Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
It’s the ass crack of dawn. I yawn, then stretch.
The tour bus made it into Chicago yesterday afternoon, and within hours I was on the label’s private jet on my way to Denver.
This time there were no mistakes about keeping my trip top secret.
There’s been nothing but a media frenzy since Vivienne’s public stabbing, the panty picture, and my interview.
It’s important no one knows I’m here. I feel bad enough about everything that’s happened, which is exactly why I’m up before the sun.
Today I’m going to make everything better before Vivienne gets home.
After Jackson violated Vivienne’s bedroom, I immediately called the police department to get the information for the detective handling her case—it took a bit of finagling, but I turned over all the footage.
They didn’t suspect a thing since I posed as a security monitoring technician.
Ruining Jackson’s life and ensuring he’s convicted is one of my top priorities.
I still can’t believe he was released on bond after he broke into her house and caused all that damage.
I drag my hand over my face. I can’t go down this rabbit hole right now.
If I do, it will ruin my mood. I have to be stable when Vivienne gets here.
I don’t think she’s going to take the confessions I need to make over the next two days very well.
The worst part is I don’t even feel guilty about anything I’ve done.
It’s all been to keep her safe. It’s not my fault her ex-boyfriend can’t handle her moving on.
Except it is.
Everything that’s gone wrong has stemmed from me taking that photo and posting it.
I canceled my opening show’s VIP meet-and-greet experience and refunded thousands of dollars in tickets so I could chase her.
It was my obsession that drove me to do all of this, including catching her ex-narcissist who thinks he can outplay me at my own games.
It’s why I have to try and put her life back together. This is all my mess, and now it’s my duty to clean it up, starting with her bedroom. I owe her a new mattress after what Jackson did. I don’t want her sleeping on anything his cum touched.
Now that I’ve gotten myself all riled up, I force myself out of bed to order a coffee and some breakfast for delivery.
The roll-off dumpster was delivered last night and will be picked up by two p.m. today.
I make my way down the hall to Vivienne’s room to get started.
At least the mess is confined to the bed.
I take one step in the room and it hits me—the smell of cum from the ruined underwear pile.
I gag, backing out the door and downstairs for gloves.
I know for a fact she had boxes of nitrile gloves in the garage on the tool bench shelves.
In the garage, I discover a box of masks. I know just what to look for, and I bet she has some. Based on the garage, her dad seems like the type to keep menthol rubs around. I haven’t torn through her cupboards for fun yet, why not go looking for a first aid or medicine cupboard?
My search for menthol rub ends pretty quickly.
I dab my finger in the jar and rub it on the outside of the mask.
I want to get this finished before breakfast is delivered.
The mask works perfectly, and with the gloves, I roll everything into the fitted sheet and carry it out to the dumpster.
I toss the gloves in with it and grab a new pair for the mattress, which is definitely stained from not having a protector pad.
I drag it through the hallway and down the stairs.
It’s a little bit harder to get the mattress into the dumpster by myself, but I manage. Once again, I throw the gloves inside.
Back in Vivienne’s room, I open the windows and spray some air freshener I found in the kitchen. I’m on my way to return the aerosol can and wait for the mattress to be delivered when my phone sends a notification that breakfast has been delivered.
Perfect. I have just enough time to eat and drink some coffee poolside before the security installation guys arrive. I’m having Roxy’s house done too. She can thank me for it later.
Poolside and comfortable, I enjoy my breakfast while sipping my coffee.
I’m so relaxed that I nearly drift off to sleep despite the coffee.
My phone vibrates with another notification.
The mattress should be here in the next five minutes.
I suppose I should head out front to wait for them.
I don’t love the idea of these people in Vivienne’s room, but I also don’t think I can haul a mattress up the stairs by myself.
My day ends up going off without a hitch.
The mattress install is smooth, and the security guys are done with hours to spare.
All my packages have arrived on time for the most part, along with the flowers I ordered.
Everything is going to be perfect. Maybe so perfect that she won’t be mad I basically broke into her house using information from cameras I set up without her knowing. It’s gotta work. It’s my only hope.
The only thing left to do is wait for Vivienne to arrive. Easier said than done. Her plane landed an hour ago, and now I’m anxiously pacing in her kitchen. She should be here any minute. I walk to peek out the front window again, then throw myself onto a chair in the living room to wait.
A few minutes later, the door opens. Vivienne and Roxy come bursting in. When they notice me, they both scream. I jump up to explain.
“Cas! What are you doing here? How?” Vivienne asks, looking from me to Roxy.
Roxy shakes her head and says, “I’m going to let the two of you chat. You know where to find me if you need anything.” She gives Vivienne a hug, then closes the front door behind her.
“Surprise,” I say with a smile, moving to take her bags she’s still holding.
I set them on the ground and hug her.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she mumbles, not quite hugging me back. “How did you get in my house?”
“We need to talk, but first, are you hungry? Do you need to eat?” I try to deflect from the obvious, that I’m inside the house.
“No, Roxy and I ate when we landed. What do we need to talk about? What’s going on?” Her voice sounds strained.
She’s obviously exhausted, and it’s making her a little emotional. I rub her back in a soothing motion. “It’s not that bad, I promise. You’ve been through enough the past few weeks. I just needed to be here for you when you got home.”
She takes a step back, nodding and crossing her arms. “Alright, but this isn’t okay.
You’re inside my house, Cas. You need to tell me what’s going on.
” Tears brim around the edges of her eyes, threatening to spill over.
The first one spills down her cheek, and it feels like a stab right to my heart. I did this. I made my girl cry.
I try to swipe her tears with the edge of my finger, but she bats my hand away. “Talk, Cas.”
“Let’s sit down.” I reach for her, but she shakes her head no.
I take myself deeper into the house. She takes her shoes off and follows me.
In the family room, I sit down on the sectional.
She plops into the opposite corner. It’s too far away from me for my liking, and it makes my jaw tick with agitation.
She narrows her eyes at me, waiting for me to spill my guts.
It’s killing me to see her like this. I take a deep breath. “I was a little paranoid about the ex-boyfriend thing. Especially after the picture.” I pause, trying to choose my words carefully.
“Continue.” Her voice is icy.
Shit. This is not going the way I expected it to. “I had some cameras installed.”
“You had cameras installed at my house without me knowing?” she gasps.
I hang my head. “It wasn’t like that. I was only trying to keep you safe, and it turns out I was right to be worried.”
“Hold on. Did you just say you were right to be worried? What else have you not told me about?” She’s angry. I can see her body tremble as she holds her emotions in, and fuck—all I want to do is pull her into my arms and comfort her. I can’t stand it.
“Come here,” I demand.
“Excuse me, what?” she snaps.
“Come. Here,” I repeat.
“I don’t want to.”
“I didn’t ask if you wanted to. I said come here.” There’s an edge to my voice.
“No.”
“Stop making this so difficult, Vivienne, and come here so I can finish apologizing.”
She rolls her eyes hard but scoots closer to me. Not all the way—she makes sure to remain just barely out of reach. “This is as close as I’m getting until you explain how you got inside my house, and what makes you think you were right to install cameras at my house.”
I admire her strength, and sometimes a king has to bend to support his queen.
I move, scooping her into my arms and settling us both back into my corner of the couch.
She pouts. I hold her, thinking about how scared I felt seeing the reports she was attacked and not knowing if she was okay.
This girl bumped into me a few months ago backstage, and now she’s my entire world.
I begin my explanation again. “The way I got into the house was easy. I pulled the footage and watched Roxy enter the door code. But I was only trying to protect you from what happened here while you guys were out of town.”
Vivienne stills in my arms. Her body stiffens, and her breathing becomes shallow. I press my cheek to her head. “What happened while I was gone?” she whispers.
My throat tightens. “Jackson broke into your house. He went into your room and destroyed the mattress, along with the bedding. Then he cut up all your bras and underwear.”
She says nothing, so I continue. “I beat you here so I could clean it up. I had a new mattress delivered, new bedding, and I did my best to replace your personal items.” Her body trembles as she sobs in my arms. All the exhaustion and emotions from this trip—from Jackson—all of it comes tumbling out in wave after wave of tears.
When she’s finally calm, she sniffles. “I’m sorry. I was awful to you. Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for saving me from coming home to a nightmare. I don’t think I could have handled that. I should have remembered he had a door code. I need to change the locks.”
I mentally catalog that information away and plan to take her to the hardware store so I can change the locks myself tomorrow. “Shhhhh. It’s okay,” I soothe. “This is exactly why I wanted to be here.”
We lay together in silence, just existing, for what feels like forever when she finally whispers, “Cas.”
“Yeah.”
“You should have told me.”
“I was protecting you, Vivienne.”
“Will you give the police the footage so I can try to get a restraining order?” she asks. “I never thought Jackson was capable of all this. Honestly. He posted that picture saying he moved on, and then he’s been relentlessly trying to get me back ever since. Jealousy makes people do crazy shit.”
“I already turned it over to the police. Well, the security company did.” The lie comes easier than it should. “And yeah, he’s definitely done some crazy shit. He was ready to move on, but he wasn’t ready to see you move on, and that’s not fair. None of this should have happened.”
“Is he in jail?” she asks, her body stiffening once more.
“No,” I answer, my tone defeated. “He bonded out.”
“I’m scared, Cas. What if he comes back here to hurt me? Or worse, what if something happens to Roxy?”
“It’s okay, Vivienne. I won’t let him hurt you. Come with me on tour. Shit, Roxy can come too. I’ll have someone stay at your place. He’s not going to be able to bond out again if he comes back here. My lawyers will make sure of it.” I try to reassure her, running my fingers through her hair.
“I wish I could,” she sighs.
“Shhh. Go to sleep. Don’t worry. I’m here. He’d be stupid to come back. I had better security installed before you arrived. I had Roxy’s place done too, so you’re both always safe.”
“Thank you,” she says, her body melting against mine.
“Goodnight,” I whisper right before she falls asleep in my arms.
She doesn’t need to know how far I’ll go to protect her from this douchebag.