Stella

“Do you know how insane that sounds?” Jet says, walking the length of the couch and then back again. “You can’t do this alone, Stella.”

“I can’t do this with a group of celebrities.” Waving my hands around, I’m dumbfounded how they think they’ll go unnoticed. “You can’t even walk outside without being attacked by groupies. How do you expect to walk into a school unnoticed?” I snort and then begin to stutter as these sex symbols stare at me. “Have you seen you? There’s nothing normal about this—visually—like all of you together . . . like this . . . separately or together.” I scoff and roll my eyes, muttering under my breath, “I mean, really, you’re a band of musicians, not vigilantes.” I stand from the couch. “I need to do this alone. I have the key card to get through security, and if Judy’s there, she’ll let me wait in Brian’s office.”

“No.” Rivers nixes the idea as soon as I say it.

Johnny’s large suite is starting to feel small with all these bodies packed in the living room. Somehow, my fate is a group debate. I’m both touched and overwhelmed. Tommy says, “If this Teller guy is the bad cop, maybe Suthers is the good cop. Should we talk to him?”

Dex leans forward. “What if they’re both bad? We have security on standby. I’m with Rivers. I think everything that’s been suggested is a bad idea. I wouldn’t let Rochelle go near danger much less walk into it alone.”

Rivers, who is leaning against the windowsill, asks, “Why are we even discussing this like we have options?”

“Because we have options right now,” I say, hoping he’ll see the only opportunity we have. “If we wait too long, we won’t.”

Johnny says, “We can’t do this. This is dangerous. I’ve lost one brother. I’m not willing to lose any of you. Let’s get on the phone and talk to our attorneys to see what legal options we have.”

Dex adds, “Stella is one of us. If she’s threatened, we’re all threatened.” While I become a puddle of goo under his sweetness, he looks at Johnny. “I don’t see what a bunch lawyers are going to do about dirty cops.”

Standing up, Johnny shakes his head while rubbing his hand through his hair. “If I had a choice, Cory would be alive. If I have to make the same choice regarding any of you, I choose life as well. This isn’t some Scooby-Doo caper. This is real shit that can end any of us.” He walks toward his room. “Everyone will have security detail until further notice.” The bedroom door slams closed, and silence spreads like a fog after his final word.

I don’t know who to look at for a follow-up to that. Tommy stands and messes with his phone in his hand, giving Dex a look that only they understand. He then says, “He’s right. We need to keep this legal and more importantly, safe. I’m going to my room.”

As soon as he leaves, Dex says, “And people call me the moody one.”

Meadow chimes in, giggling, “Johnny’s more broody.”

When Dex stands up, he says, “I don’t know what that means.”

She shrugs. “It’s a girl thing.”

He nods and heads for the door. “I’m catching a flight tonight. One of my kids won their division in the science fair, and I promised him I’d be there for the awards ceremony.” Before he walks out, he adds, “We have schools in LA if you’re considering moving out west. I’m happy to put in a good word for you.” I’m taken aback by his kindness and left speechless while holding my hands over my chest. “If you need anything, Rivers has my number.”

“Thank you.”

Meadow stands, holding Ridge’s hand. “We’re going back to our room. Call me later.”

Tulsa says, “Guess that’s our cue.” He comes to me, and when I stand to move toward the door, he gives me a hug. “It may not feel like it, but you made the right decision.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t feel like it.”

His low laugh makes me smile. Moving toward the door, he says, “I’d tell you to take care of yourself and Rivers but taking care of yourself is taking care of my brother. Remember that, okay?” He taps my nose. “Boop.” Calling over my shoulder, he nods for Jet to go. “We’re out of here. Call us later, Riv.” He shakes his hand and then pulls him in for a one-armed bro-hug.

We all walk out together, but we turn right to go to our suite as they turn left.

Once we’re inside, Rivers says, “We have the entire floor reserved for our group. Guards at the elevators and exits. You’re safe here. I want to keep it that way.”

Kicking my flip-flops off, I can’t hide my sarcasm, “How long will we be on hotel arrest? One week? A month? Maybe a year or two?”

“You can make fun all you want, but at least you’re alive doing it.” He moves toward the large windows where the sunset shines in, turning the room a golden hue.

He’s a stunning, beautiful man basking in the light. His heart may be heavy, but he’s still breathtaking in his anger. He turns around, his face silhouetted in shadow. “Let’s get married.”

I laugh, not able to take this seriously, not because I don’t think he means it, but because it’s not the time, and he knows it. “Is this how you always dreamed of asking me?”

“No, but none of that matters. I just want to be your husband and for you to be my wife. I can’t care about what others think or will say—”

“They’ll say I’m pregnant. I’ve seen how it plays out. I’ll be cast as the villain who trapped you with a child. Is that how you want us to start our marriage?”

Walking to me, he holds me by the arms. “No, but I still want you. Knowing what you’ve been through, what you endured, and then seeing how you love me so unequivocally despite it all, I’m not deserving. So my motives are selfish. I’m definitely dating above my pay grade.”

Slipping into his arms, my most favorite place to be in the whole world, I ask, “How is one of the most famous musicians in the world in love with such a troubled but simple girl?”

“There’s nothing simple about you or us. Like our love, you’re worth fighting for.”

He’s worth fighting for too. I was wrong five years ago when I didn’t do that. But now? Now there is only one way I know how to fight, to protect the life I plan to live with Rivers.

But he also makes this so damn hard, almost painful to go through with. I just can’t sit around waiting for a lawyer or a hired detective to do their work while these monsters continue to terrorize Meadow, me, and who knows how many countless others. I can’t involve these amazing men who are a vital part of Rivers’s life. His brothers have families now, and I don’t know how far Baird’s reach actually is. Will he go after them next?

I won’t live my life looking over my shoulder for the boogeyman. He has to be stopped, and I know what I have to do. My mind is made up.

Resting my chin on his chest, I say, “Always remember I love you.”

“I don’t know what you’re planning, but I see the cogs turning in your eyes, and I’m pleading with you, Stella, not only to you as the person who owns me, but as the caretaker of my heart. Don’t do anything you know you shouldn’t to be the hero. I can’t . . . I can’t lose you.”

I hide my eyes from him and rest my ear to his chest, listening to his usually steady heartbeat quicken. “Always.”

* * *

Rivers fell asleep after mentioning not once or twice, but four times how our floor is a fortress. There’s no getting on or off it without security knowing. With that in mind, and wearing black yoga pants and shirt, and sneakers the hotel had sent on request, I check my phone. It’s time. I kiss him on the cheek and walk right out of the hotel suite.

Working on a wing and a prayer, I walk straight to the elevators where three men dressed like secret service sans the sunglasses sit in chairs. One stands when I approach. “Ms. Fellowes.”

Interesting. He knows who I am. “Hi.” I reach to push the button, but he sidesteps to block it. “I’m sorry. Unless we send someone with you, we’ve been instructed not to let anyone on or off the floor.”

“No biggie. Who’s coming with me?”

Another guy, bigger, broader, blonder stands. “I will.” Reaching forward, he says, “I’m Looty.”

“Looty? That’s unique.”

“My past caught up to me.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I know the feeling.” The lead takes the vacated seat, and I press the button after he leaves.

“Where are we going, Ms. Fellowes?”

The elevator door opens, and I step inside. When he joins me and the door closes, I press the parking garage level and reply, “On an adventure.”

“My apologies, Ms. Fellowes, but I need to make a quick call upstairs to inform our bosses that you’re leaving the premises.”

“Inform them?”

“Yes, I have to let them know.”

“Let them,” I say, pitching my tone up an octave until I hit that perfect note of insanity. “I am not anyone’s property.” I poke him hard in the chest, which actually hurts my fingertip. “You are not my boss and no one owns me.”

“Ma’am, I didn’t mean to offend you. I wasn’t inferring that anyone owns you like property. This is our protoc—”

The door slides open and I see my target, dashing out as soon as he looks down. I practically dive into the car and lock the door. “Go. Go. Go.”

The driver hits the gas, leaving skid marks on the parking garage floor. Looty barely hits the car before we’re too far-gone. Turning back, he’s on his phone with his other hand raised into the air.

The driver makes eye contact through the rearview mirror. “Stella?”

Checking my phone, I see my driver’s name and look up again. “Topher?”

“Yes,” he says, seeming to relax. “What was that about?”

Rolling my eyes, I wave my hand. “Crazy ex.”

“Ugh. I have a few of those.” When his car tells him to take a right, he confirms, “Rostinal Academy, right?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“It’s a bit early for a school visit.”

It’s really none of his business what I’m doing no matter if it’s three p.m. or three a.m., but since he’s mentioned it, it would be suspicious if I didn’t say something. “I work there. I’m a teacher. Midterms start tomorrow and my printer at home isn’t working. I have to be ready when the students walk in, so it will be a long night, but I refuse not to be prepared.”

“That sucks. Do you like teaching?”

“Love it,” I lie. Then I pretend to play on my phone, so he leaves me alone.

When he pulls into the parking lot, he asks, “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

The kindness of strangers is never lost on me. “I’ll be fine. Thank you.” I get out and send a bonus tip and give him the highest rating as I walk to the back door. Digging into the secret pocket of the pants, I pull out my key card and hold it to the security pad. The door unlocks, and I’m in.

The school is highly secure. Every camera in the place will show I’ve been here, but I don’t care. I’m hoping to be in and out before the alarm company calls. By the time I enter the front office, though, I realize I’m not fast enough. I answer to keep them at bay. “This is Safe Haven Security, can you please identify yourself.”

“Sorry for the late-night visit,” I start feeding the same midterm lie to this guy. “Stella Fellowes. 569 is my security clearance. I used my card to get in.”

“I’m scanning the list. Yes, you’re right here. You have clearance. Thank you, Ms. Fellowes, and have a safe night.”

I hang up and rush to my classroom to get the universal key I was given last week to meet with the dance committee in the gymnasium at night. Grabbing it out of the back of my filing cabinet, I lock my drawers again and head back to the first floor.

If my suspicions are correct about the money, I need that check as evidence. It will be the key to everything. I’m either right, and this will put them all away, or wrong and back where I started no safer than I was hours ago. It’s worth the risk.

After unlocking the door to the front office, I rush to Brian’s office. I’m quick to learn that the key doesn’t work on his door. I’m not surprised, but I have other tricks up my sleeve.

I pull the key card from my pocket and leverage it into the small space between the door and the frame. It’s an interior door so the lock should be fairly easy to pop. When the doorknob turns, and I push it open, I’m shocked how a few online videos I watched this afternoon can teach anybody anything. I still feel guilty for asking Rivers not to join me in the bath, but I knew it was the only time he’d be okay with me being alone. Safe.

I rush to his desk and pull the drawers open, rummaging through the files and eliminating them by name first before going through each one. Not that he’ll have a file labeled donations for illegal activity, but it’s worth a search for something that stands out.

I turn to the file cabinet in the corner and pull the handle, but it doesn’t open. Damn it. It’s locked.

The light comes on, and I spin around. Busted. “Brian?”

“What are you doing here, Stella?”

“I, um.” The lie I told the last two guys comes to mind, but he knows better. “How did you know I was here?”

Holding his phone up, he says, “Alarm company. They have to call me as part of the procedure we have in place.”

Shit.

“Stella,” he starts as he comes closer. Sitting on the other side of the desk where the students sent to see him usually sit, he continues, “I think we got off track with our friendship. Ever since your friend came into the picture, we seem to have lost what we once had.”

Still standing where he found me, I eye the desk for anything that will help fend him off to give me a chance to run if needed. I know it will be needed, but my head is playing mind games, toying with the idea that I have a chance to actually get out of this situation alive. “What did we have, Brian?”

“I liked you.”

Past tense. “And now?”

He seems to relax under my scrutiny, and a grin appears. “I still like you. I think the sparks we had still exist. Even though Baird’s sullied you, I’d still take you.”

Oh God. I’m going to be sick. He’s not just delusional.

He’s dangerous.

Very, very dangerous.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.” With my thumb, I try to call for help.

Darkness spreads over the lightness of his irises, and he stands. “You push another button on that phone, and I’ll kill you right here, and then I’ll kill your sister and your father and your boyfriend. Although, Josh has behaved himself, so I think I’ll give him your sister to play with first. No doubt your father will love watching that.”

The pulled together principal is gone. The upstanding detective is nowhere to be found as hate fills his expression. “Phone on the desk. Now.”

There’s no room to fight this, and I’ll never make it to the door behind him, so I set my phone on the desk between us. With nothing left to lose, I ask, “Did you know I was the daughter of one of your debtors? Did you target him or me first?”

His eyes never leave mine when he angles his head down. The knuckles of his hands whiten as he grips the arms of the chair. “Brown found a bunch of low-level gamblers who felt like bigshots tossing five-dollar chips around like they were a grand. They were easy prey. So easy. I used to run a successful bookie business when I first came out of the police academy. With the connections I made through arrests, I was making money hand over fist.”

“How did you end up working for that monster if you were so successful?”

“I discovered when you swim with sharks, you attract whales. Like you, I had no choice. Conrad Baird has bought and paid for half the police force. How do you think I got assigned to his case? Why do you think no charges have been filed after years?”

“And Suthers?”

“No,” he says, laughing. “Somehow, that sap still thinks he can change things.” He chuckles, and it sounds positively evil. How did I think this man was good at heart? “And for the record, I thought I was doing your family a favor by offering you a job. As soon as you graduated, you had a paycheck.” Shaking his head, he says, “When your dad drinks, he brags. He used to brag about you, so fucking proud of his daughters. I was the good guy. I was trying to help you and your family out from under the fucking mess your father created.” He believes he’s still the good guy? Oh shit. He’s more than delusional.

He sits forward, resting his elbows on his legs while rubbing his hands together. “Your dad wasn’t safe until Baird laid eyes on you. You should have never gone with him to sign over the house. Once he heard about you, he didn’t care about your father. He didn’t care about the debt. He saw something he could make more money off than a three bedroom on the wrong side of the tracks.”

“Me.” My chest hurts, breathing getting harder in the stifling room. “Is that what you’re saying? That you didn’t know when I was taken to him?”

“No. Not until after. I found out through Brown. You still showed up at school the next day, acting like nothing happened.” A grin begins at one corner and then slides onto the other side of his mouth. “Your bravery is to be admired.”

I wasn’t brave. I was broken. But I’ll never give him the satisfaction of seeing that side of me. Trying to find the man I once thought I knew, I ask, “Was the money worth it?”

“Worth what?”

“My life?” I try to be brave, but I’m terrified, and it was heard in my shaking voice. Standing up, he keeps his eyes on me but doesn’t answer. I guess that man is long gone. “Now what?” I ask, dreading the answer because I know how this story ends. He’s confessed his sins. There’s nowhere to go but down from here.

“Unfortunately, we go for a car ride.”