Until the End (Sea Breeze #9)(45)

Barbara untied the apron around her waist, then walked over and handed it to me. “I’ve decided I am done here. I realize I’m right and the beautiful soul you destroyed won’t ever come back here. She’s gone. And I don’t think I can bear to stay here and watch your life spiral out of control. Because it will. You’ve lost your light.”

Barbara turned and left. I stood there and listened as she spoke to the employees, and then I heard her giving her keys to someone. I didn’t move. I wasn’t sure I could. Because what she said made sense.

What the f**k was I missing?

When I finally moved, I didn’t go to the kitchen. My appetite was gone. I went to the office instead. And sure enough, there was Sadie’s new iPhone. The newest version had just come out last week, and I’d had it waiting for her when she woke up that day. She had said she’d just figured out the last one and wasn’t ready for the new one, but she had laughed at me.

Then we had spent an hour in the shower together.

Without her my life meant nothing. This emptiness wasn’t ever going away. What had Sadie wanted to tell me? Had she gotten a job? I wasn’t sure what else would be important enough for her to make plans for a big night to surprise me.

Unless . . .

Holy hell . . . no.

She would have told me. She wouldn’t have left.

“You broke her. She won’t trust you again. . . .” Barbara’s words came back to me.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Jessica’s number. It rang three times before Sadie’s mother answered. “You have five seconds” was her greeting.

“Is she there?” I asked.

“Where else do you think she’d be?” she snapped back.

“Is she . . . is she . . . pregnant?” I asked, feeling a mixture of hope and fear battling in my chest.

Jessica let out a hard laugh. “Sorry, f**ker. Your five seconds are up. Figure this shit out on your own.”

Then she hung up on me.

I stared down at the phone in my hand and thought about calling back. But what good would that do? Jessica wasn’t going to answer my question. Which made me think I was right.

I walked to the back of the house, where I knew I’d find someone who knew. My staff knew something. Jean-Claude, the butler, gave me an annoyed glance. Even he was mad at me.

“Is she pregnant?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “What’s it matter to you? Could be anyone’s, anyway. Right?” he snarled, as if the idea disgusted him and he was disappointed in me for thinking badly of Sadie.

Then he walked away. I slammed through the kitchen doors and no one was there. I wondered if Barbara had fired everyone before she left. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.

Sadie

I woke up to the smell of coffee and my mother sitting on the edge of the bed. “I have coffee. You can’t sleep all day. I’ll even consider making pancakes if you’ll eat them.”

I stretched and covered my eyes from the light streaming in through the windows. “Morning, now go away,” I mumbled, then closed my eyes again.

She pulled the covers back to let the chill in the room hit me. “Nope. We have shit to deal with, and I need you up and alert so we can face it and be prepared for the onslaught. Because, baby, it’s coming.”

That didn’t sound good. I sat up and reached for the coffee cup in her hand. “The media knows,” I said, before taking a sip and letting the heat of the coffee warm me up.

“Actually, they don’t know shit. That’s the problem. They think something happened, which I am trying to figure out myself. However, it does explain why Jax lost his mind.”

Jessica reached behind her and pulled out the morning paper. “It’s already in the local news. Entertainment section, first page. Prepare yourself,” she said, handing me the paper and taking the cup away from me.

I snatched the paper out of her hands, and in the center of the full-colored page was a photo of Nave Anikin, Jax’s drummer and longtime friend, kissing me. That night Nave had been high as a kite and had taken me by surprise. He’d slammed his slimy mouth to mine, and I had been shocked frozen for a moment until it hit me what was happening and I kicked him in the balls. He had fallen backward and moaned in pain.

More than once I had almost told Jax about it, but I had hated to end their friendship. I was positive that Nave didn’t remember it. He never acted weird around me or anything. I let it go and kept my distance from all the band members at parties. They got trashed and did stupid stuff.

When I felt guilty for not telling Jax, I remembered how guilty I would feel when Nave was without a job and Jax had lost his friend. I didn’t think the outcome was worth telling anyone about this. It was two years ago. After all that time, I’d forgotten about it.

But someone had seen it and had waited until now to share the photo.

“Gonna tell me why the world thinks ‘Jax Stone’s fiancée is playing the band now’?” Jessica asked, repeating the headline of the article.

I dropped the paper and looked out the window. Jax had seen this before it hit the media. He had seen it, and instead of asking me about it, he had attacked me.

“You didn’t read it,” Jessica said.

“Don’t want to. It’s all lies,” I said, hating the realization that Jax hadn’t trusted me.