Bad Boy Brody(26)

“What?”

“Kyle, where are you?”

“A million bucks that’s probably why she’s staying the fuck away. If I were a girl, I’d do the same. I don’t know what your issue is, but if you guys want her, go and goddamn get her. She’s here. She’s within reach. She’s alive. She’s breathing. She’s still going to be here tomorrow! Don’t waste your time.”

“I’m in your car.”

I was breathing hard.

I was sweating now.

“Brody, I’m damn proud of you.”

The patio was spinning.

I was losing balance.

I heard screeching sounds—then metal crunching.

“Are you close?”

I was falling.

I felt myself going down.

“I can’t wait to get there.”

“Kyle,” I whispered, my voice heavy and distorted.

I heard screaming in the background, but I couldn’t pinpoint where it came from. Who it was.

That damn dial tone.

Something crashed and then the world went black.





Brody

A headache greeted me when I woke, but it wasn’t the one in my skull.

I opened an eye, saw Gayle, and immediately wished I could go back to sleep. I didn’t need to ask. Everything came rushing in.

Talking to Morgan.

Drinking.

Watching Morgan running away.

More drinking.

Then Abigail.

The drinks hitting me.

I groaned. “Am I fired?”

Gayle looked up, folding the newspaper and tucking it back down into her purse. “No, but from what Shan says, you should be.”

Shan. “You’re on nickname basis?”

My manager grunted, a cocky grin teasing her lips. “Brody, it’s my job to be on nickname basis with almost everyone I meet. And to answer your question, you aren’t. Abby said she wasn’t there on movie business.”

Another nickname. I didn’t ask this time.

I waited to hear whatever lecture Gayle had in store, but nothing came. Looking at her, seeing her deadpanned expression, it clicked. “No! I didn’t sleep with her.”

“Are you sure?”

I was in the twilight zone. “Good Lord, did she say we did?”

“No. That’s the thing. She’s keeping a tight lip on why she was there, but she’s only saying it didn’t have to do with the movie. Once Shan found out you were fine, she started talking about firing you and backup A-list actors.”

I fucked up. Bad.

I squinted, looking around the room. “Where am I?”

There were no call lights beeping in the distance, and I wasn’t in a hospital nightgown. An IV pole was next to me and there was a fake plant in the corner, but that was it. The room looked barren.

“They moved you into the main house.”

But . . . I couldn’t remember Matthew’s reason for kicking everyone out.

Gayle’s hand pressed down on my arm, reassuring me. “He said the radon test came back fine. They’ll move you as soon as you’re ready.”

Radon? That was the excuse he gave?

I sagged back down into my bed. The headache was beginning to pound behind my temples, but I knew Gayle would drop the hammer real quick. I wanted to get it over with.

“Lay it on me, G. Tell me how I messed up.”

That was all she’d been waiting for.

“First”—she held up a hand, her eyes gleaming—“you will goddamn stop drinking! I mean it. I confiscated all of your booze. The crew will be thanking you for their amazing party tonight. Second, you will tell me why Abby Kellerman was in your room. She said you started ranting and raving before you passed out. I know something is going on. You and the Kellermans are the only ones still on the property, and it has nothing to do with some phony radon test. And third, you have to talk to someone about your brother’s death. You know it, and I know it. I get it, but enough is enough. He wouldn’t want you to tank your fucking career.”

My mother just inhabited her body.

I sighed, pushing up until I was in a sitting position. Looking down at my chest, I didn’t want to ask where all the bruises came from.

Gayle saw my look. “They had to cut your shirt off to check you over. You fell hard on the floor, then when they were moving you to the main house, you woke up and started swinging. You were going on about Kyle and Captain Morgan.”

Captain Morgan?

I was pretty sure I hadn’t been adding the “Captain” part. Thank God I was a boozehound.

“Is Abigail mad?”

She frowned. “No, which is the weird thing. She isn’t upset at you. She wants to talk to you once you are awake. You ready for that?”

I nodded, sighing. “Better to get it over with now.”

Gayle stood, her purse in hand. She paused at the door, glancing back. “You can thank me, by the way, for not letting Shanna fire your ass. You passed out, and they called a doctor to come here. She worried about it being leaked to the papers.”

“But I’m good to go?”

She grunted, disapproval lining her frown. “You’re good to go. I’ll let you yank out your own IV.”

I was doing just that after she left, when I sensed someone in the doorway. “You can come in.” If it was Shanna, I wanted to get the ass-chewing done.