Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
T he sun was setting when Mattie returned to her villa. Abayomi assured her she was safe, and that nobody would bother her, but she locked her bedroom door and pulled the drapes closed anyway. Then she dragged her suitcase out of the closet. It was past time to go. Staying in one place too long made it easier for cameras to lock in on her location.
She should never have agreed to a project like this. One song. That was the limit from now on.
The realization struck that the first song she’d been contracted to write was finished, and the second mostly there, but they hadn’t even started the third song. Tears welled up at the thought of leaving the project unfinished. What kind of professional was she? She’d slept with her client, starred in yet another headline, and now she was running away before the job was done.
A tear spilled out and ran down her cheek. She wiped it away, angry with herself. This was nothing to cry over, and she wasn’t running. She was making a strategic exit. Staying here would only make things worse for all of them .
She opened the drawer and took out her cell phone with the intention of telling her sisters that she was going home, but several texts from Piper distracted her.
Can you get Don’s last name?
There are hundreds of them, five in the LA area.
There’s no Don working at Syer Island. You sure that’s his name?
Is it Hudson? Fernsby? Donnelly?
Shit. Hope it’s not Donnelly.
He’s called The Sniper.
Call me.
Mattie stared at the name Donnelly. The manager had called the photographer Donnelly. He’d introduced himself as Don. Don Donnelly? Was it the same as Piper’s Donnelly?
She pictured the friendly face of the photographer and couldn’t see how such a seemingly harmless man could have a nickname like The Sniper.
Mattie checked the time. It was seven in the morning in LA. Piper was a complete grouch when she woke up, but she had said to call. She opened a video chat and dialed.
It took Piper five rings to answer with a yawn. “Finally. Took you long enough. Did you get his name?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. Buzz 9 posted that group photo I told you about.”
“Shit, really? I was watching LA POP . Hang on.” Piper sat up, now wide awake, then the screen blanked out with Paused in the middle. Her sister swore several choice words, then came back into view. “Assholes. You think Don did it?”
“He’s the only one who had the image, as far as we could find out.” Mattie crossed to the closet and tossed a few dresses at the suitcase.
“What’s his full name? Was it any of the ones I sent?” Piper asked.
“The manager called him Mr. Donnelly. He introduced himself as Don so I guess it’s Don Donnelly? Seems mean of his parents.”
Piper made a guttural sound, then cleared her throat. “Dammit. That’s him. The Sniper.”
Mattie tugged another armful of clothes out of the closet and dropped them on the bed. “Why do they call him that?”
“Because he specializes in long-range shots. Remember that naked pool shot of Kate Pierce last year? That was him. So was the one of Alec and Janice Duggar in bed with that prostitute. He’s known for squirming his way into places and getting the shot from so far away nobody knows he’s even there. How the hell did this guy get a job on staff at a resort like that?”
“He came through an agency. Supposedly vetted and background checked.” Mattie added handfuls of underwear to the growing pile on her bed.
“He has a rap sheet in twelve states and three open lawsuits against him for trespassing. There’s no way he passed a background check.”
Mattie made a noncommittal sound and folded a pair of underwear, then placed it neatly in the suitcase.
“What are you doing?” Piper said suspiciously.
“Packing. Thanks for looking into it, but you can drop the search now. I’m coming home.”
“Wait a second. Why are you packing? It’s just one photo, and the shot’s nothing exciting.”
“It’s only one shot right now. That could change any second.”
“Mattie, I can’t see anything but a pile of clothes. ”
Mattie shoved the pile to the side, then balanced her phone on top of the lamp so Piper could have a better view. “There could be other photos waiting to go live, and I don’t want to be flying commercial when they hit. You know what that’s like.”
“Did you finish all three songs?”
Mattie folded her sunny yellow dress and shoved it into the suitcase. “No. We would have wrapped up the second in the morning. Probably. But we haven’t started the third.” The thought made her head hurt.
“Wait, you’re leaving before the job’s done?” Piper sounded incredulous.
Mattie didn’t want to know what expression was on Piper’s face, so she busied herself with sorting through clothes. “It’s not like I can stay here forever. This place is expensive, and now it’s been violated.”
“Mattie…”
Mattie gestured with a pair of underwear to the covered window. “There’s no walls anywhere, you know? The whole front of the house is wide open. Which at first I thought was creepy, but then it turned into something exotic and romantic. Now that stupid post is out there and everyone knows where we are, and it’s just too exposed. Even if Donnelly is gone, there are plenty of others with cell phones and cameras to take his place.”
“What about the band? What about Adam?”
She shoved the next dress into the suitcase without folding it first. Tears prickled her eyes again. “What about him? This was just a fling. No big deal.”
“Really?” Piper didn’t sound convinced. “You’re ready to let it all go just like that?”
“Yes.” She nodded for emphasis, then stuffed a handful of underwear into a corner of the suitcase. “I only called to let you know you can stop looking for Don, and that I’m coming home.”
“Mattie…” Her sister’s pleading voice made her want to cry.
“I should go. Abayomi said there’s a shuttle in two hours to take me to the main island.”
“Martha Lee Bellamy,” Piper snapped. “Stop packing and listen to me.”
Mattie expected to see Piper’s stop-being-so-stupid face, but her sister’s forehead was filled with wrinkles of concern and worry.
Piper never worried about anything.
Mattie sat on the edge of the bed and clung to her favorite tie-dye sundress.
“Have you even talked to Adam about this? Does he know you’re packing?”
“No.” A reflexive wave of guilt tightened her chest.
“You’re going to sneak out without saying anything to him?”
“I’m not sneaking out. I’m leaving. There’s a difference.” She folded the dress in her hands and tucked it in the suitcase.
“Give me a break. You’re ghosting him.”
“No I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You do this all the time. You disappear any time there’s conflict. I think brunch with Della was the first time I’ve ever heard you actually say what you wanted to say, when you wanted to say it.”
Mattie flushed with remembered anger and embarrassment. “I shouldn’t have.”
Piper leaned closer to the phone so her face filled the whole screen. “Yes, you should have. It was perfect. You should do it more often. I just wish you’d stuck around to see the shock on Della’s face. I think for once she really heard what you said. It was glorious. ”
A half-hearted giggle escaped Mattie’s throat.
“You deserve to be heard, Mattie. And this guy you like deserves better than to have you disappear without an explanation. I’m not saying you stay if you don’t want to. I’m saying ask yourself if you really want to leave. If you don’t, then put on your big girl panties and talk to the man.”
“There’s no point. We only have a few days left anyway.” Mattie swallowed at the lump now lodged in her throat.
“Life exists outside of paradise, you know. You have as many days as you want.” Piper stood up with the phone and moved it somewhere higher.
“What would I even say to him?”
Her sister pulled clothes out of the dresser. “Start by telling him how vulnerable you feel right now staying in a house with no walls. Then maybe move on to how much you like spending time with him. See where that takes you. Hopefully somewhere that needs less clothes.”
Mattie rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know. Where are you going so early?”
“We’re working on the opening song and it’s not going great. The words are crap, and the first guy they cast couldn’t sing on key if it was inserted up his rear. Hey, mind if we conference you in later? Only if we need it, of course.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Piper gave her a kind look. “Go get him, Mattie Cake. And don’t worry about that stupid post. It’ll get shoved to the side in twenty-four hours, tops.”
“Love you.” Mattie ended the call, then tucked her phone into the outside pocket of her suitcase.
Her clothes covered the bed. If she was going to make the shuttle, she had to get busy packing. Her temples throbbed, it was hot, and all she felt like doing was curling into a ball in a dark corner somewhere .
She peeked out from behind the curtains at the small patio behind the main bedroom. It was surrounded by a thick wall of trees and shrubbery that used to feel secluded and private. Now she felt like someone watched her from behind every tree. Her relaxed retreat had been destroyed with one post of a photo from someone a world away.
“Mattie?” Adam called. He rattled the bedroom door, then knocked on it. “Mattie, are you in there?”
She put the drape back in place and crossed to the door. “I’m here.”
His eyes brightened as if he hadn’t expected her to answer, then his face fell as he looked past her into the room.
“You’re leaving.” His voice sounded as flat as she felt.
“Yes.” She moved closer to the bed but couldn’t bring herself to fold anything. The pile of clothes mocked her.
“Why?” Adam came up behind her and put his arms around her.
“Why do you think?” She sighed and leaned back into him. It felt safe in his arms, but she knew it was a false sense of security. Their privacy had already been violated.
“That photo doesn’t matter. So they have a group shot of us having a good time? So what?” Adam kissed the top of her head. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Maybe not for you.” Mattie pulled away from him and picked up a skirt to fold. “But for me it’s another headline and another reason why nobody will ever take me seriously. They’ll say I slept with you to get credit for something else I didn’t write.”
She threw the skirt into her suitcase and picked up a cardigan she hadn’t even worn. “And you know what? This time it’ll be true. I did sleep with you. That’s all anybody will see. ‘Mattie Bellamy Bagged Brooks.’ You’ll get a gold star and a pat on the back, or maybe a line of sympathetic women at your door willing to help you forget all about how horribly mistreated you are, and of course they’ll all buy your new album, and your new song will top the charts for months, but nobody will think I had anything to do with that, because the only way anybody will ever believe I wrote a song at all is if I…I…I don’t know what I’ll have to do. Tattoo it on my ass maybe.”
She was breathing hard, and tears were building up in her eyes, but dammit she was tired of crying over crap like this. Maybe she should change careers.
“Wait just a damn minute.” Adam snatched the sweater out of her hands and threw it on the bed. “I’m not Devon Morales. I’m not Mark what’s-his-name. I’m not any of those assholes who’ve used you for free PR.”
“No. You’re not. But don’t you get it?” She met his angry gaze with one of her own. “Reality doesn’t matter. What matters is the next photo and the next caption. That’s all anybody will believe. I’ll never win Best Song or any other award because nobody— nobody —will ever sing my songs again. Nobody will want to work with me. I’m—”
“Yes, they will, because I’m going to sing your songs.” He poked himself in the chest to emphasize the point. “Me. You’re not getting out of that. I’m going to rock these songs you wrote on stage, and millions are going to sing along with me, and every goddamn one of them will know that Mattie Bellamy wrote them.”
He shouted the last few words loud enough to startle her out of the doom spiral she’d locked herself into during her rant.
They stared at each other. Ocean waves pounded the shore in the background, and she thought she heard thunder, but maybe it was just the blood rushing through her ears.
She licked her lips, but her mouth was so dry it didn’t help. “ Today’s headline is just the start. It’s no telling what other photos are going to pop up now. He can’t have only one.”
He scowled. “I don’t give a damn what the headlines say. Not yours, or mine, or anybody else’s. The only thing that matters is what we say. And anybody who doesn’t want to work with you is a moron, because you’re the best songwriter anywhere out there. There’s no one better.”
She sniffed. “You have to say that. It’s in the contract.”
He snorted. “No it’s not, but it should be. Doesn’t matter. I don’t need a contract to tell me I’m working with the best songwriter in the world. I’ve known how good you are from the first Bellamy song I heard on the radio. So fuck them. You’re better than all of them. It doesn’t matter what they say. I got your back.”
“How, Adam? How can you have my back for something like this?”
She sat on the bed and pulled a dress into her hands. It was turquoise and white, made of light cotton. Perfect for the island, but she hadn’t worn it yet, either. The missed opportunity made her want to cry.
Adam knelt in front of her and put his hands on her knees. His gaze locked on hers, sincere and intense. “My manager is hunting for that asshole Donnelly right now. He’s going to buy every single photo that guy has, and make him sign a non-disclosure. Even if Donnelly has another shot, nobody but us will ever see it. If they do, I’ll hunt him down myself.”
The way he said it made her believe something dire would happen to Don Donnelly. She bit her lip at the thought. “Are you having an Adam moment?”
“No. If I were having an Adam moment, I’d hire a hitman.” He bared his teeth.
She shouldn’t smile at that, but she couldn’t help herself .
“Don’t go.” Adam gently pulled the dress out of her hands and tossed it behind her on the bed.
“It’s the smart thing to do. You know it is. They can’t take photos of us if we’re not together.”
He took her hands in his. “Stay with me tonight. Give my manager time to find that guy. I promise, nobody will bother us here. No more photos. No more headlines. Just us and the music. If you still want to leave in the morning, the helicopter will be waiting for us.”
“Us?” She kissed him softly on the lips.
“A gentleman always sees his lady home safely. Besides, it’s not paradise without you.” He took her in his arms, and several long kisses later she forgot about leaving.
Mattie started awake to the ring of the house phone. She fumbled for the receiver with her eyes closed. “Yes?”
“Miss Mattie,” Abayomi spoke softly, but there was a note of urgency to his voice, “I am so sorry to disturb you but there is a call for you in the office. You must come. I will be outside in the buggy to bring you when you are ready.”
She rubbed her forehead, confused. “Call? From who?”
“Your sister, Miss Piper. She says to tell you she tried to call your cell phone but you did not answer.”
“Can’t she call this line?” She was cozy and too tired to get up, and she didn’t want to wake Adam by turning on the light.
“She says she must speak with you alone. It is urgent. She is waiting now on the office line. I will be there in five minutes. Please come.”
His voice was soft but insistent, and it set every nerve on edge. Exhaustion fell away, replaced by anxiety. “Okay. I’ll be ready. ”
She hung up. She had to find something to wear, but it was so dark in the room she couldn’t see the nightstand, much less her clothes or the door. She fumbled for the lamp and switched it on, then flinched as the light blinded her. Adam murmured something incoherent.
She opened the nightstand drawer, but her phone wasn’t there. Where had she left it? No time to look for it now. Something horrible must have happened for Piper to call her like this. She couldn’t get to the phone fast enough.
She pulled a sundress off the chair and threw it on, then looked around for shoes. She found flip-flops by the bedroom door and slipped her feet into them.
“Mattie?” Adam asked. He propped himself up on one arm and squinted at her. “What’s going on?”
“Piper needs to talk to me, but my phone’s missing. I’m going to the office to talk to her. I’ll be back.” She opened the bedroom door.
“I’ll go with you.” He blinked and yawned. “Just let me find my shorts.”
“No, don’t. I’m sure she’s just forgotten the time difference.” She climbed onto the bed to give him a quick kiss. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She flicked off the light, slipped out of the room, and shut the door. It was pouring outside, and lightning temporarily lit her way through the living room and down the steps toward the waiting golf cart. Abayomi tried to cover her with an umbrella, but she was still soaked by the time she climbed in.
Abayomi took off as soon as she was settled. “I am truly sorry, Miss Mattie, about the intrusion on your privacy. It is not right.”
She stared at the path in front of them and wished the cart could go faster. “It’s not your fault. ”
“He represented all of Syer Island and he betrayed you. He failed us, and he failed you. It is unforgivable.”
Abayomi pulled up to the side entrance of the main building where the door stood open and the general manager, Veronique, waited for her.
“This way, Miss Mattie.” Veronique ushered her into a small office and gestured to the phone lying on the bamboo desk. “Your sister is still on the line, and the computer is ready for you. Take as long as you need.”
Mattie snatched up the phone as the door closed behind her. “What’s wrong?”
“Are you alone?” Piper asked. She sounded tense and worried, which shot stabs of adrenaline through her heart.
She collapsed onto the chair. “Oh my God, what happened? Are you okay? Of course you’re okay, you’re on the phone. Is it Lizzie? Della?”
“It’s okay, we’re all fine. I’m sorry, Mattie. I didn’t mean to scare you, but this couldn’t wait. I called and called. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Mattie closed her eyes as the aftershocks of panic raced through her. The last time she’d had a middle-of-the-night phone call, it had been Lizzie calling to tell her Dad had been in an accident.
“I didn’t hear it ring. I put it somewhere…oh, in the suitcase. Shoot. I forgot to charge it. It’s probably dead.”
“Was Adam with you?”
“Yes. Why?” She didn’t like where this was going. Whatever had happened, it couldn’t be good.
“But he’s not there now, right?”
She wished they were on a video call so she could see Piper’s expression. “No. He’s back in my room. What’s going on? ”
“There’s a computer on the desk, right? They told me there was one.”
Mattie glanced at it. A multicolored screen saver bounced around to indicate it was on. “Yes.”
“Go to the LA POP website.”
Anxiety rushed up the back of her neck. “Piper, you’re scaring me.”
“Just take a look. I’m right here with you, and we’re going to get through this together, okay? I promise.” Piper’s voice was calm and overly soothing, like she was talking someone off a ledge. That, more than anything, made Mattie want to run screaming from the room.
Beneath the LA POP banner, a larger-than-life photo filled the screen.
Mattie froze.
It was a shot of her and Adam under the waterfall at Lanmou Bay. It had been taken at night, from a high angle. The edges were grainy, but because the waterfall was surrounded by safety lights, the central image was more than clear enough to make out their faces and the fact that they were naked.
Her breath caught in her chest, and everything went a bit fuzzy.
She stared at the image. She could still feel Adam’s hands on her back and the water cascading over her shoulders. The shadows played with her breasts, while her naked back glowed in the moonlight.
Adam was mostly in shadow, but the curve of his face was quite visible, as were the lean muscles along his thigh. They looked like two people deeply in love. It was a magical moment, perfectly captured.
Some detached part of her told her it would make a fantastic album cover .
She gripped the phone so tight it creaked in protest.
“Mattie? Are you still there?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
If the photo was on LA POP , it would be everywhere.
Viral.
She was naked on computer screens and cell phones all over the world, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Everyone on the island had to have seen this photo by now. That was why Abayomi had groveled all the way to the office. He hadn’t been talking about the group shot. He’d been talking about this. They’d all seen. They all knew.
She had to get out of here. She tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn’t support her, so she hugged them instead.
“I’m so sorry, Mattie. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe that asshole did this.”
“So he…he had more photos…after all,” Mattie stammered.
She was having an out-of-body experience. This was a bad dream. It had to be. Wasn’t that what people always did in nightmares? Stand naked in front of crowd? Any second now she’d wake up. Adam would be lying beside her, and they’d laugh about how silly she was.
Piper cleared her throat. “That’s not the only reason I woke you up.”
“Sweet Jesus. What else could there possibly be?”
Maybe the Big One had finally hit California, and Los Angeles had slid into the ocean. Maybe a meteor was about to crash on Syer Island. Maybe a sinkhole would open up and swallow her right here, right now.
“I don’t know how to…hell. I’m just going to straight-up tell you. Adam’s manager, Lucas Austerberry, hired The Sniper to take shots of you, so they could leak them for publicity.”
She blinked, not sure she heard right. “Adam’s manager…how do you know? ”
“A girl I know over at the studio. She’s dating a guy whose sister works as his receptionist. Donnelly was placed at Syer Island just two days before you arrived, and he knows Austerberry from way back. They’ve worked together before.”
“Is she…are you…sure?” Mattie curled in her knees and hugged them.
“I’m sure. She had details, including how much he was paid because she processed the payment.”
“But…why?” Mattie closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was somewhere else.
“Publicity. Austerberry’s known for being a pit bull. Once he sinks his teeth into an act, he doesn’t stop until he makes them a worldwide phenomenon, and he’s been with Delusions of Glory since he found them at a high school dance. He probably set up that handshake shot at the studio, too. Makes perfect sense, since they have a new album about to drop.”
“Does…does Adam know?” Why did it hurt so much to say that out loud?
“I…” Piper blew out a breath. “I honestly don’t know, sweetie. Donnelly was on staff, so he probably had access to schedules, right? Who else knew you were going to Lanmou Bay?”
It was hard to focus her thoughts. “The picnic was last minute. It was supposed to be Cooper, not…Adam asked me right before we left. The guys probably all knew. Abayomi too. He drove us. I’m not sure…I don’t know. I don’t know who else. You think…Adam?” She sucked in a breath, but it didn’t help. Her thoughts refused to form the rest of the sentence. She pictured that night at the beach. The swim. The massage. “Oh…Jesus…”
“I don’t know for sure. There’s a lot of staff on that island, and Donnelly is a snake. He could have wrangled the information from someone. But if it was something Adam planned last minute, it doesn’t look good.”
Were there shots of them having sex too? When would they show up? Her body shook as time stretched around her. “I can’t believe he’d do this.”
“I’m sorry, Mattie. I can’t believe I told you to stay. Adam seemed like a stand-up guy, and you were so happy. I can’t believe he’d set you up like that either, but it seems unlikely that he didn’t know. I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s my fault.” She should have known. Adam’s over-the-top antics could have been a smokescreen.
She scrolled down to read the caption under the photo out loud.
It’s looking hot, hot, hot in the tropics tonight as Mattie Bellamy bags her man. Seen here in an LA POP exclusive, Adam Brooks cools down, or should we say heats up, with a midnight dip in the waterfall with his high school crush. Will we be hearing wedding bells in the near future? It’s too soon to tell, but one thing’s for certain, Adam Brooks’ teenage dreams have come true, because this Bellamy Babe has forgotten all about Devon Morales. Check back for updates, this story is sure to keep your blood pressure up!
The words “high school crush” stood out to Mattie like an enormous, pulsating stop sign.
Adam had known about her, had followed her career, and then when he saw her struggling with Devon, he’d seen his chance to lure her to this sanctuary where he could have her all to himself by promising her what she wanted most: recognition.
“I’m such a—how could I be so blind?”
“Mattie. It’s not your fault, okay? None of this is your fault. If he did this—and we don’t know if he did—it’s Adam’s fault. Him and that asshat manager. ”
Mattie closed her eyes. Adam had been so intense when he’d said he had her back. He’d seemed genuinely surprised by the original photo leak, but he could have been faking it. Doubt slithered into her heart.
“I have to go. I have to get out of here. Jesus, how do I get out of here? There’s no roads.”
“I’m taking care of that. The helicopter will be there at dawn to take you to the main island, and a private charter will bring you home. Don’t go back to the room. The manager will pack up your things and get them to you. Okay?”
Mattie bit her lip and nodded.
“Mattie? I can’t see you. Are you okay?”
“I…I’m—” Mattie choked on the word “fine.” If there were any less appropriate word, she didn’t know what it would be. She wasn’t on the same planet as fine. Hurt, confusion, regret, and betrayal cascaded against her heart, making it hard to breathe, much less think.
“I’m so sorry.” Piper’s voice cracked. “I know this hurts. I have giant bear hugs waiting for you. Just come home. We’ll sort this all out when you get here. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Love you.”
“Love you back.” Mattie hugged her knees a little tighter. “Piper?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.” A sob pushed at her throat. “For everything.”
“It’s the least I can do, sis. If I was there, I’d beat him senseless for you. Bellamy Babes stick together, right?”
A ghost of a smile tugged at Mattie’s lips, but it quickly faded. “Right.”
She hung up and stared at the photo for a long, long time, and when the tears came, she didn’t try to stop them.