Phoebe
A s they sat around the dining room table, hungover and nursing an unhealthy amount of energy drinks, helped Axel, Nick and August pack up all their new signed albums and merch for the concert. They had a nice assembly line going when they heard the harsh clacking of heels coming down the hall.
“Are you insane?” Anita stormed into the room like she was ready to deliver bad news and ruin their good streak.
“Hello Anita.” Nick greeted her as he passed another pile of CDs to Axel. “How’s your day going?”
“How’s my day going?” Anita crossed her arms over her chest, and thought steam was about to come out of her ears. “Swimmingly. We finally get rid of that creep Sheen, and foolishly, I thought all my problems were solved. Then, your sister and Axel get photographed intimately at your birthday party. Do you know about their little sordid affair?” She directed the question at Nick and August.
“You can relax. They told us about their relationship. It’s not their fault that someone took a photo of them.” Nick acted as cool as a cucumber, though doubted he was happy about where the photo was taken. “Has it been leaked?”
“No. I’ve paid the photographer for the photo. If you don’t want this to keep happening, you two should keep away from each other in public,” Anita warned them, like they were teenagers to be scolded. “First Italy, and now you can’t even be bothered to be discreet about your fling.”
was going to lose her mind if Anita kept referring to their relationship as a fling.
“It’s not a fling.” Axel voiced her thoughts, looking up from his signing stack. “You can tell the person threatening to leak the image that they can be persecuted for taking and distributing an intimate image. The most they got was us kissing; the only thing that’ll happen is our relationship will be outed.”
recalled the flash. “He’s right. There is no way they got anything exposing.”
“How did a photographer even get into the party?” August asked as he folded the band shirts.
“We had security,” added. They’d been so careful, and discussed the guest list with Olivier.
“Someone could’ve brought a friend along, and they took the opportunity to make some money,” Anita said. “Do you want the world to know about this? The sea has just started to settle, and you want to cause another storm. I knew you never should’ve moved in,” she snarled at .
“Don’t speak to my sister like that,” Nick cut in. “We all understand that the timing isn’t perfect, but we’ve all been through a hell of a lot worse over the past few months, so I think them dating is nothing to cry over.”
resisted the urge to squeeze her brother tight for supporting her without question. Anita glared at her, but she refused to shrink.
“We aren’t going to make some grand announcement or hide our relationship. Their music has nothing to do with our relationship, and real fans will feel the same,” reasoned. Axel leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Anita rolled her eyes. “I know how this will end.”
“Are we paying you extra for your psychic powers?” asked.
“I’m only trying to protect all of you because I care,” Anita argued, but her tone sounded anything but caring.
“The photo isn’t getting out, and Axel and are free to do their own thing, so can we all shut up and watch the interview?” August said, eager to see the news about Cillian’s concert selling out in record time. Not only that, but they were interviewing the head of the charity for disabled artists who they’d decided to donate the profits from the concert to. They’d all watched ’s struggle to adjust to her new normal, and they wanted to help other creatives going through similar challenges.
flexed her hand. Her strength was slowly returning, even if the pain refused to ease.
“Turn it up,” she ordered, excited for the charity to get some airtime.
“Is that…?” Nick said with a frown, as August turned it up.
Cillian’s girlfriend, Helen, looking very pregnant, was sitting across from the chat show host. They all stared, slack-jawed.
“What the hell is Helen doing?” Nick asked, only for to shush him.
The perky host smiled. “Thank you for joining us this evening.”
“Thank you for having me.” Helen fidgeted with her top, pulling it over her bump.
Was this why she was doing this? To reveal the news of her pregnancy? None of them had heard from her since the will reading. Nick had tried to check in on her, but she said she didn’t want to hear from any of them. It wasn’t like she needed the money, and outing herself as the late, beloved rockstar’s secret lover wasn’t going to play in her favour.
forced herself to focus.
“My producers were surprised you were so willing to do this interview. I’m sure what you have to say will be a great shock to the fans of both Brothers of Anarchy and Fletcher.” The host in her brightly coloured shirt was loving every second.
“I came here to tell you all a rather salacious story,” Helen started, and the host sat forward, eager for the scoop. “With everything being said in the media about and Cillian, I wanted to set the record straight.”
“How will you do that?” the host teased, and the camera zoomed in.
Helen, visibly shaken, took a deep breath.
“I was having an affair with Cillian Hunt for six months before his death. It was Cillian driving the car when he crashed with . She wasn’t driving, and that video of her being pulled from the driver seat was edited.” She rattled off the confessions in quick succession.
“How can you know all this about the crash?” The host pressured her for more.
“Because the band’s manager, Anita Harding, paid me to do this interview.”
A shiver ran down ’s spine. Axel reached for her hand, but no one dared say a word.
“That’s quite the accusation. Anita Harding, who’s been with Brothers of Anarchy for nearly a decade, paid you to confess to an affair with her client?”
“Ms Harding paid me to do this interview, not to confess to the affair, or to stand in defence of Ms Fletcher being a victim of Cillian’s drunk-driving. Instead, Ms Harding paid me to tarnish ’s reputation further by revealing that was having a love affair with Axel Adler while she was with Cillian and that it was that discovery that led to the car accident. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. I was to say I witnessed this affair while I worked with the band as their lead make-up artist.” Helen straightened in the seat as though finding her courage as she spoke.
“That’s one hell of a story. Just to clarify, did you witness such an affair between the drummer and Ms Fletcher?” the host challenged.
“No. I only mention it to out the lies being spread. Without Ms Harding’s knowledge, who I’m sure will be very upset with me, I agreed to do this interview to set the record straight. I believe someone else was meant to be in this seat today, but Ms Harding had the power to swap us at the last minute. Ms Fletcher has been tormented these past few months, and I’m sorry to say that my actions have caused her much hurt, and for that I’m so very sorry.” Helen looked at the camera, talking directly to .
Is she looking for sympathy? wondered. Or am I being paranoid because of all that’s happened recently? She hated how jaded she was becoming.
The interviewer frowned; clearly this wasn’t the interview she’d been expecting. “Why are you coming forward?”
had the same question.
“Because I’m tired of seeing all the hate. I loved Cillian and I’ve worked with the other members of the band for the past few years. I once considered them friends, and Cillian would’ve hated to see his friends, his family, hurting. We all deserve peace. Cillian wasn’t perfect, but we all loved him, and I feel like we’ve all lost sight of that. We all lost him, and no one is to blame, least of all ,” she said, and the emotion in her voice sounded genuine.
They were all stunned into silence. August turned off the TV. No one knew what to say, including .
Could Helen be telling the truth? It doesn’t make sense, why would Anita do this? Why would she want to destroy me like this?
All turned to look at Anita at the end of the table.
“Why are you all looking at me like that?” Anita said. “You can’t believe her.”
Nobody said anything. They looked to , waiting for her reaction.
“You can’t believe a word she’s saying. She’s a liar out for money and trying to come out of this situation as a saint,” Anita added, but no one was listening to her.
“Why defend us, me, if she was out to stir trouble?” asked calmly.
“How could I know the reason for her doing this?” Anita acted stunned, but there was a hesitation in her gaze, a recalculation as she looked around the room. “She’s probably out to make a name for herself.”
Nick rose from the table. “Cillian left her a home, and plenty of money for her and the baby. Putting herself in the spotlight only puts her at risk.”
“I’m not a mind reader, I can’t possibly know what her reasoning is.”
“How did she get the interview spot?” Axel challenged.
“She probably promised the producers a great story, which she provided. A story .”
“Did you put Helen up to this?” asked. “You knew Axel and I have been together since Italy. Did you want to ruin any chance for us with rumour and speculation? Have the world blame us for Cillian’s death because he found out about an affair that never happened?”
“I would never do anything to hurt you,” Anita said, gawking. “I’ve dedicated the last ten years of my life to you all.”
“And made plenty of money doing it. Was this your way of trying to break us up?” Axel asked coldly.
“I would never want the band to break up. You can’t believe any of this,” Anita said, but there were no tears, no pleading, only a smug dismissal that felt anything but genuine.
“With Sheen gone, there was no one left to torment us. Did you want to finish what he started?” pressed.
“Can you blame me for wanting to get rid of you? The closer you get to them, the bigger the mess you make.”
There it was. The truth.
“I’ve been with them longer than you, and I’ll still be by their side long after you. Get out of this house and don’t come back,” barked, and no one tried to intervene.
“You can’t tell me when to leave,” Anita snarked.
“Yes, she can, this is her house,” Nick said sharply. “Get out, and Olivier will be informed that you are no longer welcome.”
“Firing me? You can’t be serious. It was one interview; your relationship was going to come out eventually.”
“You wanted us to be painted as the villains, for our relationship to have caused the death of our friend!” exclaimed.
“Anita, leave before we have Olivier escort you from the grounds,” Axel ordered, getting between them.
As Anita left, the interview replayed in ’s mind on a loop. Anita had tried to use Helen against them, but failed to understand her connection with the band. Helen had loved them all, not just Cillian. Anita underestimated her—but what else had she orchestrated? Could she have been behind Sheen? He’d been desperate for any connection to the band, making him easy to manipulate.
shook off the thought. There is no way Anita would’ve worked with Sheen. She might want me gone, but dead feels too far of a stretch.