Even if he didn’t say a word, I planned on saying plenty to him. I especially needed to correct him when it came to my future. He was right to say that I couldn’t predict it, but he was overlooking that I had every right to choose who would be part of my life in the future, despite what it held for me. I had complete control over that, and he needed to hear it from me.
At seven-thirty on the dot, my buzzer rang, and I felt a jolt of nerves shoot through me as I buzzed Austin through. I cracked the door open for him, hurried into my bathroom so I could give myself a final swipe of the bold red lipstick that matched my dress and shoes, and dropped the tube into my clutch as I heard Austin enter my apartment and shut the door behind him.
“Coming!” I called. As I turned off the bathroom lights, I felt butterflies swirl in my stomach. I moved toward the living room. “Austin, before we go, there’s something I need to say to you.”
But when I entered the living area, it wasn’t Austin who stood waiting for me—it was David. Tall, blond, stoic David. And not Austin, which rattled me, because I knew at once that by sending David to get me, Austin already was putting distance between us. Obviously he’d had time to do some thinking on his own, because earlier he’d said that he would be the one to retrieve me. And then I wondered. Was Austin even here tonight? Or had he removed himself completely from the equation? Was I now to be protected by other men?
“I’m sorry, David,” I said, walking toward him. He was a handsome man in his midthirties with a strong nose, solid jaw, and eyes that were preternaturally green. He was wearing a fitted black suit that complimented his muscular physique. “Austin said he’d pick me up tonight. I thought you were him.”
“Austin’s in the car with Jackson, Miss Jones. He sent me up.”
So, he is here. He just didn’t want to be alone with me.
“It’s Sienna,” I said, trying not to let my disappointment show.
“Sienna it is. Look, before we leave, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what happened to you today.”
“I appreciate that,” I said to him.
“I also want you to know that I’m now officially part of your security detail, so we’ll get you through these next several months. We’ll do our best to protect you. If we feel that two men aren’t enough, then we’ll bring in another man. And so forth. We’ll have your back.”
Why isn’t he saying Austin’s name? Why isn’t it “Austin and I will protect you”? What’s going on here?
“David, does that ‘we’ include Austin?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “He’s sorting that out now, because Jackson also needs protection. He said that he’ll decide in the morning whether he’ll be leading Jackson’s team or yours.”
I couldn’t believe it. Did Austin really believe he couldn’t do his best to protect me if he felt that he was distracting me? Clearly he did—and that frustrated the hell out of me.
“We should go,” I said. “Jackson hates waiting for me. Is anyone lurking outside my building?”
“We’re clear,” he said. “The paparazzi will be waiting for you and Jackson at the marina, as expected.”
“Can’t wait for that,” I said sarcastically.
“I’ve seen you in action, Sienna. You’ll be fine.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I said. “Especially given the questions they’re about to hurl my way, David. Today, I was groped in public at the very moment the nation is discussing sexual assault. And those people? They’re going to be all over that.”
* * *
When we left my apartment, the sun had already dipped below the skyline, but it was still light outside. Given the dramatic way I was dressed, several people on the sidewalk recognized me before David hastily opened the limousine’s back door so I could step inside. As I did so, I heard a few people call out my name as I sat next Jackson, who looked at me in concern as David shut my door and got into the front seat next to Austin, who was driving. I looked at him in the rearview mirror, hoping to catch his gaze, but he was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn’t tell where he was looking.
Jackson took my hand and squeezed it. “Are you OK?” he asked.
“I’m good,” I said.
“Define ‘good’ for me.”
“Look, today was rough, but Austin got me through it. That’s what matters.”
“You were groped by a stranger, Sienna,” Austin said. “We did our best, but to be honest, today didn’t go well at all.”
“I’m alive and breathing, aren’t I?” I snapped at him.
“Whoa…” Jackson said.
Sienna, you can’t let your frustration show. Get it together.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Everyone, please meet Evil Sienna. She’ll go away after a moment or two—I promise.”
“You have every reason to be upset,” Jackson said.
I do, Jackson. And for a whole shitload of reasons I can’t even tell you.
“I saw the photos of what that man did to you,” he said. “I’m sorry for all of it. You deserve better than that.”
“Let’s not talk about it,” I said as Austin eased into traffic. “Because if we do, we’ll have to stop at a bar so I can get a drink.”
“I’d buy you one,” Jackson said.
I smiled at him when he said that, because I knew he would. “I appreciate that, Jackson, especially since I know you aren’t joking.” I looked forward. “I guess the one thing I would like to know is whether that son of a bitch has been arrested. Because nobody’s told me if that’s the case. Austin, do you know if he was? And if you do know, then why don’t I know?”
Apparently I couldn’t help myself. I was so angry with him for not coming up to my apartment to get me—thus blowing any chance I might have had to talk with him alone—I couldn’t keep the anger I felt out of my voice. He heard it, and he lifted his face to the rearview.
“Harper didn’t call you?”
“She called me once today, when you were talking me down in my apartment. Should I have heard from her again?”
“Yes,” he said. “You should have heard from her. She told me that she was going to call you. The crowd came through for you. They detained him. The police now have him under arrest.”
“Good to know,” I said.
“I thought you did know,” he said.
“I didn’t. But…whatever. What’s going to happen to him?”
“That’ll be up to a judge, but he’ll pay. We’ll make sure of it. Everything was caught on video.”
“I’m surprised Harper didn’t call you,” Jackson remarked.
I removed my cell from my clutch and switched it on. “Maybe she did,” I said. “When Austin left, I was so undone by everything that happened today that I crashed on the sofa for a couple of hours. I might have missed her call.” I checked my messages, and sure enough, there was one from Harper. “She called,” I said as I listened to her message. “And it was about him. Sorry, I didn’t think to check it earlier. That’s on me, everyone.”
“Sienna, are you sure you want to go through with tonight? We don’t have to,” Jackson said.
I was being unprofessional. I needed to get myself in line—and fast. I took a breath, settled down, and patted Jackson’s knee.
“I’ve got to go,” I said. “If I don’t, that will send a clear message to the world that I’ve allowed that man to beat me down, which is something I won’t have—and not just for me. I need to stand up and be strong so I can send out a clear message to every woman out there that all of us are united, and that all of us refuse to let men like him continue to get away with sexual assault. I can’t let him win, Jackson.”
“He won’t win,” Jackson said. “We’ll see to it. And when you take him to court, I’ll throw money at the best attorney we can find.”
“You’re the best,” I said.
“Change of subject?” he proposed.
I could tell by the light tone of his voice that he sensed I didn’t want to talk about any
of this, so I gave him an affectionate smile.
“Did I mention that you’re the best?” I asked.
“You might have…”
“I’d love a change of subject,” I said as I took his hand in mine.
“I can do that. Now, look, if this means anything to you, I’ve never seen you looking quite as beautiful as you do tonight. The dress you’re wearing is seriously off the charts.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And by the way, thanks for paying for it.”
“My pleasure.”
“My shoes are pretty killer,” I said as I showed them to him.
“Not to mention your legs.”
“You like my legs?”
“You’ve got some serious legs on you, Jones.”
“How do the boobs look?”
He admired them for a moment.
“Let’s just say that if I were straight, I’d totally do you.”
“Best news of the day.”
When a silence passed between us, I rested my head on his shoulder, glad that we had become friends.
“Thanks for saying all the right things, Jackson,” I said after a moment.
“I mean everything, Sienna.”
“I know you do—that’s why it’s so easy to be fake in love with you.”
“Now, there’s a compliment,” he said.
“You deserve it.”
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“Much.” I lifted my head off his shoulder and turned to him. “But enough about me, because look at you in your black suit! You’re even wearing a tie that matches the color of my dress. You look pretty hot tonight, Mr. Cruise, if I do say so myself.”
“I’m a T-shirt-and-jeans kind of guy,” he said. “Trust me, I had some help.”
“Mimi?”
When I said that, his face flushed.
“No, not Mimi,” he said. “Somebody else.”
Was it the pilot he’d been caught kissing? The man whose name I didn’t know but who Jackson said he might be in love with? Or was it some other man? By not giving me a name, I knew it had to be one or the other.
I wouldn’t press him about that now. But I would on the yacht.
“Whatever the case,” I said to him. “You look like the movie star you are. Lucky me that I get to have you at my side tonight.”
“You’re a good friend, Sienna.”
“I’m about to become an even better one.”
He furrowed his brow at me. “What does that mean?” he asked.
I gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
“You’ll see…”
* * *
Manhattan’s North Cove Marina was located along the Hudson at 250 Vesey Street, not far from One World Trade Center, which soared tall in the sky behind it. With the fiery setting sun glinting off its countless windows, at that moment the building looked especially alive to me, as if it were fiercely making its presence known for all the world to see.
After the horror of 9/11, it had become this city’s exclamation point.
When Austin dropped the car at the Brookfield Curbside Valet on Liberty Street, the rest of us put on our sunglasses and got out of the car. On the pavement, I lifted my hair up and over my shoulders and then I adjusted my gown as I waited for Austin to turn to catch a glimpse of me—to see why Jackson had complimented me in the car—but he didn’t.
Or at least I thought he didn’t.
Given the dark aviator sunglasses covering his eyes, if he had sized me up, he’d sure as hell been subtle in doing so, which disappointed the hell out of me. Because I hadn’t dressed just for Jackson tonight—I’d also dressed for Austin, who was behaving as if I barely existed.
I will get through to you, I thought. We will talk, Austin, despite whatever guard you’re throwing up to make sure that won’t happen.
Together, the four of us walked the short distance to the marina, where the paps would be waiting for us. But before that happened, in our brief moment of anonymity, I took in the sights while I could.
The marina was lovely, filled with many public spaces to sit and relax, a boardwalk on which to stroll, restaurants in which to dine, and a mix of boats bobbing at their docks amid the salty smells of the Hudson’s muddy waters.
Some of the crafts were small, but overwhelmingly, the others were huge and impressive, a blatant show of luxury, money, and power by people who lived lives I’d never lived. Everything I’d experienced since I’d been with Jackson had been so foreign to me that I still marveled at how ridiculously over the top the superrich lived. As close to it as I was because of Jackson’s high-flying lifestyle, I still felt like the girl from Dubuque, Iowa. I was an outsider who’d been given the privilege of looking in before I’d eventually be cast out.
And so I had to wonder—what would my life be like when the contract ended and Jackson was no longer part of my life, at least in a fake romance kind of way? I wasn’t sure, because Austin had been partly right: when it came to predicting my future, I didn’t know if I would have a successful career. I didn’t know how big or small it would become. Harper had set me up for success by nailing down those movies for me, but what if they weren’t successful? Or what if they were huge successes? That was the unknown I faced going forward—and it had nothing to do with choosing whom I wanted in my life.
And that’s what Austin needs to understand.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Jackson said as he reached for my hand.
Just a penny? I thought. Considering the shit I’m going through with Austin, today’s rate is more like a million, Jackson…
Austin was walking in front of us while David had the rear. As we passed dozens of people on the boardwalk, several glanced our way—likely because of the way we were dressed—but so far, people were either being respectful, or somehow we were flying under the radar. I knew that wouldn’t last for long, so I enjoyed it while I could.
I didn’t want to tell Jackson that I’d been thinking what my life looked like without him in it, so I deflected.
“I was actually wondering which one of those beastly yachts is ours.”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Austin, do you know?”
“It’s that one over there,” he said, pointing ahead of us. “See the paps standing near it? They might as well be our compass.”
“I see them,” I said. “But it appears they haven’t seen us yet. Shouldn’t someone be here to greet us?”
“A man is coming our way now,” Austin said. “Do you see him? The older gentleman in the white captain’s suit? He just spotted us. What I need you two to do for me now is get ready for the pending onslaught.”
“Sienna, before that happens, take a moment and look at the yacht before we board it,” Jackson said. “Because that motherfucker is insane.”
It was.
“It’s huge,” he said.
“It’s a goddamned mountain,” I agreed. “But look how pretty it is.”
“Forget how pretty it is,” he said. “When you and I are photographed in front of it, people are going to think I’m overcompensating for something.”
I laughed when he said that and ribbed him. “Oh, they will not. They’ve been lusting after that infamous package of yours for years, and you know it. I mean, on an IMAX screen alone, your package is, like…what? Fifty by seventy feet or something? Imagine the moist panties and the host of erections you’ve left in your wake over the years. Don’t give it another thought.”
“Fifty by seventy feet,” he said. “Why do I feel weirdly aroused right now?”
“And why do I feel weirdly aroused?” I admitted. “What are we? A couple of size queens?”
“We’re nothing of the sort,” Jackson said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly.
I giggled and squeezed his hand as I admired the yacht Mimi had secured for us. From what Harper had told me, it was 120 feet long, it was called the Nameless, and while its underbelly was black, the top of it was bright white and glowed in the waves of swirling lights th
at shone upon it. There appeared to be four main decks, and on the top one sat a shiny black helicopter.
Who even owns something like this? I wondered.
As we neared the boat, I heard one woman we passed say to her friend, “Holy mother of God—that’s Jackson Cruise!”
“Hold my hand tightly,” Jackson said to me. “Don’t let go of it. Tonight isn’t going to be what you experienced earlier today. I promise you that, Sienna. I’ve got you, and so do Austin and David.”
“It is him!” I heard the woman say as we moved past her. “And that’s Sienna Jones!”
When our cover was blown, people on the boardwalk started to pull out their cell phones and point them at us as recognition struck. I felt a chill rush through me, the sting of what had happened to me only hours ago, and I couldn’t help but wonder if something just as awful would happen to me again. With Austin, David, and Jackson surrounding me, I thought it was unlikely. But I worried. What had happened earlier was still too fresh. I could still feel that man’s hands on my breasts even now as we walked toward the yacht. What he’d done to me was something that wouldn’t be leaving me simply and easily. The man had assaulted me, and by doing so, I knew that he hadn’t just become an unwanted part of my life, but by doing what he’d done to me, that he’d also given me a voice that I must publicly use against him and people like him.
Please get me through this, I thought.
“We move forward,” Austin said. “Our endgame is the paps. You’ll give them one minute to photograph you, and when I think it’s enough, we’ll get both of you safely onto the yacht.”
“Agreed,” Jackson said.
But the swarms of people surrounding us didn’t give a damn what Austin had in mind. They swooped in, got in front of us, and started to either take photos of us or film us as we came upon the yacht’s captain. He was a groomed, sharp-looking man in his midsixties with white hair and a white, closely cropped beard. As he shook hands with Austin, he reminded me of CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“Captain Ward?” Austin asked.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Austin Black.”
Faking It (The Making It Series) Page 18