THIRTY-ONE
SLEEP THEY DID GET. Thankfully, Alessia returned from her night and crashed in her own room, so there were no questions or concerns to deal with there. Had she once thought her sister liked drama? Shit, that was nothing to what she’d seen recently.
She missed her little sister and needed to check in. After breakfast and sleeping for most of the day, she’d sent a message to her sister asking if they could meet for dinner.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked, putting in one earring and then another.
Zane came over and hooked an arm around her as he bowed to kiss her. “I don’t mind.”
“I’d invite you to eat with us, but I don’t know what she knows about last night and if she has questions…”
“You don’t need to explain yourself. You’re at complete liberty to have dinner with anyone you want, any time you want.”
“You’re going to Roxie’s?”
His lips curled. “Zairn’s, but yeah.”
Ah, cause for pause. “So it’s more his suite than hers?”
“She’s having dinner downstairs with Tripp, Struan, and Sway.”
“Doesn’t make it less her suite,” she said then thought… “Huh.” Her hand landed on her hip, necklace in her fingertips. “You and Zairn are eating separately from the others?”
“You were invited to the other dinner; I told them you were eating with Alessia. Can’t see them having a problem with you bringing your sister if you would rather go to—”
“But I’m not invited to your dinner?” Offense didn’t drive her. Didn’t he know being cryptic intrigued her? “Like you said, you’re at liberty to eat with who you want when you want but…” A little probing wouldn’t hurt, would it? “Roxie would tell me to remind you that I share your bed. I share my body with you. We’re supposed to share—”
“You can have dinner with Zairn and me, if you want.” Returning to her, he swept both arms around her. “We’re eating with the guys, it’s a Kintyre thing. The wedding’s in two weeks and there’s a bachelor party—”
“Say no more,” she said and held up her necklace between them. “Help me put this on?”
He went behind her and she scooped her hair out of the way. Watching his reflection in the mirror as his concentration went on opening the clasp, she got a chance to just appreciate the view.
“Is he nervous?”
“Kintyre? About the bachelor party?”
“About getting married.”
“Oh no,” he said, fastening her necklace then resting his hands where her shoulders met her neck. “Marriage is Kintyre’s thing. Not marriage. Responsibility. He wanted the wedding more than Lilya did, and now they’re having a kid…” She dropped her hair, liking how happy he appeared for his friend. “Kintyre was made for this.”
“That’s nice. It’s nice to see a dream come true, even if it is for other people. Where’s the bachelor party? Is it going to be crazy? Should I keep one eye on the news apps?”
“No, it’s…”
He didn’t carry on, so she turned to him. “What?”
“It’s next week. Next Saturday.” And the gravity of those words registered with the regret in his eyes. “The day before you leave the island.”
She smiled. “Don’t worry.”
“I don’t have to go—”
“Yes, you have to go. I demand that you go. He’s one of your best friends. The memory of this will last all of you a lifetime. I’d never ask you to give that up. I’d never want you to give it up.”
He gripped her waist. “Being with you is what I care about the most.”
“And you will still be with me,” she said and nudged him to tease. “Don’t, for a second, think leaving me on your island makes you free and single out in the world. We said we were doing this.”
“We are.”
Stretching her arms straight, she draped them around his neck to pull him lower. “Yes, we are. So go and ogle the strippers with your buddies and slip those c-notes into her thong, but you call me before you go to bed. Alone.”
Except if she was on the island, there wouldn’t be a way to call.
“I’ll leave you the sat phone.” Like they’d shared the thought. “You could come with me.”
“To your friend’s bachelor party? Oh, yeah, I’d be real popular, right behind you.”
“Roxie will be at Lilya’s, it’s the Sunday—”
“Oh, the boys get the Saturday, and the women have to party on a school night?”
“Lilya’s choice, no one else’s. She’s more than six months pregnant. Doing great, but she doesn’t know the meaning of slowing down. They’ve got some Huddle Hope meeting and—I don’t know, it’s Rox and Roux, no one ever really knows anything with those two.”
“Do you know Lilya? Do you like her?”
“We’ve met. The time we’ve spent together, yeah, I’d say she’s authentic, which hasn’t always been Kintyre’s style.”
“Authentic? You mean she doesn’t just want him for his money?”
“Lilya doesn’t need it. Her family has money.”
“Do they have a prenup?”
“Nope, not a chance, Kintyre learned his lesson with prenups. And it’s different with Lilya than it was with Julietta. They’re such different women. Kinda makes a guy wonder how he could go from one to the other.”
“Everyone deserves a little latitude in love, don’t they?”
“Oh, Julietta got more than latitude with him, she almost got the farm.”
“Julietta…” she said, pondering the name before she hit on it. “You don’t mean Ines-Kintyre. Your friend was married to—”
“Just Ines now.” He kissed her quick. “The only thing Kintyre asked for was his name back.”
“It must be difficult, breaking up so publicly.”
“Not something he’ll have to worry about again any time soon.”
As he walked away, she propped herself on the vanity. “You’d look cute with a baby.”
“I think they want to keep him. And if they’re looking to hand him over to anyone, Jane’s at the front of the line.”
“Jane? Knox’s Jane.”
He slid his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. “You and Roxie did cover a lot of ground. Not all her stories are one hundred percent true. Sometimes she… embellishes.” Though the smile on his face felt more fraternal than accusatory. “I guess it’s no surprise she’d start with Jane. She’s protective of her.”
“Roxie’s protective of everyone. She has a good heart, and good intentions. She never means any harm. You should’ve heard her last night with Sway.” Or more accurately that morning. “She’d give her last to anyone in need. I hope Zairn understands it’s his responsibility to protect her.”
“Oh he does. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her.” Coming back, his hands slid onto her waist. “Just like there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
They were leagues behind Roxie and Zairn when it came to spending time together and getting to know each other. A lot of the past, to some degree, had been covered during their lunch and dinner dates before the truth came out and her world exploded.
These last few days, the last couple of weeks, they’d been in each other’s worlds every day. Sometimes certainty wasn’t grounded in reality, sometimes it came from within, and people just had to trust it. Theirs wasn’t like that, her certainty wasn’t only rooted in their attraction, or what she wanted it to be, they’d lived it. She’d seen him in adversity, seen him face anger and upset, all that did was strengthen her need to be with him.
She spoke about Roxie being a good person and Zairn needing to understand he had a duty to protect her. That duty existed there too, between her and Zane. He’d promised to protect her, had prioritized her, but it wasn’t just about her.
“Have you ever thought about it?”
“Protecting you?”
She laughed and rested her hands on his chest. “Kids.”
If they were truly doing this, it was an important thing to know. What would their future be?
“Not seriously thought about it. Do you want to have children?”
A knock at the door interrupted the moment. Damnit, she should’ve known better than to start something they didn’t have time to finish. No, they did have time, just not right then.
“That’ll be Alessia.”
Pulling him down for a kiss, she wiped the smudge of gloss from his lips and took his hand to lead him to the door. Lead him? Well, kinda… It wasn’t exactly easy to be the driving force. She couldn’t move fast, short steps were easier. As he had at many other points, Zane became her pillar of balance. She was still getting used to the rhythm of walking in her new footwear.
And, while struggling with that difficulty, she figured out why he’d insisted she invite Alessia to the suite to eat.
Eventually, they made it, and just as she thought, Alessia was on the threshold.
“Oh, hey!” Alessia said, bouncing on the spot. “Zane Dyce.”
“Zane is fine,” he said to her sister, then dipped to kiss her. “Call if you need anything, Wanderer.”
She nodded and he slipped out as Alessia came in.
“He’s not joining us?”
She closed the door. “He has his own thing tonight.”
“Is anyone else here?”
Her voice was further away than expected. In fact, her sister wasn’t even in the room anymore.
“Less? Where did you—”
Alessia peeked out of the bedroom. “I just want to look around. I’ve never been in a suite this big before.”
“There’s more than one bedroom.”
“Is this your bedroom?”
“Yes,” she said, hobbling her way.
“Oh my God! What happened to your foot?”
Was she only just noticing the boot? Didn’t go with her dress, it had to stick out as noticeable. Maybe all the trappings of glamour disguised it.
“It’s a long story and not a big deal.”
Going to her sister, she still didn’t feel exactly steady, but that was normal… or so Zane said. Like he’d know, he’d never broken a bone in his life.
“It is a big deal! You’re wearing a… thing. Oh my God!”
Taking Alessia’s shoulder, she guided her onto the balcony. “Come out here with me.”
The table was set under a parasol, but Alessia rushed to the edge and gasped at the view. “It’s so beautiful!” She spun around and dropped against the glass barrier. “I can’t believe you’re with a billionaire. Have you told Mom?”
“No, I didn’t call yet. Did you?”
Sitting down, she poured from the pitcher brought up earlier. A special insistence from Miss Roxie, apparently. Even when not present, she still played hostess. Maybe they owned the Grand Hotel chain too, she’d have to ask Zane.
“I was going to call, but, geez, who has time to shoot the breeze? Mom will have a million questions and words just don’t do this place justice!” Tipping her head back, Alessia shook her hair over the edge. “Can we just live here forever? Ask Zane if we can move in permanently.”
“Mom might miss you,” she said. “Come and have a drink. The room service menu is here. Pick something. What do you want to eat?”
“It’s been a whirlwind, don’t you think?” Alessia came over to sweep up a drink and the menu but went back to the glass barrier. “It feels like we just got here, yet it’s like we never lived anywhere else. How could anyone get a taste of this life and not want to keep it forever?” She gasped and flapped with the menu. “Did you hear what happened last night? Is that how you got your foot thing? Were you in the fight?”
No surprise that her sister wanted to gossip. It was a surprise those weren’t the first words out of her mouth. Okay, maybe not asking whether she was in the fight, but about the fight in general.
“I wasn’t in the fight,” she said. “I was already at the hospital when that happened. And it wasn’t even a fight.”
Not that she’d got many specifics on exactly what it was. When it was a game of who shouts the loudest, the truth rarely prevailed.
Alessia jerked. “You went to the hospital and didn’t call me?”
“Roxie came with me. I was fine and you were having fun.” Straightening her leg, she gestured at the boot. “This isn’t a big deal. I wear it for a few weeks and my ankle heals, that’s it. Nothing more exciting than that. And nothing anyone could’ve done standing at my bedside. It was better for you to enjoy your night, the experience of being in this incredible place with your new friends.”
“Didn’t Zane come to the hospital with you?”
What a memory that was. “He carried me to the hospital. So, yes, he did. Like I said, I was fine, my drama is boring. How was your night?”
“How was my night…?” Rushing over, Alessia dragged a chair closer and sat down, transfixed. “My night’s irrelevant. My night’s nothing to what went on here at the hotel. Not if all I’ve heard is true. Tell me what happened? Who hit Sway? Did she start it? Was she pitting them against each other?”
She never liked it when women demonized each other just for the sake of it. Especially in lieu of blaming a guy or in defense of him. It might be easy to do, and maybe she wouldn’t have cared, when talking about an abstract figure, but Sway wasn’t abstract in her world, not anymore.
“Why do you want to put it on her?” she asked, genuinely curious. Malice didn’t exist in Alessia. Still the impulse of the reaction intrigued her. “Since we got here, when people talk about the relationship, they put its failure on her.”
“You don’t leave someone when they need you. He was at his lowest and she walked away. Who does that?”
A person pushed to the edge. A person beyond love filled by the trauma of all that suffocated them. Someone strangled by the yoke of dependency disguised as love.
“Did you ever think about what it was like for her? Roman went to rehab, got months to talk about his issues, medications, doctors, everything he needed, and all the understanding in the world. If he couldn’t make her happy, there’s no way she’d have made him happy. Just being together isn’t enough. The substance of the relationship matters.”
“Is that what she said to you?”
“No,” she said and touched her sister’s face.
In her na?veté, Alessia didn’t mean harm. None of Roman’s fans would, not really. In life, private life, people only had to face those around them. In the stratosphere of fame, a planet full of people awaited, and sometimes wished for, scandal and failure.
“What did she say? She must’ve said something.”
Handing over the words couldn’t explain the grief that bled out of Sway when she’d talked. Witnessing that burden was not something that could be conveyed. Not by her. She didn’t have the capacity, the skill.
If she couldn’t share the details, she had to at least share the wisdom and sentiment gifted in Sway’s confessional.
“I hope we never know life like that,” she murmured to her sister. “Every minute of every day belonging to some substance, to the disease.”
“If she didn’t love him any more…”
“What? When was she supposed to leave? Would you fans have treated her better if she left while he was high? What would’ve happened to him if she wasn’t there to hold together his career and reputation for him? While he was in the quicksand, she was supposed to bolt? Would you have forgiven her then?”
“I never thought about it.”
“If she’d waited until he was in rehab, then what? He’d have an excuse to leave the program; would that be her fault too? He’d only left for love, right? The woman couldn’t win, no matter what she did. Put yourself in her shoes. See them as people, see her as a person. How would you react if Sway was your friend and Roman wasn’t a famous actor with millions of fans?”
That got her sister thinking, she could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. These were people, with real lives and real emotions. Sometimes the masses forgot that.
“It feels like they have… everything.”
And her sister wasn’t alone in that assumption. “I want to be with Zane because of who he is, not what he has. Shouldn’t all relationships be that way?”
“He loves her.” Alessia stacked her hands over her heart. “He loves her so much, and when it’s love like that—”
“Roman, like you know him, doesn’t exist. He’s a construct. And that’s okay, you’re allowed to believe it, everyone is. Love him, hate her, do what you need to do. Just don’t expect me to feel the same or feed the gossip monster.”
Shocked, Alessia sat back. “You really mean that.”
“I really do.” She picked up a glass to give Alessia. “Now drink this. It’s important to Roxie. And tell me what you want to eat. I’m starving.”
Without revealing the truth, she couldn’t make her sister see. She also didn’t want to share Sway’s private moment. Being in Zane’s world, and all that came with it, she’d need to practice discretion like she never had before.
Roxie was private. Zairn. Tripp. Sway. They might be new to her, but she had to treat them as precious. They’d opened themselves to her, she had to respect that trust, and guard it.