TWENTY-THREE
BACK IN ALESSIA’S SUITE, waiting was all they could do.
“What if they’re hurt?” Alessia asked of her friends. “What if something happened?”
Maybe now her sister would understand why she worried on an almost daily basis. No one wanted people they cared about to be in potential danger. And, sheesh, Roman Lowe was constant potential danger.
“More bodies won’t help.”
“Bodies?” Alessia shrieked and thrust to her feet. “You think people are dead?”
“It’s a figure of speech. Having more people around won’t help.”
Maybe it would’ve been better to say it that way in the first place.
Though her view had been brief, it didn’t look like the deck itself collapsed. Luckily, only the side rail gave, not the front where the majority of—oh, who was she kidding? She had to be calm, to exude composure for her sister’s sake but—her throat closed.
There was just no way to be sure of anything. Her assumptions could be right, but they’d left. God knew what happened after they’d gone. Would Roman and Deacon have stopped fighting? Did Zane, Tripp, and Zairn have to go down onto the sand? What about the crowd? Were they mobbed?
Uncertainty kept her adrenaline alive. Zane.
“Oh, Thea.” Alessia rushed over to pull her into a hug. “I’m sure Zane is fine, he’ll have it handled.”
Any doubt about his safety wasn’t appreciated. At the same time, she couldn’t deny it was all that occupied her mind. She wasn’t usually a worrier, okay, when it came to her sister, maybe she was a little sensitive, but Zane… Anxiety itched her skin. She needed to see him, hear him, he could be in pain, alone, and on the island they wouldn’t have—
“I have to go,” she said, pushing out of Alessia’s arms. “I’m sorry, I know it’s… I don’t want to leave you on your own—”
A knock on the door interrupted. Alessia started to move, but she held her back. Yes, this might be her sister’s suite, but if there was danger, she didn’t want her sister facing it first.
Why would there be danger? What a ridiculous thought, they weren’t running from a crazed serial killer. The only maniac on the loose was Roman and he had other things on his mind than chasing down errant fans. Being on edge meant any little thing could feel like a threat.
Another knock. A little more insistent.
“I’ll get it.”
Alessia squeezed her lips together in time with her flat hands coming together beneath her chin. Yeah, pray, they might need all the help they could get.
She opened the door just an inch, and thank God she did. It wasn’t Zane, no, the man under the ball cap had a right of discretion.
“You know who I am?” he asked in a whisper. She just nodded. “Zane wants you at the house. Your sister’s friends are on their way here with security.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“No one who didn’t deserve to be. Will you come with me?”
“Yes, just give me a second to—”
“Be quick, I can’t be out here when—”
“I know.” She closed the door because Alessia could not see the person on the other side of it or all hell might break loose. “Your friends are on their way, okay?” Hurrying to her sister, she hugged her quick. “If you need anything, tell the front desk and they’ll find me.” She stopped, holding her sister’s upper arms. “Are you okay?”
Alessia nodded. “I love you.”
Wow, maybe the night had shaken her sister up. “I love you too.”
They hugged quickly and she slipped out.
“Like cutting things close, don’t you?”
Except she wasn’t the one skulking around. Yet, despite a surge of annoyance, she couldn’t hold onto it. All she could feel was sorry for the man.
He shoved open the service door, holding it for her to go out first. “Why did they send you, Struan?”
The rabble of female voices quaked from the opposite end of the corridor just before the door closed behind them. Thank goodness they’d be distracting each other rather than checking out the rear view of her chaperone. Superfans would be capable of recognizing him, supposedly him, from any angle.
“Because everyone else is tied up with the bullshit.”
He led her to a cart and gestured for her to sit first. Weird that Struan should have such manners while his contrasting brother didn’t. His twin brother. How did that even happen? It couldn’t be nature, not if they were identical, but—
“Zane,” she said, kicking her thoughts into line. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know much. I was out when Roman left. When I got back the phone was ringing, Rox told me everyone was gathering at the house and Zane wanted you picked up.”
Probably because if the press had their own carts, they’d be whizzing after their marks. A quick stop at the resort to pick her up would raise more questions than she was happy to answer. The rods and reels had enough chum to feed on.
“Your brother showed. Sorry, your brothers showed up.”
“Yeah, Logan was flying in to square things with Roman. How the hell did that turn into a bust up?”
“Because your brother brought Deacon.” Though his double take registered in her peripheral vision, she kept her eyes ahead. “And your other brother, the one that looks like you, he showed with the damn press. Him and Deacon started throwing punches straight away. They didn’t even try to talk.”
“Damnit, what was Logan thinking?”
Now she did shift to take him in. “Yeah, ‘cause it’s Logan’s fault.” Another double take. “I understand that it was maybe stupid to bring Deacon along, but if the men are friends and he truly wanted to make peace…”
“This would be as good a place as any, if the press wasn’t around.”
“That was Roman’s call too. Bringing the press here because of that new show. You know, you blame Logan and everyone else, when is someone going to tell Roman to act like a reasonable human being?”
He actually smiled. Smiled! The nerve!
“There’s not a single person in Roman’s inner circle who hasn’t tried explaining that to him. Hell, I’ve been trying since we were in diapers and it hasn’t got me anywhere. Did Sway show?”
“Not at the beach.” Though God knew if she’d stowed away on the men’s plane to join them. That would be the perfect extra layer to really enhance the insanity. “I don’t see how her presence would make the situation any better.”
“It wouldn’t, but if Logan brought Deacon…”
“Aren’t the two friends?”
“Yeah.”
“If Deacon is marrying Sway, she’ll be in Logan’s life, to some degree I’d imagine. Maybe bringing Deacon wasn’t the smartest choice, but I can understand Logan not wanting to choose between his friend and his brother.”
“That’s exactly the kind of thing Roman will expect.”
“And what does that do for Logan’s life? For his work? If he dumps Deacon, he’s saying Roman controls everyone. That will only fuel his ego. I’m not surprised Sway doesn’t want to be with him. No offense; a relationship with him must be utterly exhausting.”
“I know you’re trying to help—”
“This where you tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about?”
“No. This is where I tell you you’re preaching to the choir.”
Good, that gave her a chance to probe. “So why do it? Why pander to him all the time? Bow down and prostrate. Is it the money? Is he that good to you? Do you love the Hollywood lifestyle that much?”
“You’re close to your sister.”
“I love her, and would do anything for her, but I don’t rely on her for an income. She has friends she goes to with her secrets, we live separate lives. The way I hear it, you’re Roman’s lackey twenty-four seven.”
“After our mom died, our father hit the bottle, and that was about all we saw of him. Magnus, our uncle, he looked out for us, nurtured what was in Roman. Maybe it was too late by then, I don’t know, but he’s always struggled.”
“He doesn’t look like he’s struggling,” she said. “He looks like a man who enjoys pulling strings.”
“I guess you could see it that way; he does like it when we jump to attention for him. We have a cousin tied up in her own sibling bail out. Theirs started before ours, I don’t know, maybe that’s where it came from. It’s a family thing.”
That was never an excuse. Man, was she judgmental tonight. Seeing Zane might deflate some of her pressurized distress.
She sighed. “You do know other people don’t live like this. That not every life is filled with melodrama and hissy fits.”
“I’ve heard tell.”
That flash of a smile lowered her shoulders a little. “I feel sorry for you.”
And his smile vanished to a frown. “Feel sorry for me?”
“I don’t know what kind of man you are, if you’re like your brother or not. But no one deserves to be an understudy in their own life. That’s what you are, you know. How do you even have friendships and relationships of your own?”
“Most of my friends know the deal. Tripp’s the guy I rely on most of the time, even though we live on opposite coasts.”
“That’s got to be tough.”
“Roman travels a lot. Even when he’s not shooting, he prefers not to stay put. He likes parties, likes the attention.” Something that didn’t need to be stated. “And he likes New York. It’s been a while, rehab put everything on pause.”
“For him,” she said. “What about you?”
They didn’t wait for the intercom, the gates opened for them, and he drove on through.
“It was good to get some time to numb out, focus on my own shit. I’m not a flashy guy like Roman and Logan, their lives always seemed exhausting.”
“It’s a life you live too.”
“On the periphery,” he said. “It’s not the same as being the one always constricted by demands.”
“Doesn’t your brother put demands on you? If you’re his double, a lot of the work has to be yours.”
They pulled to a stop by the portico. “I like the physical stuff and I always had more stamina than Roman for pushing through when things get tough. Working out helps me focus, I like getting lost in it. Roman was always more interested in… other things.”
Like drugs and alcohol, maybe like women and wild adventures.
“If it wasn’t for you—”
“See, I don’t like that.” He shifted to get a better angle for the conversation. “If it wasn’t for me, yeah, maybe he wouldn’t have got this far, maybe Hollywood would’ve written him off years ago, but what do I get from that? Who would get schadenfreude watching their own skin tank?”
More than a pretty face. Struan was more articulate than Roman, more patient, more genuine.
“I don’t think you want Roman to fail, or anyone wants him to fail. His success is built on your hard work.”
He shook his head slightly. “I don’t want it. I never wanted—”
“I get that because I’d bet twins are a big deal, if both of you got equal recognition—”
“I get to do what I love. I keep fit, face new challenges every day. I like what I do.”
“And do you ever think that maybe success is part of the problem? Roman’s been told his behavior is okay by those who clean up after him. Failing is an extreme end of the spectrum, but maybe if Hollywood wasn’t always weighing him down, the media wasn’t always hounding him, he could find peace in that? One that maybe helps him deal with his addictions without immediately launching back into the environment that caused the trouble in the first place.”
His almost defensive position loosened as he narrowed his eyes on her. “Have you been talking to Rox?”
“Not about this,” she said.
Lights flashed behind them.
Three other carts came trundling up with a dark SUV in back. She hadn’t seen any actual vehicles on the island thus far, so that last one was a surprise.
Struan appeared at her side and he offered a hand to help her out. Though as soon as she saw Zane in one of the carts, she let go to rush over.
“Oh, baby, are you hurt?” she asked, searching up and down. “Were you injured?”
“No. Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Where’s Alessia?”
“I left Alessia in her suite.” The moment he was upright, she threw her arms around him. “Don’t do that to me again. Please.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping her in his arms, stooping to rest his mouth in her hair. “I told you I’d never endanger your family again and then—”
“I don’t care about that. I don’t! We talked about it.” She held on tighter. “I’m so sorry I left you; I was so scared you got hurt.”
“Wanderer, you had no choice,” he said, sliding a hand into her hair to guide her gaze up. “Security was instructed to take you to safety. You and Alessia. You’re the most important—”
“Fuck you!”
Spinning around, the other carts were empty, and people crowded around the SUV. All except Roxie and Zairn who wandered through the portico, her tucked under his arm. Somehow, they let it roll off.
Roman appeared from the SUV.
Magnus jumped out behind him. “We’ll iron all this out and—”
Logan came around from behind one of the carts. Deacon was there too, but he didn’t follow. Maybe the guy was getting the message.
“No,” Roman declared, pointing at his brother. “I don’t want you near me.”
“You’re being a little bitch.”
“Your fucking asshole of a friend—”
“This is the bullshit,” Struan called, quieting them. “Where the fuck does all this posturing get you?”
“Let’s leave them to it.”