Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
SIENNA
The phone by my bedside jolted me awake and I fought with my covers as I fumbled for it. A ball of dread pooled in my stomach when the ringing stopped and started up again with barely a break in between.
“Louise—” Was the only word I got out before my agent-slash-best-friend was talking at a mile a minute.
“—Not much time. It’s just lucky that someone in their offices owes me a favour. God, I can’t believe the label would do this. Motherfuckers.”
I blinked, my mind still running a little slow from sleep as I tried to make sense of anything she was saying. “Lou, what the hell is going on?”
It went quiet on the other end of the line. “Didn’t you read my messages?”
“No,” I said slowly, trying to be patient. “I was asleep. Like most people at—” I checked the time she’d originally messaged me before she’d called and then winced. “Jeez, five? What were you doing awake at—”
“I wasn’t awake,” she practically explodes and I can hear her breathing heavily, like she’s running. “The phone woke me, the same as you I guess. Sorry. But this couldn’t wait, if we want to get ahead of it.”
“Ahead of what?”
Silence followed my question, only her breathing coming through over the line, and that made me more nervous than the repeated missed calls. “Sienna,” she said finally and the gentleness of her voice had my jaw clenching. “It’s your dad.”
I relaxed slightly. How bad could it be? He was already dead. “What about him?”
“He… The label leaked a medical report, an autopsy.”
“My dad didn’t have an autopsy.” My phone beeped in my ear and I frowned as I pulled it back from my face to see August’s name. Did everyone just decide to start waking up ridiculously early and not tell me? “August is calling me.”
“Don’t answer. I’m on my way to you right now and we can talk then.”
Don’t answer? “What the fuck is going on Lou?” She must have heard the panic in my voice because I heard her breathing speed up, like she was walking faster.
“Your dad didn’t have a heart attack, Sienna. The label covered it up to protect their investment in you, that’s what they were talking about in that meeting.”
I shrank back from the phone, shaking my head. “I—”
“I’ll explain everything. Okay? I’m getting in a cab now. Don’t answer the phone for anyone but me or Cade.”
The phone beeped in my ear again as she hung up, leaving me staring at my own reflection in the screen. Why would the studio cover up how my dad had died?
I fell back against my pillows heavily, staring up at the ceiling for a second before sighing and shoving my covers all the way off. Coffee. I needed coffee.
Muffin had clearly heard me on the phone to Louise and had snuck in to see me once she knew I was awake, so I nearly tripped over her as I walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen.
“Okay baby, I’ll get you your breakfast,” I murmured as I flicked the coffee machine on and went to the cupboard where I kept her food. She stood up on her hind legs as I opened the can, peering up and sniffing furiously until I deposited the chicken mush into a clean bowl.
The coffee had nearly finished brewing when a banging at my door made me jump. Louise had made better time than I’d thought she would, maybe the traffic was good at this ungodly time.
But when I opened the door, it wasn’t Louise standing on my doorstep. Instead, concerned, warm brown eyes were peering at me under a mop of red hair free from its usual product. August.
He was out of breath, like he’d run here, which seemed entirely possible given his shorts, trainers, and the white vest top that clung to his chest and highlighted the muscles in his arms and shoulders.
Was I still dreaming?
“Good, you’re okay. I called you,” he said and walked in without an invitation. Something about the heat coming off of him combined with the faint smell of cologne, like he’d sweated it off while running here, made my skin ripple with goosebumps.
“Sorry, I was talking to Louise.”
“Are you okay?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, everything with your dad—”
He was cut off as another knock at my door cut through the room. This time it was Louise. She immediately wrapped me in a hug, her cheeks pink from the cold, before she froze at the sight of August behind me.
“August?”
“Louise.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” I nudged the door shut behind Louise before Muffin could go wandering.
“You haven’t told her yet?” August folded his arms across his chest and my gaze caught on the corded muscle in his forearms even as his posture radiated disapproval.
“Well, I was about to—”
I threw my hands up in the air and stalked over to the coffee maker, looking askance at them as I made myself a cup and grabbed one for Louise too when she nodded.
Lou settled onto the chair opposite my sofa and I was surprised when August sat next to me, his palm closing over my knee.
“It’s like I was saying on the phone,” Lou started, worry darkening her eyes as she watched me. “Your dad didn’t have a heart attack. He had an overdose. I’m sorry, Sienna.”
An overdose.
“Are you sure?” I retreated to that place inside me, the one that was cold and icy, until the only warmth I felt was from the heat of August’s hand on my leg.
God, he’d promised me. Maybe it was stupid of me to have believed him — it wasn’t the first time he’d made me promises and then broken them, but this…
He wasn’t an addict, that, at least, I could have understood.
But no, he just hadn’t cared enough to prioritise me, or our relationship, for longer than the fun of a temporary high.
Louise nodded. “They found… a lot in his system.” Her hesitation didn’t phase me and I knew without asking that she meant variety and not sheer quantity of drugs.
My breaths hitched without my permission, a sob fighting to break free before I wrangled it back under my control. This hadn’t been some small slip, a little bit of coke or whatever. He hadn’t just walked over his promise to me, he’d shredded it and spat on the ground for good measure.
Was I angry? Undoubtedly. But what could I do?
He’d been dead for a year and I’d already tried to work through my anger at him for our past, my fear for the future, and the toll the industry had taken on him that I now faced.
It was like I had to re-evaluate my grief all over again as he found new ways to let me down even from beyond the grave.
He’d promised me he’d stopped with the drugs after his last tour.
That being around for me was more important than getting high with his bandmates and indulging in ‘the lifestyle’.
We’d assumed that the drugs and the pressures of the industry had been the indirect cause of the heart attack, but this felt like more of a betrayal.
Just one more in a long line of broken promises.
“I’m guessing the studio kept it quiet to protect your image while they were launching your career, but now you’re no longer a client…”
“That can’t be legal,” August muttered and I barely heard him, instead focusing on my breathing as my hands clenched and unclenched.
“That doesn’t stop the fact that it’s happening. What are you doing here?” I snapped, the words coming out more harshly than I’d intended and I instantly missed the weight of his palm on my leg when he pulled away.
“I have a few friends at Now, Entertainment. They got in touch to warn me what was coming for my… girlfriend.” The word girlfriend sounded strained coming out of his mouth and I ground my teeth.
“And what exactly is coming?”
August looked at Louise and her brows drew together as she leaned forward. “A media storm. It’ll be everywhere by breakfast. They knew exactly what they were doing when they leaked that report.”
Unable to contain my energy any more, I stood and began to pace with Muffin curling around my legs as I moved. Fucking bastards. I knew they were assholes, but I didn’t think they would do something like this, invade my privacy and rip open old wounds.
“You know what’s going to happen,” Louise said carefully, glancing at August for support as I continued to prowl around my living room.
“There’s going to be a lot of media attention around you and your dad and why the cause of death was covered up to begin with.
So I was thinking, maybe you should leave the city for a while. Let the storm die down.”
Leave for a while. Nothing had sounded quite as appealing in a long time.
My heart slowed, my shoulders easing at the prospect of getting the hell out of here. Of not being Sienna Slade, popstar disaster, and instead just being… me.
I nodded and Louise let out a breath.
“Okay, good. I’ll make the arrangements.” She sent me a meaningful look before standing up and wrapping me in another tight hug. “Pack whatever you want to bring, I’ll make sure there’s a car here for you within the hour and I’ll join you out there once things are handled here.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, pressing my head against hers.
“Anytime.” She kissed my cheek and the door closed quietly behind her. I let out a shaky breath and jumped when a hand caught mine, engulfing it entirely in warmth and a steadiness that felt so damn good.
August watched me, steady and unwavering, as he said, “So, where are we going?” He squeezed my hand gently. Despite the sweet action, there was a steeliness in his eyes that surprised me, his jaw was set like he was waiting for me to reject him like I had earlier.
“We aren’t going anywhere.” I dropped his hand and took a deep breath before busying myself by clearing away the coffee mugs.
“Sienna—”
“No.” I dropped the mugs in the sink with a clatter before bracing my arms on the counter and leaning heavily against it with my head falling forward. “Just stop. Whatever we were doing here, the contract, all of it, it doesn’t matter now. Okay? So you can go.”
He didn’t reply and I assumed he’d left when the silence continued, long enough for my breaths to shake when they left me in short, wheezing bursts.