Authors: Crystal Perkins
“Oh, okay. What is it?”
“Kace asked me to tell you that he can’t
come over tonight. He said he couldn’t contact you or tell you why.
I’m guessing it’s the blackmailer.”
“It is. Ainsley just told me about the
text.”
“Ah, that explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“Why you looked upset when you walked in. I
knew the two of you would hit it off, but I didn’t realize you’d
become so serious this fast.”
“I
was
upset because I wanted him to
get a message to me. And he did. He’s great, Mom. Really great. I
just worry that once this is over, he won’t be able to accept me.
He already accepted my sexual history, but how much can a guy
take?”
“There’s no limit on love, Stella. What you
and your friends do is amazing. He’ll realize that.”
“Will it be too late, though? I was talking
to Ainsley and I remembered how upset Zack was when he found out
she’d been undercover. And she wasn’t invading his privacy as much
as I’m doing to Kace. When he finds out we cloned his phone, he’s
going to be angry. And I’ve been putting off planting the cameras
in the loft, hoping we’d find something. But I have to do it. It’s
my job, and I’m currently sucking at it—because I’m afraid of
hurting the guy I’m in love with. I mean like, I’m in like
with.”
“Love was the correct word, and we both know
it.”
“But it’s affecting my work. I’m not being
fair to him, and I’m not being fair to Reina and the girls. I just
can’t choose.”
“You don’t have to choose, Stell. You can
have both.”
“What if I can’t? What if he doesn’t accept
my job and what I’ve done, and am going to do?”
“You’re doing it to help him. If he can’t
accept that, then all the love in the world won’t be enough to make
things work.”
“You’re right.”
“I usually am.”
“Will you stay here tonight with me?”
“Of course,” she says opening her arms to
me.
“I love you, Mom,” I tell her as I curl up
next to her on the couch and close my eyes.
“I love you, too.”
* * *
Kace
I fucked up last night. I realized it when I
woke up in the middle of the night, when I got another text. I
should’ve never had Sheila tell Stella I couldn’t see her.
Whoever’s messing with me is expecting a reaction, and a fight.
When they don’t get one, I’m going to be in trouble. Shit.
“Thanks for standing me up last night. I
thought you were different Kace,” Stella says as she walks in.
Either Stella didn’t get a hold of her, or
she somehow knows to help me. I’m just grateful this is happening.
“I didn’t know I had a leash on me.”
“Common courtesy isn’t a leash,
Asshole.”
“You’re just a cheap lay, Stella. We all
know it.”
I see the hurt flash in her eyes, but I had
to do it. I was told to do it. To hurt her as badly as I could. I’m
hating every second of this, but I can’t back down now.
“Fuck you, Kace. Or better yet, I won’t. I
should’ve known a little boy couldn’t handle me.”
“I handled you quite well the other night.
Don’t pretend I didn’t. You said I was your best.”
“I quit. Do you hear me, you little bastard?
I fucking quit. And if you come near me again, I will make sure
you’ll never walk on stage again, much less sing.”
She turns and runs from the room. It takes
everything in me to not run after her. I’m so lost in that thought
that I don’t see the slap coming. My head whips to the side as I
see Sheila standing before me, crying.
“What you did is unforgivable. I won’t quit
because there are three other people in the band who I happen to
like. But I want you to know that I think you are the lowest piece
of scum on the Earth. How dare you do that to my daughter?”
“Get to work, Sheila,” I tell her in a flat
voice. I’m dying inside, but I can’t show it.
Hours later, I’m the last one left in the
loft. I can’t put one foot in front of the other and leave. Not
after what I said and did. I just want to curl up in a ball and
cry.
“Hello, Kace.”
I look up and see a girl walking towards me.
She could be around eighteen, or she could be my age. I can’t
really tell. I do know she looks a little familiar, but that
happens to me quite a bit. Too many fans. Her hair is dark blonde,
and she has glasses on. She’s wearing a t-shirt from our last tour,
and tight jeans.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Is that any way to greet a fan?” she asks
as she walks around the room, touching a bunch of shit.
“Who let you in?”
“Does it matter? We could have some
fun.”
“No, we can’t.”
“C’mon, I can show you a good time,” she
says as she takes out her phone. She pushes a few buttons as I just
glare at her. After a minute, she smiles. “No? I’ll leave then, I
guess.”
“Please do.”
She laughs as she walks out. I don’t even
know what to think. That was definitely weird. I should be used to
weird by now, but I’m not. I have too many other things to think
about.
I know I need to have someone analyze the
pictures for me to see if they can find anything. I’ve just been
worried about trusting someone. But I need help. I can’t live like
this forever. I lost Stella. I can’t lose anyone else. Like my mom.
That would be too much.
So, I’m going to bite the bullet and go see
the investigator my lawyer found for me. I told him I needed
someone who was amazing at their job, and would be discreet. He
wanted to ask more, but when I just stared at him, he didn’t. He
found me someone, though. I call her, and she says she has an hour
free right now.
When I get to her office, a stunningly
beautiful woman greets me. “Hello, Kace. I’m Mel. Please come on
back.”
“Oh hey.”
Damn. I wasn’t expecting my private
investigator to look like her. If I wasn’t hung up on Stella, I’d
probably try to go for her. But I am. Even though I know she hates
me, I still want only her.
“Are you going to stand out there and stare
at my ass, or are you going to come into my office and tell me why
you called me?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. The day a man doesn’t look at my
ass, is the day I’ll start worrying.”
I laugh and take a seat in front of her
desk. She takes the seat next to me instead of going behind her
desk. I’m going to like this woman. I know it already. I tell her
everything, except what the pictures I’m being blackmailed with
contain and the text messages I’ve received lately. I want to make
sure she’ll take my case and agree to a confidentiality agreement
before I show her.
“Yes, Kace. I’ll keep everything
confidential.”
I take a deep breath and pull out my phone.
Before I can swipe out of the lock screen, I hear her gasp. I look
over at her and smile. “My girl’s pretty hot, huh?”
“Your girl?”
“Stella. She’s my—well, for about a day she
was my girlfriend.”
“Only a day?”
“I’ll show you the texts, and then actually,
I want to talk a little bit about her with you.”
Mel looks uncomfortable, but nods. I show
her the texts and her mouth hardens into a line. “This person is
evil. I can’t believe they had you do that to Stella. I mean, I’m
guessing you followed orders.”
“Yeah, but I went too far. I said things I
shouldn’t have.”
“So you want me to help figure out a way to
make it up to her?”
“No.” It’s my turn to look uncomfortable.
“Some things don’t add up with Stella.”
I explain things to her. How Stella’s friend
invaded my privacy and how she has an apartment that she shouldn’t
be able to afford when she was practically begging me for a job. I
tell her that Sheila has never said anything about family money,
and we used to talk all the time. Granted, she never really talked
about Stella, which is weird, but I think being rich would’ve come
up.
“What do you think she’s hiding? Actually,
let me rephrase that. What are you afraid she’s hiding?”
“Honestly, my biggest fear is that some
guy’s paying for everything.”
Anger flashes through her eyes so fast I
almost miss it. She takes a few deep breaths before she speaks.
“I’m assuming you’ve slept with her.”
“Well there wasn’t much sleeping going
on.”
“And you think she’d do that with you if
another man was paying her bills? And have sex with you in her
apartment he was funding?”
“I hope not, but I need to know.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but
then closes it. I can feel her anger, but I just don’t get it.
Shouldn’t I be suspicious? I think I’m having a normal
response.
“Fine,” she says. “I’ll look into Stella for
you. Are you ready to show me the blackmail pictures now?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I tell her,
pulling them out.
She looks at them, and I see the shock on
her face. “These aren’t what I expected. At all.”
“Now you understand.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think you can help?”
“I hope so. I have some friends I’d like to
involve,” she says, putting up a hand when I start to protest.
“They’ll keep your secret. I promise. I’ll need to keep the
pictures to show them.”
“Okay. But only if you think they can help
and won’t tell anyone. I’ll want to meet them if this goes on much
longer.”
“They like to work behind the scenes, but
I’ll try and see if I can get you a meeting.”
“What are they spies or something?”
“Something.”
I can tell she’s not going to elaborate. Why
do I keep finding women who keep secrets? At least with Mel, it’s
her job to keep them. It’s not Stella’s job. And that’s why we have
a problem. One I really need to discuss with her. If she ever
speaks to me again.
Stella
I’m in one of the small conference rooms at
the Foundation waiting for Jane, Reina, and Mallory to arrive. I
know why they called me in. I had no right to quit a job tied to my
mission. No matter how badly my feelings were hurt. The mission
comes first. I know that. I’ve been trained. And I’ve also been
called a lot worse than what Kace said to me. I’ve just never been
in love on a mission—or anywhere else for that matter—so I reacted
badly. Now I have to face the firing squad so to speak.
Mallory’s the first to enter. She comes over
to hug me, but I can see that she’s worried. “I’m sorry, Mal. I
didn’t mean to do this to you.”
“I know. We’ll get through this.”
Reina and Jane enter a moment later. There
are no hugs from them. I know they care about me, but the needs of
the Society have to come first. And we all know I screwed up.
Bad.
“I’d like to give you a chance to explain to
us why you quit, Stella. I’m sure you’re aware that by doing that
you’ve made our job much harder. And just because it’s your mother
we’re doing this for, doesn’t mean it’s not still a real mission,”
Reina tells me.
“I know it’s real. It’s just the things he
said.”
“You knew he had to embarrass you. Ainsley
said she told you about the text he got.”
“I know. But what he said…I…he-he said I was
just an easy lay.”
“I’m sorry, Stella. But you’ve had worse
said to you. I’ve heard it. And you’ve always maintained you
cool.”
“I love him,” I tell them quietly.
“We really are turning into a dating
service.”
“I’m sorry, Rei.”
“Don’t apologize. You can’t help who you
love. I’m the poster child for loving the wrong man.”
“It’s working out for you now,” I remind
her.
“Maybe,” she says looking down at her ring,
before looking back up at me. “But we’re not here to talk about
me.”
“I know. I can try and get my job back.”
“That’s the only acceptable outcome,” Jane
tells me.
“Isa got the bugs planted.”
“Yes, Stella, but we need you there in
person. I’m sorry, but unless you want us to abandon the mission,
you need to get your job back.”
I’ve never abandoned a mission. Never. It’s
rare that any of us do. We’re not quitters. “I’ll get my job
back.”
“Good. I’m glad this is settled. I know this
will be hard for you, but you wouldn’t be working for us if you
wanted an easy, carefree life.”
“Thanks for going easy on me, Jane.”
“I’m not a mean ogre,” she says with a
chuckle as she comes over to hug me.
“No, you’re not. You just have to keep us on
track.”
“Not for much longer. Reina will be taking
over fully soon.”
Reina starts to speak when Alex buzzes in.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Mel’s here. She says it’s important that
she talk to all of you. She specifically asked for Stella to be
included.”
“Send her in,” Reina says, looking at me. I
shrug because I have no idea what Mel wants to see us about.
Mel was once slated to be a Society girl,
but she decided that she’d rather work on her own. She still helps
us from time to time, even teaching a couple of the classes for our
new recruits. For the last few years, that’s meant our support
teams. We haven’t had turnover in any agents for a few years now.
We’re all really happy with our jobs.
“Hey, Mel. What can we do for you?” Reina
asks when she walks in.
“I got a new client yesterday who I thought
you might be interested in. His name is Kace Reynolds.”
My eyes widen. “Kace hired you?”
“Yes he did.”
“What did he ask you to do?” Reina wants to
know.
“Find the person who’s blackmailing
him—which I’m guessing you knew about. And, well, he also wants me
to see if Stella has a Sugar Daddy she’s hiding from him.”
“What?”
Is he insane? I’m going to kill him. He
thinks I’m fucking someone else on the side. Or I guess he’d be the
one on the side. I want to throw up.
“He said you practically begged him for a
job, yet you live in a fancy apartment and wear expensive
clothes.”