Chapter 5
Chapter Five
D elta slammed the car door and marched ahead of her father into her L.A. home, one of several she had purchased over the years. She also slammed the front door and stomped up the stairs.
“Delta!” Her father’s voice cracked at her from the doorway.
She stopped, closed her eyes, and counted backwards from ten to calm down. Slowly, she faced him, fixing a blank expression on her face, which she had learned to do a long time ago to keep people from knowing her true thoughts. “Yes?”
“You didn’t say a word to me the entire ride back.”
She wanted to point out he hadn’t said a word to her either, but instead asked, “What is there to say?”
He shut the door much more softly than she had and walked over to the staircase. “There’s no need to be disrespectful.”
Normally, she held her tongue and acquiesced to his decision-making because she believed he had her best interests at heart, but this time she was certain he’d made a horrible mistake and couldn’t stay quiet.
“It’s bad enough you agreed we could work with Ignacio without a contract, which goes against everything you’ve ever taught me about business, by the way. You used to be a lawyer, for goodness’ sake! But then you agreed we should move in together without a second thought. It’s a terrible idea! You know it. I know it.”
“Not all deals have to be written down, and he had a valid point about the potential for a leak if we signed a contract. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”
“Sure,” Delta said with a tight smile.
“Get your head in the game. This is your chance to get back on top of the charts and prove to the record label and the naysayers that you still have what it takes to be a star. The point of this entire ruse is to use the publicity generated by your relationship with Ignacio to your advantage. All you have to do is get in the recording studio and knock it out of the park.”
He made the next steps sound so simple, and under normal circumstances, she appreciated his pep talks, but no amount of rah-rah-rah would work this time. They were going to be working with her ex, and the young man she’d fallen in love with was long gone. The thirty-two-year-old man in his place hated her. His contempt was palpable.
“Right. I’ll do that. Knock it out of the park,” Delta said with feigned enthusiasm.
She didn’t wait for her father’s reply. She marched the rest of the way up the stairs and down the hall to the master suite and shoved her way through the double doors. Flinging herself across the king-size bed, she buried her face in the thick comforter.
Her chest hurt. Her head hurt. Everything hurt. There had not been a smidgen of warmth in Ignacio’s expression the entire time they talked. How could they possibly move in together and pretend to be in love?
Maybe he could do it. He was an actor, after all, but for her, the performance would be a struggle. And not because she wasn’t attracted to him. She was still very much attracted to him.
She used to love his teasing kisses and playing in his luxurious brown curls. It pained her to watch his films where he showered affection on his on-screen love interests. The love scenes were especially difficult to watch. Two years ago, all she heard was how great the chemistry was between him and his leading lady in the film Sleeping Poets . He had played the role of a literature professor under suspicion for murder, having an affair with the female detective investigating the case. He’d looked so delicious in those glasses and tweed jackets that she couldn’t blame the poor detective for falling for his charms.
But the love scenes…
Delta shivered now, her nipples tightening against the mattress. His husky groans and the way he gripped the actress’s thighs as he rocked between her legs had looked too real. Too sensual. Too familiar.
Living with him twenty-four hours a day for months would be torture. How the heck was she supposed to pretend to feel nothing while her body burned for him?
At a soft knock on the door, Delta sat up. “Come in.”
Her younger sister, Vivian, rolled in on her wheelchair and closed the door behind her. She was three years younger and Delta’s best friend.
The sisters had been named after their father’s older sisters who had died in an accident when he was a teenager. Both women had been singers, and that night they were on their way home from a gig at a local club when their vehicle was T-boned by a drunk driver. Though he had never said it, Delta believed her father pushed her so hard as a way to achieve the career his sisters had never reached because of their premature deaths.
“Somebody had a bad day,” Vivian observed, shoving her gold-framed glasses higher on her nose.
“That’s definitely me.” Delta removed her heels and tossed them across the room.
Vivian followed the motion and lifted an eyebrow. “What’s going on with you?”
“We went to see Ignacio today.”
Her sister looked surprised. “How did the meeting go?”
Delta blew out a breath of frustration and hopped off the bed. Resting her hands on her hips, she paced the carpeted floor of her bedroom. “He hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you.”
“He literally hates me, Viv.”
“Well, what are you going to do? You need each other, right? That’s what Dad said.”
“Ignacio says he doesn’t need me.”
“He can’t still be angry about what happened. It’s been what… ten, eleven years?”
“Eleven.” Delta stopped pacing and faced her sister across the room. “I hurt him.”
“You were hurting too. It wasn’t easy for you not to go to him.”
“He doesn’t know that. He thinks I didn’t care.” She blew out another breath. “I can’t blame him because that’s how I acted. We were supposed to run away together, and I… I blew it.”
Her sister’s expression turned sympathetic. “You were young and at the beginning of your career. He asked you to marry him. That’s a big step.”
Delta’s shoulders slumped. “I should have gone to him when he asked me to.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Delta turned away and wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t know.”
But that wasn’t true. She did know why.
At the age of nine, Vivian was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor after experiencing back pain and trouble walking. The diagnosis was devastating. Doctors were able to remove the tumor, but the surgery caused nerve damage, leaving Vivian paralyzed from the waist down.
Over the years, she had undergone multiple surgeries to correct spinal curvature and muscle atrophy. Her poor sister had been poked and prodded by specialists all over the world, subjected to nerve stimulation procedures and orthopedic treatments. Though Delta hoped for a miracle, her sister had accepted her condition, though not in a fatalistic way. She regularly went to physical therapy and used a high-tech wheelchair to get around.
Delta never left to be with Ignacio because her parents had sat her down and told her the hard truth: they couldn’t afford her sister’s surgeries without her. Even if they both went back to work, her sister’s medical bills and care would cripple them financially. So she made the tough decision to walk away from her relationship with the man she loved and focus on building her career—a career that eventually paid her millions of dollars and allowed her to support her sister and the rest of her family.
“You can’t keep living in the past, D,” Vivian said.
“I know, but this is going to be difficult.” She turned away from the window and faced her sister. “You know what? I can handle it.”
“Of course you can, but people are going to try to find out why the two of you broke up in the first place. Do you plan to tell the truth?”
“First of all, I’m sure he wouldn’t want the world to know he got dumped, and do you think I want to get tarred and feathered for being the dummy who broke up with Ignacio Santana, the Latin heartthrob? ”
Vivian giggled at the exaggerated Spanish accent she used.
Delta grinned at her sister’s reaction, but then she let the smile fade from her face. “Ignacio starts filming his next movie in six months. That’s how long we have to sell our relationship and accomplish our individual goals.”
Vivian studied her in silence.
Delta tilted her head to the side. “What?”
“How was it seeing him again and talking to him?”
Delta shrugged. “No big deal.”
“I mean…” Vivian seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “Do you have any feelings left for him? It’s been a long time, but I wondered…”
“Whatever feelings I had are long gone.”
“Honestly?”
“Of course. Do you really think I’d still be hung up on my first boyfriend?”
“You two were so in love. I was going through surgeries and didn’t get to see you together much, but I remember how you talked about him, and I remember seeing photos of the two of you. Everyone thought you made a cute couple.”
Delta swallowed past the ache in her throat. As close as they were, she couldn’t admit the truth to her sister. That she had gone so far as to write love songs about him. In one in particular—“I Don’t Miss You”—she had poured out her heart and released all the turmoil and pain inside. She would never let anyone see that song. The lyrics were too raw. Too personal.
“We broke up a long time ago. In the meantime, we’ve both been involved with other people, and he was engaged to that actress not long after we split.” Miraculously, she kept the bitterness out of her voice.
“Everyone knew the relationship was a rebound thing. They didn’t last.”
“Doesn’t matter. He moved on, I moved on, and we’re both in our thirties—older and wiser.”
“Definitely older,” Vivian said carefully.
Delta narrowed her eyes at her sister and placed her hands on her hips. “Are you saying I’m not wiser?”
Vivian laughed. “No! But I’ll believe the two of you are done when at the end of the six months you go your separate ways and move on with your lives.”
“Well, I’m here to tell you that’s exactly what will happen,” Delta said.
“Okay, cool. So what’s the first item on the agenda?”
“We agreed to attend the Black and Gold Music Experience for our first official outing as a couple. Then we’re going to become more visible around Atlanta, including going house-hunting.”
“You’re moving in together?” Vivian asked in surprise.
“Unfortunately.”
“Interesting…”
“It would be, if we were in a real relationship. I hope this whole thing doesn’t backfire.” She paused. “In the meantime, I have to work on my album, but I don’t feel very inspired by the songs, and it’s obvious in my performance.”
“I’m not worried. You always pull through.”
Delta smiled appreciatively. Her sister was her biggest cheerleader and always had her back. “Thanks, Viv. What would I do without you?”
“Lose your mind. Fall apart.”
“Somebody’s a little full of herself.” Delta tossed a tufted pillow from the bed at her sister.
Laughing, Vivian tossed it back. “I can’t believe you would bully a disabled person.”
Delta gasped in mock outrage. “Oh, please! You’re always telling me what to do and when to do it. You’re the biggest bully I know.”
Vivian smirked. “And don’t you forget it. Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I can’t take you down.”
Delta crossed her arms. “I’d like to see you try.”
Vivian gave her a wicked grin. “I will run over your toes without a second thought.”
Delta let out a laugh and held up her hands in surrender. “Fine. You win. Truce. Sheesh.”
Vivian gave a regal nod. “That’s what I thought.” She headed toward the door and paused. “I’m going to pack for our flight to Atlanta tomorrow, but if you need anything, you’ll let me know, right?”
Sometimes Delta believed Vivian genuinely forgot she was the younger sibling and Delta should be taking care of her . Not that she minded. The music industry was a cutthroat business, and it was nice to know someone was in her corner—someone with no ulterior motives.
“You’re the only sane person in this family. Of course I will,” Delta said.
Laughing, Vivian left, closing the door behind her.
The smile dropped off Delta’s face. She prayed this album was a success. That was the only outcome that made participating in this fiasco worth her while—and worth facing Ignacio and his wrath.