Chapter 9 Kolton #2
“Well, Heath,” she said, her eyes zipping to the side of the room and back, “this has been a long time coming. My family has been here for years—my grandmother never left and my mom and my sister, Skylar, moved back permanently a few years ago. They’re all I’ve got, and I wanted to be closer to them. ”
“It’s been two years since your last movie came out. Are we going to see any more from you soon?”
“No.” Her face dropped for a moment, but in a flash, her smile was back. “My heart has always been in singing, not acting, so my focus is on being the best I can be by doing what I love the most.”
“You were nominated for five Grammys this year, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Tell us about that.”
Even under the bright lights of the stage, I could see Sloane’s eyes light up. “It’s been an amazing experience. My fellow nominees are some of the most talented people in the industry and I was honored to be in the running with them. I never expected it.”
“Never?” Sally said as she clasped her hands in front of her. “After the performance we just saw outside?”
“That was quite the performance,” Heath agreed. “Car alarms were going off three blocks down, and I heard rumors that a few windows might have been shaken right out of their sills.”
Sloane’s nose scrunched up—my god, I’d never seen anything so cute—and she smiled. “That’s crazy.”
“It is crazy,” Sally agreed. “I have to confess, I was at your concert here in Chicago. I’m a huge fan, by the way! But today—today was something special. I have never witnessed such passion. You were meant for this.”
“Oh, thank you. That’s so kind.”
“Why the change?” Heath asked. “Where did all this power come from? To be honest, I saw you in Denver when I was there for my daughter’s basketball tournament, and it didn’t touch your performance today. Is there someone in your life who’s prompted this?”
Once again, Sloane’s smile dropped, her eyes darting to the side of the room, catching on mine.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, frozen there in her sights.
Then, just as quick, her smile was back.
“My best friend made me realize that life’s too short not to live it to the fullest. I haven’t been living for myself, and the past year has been an eye-opening experience, to say the least. I’m done putting myself on the back burner, and I’m ready to become everything I was meant to be. ”
The hosts thanked Sloane for coming, then chatted about the new segment coming up next. I didn’t hear a word as my focus was directed at Sloane. My chest pinched, her words the cause, because if she was going to become more, what was left for anyone else? How could anyone compete?
Sloane was quiet as we gathered her things from the green room and went back out to the hired car. We didn’t speak as the driver drove us back to her condo, nor as we rode the elevator to her floor. But in the hallway between the elevator and her apartment, Sloane slowed her steps and turned to me.
“Are you from Chicago, Kolton?”
I slowed too, coming to a stop when she did. “Grew up outside the city, but we were here all the time.”
“Is your family still here?”
With a huff, I dipped my head. “Mom and Dad still live in the same house, but my sisters moved into the city, and I guess I followed after.”
She gave a quiet smile. “Are you close with your sisters?”
My hand found the back of my neck, and I squeezed as I took a step toward her apartment door. “Sometimes a little too close.”
There weren’t any more questions. Sloane followed after me, then slipped into her apartment, leading me toward her bedroom. I hefted her bag onto her bed, but when I went to leave, she spoke again.
“It wasn’t the whole truth.”
“What wasn’t the truth?” I asked, turning back to her.
“What I told Heath and Sally. My family is only part of the reason I came back.”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t my place to ask more questions, despite the pulsing need inside of me to know everything about her. But she didn’t seem to want to say more. She wrapped her arms around herself, and the sight drew me closer.
Sloane dipped her chin, then told me, “I walked in on Beckett and Brooklyn.” She swallowed hard, her pretty eyes finding mine.
“I didn’t tell them I was coming home that night, and I found them together in my bed.
I walked out and I’ve refused to talk to them since.
I haven’t felt right in LA for years, but finding them together was the straw that finally broke me. ”
“I’m so sorry,” I told her, inching closer, wanting to comfort her but not knowing how. I settled for patting her shoulder.
“She was my best friend,” she said, eyes welling with unshed tears. “And he was…”
“I know.” I was seconds from reaching for her face, wanting to wipe the broken look away, when a knock sounded at the door. My eyes widened at the same time hers did, and I reached for the gun under the flap of my jacket, ensuring it was there.
She grabbed for my arm. “Kolton!”
“Stay here,” I told her, shaking her off before stepping out into the hallway and closing the door to her room. I rushed to the entryway, alternating between wanting my gun in my hand and thinking this was nothing at all.
No one was supposed to have access to this apartment, and while this could be nothing—maybe the neighbor down the hall who wanted a cup of sugar—I wasn’t taking a chance with Sloane’s life.
A glance through the peephole had my hands itching for my gun—not to shoot it but to bash the asshole over the head. Beckett Giles stood in the hallway, a smug-as-hell look on his face. I threw the deadbolt, opened the door, and stepped forward to block his way.
“You’re not allowed up here. Please leave before I call security.”
His smirk made me wish I’d pulled my gun. “Nice try. I’m here to see my girlfriend, so why don’t you just get out of my way before I call the police?”
The bastard tried to brush past me. He slammed his hand down on the handle and tried to push into the apartment only to smash face first into the locked door. As he cradled his nose in his hand, I grabbed hold of the back of his shirt and tugged him down the hall.
“I told you to leave.” I tossed him toward the elevator, and he scrambled to keep his footing, his shiny black shoes slipping on the tile floors.
“The hell is wrong with you?” he yelled at me before screaming like a toddler. “Sloane! Sloane, come out here! I know you’re in there! Get this asshole off me and let me in!”
As he screamed, I pulled out my phone and dialed the security office. Marty, the building’s head of security, picked up on the first ring.
“Kolton Jo—” he started, though he cut off as Beckett continued to scream. “What the hell is that noise?”
“That noise is someone not on the list of authorized persons who happened to get up to Ms. Rivera’s floor. I need security up here ASAP to extricate this asshole before he hurts himself.”
Said asshole rushed past me, pounding his fists on the door as he continued his rant. I grabbed him by the back of the shirt again, this time holding onto him as I marched him to the elevator.
“I’ll come up myself,” Marty told me. “Be there in a flash.”
“Let go of me!” Beckett screamed, pounding at my chest and nearly making me drop my phone. “Get off or I’ll call the police!”
“That would be helpful, actually.” I held him farther away.
His fists weren’t exactly as soft as the pillows from the fights me and my sisters used to have, and I wasn’t looking forward to the bruises I was sure to be sporting tomorrow.
“If you can go ahead and call the police, I’m sure they’ll be here by the time you get down to the lobby.
Then you can just catch a ride with them down to CPD for booking. ”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Trespassing, for one. You’re on the do not admit list, Giles.” He swung his fist, clocking me in the hip. “Keep that up, and I’ll be happy to add assault to the list of charges.”
“Fuck you!”
“No, I’m good, actually. I’d rather not touch you longer than I have to.”
“You sick perv—”
“Ah!” I cut him off, pointing to the doors of the elevator as it dinged. “There’s your ride now.”
The doors slid open, revealing a man a few inches shorter than me but twice as wide. Marty Patrick had one hand on his hip, the other holding a taser in front of him.
Beckett started screaming the minute he saw him. “Get this asshole off me! He’s assaulting me! Call the police! He’s trying to hurt Sloane Rivera!”
Marty turned to me, his lips pulled down into a deep frown. “How’d this happen?”
I shrugged, though I didn’t let go of Beckett’s shirt. “We just got home a few minutes ago and there was a knock on the door. Not sure how he got up here, but this needs to be taken care of tonight.”
“Understood.” Marty turned to Beckett and held the taser up so he could see it. “I’m Marty Patrick, head of security for this building. I’m here to escort you off the premises. You can either come willingly, or I can have a police officer meet us downstairs. Your choice.”
“My choice is to get this asshole off me so I can see my fucking girlfriend!” Beckett ducked, freeing himself as he twisted out of my grasp.
It made it easier to grab him by the collar, and I did so, dragging him toward my face. “She’s not your girlfriend anymore, asshole. Take a hint. You’re not welcome here. You’re not wanted. Go back to LA and your precious little fuck toy and stay the hell away from Sloane.”
Beckett’s eyes flared so wide it would have been comical if this were a movie and not real life. Then, in a move that had to have come straight out of the last B film he starred in, he swung his arm, and his fist collided with my face.