Hollywood Rebel by Misti Murphy

Chapter Thirty-Three

 

Rebel

“When I told you not to do anything I wouldn’t do, I didn’t think you’d piss on that asshole.” Rogue pulls out the chair opposite me and drops into it.

“What are you doing in here?” I double check the door like I’m waiting for Summer to walk through it. Expecting her to. Hoping for a glimpse of her red curls and obstinate green eyes.

Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I was pretty clear when I told her I didn’t want to see her again. She’s probably packing up her stuff right now.

God, I already miss her smile and the way she bosses me around. And I’m going to miss holding her in my arms at night and the way she always smells so feminine and sweet. I really fucked up tonight.

“Where’s Riot?”

“With Ethan. They’re keeping an eye on the news and trying to find out how much damage you inflicted.” He humphs. “I told the officer at the desk I was one of your lawyers.”

“And they believed you?” I frown at him.

“You have seen me act.” He cockily brushes at his shoulders. “I also paid the desk officer a lot of money to let me back here.”

“Please tell me you didn’t bribe the man.” I smack my hands against the metal surface between us. “You can’t be serious with this shit.”

“Nah. Of course not.” He leans back and his grin widens. “The desk officer was a woman. She’s a fan of mine actually. I gave her an autograph and asked her out on a date. She’s cute, and was more than willing to let me into the interview room. It’s not like you’re a dangerous criminal.”

“That’s…” I shake my head. It’s like he got all the charming genes, but missed out on an average amount of brain cells, although I know that’s not true.

“I’m still going to need an actual lawyer. One that practices law and not just an actor who can bribe cops and say objection.” I grit my teeth as I lean back in the hard ass chair. I’ve been in here a while. It feels like hours. There’s no clock on the wall. They questioned me when I first arrived and then left me to marinate while they took statements from the other guests that were willing to stick around and give their version of events. I cradle my head in my hands. It’s pounding as I detox from the champagne and whisky.

“Hey, I object to that,” Rogue retorts.

“Just go back to the house and make sure Summer gets all her stuff.” I train my gaze on the door. “And try not to get your ass kicked by Burke while you’re at it. He’ll be pissed.”

“Shit, you broke up with her?” He stares at me like he can’t believe it. “What? Why? Why can’t we have anything nice without you ruining it?”

“It’s a complicated story.” I exhale long and loud. If I could go back to the beginning of the night and warn myself that I was about to be the biggest idiot and to just think before I ruined everything then Summer and I would probably be in our big bed right now. Making love. Fucking happy.

I’d be holding her close, her head resting on my chest. She’d have my world making sense. Instead, she’s packing and I’m never going to see her again.

“She loves you,” he says. “I mean I don’t think she’ll admit it, but we can all see it. When she looks at you… When you look at her… Damn.”

“I know.” I clench my fists and the metal bracelets keeping me chained to the table bite into my skin. My heart is confused. It wants to leap for joy at the fact my girl loves me but then it remembers that it doesn’t fucking matter because I’ve got to let her go and it makes me feel like complete ass. But also worried because what if it’s not enough to keep her safe, and I’m not there to protect her? “I know that. She told me tonight.”

“Then what the hell?”

“She was talking to Marty about that damn interview still.”

“You lost your shit?” He knows me so well. It’s a twin thing.

“I overreacted. We got into a fight.” No, I got into a fight. She told me she loved me and like an idiot I broke up with her because she’s good at her job. I just wish she would have told me. We could have argued about it. She could have told me all the reasons I’d be a moron not to do it. I could have come around. We could have made up.

I bite the inside of my cheek as my heart sinks.

“But you can fix that.” He taps his fingers against the table surface. “What do they call it when you tell the person you were wrong? And that you’re sorry? Oh, right, you can apologize to her.”

“You’re very glib considering there’s a chance I’m going to prison again,” I snap.

“What’s that saying?” His smile is tight and barely curves his lips as he looks at me with sympathy. “If you don’t laugh…”

“You cry?” I sigh.

“Well, no, not me. Us Maddoxes don’t cry.” He’s worried. I can see it in his expression. “But it’s not good.”

I didn’t just beat up a guy. I beat up the same guy I went away over last time and then I cemented the insanity by taking a leak on him. But when he threatened to hurt Summer, I lost my damn mind. The fact that, only moments earlier, I was trying to get hammered as fast as I could didn’t help either.

I groan into my hands and then scrub them over my face. “Where’s Jason?”

“He’s coming,” Rogue says. “Ethan called him and told him to get his ass down here as fast as he could.”

“It feels like I’ve been here all night.”

“A little more than an hour,” he says. “Now, what are you going to do about Summer?”

“Nothing.”

“Why?”

“Because…” I lean in as close as possible. “That prick, Hawthorne, threatened to hurt her to get at me.”

“Fuck, that’s why…” His eyes widen as he jerks his chin at my cuffs and my busted knuckles.

“He has plans for an exclusive tell-all of what went down between him and Ro and me.”

“That fucking asshole.” Rogue’s voice drops dangerously low. “Does he really think he can play the victim card?”

Yeah, that’s the same anger that I’d felt when I realized he wasn’t done torturing Ro. Or me. And as long as Summer is important to me she’s in his crosshairs too. So are my brothers, but they can take care of themselves.

“That’s why Summer and Marty were still in contact.”

“You think Marty was trying to help?” he asks.

“I think she’s dedicated to her job,” I mutter, but this might be the one time I could have appreciated that. She’s determined to give the full picture. “It would be one hell of a story. But without Ro…”

“Maybe we should talk to Ro again,” he says. “I could get Riot to try. She listens to him. Feels safe with him.”

“I don’t want to put that on him.” He feels things differently than we do. He’s more sensitive or something. I don’t want the strain of this situation to take a toll on his friendship with Ro. He’d feel guilty. “And I don’t want Summer to know any of this.”

“I won’t say anything.” He puts his hands up in surrender. “But I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just tell her and fix things.”

Because my beautiful girl has had her fair share of shit show moments, but she’d put herself in harm’s way out of sheer stubbornness if she believed it would help me. “Just leave it alone.”

The door to the interview room opens and my real lawyer enters. He glances from me to Rogue. Shakes his head at my twin. “You need to go.”

“I’ll be out front,” Rogue says climbing out of his seat and trudging around to squeeze my shoulder. “Let me know what we’re doing to fix this before you leave.”

“We’ll talk,” Jason tells him.

“Don’t let Summer come here,” I say as Rogue crosses the room. “I don’t want her here.”

“Do you think I can stop her?” My brother shakes his head.

“I think you’ll make it clear she’s unwelcome,” I mutter.

“Christ.” He clenches his jaw.

“I know.” It’s not what I want either. I don’t want him to have to cement the pain that I inflicted tonight.

He stops before he exits the interview room. “We’re going to find a way to fix this, brother.”

The door shuts behind him and Jason sits down in the newly vacated seat. He’s dressed in his usual suit and tie, but there are bags under his eyes from the late night. His hair sticks up on one side like he’s spent the entire car ride over here tugging on it. He opens his briefcase and pulls out a notepad and pen that he places in front of him on the table. “Okay, why don’t you tell me what happened tonight. You were invited to this event?”

I fold my hands together in front of me. Run my thumb over my swollen knuckles. “I was.”

“Let me get this straight,” Jason says. “Hawthorne threatened you and then he put his hand on your chest and shoved you?”

“That’s exactly what happened. That’s when I lost it.”

“How exactly did he threaten you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Why do you insist on making my job harder than it has to be?” He shakes his head as he puts his pen down on top of his notepad and clasps his hands behind his head while he stretches. After a minute, he leans forward. “I’ve known you since you were eighteen and you’ve pulled some incredibly reckless and sometimes illegal stunts, but there’s something here that you’re not telling me.”

I rotate my jaw. My teeth are practically locked together. “He threatened to hurt Summer to get at me.”

“And Summer is…?” His gaze is direct and observant. I’m pretty sure he’s figured out more than I’ve let on but he patiently continues to ask questions.

“Was my girlfriend.”

“When did you break up?”

“Tonight.”

“Will she be willing to back up your story?”

“No. She doesn’t know the specifics. I don’t want her involved.”

“She could be your best chance.”

“I don’t think so.” I press my lips together. “She didn’t see what happened. She didn’t hear the conversation between me and Hawthorne.”

He taps his fingertips together in front of him while he thinks. “Okay. What did Alec Hawthorne threaten to do to her? Was there anything specific? Did he threaten direct violence or—”

“He threatened to take her to bed.”

“That’s not much of a threat.”

“Against her wishes,” I grind out between my teeth.

A muscle tics in his temple. His gaze heats with anger. “That’s a big allegation. Do you have evidence?”

I fold my arms over my chest and stretch out my legs. Yeah, I’ve got evidence. Memories locked in my head. But Ro made me promise and I don’t betray the people who matter to me. Ever. I brush my thumb along my top lip. “No.”

“Well, it’s not much, but we have something with the physical contact. There’s a possibility we could plead self-defense. It will really depend on what the witnesses say and whether it corroborates your story.”

I snort loudly. Seems unlikely that things will go my way at this point. “What’s the backup plan?”

“Well, we could ask for rehab.” He picks up his briefcase and places it on the table. The latches click when he opens them and lifts the lid. Eyeing me over it, he twitches his nose as he files away his notes. “I can talk to the DA. You’d still have to spend time in a court appointed facility, but that might not be a bad thing. You could be home in a couple of months instead of six to eight.”

“I don’t need rehab. I’m not an alcoholic. I was having a bad night and that prick got in my way.” I’ll lose my contract with Copper Rock if I go to rehab. Who am I kidding? I’m going to lose it anyway. Summer busted her ass to get me that deal. It was the first time I realized she really got me and the first time she let me kiss her. It was the moment I knew I’d do anything to be with her. I might have screwed everything up with her tonight, but I damn well won’t let all the time we spent together be a waste. “There has to be something else.”

Jason shuts the lid on his case. “Why don’t you start from the beginning. Let’s see if we missed something I can use.”