by Amity Cross
“Hi,” I said, more to be polite than anything else.
“How are you?” She looked at me hopefully.
“Mallory send you over?” I raised my eyebrows and took a sip of my drink.
“No.” She shook her head furiously, her luxurious black locks shimmering like silk. “Mallory and I… Well, we had a falling out actually.” Colour me surprised. “It was after all that mess. You know…”
I gathered she was referring to the sex tape fiasco and I shrugged. “I’m a grown woman. I’m not going to get sucked into a war with an auto-tuned mean girl.”
Victoria smiled and her teeth were so white it was like angels were singing when she opened her mouth. “I really admire your courage.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I wanted to reach out to you after all that mess with the media, but Damon told me it was better to stay away,” she said. “Having all that stuff said about you must’ve been hard.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, her words conjuring the memory of standing on that cliff back home.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted, looking at her nails. “I sided with Mallory without even getting to know you. I stood by and let her…” She blinked furiously as if she was trying to hold back a flurry of tears.
“You do understand that I can’t take what you say at face value, right? Not after you tried to bait me.”
“I know.” She looked up at me, her expression tinged with shame. “I wanted to be part of something and Mallory… I guess the glitz of who she was outweighed everything else.”
What a strange curse it was, to want to be accepted at all costs. Victoria had all her own successes, yet she still needed to be validated by being friends with someone like Mallory. I guess we all had insecurities deep down—things we wanted to change, experiences we wish we had, friends we wanted, status and money. The real struggle was finding satisfaction in what we already had.
“Victoria, you’re a successful model,” I said. “How many girls would kill to walk in top shows at Paris Fashion Week or be the face of a Dior campaign? I’m guessing a lot. You don’t need to be in anyone’s ‘squad’ to feel like you’ve made it, because you already have.”
“You’re a good person, Juniper,” she said after a moment of silence. “You didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that.” She pressed something into my palm and smiled. “If you want to fight fire with fire, then take this. An eye for an eye.”
When she walked away, I was left standing there like a stunned mullet. I was really beginning to wonder what Mallory had done to her for her to turn like this.
Opening my hand, I stared at the USB drive, and knew I likely had everything I needed to get back at the woman who’d conspired with Vix to ruin my relationship with Sebastian. Nothing was stopping me from taking this back to the hotel to check the footage, nor was anything blocking me from using it to destroy another woman’s career—no matter how fake and auto-tuned it was.
But maybe that’s what she wanted me to do.
Fuck, why did Victoria have to pull me back into this screwed up merry-go-round?
Putting my glass down on the nearest table, I wandered through the party, my mind swirling like the storm Sebastian always carried in his eyes. When I spotted Damon, I made my way towards him. If anyone could shed some light on what’d just happened, it was him.
“Damon.” I tugged at his sleeve and he turned.
“Juni,” he said with a grin, “come for a dance? You’re going to have to take a number.”
“I don’t want to dance.” I shook my head. “Is everything okay with your sister?”
“Huh?” His brow creased.
“Did something happen with her and Mallory?”
“Something’s always happening with her and Mallory,” he replied. “Why?”
I glanced across the room, but the lighting was so gloomy, I couldn’t make out anyone’s faces, let alone find Mallory or Victoria.
“Whatever it is, don’t let her drag you into one of her games,” Damon went on. “It’s like a mean girl buffet when they get going.”
“Don’t worry, I suspected as much.” I snorted and patted him on the arm.
Victoria was using me, just like Vix had used Mallory. It was a toxic circle I wanted nothing to do with, yet the USB was burning a hole in my proverbial pocket.
“You want me to say something?”
“What?” I focused back on Beneath’s drummer and shook my head. “No. I can extract myself from that sandwich, don’t worry.”
“Fuck, now I’m hungry… and I’m not talking about actual sandwiches.”
“You’ve got a problem,” I said with a chuckle.
“At least it’s not mind fuckery.” He wiggled his eyebrows and I chose that moment to slip away before things got dirtier.
I wove my way through the crowd, ignoring the looks thrown my way. Not many people seemed to recognise me but the ones who did, seemed to know me for my starring role in the grainy film entitled, ‘Rock Stars Gone Wild.’
Instead of looking for Sebastian, I found a bathroom hidden around a corner. Thankfully, there was no line. The stars were aligning tonight.
As I pushed into the little oasis of quiet in the storm, a pair of women were walking out. When they saw me, they each gave me a pouty look as they passed, and when they were through the door, they burst out into laughter. It cut, but what could I do? I wondered how long that kind of reaction was going to last, but I knew it was only a matter of time before another equally as shocking scandal gave rise.
Thankfully, the bathroom was empty after their exit, and I leaned against the polished countertop and stared into the mirror. I studied my features—the dusting of freckles across my cheeks, my emerald eyes, my resting bitch face, my full lips—and agonised over what to do with the USB drive.
The music from the party was muffled, but I could feel the bass thumping through the soles of my feet—well, the toes, considering the heels I was wearing.
Maybe I should flush it and be done with the whole fiasco. I didn’t like knowing I was being used. I drew in a deep breath and realised this was probably how Sebastian felt when he first disappeared from the band—times a million. He was trying to live his best life but had found out his strings had been pulled by Vix from day one. That was bad enough without all the other shit she’d pulled.
The bathroom door opened and the music rose, then muffled as it swung shut again. Glancing up, I saw Mallory’s reflection in the mirror. When she realised I was standing at the basin, the glare on her face rose in intensity.
I’d mulled over this moment a lot since she’d leaked the sex tape. I’d lie on Vanessa and Hugo’s couch and imagine what I’d say if I ever saw her again, and I’d worked out an entire speech. It had eloquent phrasing and zero swear words, but now it didn’t seem worth my time. All that wasted effort…
But in this moment, when she finally stood before me in all her pop princess glory, I realised one important thing. It wasn’t me she hated, it was the fact she couldn’t control Sebastian.
“You’ve got some nerve showing your face,” she spat, the vitriol practically coating the walls. Good thing we were in the bathroom.
I could turn around and humiliate her, just as she’d done to me, but what was the point? I didn’t want to lower myself in order to get revenge—it’d be as petty as the stunt she’d pulled on me.
How many sins could we go through before it became too much? Greed, lust, wrath, envy… I didn’t want to be part of it anymore. All I wanted was to live my life with Sebastian and be the best version of myself I could be. I wanted to grow and experience the world and do it all with him by my side.
I tore my gaze from the mirror and faced her. I couldn’t tell you what she was wearing, or what the look on her face was. All I saw was a woman desperate to be loved. Not by her fans—she had their adoration in droves—but real, true love. Fuck, I knew how she felt, so maybe that’s why I did what I did.
“Here,”
I said, holding out my palm and offering Mallory the USB drive.
Her gaze dropped to my hand and she narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?”
“No idea, but someone thought it was equal in value to another certain piece of footage you had in your possession.”
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because I don’t want to be the kind of person who ruins someone else’s life just because I can.” I sighed and closed my hand over the USB drive. “I never needed to sign a contract to protect Sebastian. He had my trust from day one, no matter what. That’s what true love is about. If it was true between you two, then there was never any need to destroy what was left.” I smiled, feeling at peace with Mallory in a strange, sad way, and set the USB onto the counter. “Goodbye, Mallory. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for.”
And with that, I turned and walked out of the bathroom, my heels clicking on the marble floor.
12
Juniper
“You’re kidding,” Sebastian said as we rode back to the hotel. “Victoria gave you a mystery USB and you gave it to Mallory?”
“I didn’t want to be part of their games,” I said, stifling a yawn. “I’m so over it.”
“Do you know what was on it?”
“It doesn’t matter what was in it,” I replied, “it’s irrelevant.”
“C’mon. You’re telling you weren’t the least bit curious?”
I shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
Sebastian laughed and took my hand in his.
When we arrived at the hotel, we rode up in the elevator with Shades. Then we waited in the hall while he opened the door to our hotel room and went inside. It was a little inconvenient to wait around while a giant muscle-bound dude did a sweep to make sure everything was safe, but we had to do it for peace of mind. There hadn’t been any word from Farmer back at the McMansion, so for now, we were playing it safe. Besides, after a week I’d started to get used to having Shades’s looming shadow around.
We were nestled against one another when the door to our room burst open.
“I want someone from hotel security up here now,” Statfield, aka Shades, barked into his phone. “And you need to check the cameras.”
“Statfield?” Sebastian asked, taking a step forward.
“There’s another one,” he said, holding up his hand.
“Another what?” I demanded, pushing past Sebastian.
“Ma’am,” Shades said, pressing his palm on my shoulder.
My heart twisted, then began to gallop. “Tell me what’s going on!”
“Hold tight,” he said. “We need to do a thorough sweep of the room.”
“Another what?” I asked turning to Sebastian. “What’s he talking about?”
He wasn’t saying anything either. I felt an unbearable wave of anger rage inside me and I pushed past him and stood into our room, determined to get an answer.
I came to a jarring halt when I saw the mess. The sheets were torn up and the pillows had been hacked apart, feathers littering the room—and an opened box sat on the end of the bed. Someone had been in here—someone who wasn’t supposed to be.
I stepped forward, my heartbeat accelerating.
“Miss Rowe,” Shades said, “you need to step back.”
“What is it?” I demanded. “What’s in there?”
He reached for me, but I twisted away, moving forward just enough to catch a glimpse of the inside of the box. Something red was inside, the interior smeared with what looked like blood.
“Is that… meat?” My stomach rolled. “Is that a heart?”
“You can’t be in here,” Shades said. Placing a hand around my back, he led me from the room and across the hall.
“Statfield?” Sebastian asked, his frown deeper than I’d ever seen it.
“You can wait in my room while we deal with this.” He shoved his keycard into the lock, then flicked on the lights, doing a quick scan, then gestured for us to come forward. “You can stay here for the moment.” Nodding at Sebastian, he added, “I’ll be back shortly.”
I sank onto the end of the bed and stared at my hands, suddenly wide awake.
“There was a heart in that box…” I said, not quite believing it. “Blood and a… a heart.”
“Don’t think about it,” Sebastian said. “Let’s just wait until Statfield comes back, okay?”
“How am I not supposed to think about it, Sebastian? Is this normal?” I knew it wasn’t, but I had to do something, only if it was asking questions no one knew the answers to.
“No, it’s definitely not.”
When Shades came back a half hour later, followed by a police officer, I knew things were bad.
“I’m not going to like this, am I?” I declared, eyeing the two men.
“Miss Rowe, Mr. Hale.” The police officer nodded. He wasn’t in uniform, but he had a badge hooked on the waistband of his jeans. “I’m Detective Coleman with the LAPD. Statfield has been kind enough to bring me up to speed on the situation, as well as Detective Halliday from the New South Wales Police.”
He didn’t need to explain the situation because I already knew. Someone was following us. The intruder at the McMansion and now this. What had they said about another one? Had there been more than one package?
“I know,” I said. “You don’t have to explain it. It’s obvious someone is—” I shook my head.
“There’s no easy way to say this, but we believe he’s been following you for some time,” Statfield said.
“Some time?” I clutched at my chest and tried not to hyperventilate. “But we’re in another country!”
“I’ve dealt with cases like this before,” he went on. “It’s not unheard of for people to go to these lengths.”
“They followed him overseas,” I said, pointing to Sebastian. “If it’s not unheard of, then…” Fuck, international stalking took a hell of a lot of dedication. “What are you doing to stop it?”
“Juniper…” Sebastian trailed off, his gaze flickering to Statfield’s, then to the detective. Both men nodded as if they were consenting to something.
“What?” I demanded. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Sebastian knelt in front of me and took my hands in his. “It’s not me they’re following. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to worry you.”
I felt the blood drain from my face and my breath caught.
“While we were at the awards, I got a message from Farmer,” he continued. “A package arrived at the house…”
“A package?” I doubled over and sucked in a deep breath. “It was for me, wasn’t it? Just like the one tonight.”
“Yeah.”
“What was inside?” I demanded. When Sebastian didn’t reply, I straightened up and shouted at him. “What was inside?”
“A doll, dressed to look like you…” He glanced at Shades, who nodded. “It was covered in, um… It was—”
“Just say it!”
“It was covered in semen.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in, and when they did, I pushed off the end of the bed and ran into the bathroom. Slamming the toilet seat up, I emptied the contents of my stomach into the bowl in a matter of seconds.
“Juniper?” Sebastian’s voice echoed behind me, but I was too busy throwing up to care what I looked like.
He sat on the edge of the bathtub and scraped my hair back, holding it out of the line of fire until I was done. When I sat back, I rested my palms on the tiled floor, feeling the coolness wash through my skin.
“It just keeps getting worse,” I muttered. “I thought that sex tape was the pinnacle, but… Why me? What did I do?”
I knew there probably wasn’t a personal reason I was being targeted. The things that’d been sent were all sick and twisted, so there had to be an element of instability, right? Knowing it only made things worse. How could I fight against the unpredictability of that? I couldn’t.
Sebastian rubbed his palm over
my back in slow, soothing, circles.
“Has this ever happened to you?” I asked, lifting my head.
“I’ve had shit happen with fans, but not like this.”
I moaned and snatched a face washer from the rack underneath the vanity. I was wiping my mouth when Shades knocked gently on the door.
“Miss Rowe?” he asked, looking concerned.
I rubbed my thumb underneath my eye, trying to smudge away some of the makeup that’d smeared across my face.
Kneeling before me, he took my hands in his and pulled my attention towards him. “I know you’re scared, but you’ll be safe with me, ma’am. Wherever you go, I’ll be with you at all times. I’m ex-special forces military and had two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. The only thing that stopped me from serving was a piece of shrapnel in my leg. Doesn’t stop me from protecting others, though. I’ve spent my life fighting highly trained insurgents, so believe me when I say I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you and Mr. Hale safe.”
I wiped at a tear trailing down my cheek and nodded. He was a professional after all.
“Until we catch this guy, it’s going to be tough, but we’re here to help you.”
“If you listen to Statfield, you’ll be safe,” Detective Coleman said as he lingered in the hallway. “I’ve known him a long time, ma’am. He’s one of the best.”
“I’d like you and Mr. Hale to stay here tonight,” Shades went on. “I’ll have your things brought over.”
“Okay,” I managed to squeak.
Sebastian rose to his feet and thanked the two men before they left. I’d tensed up and could hardly peel myself from the bathroom floor, but somehow, I stood.
“I’ve got to make some calls,” Sebastian said, smoothing my hair back.
“Don’t go.” I grabbed his arm and tugged him close, a wave of panic slamming into me.
“I won’t go anywhere,” he murmured. “But I do need to call Vix and tell her what’s going on. She’s the last person I want to talk to about this, but she’s still Beneath’s manager for better or worse. She’ll keep it out of the press and make sure security is tight until we get home.”