Stanton Bliss(34)

Cameron walks in and his face drops. He sits on the other side of me on the bed. “Are you ok, babe?” he asks.

“No, she’s not,” Joshua answers for me.

“It’s the rain,” Cameron whispers.

“Huh?”

“It’s the rain. It’s making me think of it, too.”

“What do you mean?” Joshua asks.

“It was raining heavy for days when Natasha was running and hiding. The day with the…” He stops midsentence, unsure what to say.

Joshua squeezes me to his chest just that little bit harder.

“Make it stop, Cam,” I whisper through my tears.

The lightning crashes and I lose control, slapping my hands over my ears as I cower and curl into Joshua with fright.

“Jesus.” He holds me tight.

The lightning cracks again, and I cry out loud, holding my hands over my ears.

“Give her something!” Joshua snaps.

“Like what?”

“A f*cking sedative.”

“I do have her migraine medication with me in case she needed it,” he replies.

I begin to cry out loud.

“Christ,” Cameron mutters as he stands.

“Fine. Hurry up.”

The last thing I remember is Cameron giving me a needle and Joshua carrying me to the shower. I fall into an almost zombie state as my brain tries to shut out the horror.

“It’s ok, Presh. I’m here. I’ve got you, baby.”



The horror of post-traumatic stress lives within me. I am sombre and I’m tired. I don’t now where I want to be, but I know it isn’t here, dealing with this.

The trip from the airport to the hotel our temporary home in L.A. – is made in complete silence. It’s 1am and Ben, who is driving, has just had an altercation with a photographer at the airport. He was only trying to protect me. The photographer tried to grab me to get his shot when Ben lost it, pushed him, sending the photographer flying until he fell over.

They will try and sue him, they always do.

Is this our new life?

Paparazzi will go into overdrive with the news that we have returned and will all be waiting for the first shots. What a mess. Joshua is wound up and nobody is speaking. After my little breakdown on Tuesday, I spent the next two days in bed with Cameron and Joshua fussing over me. Trying to will me back to life.

It worked… just.

Joshua has insisted that Cameron goes and stays with Adrian and Bridget for a few days. Cameron is struggling, too, and I know my husband is concerned for his beloved brother. We have all noticed that he hasn’t been his carefree self since we have been in Kamala. Cameron’s mind is preoccupied with regret. Could we have saved Amelie if we had done things differently? We will never get the chance to know now, and I think that’s half the battle: the feeling of helplessness we all share.

The finality of the situation.

We pull into the round driveway and Joshua leads me out of the car where an attendant is waiting.

“Mr. Stanton, this way.” He gestures with his hand to the elevator. Joshua and I nod gratefully. A long check in would be unbearable at this stage of the night. Two minutes later, and on the tenth floor, we follow the attendant down the corridor, eventually spotting our security all standing outside the doors to their apartments. I nod a silent thank you for their support.

“Hello.”

They smile as we walk past.

The porter opens the door of the room we had last time. I look in and smile, I have happy memories here and a certain hot kind of massage runs naked through my mind.

Joshua nods. “Thank you.”

The attendant hands over two key cards.

“Nobody can access this level though the lifts?” Joshua asks.

“No, sir. All access has been blocked and the fire stairs are locked from the other side.”

“We will have a guard on the front doors at all times,” Joshua instructs.

My heart sinks and I know my life will be different forever.

“Of course.” The attendant nods nervously.

“Thank you.” Joshua nods back.

“If there is anything else, sir, please call this number directly.” He hands over a business card with his personal details on it.

Joshua nods and holds his hand out in a get out of my f*cking room gesture, and I bite my bottom lip to contain my smile.

Joshua closes the door, turns to me and takes me in his arms.

“I think I need to give my girl a massage.”

I inhale his scent. “Yes, Mr. Stanton. Yes, you do.”

Joshua

“Yes,” I answer my phone. We have been back in L.A. for three weeks and I am in work mode.

My eyes drift to Cameron who is lying on the lounge in my office, skimming through his phone.

“Hello, Mr. Stanton. The keys have arrived from the real estate.”

“Thank you, Tiffany. I’ll collect them from you shortly.”

Adrian walks in with a bundle of papers and starts to rearrange them to file away.

“Tell me about this guy again?” Cameron asks as he sits up onto his elbow.

“He’s a kid, only just eighteen.” Adrian sighs.

I blow out a breath, this could be the most stupid thing I have ever done.

“So, let me get this straight. You meet some scummy kid in prison, and now you are giving him a job, an apartment and a car?” Cameron shakes his head in disgust.