“Girl, have I got news for you!” he exclaimed, turning off the television and sitting down in front of me on the coffee table. “I just got off the phone with Charlotte!”
“Oh, god,” I said. “What?”
Phoenix and Rainbow sat next to me and they each grabbed one of my hands.
“Can I talk in front of them?”
“Uh, sure,” I said.
“It’s fine, honey, we already know who you are, Little Bird,” Phoenix said.
“What?” I said, my head spinning.
“Shh, honey, it’s fine,” Rainbow said, patting my leg. “We’re queens. Gossip is our business. And honey, you aren’t fooling anyone with that pixie cut and distinctive nose.”
My hand flew up to touch my nose and I squinted. “I have a distinctive nose?”
“Oh, darling,” Phoenix said, laughing. “Go on, Mike, what’s the news?”
“Well, do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
“There’s good news? I want that.”
“Okay. So, Nash left the hospital.”
“That is good!” I said.
“The bad news is that McDreamy went with him.”
At first, I was confused. What the hell did Dane have to do with Nate? Why in the world would they be in the same room, let alone go somewhere together?
I shook my head in confusion.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
“Apparently, your lover is now your abusive ex’s doctor.”
“Nash was abusive?” Phoenix asked. “I fucking knew it!”
“I told you that prick was too pretty to be a good man,” Mike said.
“You were right,” Rainbow said.
“But where did Dane go?” I asked.
“On tour with him, at least that’s the buzz going around. To take care of him.”
“This can’t be happening!” I said, jumping to my feet. “This can’t be fucking happening!”
Everything started spinning and my heart began racing. How could this be true? How in the hell could my two worlds collide so suddenly and unexpectedly?
It all made sense, of course, after I gave it a few seconds. Dane was the best endocrinologist in the state. Of course, Nate would want the best of the best. I just couldn’t believe Dane would just up and leave and go on tour with him.
But then, I remembered.
I’d done it, too.
Nate had a way of convincing you to do things, I knew this fact deep in my bones and I wasn’t proud of how I’d so easily succumbed to his demands.
Part of me wanted to call Dane and save him, but how could I do that without telling him everything? Without admitting I’d done nothing but lie to him this whole time?
Why would he ever want to have anything to do with me?
I was screwed. Big time.
Did I have to give up Dane, too, now? I’d given my previous life up for Nate and now it looked like I was going to have to give this one up, too. What if they got to talking? What if Nate didn’t really know I was here after all? If he knew, he wouldn’t have just jumped back on the tour bus and left so easily.
No, he didn’t know I was here, I concluded, even though that still didn’t explain the flowers.
But the possibility of Dane talking about me definitely existed.
“I think I need to get out of town,” I said, suddenly. “Can you give me a ride back to my car? Or better yet, back to my house?” I asked Mike.
“Sure, whatever you want,” he said. “Does this mean you aren’t afraid of Nate finding you anymore?”
“No, it means I’m more afraid and I think I need to leave town. I just want to head home to pack — again.”
“We’re coming, too,” Phoenix said. Rainbow nodded in agreement and I smiled gratefully.
“Okay,” I said. “Strength in numbers, right?”
“Strength in stilettos, baby!” Rainbow replied, kicking up a sequin adorned foot.
We laughed and all piled into Mike’s car, with Gigi sitting between Phoenix and Rainbow in the back while they took selfies with her.
“Um, can you two please not post any of those on the internet?” I asked, politely as possible.
“Oh, shit,” Mike said, as he drove towards my house. “Do you think Nate saw the picture of Gigi I posted?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter at this point. Most likely, those flowers mean he’s found me, but if he did, I can’t imagine he’d be leaving without me.”
“Damn, I’m sorry,” he said.
“No worries,” I sighed. “I should have been more honest with all of you. Charlotte and Emma will probably hate me for lying to them.”
“No, they won’t. They’ll understand. Besides, it’s pretty hard to hate you, Samantha.”
“Thanks,” I said, as we neared my house. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the black car from a few days ago sitting in front of my house.
“Oh, no, please keep driving,” I said.
“Why?” Mike asked.
“That car,” I said, as we drove past. The same man from before was sitting behind the wheel. “I was afraid he was following me the other day and now there he is again. He’s gotta be following me.”
“That bastard’s following you?” Rainbow asked. “Pull over, Mike!”
“What are you going to do about it?” Mike asked.
“Watch and see.”
“No, guys, really, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Pull the fuck over, Sunshine!”
“Sunshine?” I asked Mike. He shrugged sheepishly.
“It’s my stage name.”
“You’re a performer?”
“Best drag queen in Chicago, baby!” Phoenix said, before Rainbow punched him.
“I’m the best!”
“Oh, whatever bitches, this is no time for arguing!”
Mike pulled over a half block from my house and we watched as Rainbow and Phoenix got out and headed straight to the man behind the wheel. He tried to quickly roll up the window, but Rainbow stuck an arm in before he could get it up. Phoenix literally sat on the hood of the car, preventing him from driving away.
“What are they saying to him?” I asked Mike, since we couldn’t hear.
“Who fucking knows,” he murmured. “Those bitches are crazy.”
A few minutes later, Rainbow straightened up, Phoenix hopped off the hood and the man drove off, slowing as he passed Mike’s car, then speeding away. Rainbow and Phoenix walked back to the car laughing.
“What did you say to him?”
“No more worries, darling. That man is doing an article on your doctor boyfriend. Turns out he was supposed to be named the Most Eligible Bachelor in Chicago for the third year in a row, but I guess you ruined that,” Rainbow said.
“That’s why he was following me?”
“Yep,” she replied. “He works for the Chicago Reader. Just doing research for his article.”
“What a creep,” Mike said.
“Well, yeah, but that makes me breathe just a little easier. That doesn’t mean Nate doesn’t know I’m here.”
Phoenix leaned into the car. “Listen, I just need to know one thing.”
“Okay?”
“Nash, how big is he?”
“He’s like the biggest rock star on the planet right now.”
“I’m not talking about his fame, darling. I’m talking about his cock.”
“Oh,” I laughed. “Meh. Average, at best. Most of the time he’s stricken with whiskey dick, if you wanna know the truth.”
They roared with laughter as Gigi and Mike and I got out of the car and headed into my apartment.
I’d never been more happy to not be coming home alone in my life.
Chapter 52
DANE
God, what a prick, I thought, as I watched Nate stroll off the stage of the Fillmore in Detroit. He’d slept the entire time on the bus, which was great, because that meant I didn’t have to listen
to him ramble on about himself endlessly.
But then he woke up and he was in a mood.
I quickly figured out it was because he was sober from sleeping off his last bender and he wasn’t happy about it. As soon as we got into the green room, he started pounding cocktails.
“Nate, that’s a terrible idea right now,” I said. “Your organs are damaged. They need a good, long break.”
“Doc, there’s no way I’m stepping onto that stage sober.”
“Why did you want me here if you aren’t going to listen to my advice?”
“Chill out,” he said. “Sophia, get the doctor a drink. He could use a little loosening up.”
I rolled my eyes, already regretting my decision.
He hadn’t said much about Samantha — or Dove, rather — since we’d left the hospital and I hadn’t learned anything else that I’d hoped to learn by now. I wanted to see more pictures, but I didn’t want to ask him for them, because the last thing I wanted to see was his naked pictures of what might be the woman I was falling in love with.
I wasn’t fooling myself anymore. I knew what my feelings were growing towards and they were growing fast. Samantha was a good woman, I could feel that in my bones. Whether or not she was actually Dove, well, even if she was, I figured she had to have a good reason to pretend to be someone else, and the more time I spent with Nate and saw how he treated the people around him, it was obvious that it was a damned good reason.
He was awful to everyone.
I couldn’t imagine being in a relationship with this asshole. It must have been torture for her.
We headed back to the green room after he’d whipped the crowd into a frenzy and left them begging for more, and he hit the bar as soon as the door closed behind him.
“Nate, you can’t keep doing this to your body,” I said, as he headed towards the shower with a bottle of whiskey in his hand, totally ignoring me.
“Fuck this,” I said, pulling my phone out and searching for the next available flight back to Chicago. I booked a flight for a red-eye in the morning and resigned myself to the fact that I’d have to spend a few more hours with Nate.
Maybe I could get more information from him in that short time, but if not, well, screw him. He didn’t want my help. He just wanted someone to unload on, and it wasn’t going to be me.
“I booked a flight home in the morning,” I said, after he came out of the shower dripping wet and naked, with no shame or shyness whatsoever. I turned away, disgusted to think that my Samantha had been touched by him.
“Well, fuck you then, I’m not giving you the money.”
“I don’t care, Nate,” I said. “I only did this for your Mom, but she’s gone and she probably doesn’t care either. You obviously don’t.” I hated to think what his mother would think of him now. She’d been generous and kind, even giving me a bunch of rare peonies bulbs she’d brought back from overseas once. I still had them planted in my backyard and I quickly wondered if Samantha had received the bouquet I’d dropped off for her before I left. I’d forgotten to ask her about it, and I hadn’t yet told her I had left town. There was just too much in the air right now to continue with the charade if she wasn’t who she said she was. I’d tell her about the flowers I’d left at the nurse’s station later.
“Care about my health? Why bother?” Nate asked.
“You’re going to die if you don’t get a handle on your shit,” I said, bluntly, to hell with professionalism or optimism.
“You think I don’t know that?” he asked.
“Fine,” I shrugged. I grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and settled on the couch.
“See how easy it is to give up?”
“Seems like you gave up on yourself a long time ago,” I said, taking a gulp from the bottle.
“I suppose,” he sat down, sighing. Rocco and Sophia came in and Rocco sat down on the couch next to him. Sophia stood behind him.
“Are you ready to go to the hotel, Nate?”
“In a little while,” he replied, holding up the bottle of whiskey in his hand. “I’m busy right now.”
“You have a meet and greet scheduled for VIP’s early in the morning, Nate, maybe take it a little easy, huh? Last time, you were too wasted to show up and we had to refund thousands of dollars to the ticket seller.”
“Fuck you, Sophia,” he said. “I don’t give a shit about that.”
“Obviously,” she muttered under her breath, before shuffling out.
“Bitches, right?” he laughed, elbowing Rocco. I looked over at Rocco, remembering him from before. Nate’s mother hired him when Nate first got famous and he’d been by his side ever since. I wondered about the kinds of things Rocco had seen and endured over the years and couldn’t believe he’d stayed with Nate all this time. The guy had to have a heart of steel to take this shit every day. Or, he was a prick, just like his boss.
“Hey, do y’all wanna see something?” Nate said, pulling out his phone. Before he could reply, he pulled up a video and shoved it in my face. It was dark and slightly out of focus, but the sounds echoing through the room quickly told me what I was watching. It was a sex video. My stomach turned, but I couldn’t look away.
“Boss, really?” Rocco questioned him, but he shot him a dirty look and Rocco looked away. I should have looked away, too, but the voice of the woman on the video was unmistakeable. I watched, mesmerized, as my Samantha bounced up and down, her beautiful breasts on full display, the two tiny moles on her collarbone clearly visible.
“See why I miss her?” Nate said. “Those tits, man. What a waste.”
“A waste?” I asked, swallowing hard, as I finally tore my eyes away.
“Yeah, man,” he said. “When I find her, she’s going to pay. This has gone on way too long. She’s embarrassed me enough.”
“Why can’t you just let her go?”
“She stole two hundred thousand dollars from me, Doc. Would you let her go if she did that to you?”
“I’d let anyone leave that wanted to leave.”
“Ah, yeah, if you love someone set them free, right?”
“Right.”
“Yeah, fuck that shit. This bitch is mine. And she’s going to pay with her life for fucking me over.” He stood up and went over to a backpack by the couch, flashing a handgun he had buried in there.
“What the hell?” I asked. “Why do you have a gun, Nate?”
“This is what’s waiting for Little Bird. As soon as I fucking find the cunt,” he said, lifting his chin with pride.
He poured more whiskey down his throat and laughed a slow evil laugh, apparently very pleased with himself.
I stood up, shoving my hands in my pocket and pacing, then turning back to him.
“You’re really going to shoot Dove?” I asked, my stomach churning.
“Hell yeah, man. But finding her is my priority right now,” he said, turning to Rocco. “Any updates, by the way? I haven’t heard from the fucking PI in weeks.”
“He called me, Boss. Sorry, no leads.” Rocco glanced at him quickly, then looked away again. I watched with interest, my gut telling me that Rocco wasn’t being completely honest. Maybe Rocco wasn’t such a bad guy, after all.
“Just another asshole taking my money for nothing,” Nate said, his breath reeking of whiskey. “The bitch has to turn up sometime. And I can’t wait till she does.” He shoved the gun back in his backpack and grabbed the whiskey bottle again, sucking on it like a pacifier.
My head spun with the knowledge that all of my suspicions had been correct. There was no mistaking it — that woman on the video was definitely the beautiful woman that I’d fallen hard for. I’d have known those moans anywhere.
His Dove was my Samantha.
But that was the thing, I thought, as a surge of protectiveness shot through me. Nate thought Dove belonged to him. He wanted her back so he could cage her and torture her.
But she wasn’t his. Not anymore. And she didn’t belong to me, either.
But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this motherfucker hurt her again.
Chapter 53
DANE
We made it back to the hotel, and Nate passed out in his room not long after, which didn’t surprise me with the condition his body was in, and considering he wouldn’t do a damned thing I said.
It didn’t matter. I’d taken an oath to do no harm, not babysit someone who refused to help themselves.
The fact that he’d confessed to me that he intended to kill Samantha, though, left me no other choice than to take action myself.
Once I was sure Nate was out cold, I walked out into the hallway to talk to Rocco.
“I remember you,” I said, as he greeted me. “You’ve been with Nate a long time.”
“Yeah, from the beginning,” he said.
“He used to be a decent kid,” I remarked. “Seems like a lot has changed.”
“That’s for sure,” he mumbled, shaking his head.
“Why do you stay?”
He groaned, shoving a hand through his short hair. “I promised his mother. I loved her — Nora. She was a good woman. Sure, she maybe pushed him too hard. She was a little too focused on fame and money. But she wasn’t all bad. But her son, man…” He stopped, shaking his head. “He’s a real piece of work.”
“I’m assuming Dove left him for a good reason.”
His eyes darkened and his mouth set into a firm line. “He didn’t deserve that woman. She was a sweetheart.”
“He hurt her.”
“Yes,” he nodded.
“Do you think he’s really going to kill her?”
“Not if he can’t find her,” he shrugged.
“Do you know where she is?”
He looked at me and smirked, then pulled out his phone, pulling up a picture and then putting it in front of me.
“I think we both know where she is, don’t we, Doc?”
I gasped. The picture was of me and Samantha at the Peace Garden, hand in hand, our heads bent together, laughing.
“Feel free to scroll,” he said. I swiped left, and another picture of me and Samantha popped up — this one in front of the stage at Phyllis’. I swiped again, and saw us cheering together at the ball game.
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