slammed her hands against the wall and screamed. The sobs came as she sank to her knees and huddled on the floor of the shower.
Never should have trusted him. Never should have let him in.
She’d never hurt like she did since seeing the video. Conditioner got in her eye, and she sat up to rinse it out. Maybe letting someone know where she was at would be good, but she purposely picked a location without Internet so she wouldn’t be tempted.
It was too soon to deal with her family, her friends. And heaven forbid Luke actually try to talk to her. After that? He couldn’t be that stupid, right?
Shaking herself, she shut off the water and walked to the bedroom, dripping wet. She had a change of clothes. That was it. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she tried to summon the energy to go. Instead, she closed her eyes and curled on her side, trying to forget the way Luke made her feel.
* * * *
Luke paced Sam’s office. There was a press conference scheduled outside in ten minutes. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking. The doctor confirmed that if Ryan hadn’t given him CPR when he did, Luke would have died.
Tara had a tearful interview the day before. Her motive? To ruin Luke’s relationship with Leona Shay and prove Tara was the only woman for him. She drugged him, but she imagined the drug wouldn’t harm him. She went on to cry about Luke promising her the world the night she took him home. That he swore he loved her. The woman was a basket case.
And Luke had never given Tara any indication it would be more than a wild night.
He should have caught on to her crazy when she shunned Manny the night they met. Should have turned her down that very moment. He lost the woman he loved because of one stupid decision, and he wasn’t sure he could fix what he shared with Leona.
Ryan had stayed with him since the hospital released him, to make sure he wasn’t having any issues from the concussion. And as much as he appreciated having a friend, things were tense. All Luke could think about was Leona and how much of a mess this was.
“Still no word on where she is,” Ryan said as he entered.
“Figured that. Leona doesn’t like attention. She’s still nervous with a million flashing cameras. Shit, what if she is hiding in some third world country and something really bad happens?”
“You’ve got to relax, Luke. I know you’re worried, but first you should clear up the public view on what happened that night. Until then, I doubt you have any chance of fixing anything with her.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that?” he snarled.
Ryan raised his hands. “Look, I know these hurts. I know you want to fix it. I get that, trust me I do. But sometimes, you’ve got to take care of shit before you can. And right now, everyone thinks you’re a lying, cheating asshole, because that’s what that slimeball put out there.”
“Ms. Claire released the rest of the video while I was in the hospital, right? That I was the victim? The sooner I do this, the sooner I can do something useful.”
“It’s making the rounds. She wanted it fully visible before the press conference.”
“I hate this. I have to sit here and play the victim, while Leona is out there suffering.”
Ryan caught his shoulders and stared into his eyes. “You are the damned victim. This affects more than just her. Shit like this can affect your career. If your audience hates you, you won’t get roles.”
“Right now, the only thing I care about is finding Leona. To hell with acting.”
“Shit, fine. Sorry. Let’s get this fixed, because if someone can back up that you were assaulted, she may listen. Otherwise, the way she shut down questions about her ex, she’s not going to give you the chance to defend yourself.”
“Only person I care about defending myself to is Leona. Three days and nothing. Mona hasn’t heard anything. She’s not on social media. She just fucking disappeared. I swear to God, I wish she was slamming me to anyone she could. At least I’d find her.”
“Your head is a damned mess. You can’t possibly mean that.”
“I understand anger a hell of a lot better than silence. What if she’s hiding because it wasn’t really love?”
“If that were the case, she’d say that on her Instablast. She’s not. She hasn’t responded to anyone. Hasn’t posted a damned thing since the video came out. I’ve seen countless authors ask where she was at, where she disappeared to. She’s usually active in that community. And she’s not. That tells me she’s not dealing well with what she thinks happened. And clearly, she’s not paying attention to the news, tabloids, or anything else. She’s hiding, Luke.”
“I did this to her. I made her leave and not look back. No matter how you look at this, the silence is killing me. I can’t eat, can’t sleep. All I think about is what she’s going through. I need to fix this. And right now, I have to go talk to a thousand assholes who put me in this fucking position.”
Ryan hugged him. “Hey, I’ll be right there with you.”
“I’m sorry.” He hugged back. “I need to get down there.”
Luke pushed through the door and made his way through the building, to the podium where his PR person was answering questions.
He stepped out and the questions died out. Luke rubbed at his arm, looking at all the faces. Some he recognized, some he didn’t, but at least there were legit news reporters in the crowd, as well as tabloids. Might have been the first time he saw news stations at anything he was involved in.
He had a statement prepared and went through the points in his head. Man, he was nervous.
Ms. Claire stated, “Luke has a statement, then will take questions.”
Luke stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat. He didn’t wait for the flashing to finish, he simply started his speech. “Afternoon, everyone. I would like to set the record straight. The video that was released late Saturday night was edited to show me in the worst possible light. What truly happened is far worse. Tara Punce slipped a drug called Ketamine into my drink at a club. I wasn’t drinking alcohol, I was drinking iced tea. That’s it. She used it as a date rape drug. She lied in her interview yesterday. I did spend a night with her months ago, before I met Leona Shay. I told her we would have one night, that was it. I never even thought the word love.” He leaned against the podium.
“Three nights ago, Tara came to a club with Manny King. Perhaps I should have left then, but she was busy with Manny and I assumed things would be fine. A little later, my heart started racing. I was sweaty but freezing. Something was wrong. I went to the bathroom to wash my face, try to figure it out.”
Luke turned, pointing to the shaved patch and twenty stitches in his head. “The drug knocked me out. I hit my
head on the sink, cut it open. Tara attempted to take advantage of my unconsciousness. I’m sure you’ve seen the rest of the video. When Manny pulled Tara off me, I fell over. My heart had stopped because I have a severe allergy to the drug.” He rubbed at his head. “I had no control over anything that happened in that bathroom. I nearly died. And now, the woman I love believes I did something unforgiveable, just before I was supposed to pick her up from the airport.”
Several people asked, “Where is Leona Shay now?”
“I wish I knew where Leona went. All I know is she got on a plane and went somewhere. She refused to tell her family or her best friend where she went because this video hurt her.”
He wiped at the tears that slipped free. “I need to find her, show her the rest of the video. Prove I didn’t do what she believes.”
“Don’t you think she would see the rest of the story on TV? On the news? In publications?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible. Right now, I think she wants to be left alone, avoid the video and everyone who might ask about it.” He rubbed at his face. “This hit close to home. Her ex cheated on her, and she trusted me. Then this video…”
Questions exploded from every direction. He held up his hand. “I’m sorry. I just want to find her. I love her with every fiber of my being. I would never do this to her.”
Ducking his head, he turned and walked back inside. No more questions. He couldn’t stand the pain radiating through his chest.
Chapter 44
Rain poured down as Leona walked into town. Her hair was a mess, she wasn’t wearing makeup, and the oversized sunglasses hid her puffy, red eyes. She kept her head down, grabbed some food and a bottle of wine.
Then she made her way to the Starbucks a few doors down and ordered a venti cold brew.
The barista smiled, then her head tipped. “Hey, you look familiar.”
“Never been here before.”
“No, not from around here. I’ve seen you somewhere. I’m sure of it.”
The Callback Page 24