Undone By The Mountain Daddies (Reverse Harem Mountain Daddies #4)

1. Sienna

Sienna

One thing most people don’t know about being a Hollywood star is that the acting doesn’t stop when the movie is over.

I climb out of the car with a practiced smile and not an ounce of excitement to be here tonight.

Fans cheer, cameras snapping, all for what? I’m a human being who bleeds the same color as everyone else here. I don’t deserve to be celebrated any more than the poor woman behind the red carpet holding a sign with my name on it.

I’m no superstar. I was just a little girl with a big dream and the motivation to go after it. And now here I am…

The gown I’m wearing is almost the same bold red as the carpet, which I'm immediately told to walk down.

I keep my smile steady, careful not to look too eager. Coming across too strongly gets you accused of being a drug addict or worse. That’s what happened to a friend of mine in the industry when she smiled a little too wide once.

People like to make a story out of everything, so it’s crucial you pay attention to the little things. It gets exhausting, but the day people stop cheering for me is the day I’m out of a job.

“This way, Sienna,” says a man behind the camera. “One hand on the hip, the other at your side. Turn to the right slightly for me.”

Like a soldier, I follow the command without questioning. I flash a curated smile and hope I don’t look stupid.

I wish I could feel excited, but instead I’m dreading watching this movie. People know me as a top-rated star, but that’s all about to change when they see my horrible acting in this movie.

I was exhausted throughout the entire filming process. Jet lag was a bitch, and so were the producers for telling me I should be used to the fatigue by now as a professional actor.

Paparazzi throw themselves at me, and it’s a battle of microphones and of who can stick theirs closest to my mouth.

“Do you get Botox, Sienna?”

That’s a question I’ve never gotten before.

I tighten my smile, trying to keep it from becoming a grimace. “Not yet. Maybe in a few more years.”

“Some plastic surgeons recommend you start looking into it at twenty-four. And you’re twenty-six now, Sienna, isn’t that right?”

I desperately want to roll my eyes. Somebody has to comment on my age at least once a day.

Not only is it boring and repetitive, but it’s also a real punch to the gut.

You reach the age of twenty-five, and people start looking at you differently, running their eyes up and down your body, determined to spot the first signs of aging.

Speaking of age, my ex, Holden Gray, is here with a woman who can’t be more than twenty. She isn’t even in the movie, yet she’s still finding a way to steal the show by cozying up to my co-star. She can fuck off. Both of them can.

I stand on the red carpet, my heart pounding in that all-too-familiar way every time I see my first love. Holden exudes confidence and knows exactly what he’s doing in front of the cameras.

For some reason I can’t figure out, I still totally want to get back together with the asshole, even though I know more than anyone how he treats women.

We’re designer handbags that he wears to enhance his appearance. That’s why he swaps us out as frequently as possible. He’s figured out that’s the way to stay relevant.

But I miss the feeling of being wanted by him. There was a time we attended movie premieres together and posed together the way he and this Valentina chick are doing now. Things were amazing back then. Until they weren’t…

If only I were a few years younger…

I keep my smile locked into place as I walk further down the red carpet. My throat constricts as I get closer to my ex.

We starred in this movie together and did several sex scenes. It seemed like it was a lot of fun for him, but it was absolute agony for me.

Hope was what got me through the filming—not the unlimited sushi or the delicious green juices I would wake up to every morning. It was him. Holden fucking Gray, with his heartbreaker eyes and his charming way with words.

I was even more of a mess after the filming than during it. I landed back in LA, still single as ever. I was so stupid to think I ever stood a chance of getting back together with him.

But I still cling to the hope, even now as I walk past Holden and feel his eyes on me. We share an intimate glance that goes way deeper than just working together.

My heart flips, the corners of my lips itching to lift. Damn, I actually feel like smiling now, for real. He has that way of making you feel special.

After more posing and living up to people’s insanely high expectations of me, I head into the theater and find my seat, waiting nervously for the movie to begin.

The movie starts, and it’s worse than I even expected. I’m barely able to make it through my first scene without vomiting. It sounds like I’m reading from a script.

My acting improves a little when Holden and I have our first scene together. I actually look like I’m excited to be on set until, of course, he disappears. The spark in my eye disappears with him, and I return to completely shitty acting.

I sink further into my seat, knowing the sex scene is coming up. Soon, my moans fill the entire movie theater.

“Christopher! Oh, Christopher!”

The worst kind of torture is public humiliation, and I’m right in the middle of it.

Everyone knows Holden has been in dozens of relationships since he ended it with me two years ago. And I’ve only ever been with him.

The embarrassment doesn’t end there. The rest of my scenes are abysmal. I just could not get my shit together.

I remember feeling really down one day towards the end of filming. I was in a bad place, more depressed than usual about Grammy’s passing. I took an hour-long break to cry in my trailer, which explains why my eyes are so red in the scene I’m watching right now.

I cringe at my bad acting, knowing it does nothing to honor Grammy or what she wanted for me.

My goal was to make her proud and give her the life she deserved, but I started to let being a star get in the way. I bought her an amazing house back home and hired all the staff she needed to be comfortable, but I didn’t get back to see her enough.

A particularly bad scene comes up, and I didn’t think it was possible for me to sink further into this seat, but I find a way. This whole ordeal can’t be over soon enough.

I was filming in the Bahamas last year when I received a call about Grammy’s death.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Sienna, but your grandmother had a heart attack. She was rushed to the hospital immediately… but she didn’t make it.”

I sit through the scene of a co-star pretending to suffer through a heart attack, wondering if it’s close to what Grammy went through.

I would’ve known, had I been there at Grammy’s side when it happened. But I wasn’t…

I still can’t believe I wasn’t with her to say goodbye. Grammy gave me everything, and I returned the favor by letting the fame and blinding lights of Hollywood get the better of me.

Applause fills the theatre as the ending credits roll, and people start to disperse. I rush to get out, feeling suffocated, but even outside, I can’t catch a break.

Interviewers are on the prowl, swarming everywhere. I lift my chin and continue on with this nightmare. There are only a few more hours before I can leave. I can make it.

Cheering fills the air, cameras snapping like mad. The flashing lights are blinding me.

But none of them is as blinding as the ring in Holden’s hand.

Fans gasp, as does everyone else on the red carpet, as Holden Gray gets on his fucking knee for someone who isn’t me.

You have to be kidding me.

Bile creeps up my throat, threatening to spill out. I swallow it down, not wanting to cause a scene and have people think I’m pregnant. Little do they know it’s not even a possibility. The last time I had sex was two years ago…

Holden has some nerve. So much for him caring about my feelings.

My heart contracts, the feeling of suffocation reaching a new high as the noise becomes all too much.

I feel the mask starting to slip, tears beginning to prick my eyes.

Get it together, Sienna.

Don’t let them see weakness.

I don’t have long to gather my composure. Soon, these hundreds of cameras will all be redirecting toward me, snapping pictures of my face and recording my reactions.

I lift my chin and force myself back into the present moment, focusing on a breathing technique that usually works pretty well.

“Exhale through the pain” is a quote my Pilates teacher likes to use to keep us holding a plank.

I have no issues with holding the plank. In fact, I welcome the pain that comes with Pilates—it feels good, unlike the pain that comes from Holden. But all I want to do right now is surrender to the emotion and cry a river.

Which I can’t do until I get home.

Exhale through the pain.

I have to get back to being the all-powerful Sienna Lane everyone thinks I am. Emotion ruins careers.

Cameras flash, and the diamond ring glints in the light, stealing everyone’s attention. Fans fight their way through the crowd, desperate for a closer look, all raising their phones to see who can get the best shot.

I’m paralyzed and so sick to my stomach.

Why the hell would he do this in front of all these people? In front of me?

Valentina cups her hands over her mouth in surprise. Her eyes are almost as bedazzled as the ring, which is really saying something.

She’s new to LA—a model. That’s how I started out when I was sixteen. Back then, I stole everyone’s attention just like this ring is doing now, and the woman wearing it.

Valentina Vescari is drop-dead gorgeous, with voluptuous curves and perfectly wavy, dark hair. Her skin is like glass, with no fine lines around her mouth, not even when she pouts her lips as Holden goes in for a kiss.

She definitely never gets asked whether she has started getting Botox.

I take a step back, my bodyguard there for support. We exchange a look, and he gives me a subtle we-can-get-out-of-here glance, which I know isn’t an option right now. If I leave right now, the internet will have a field day.

The only way I’m getting out of here is on a stretcher. My legs feel like lead, and I’ve completely seized up. To make matters worse, my knees feel like they’re going to buckle.

I already made a fool of myself enough tonight with my acting. I can’t afford to take it a step further and face-plant the red carpet. There’d be no coming back from that.

I remain still and wait for the initial hoopla to be over so I can get the fuck out of here and go home.

I can hear bits of conversation all around me.

“Oh my god! Poor Sienna.”

“They dated a couple of years ago, right? She must be over him by now.”

If only that were true.

“Yeah, but their relationship seemed pretty serious.”

“Did you hear how she moaned in the movie? I’ll bet you fifty bucks she still has feelings.”

I straighten my spine and smile because all lights are now on me. It can’t be much different from the Oscars. You mask the disappointment with a smile and say only good things about the winning nominee. The same rules apply.

“What are your thoughts on this, Sienna?” An interviewer sticks his mic in my face.

“I’m happy for them.”

The biggest lie to have ever come out of my mouth.

I smile, laugh and repeat the same bullshit phrase over until the press finally decides to call it a night.

I’m not going to be able to sleep a wink tonight. After that performance, my career is on shaky ground, and I have zero hopes of rekindling something with Holden.

Where the hell do I go from here?