Rock Star's Ballad (White Mist Series Book 3) (15 page)

“Okay,” she whispered.

Johnny visibly relaxed and pressed a kiss on her palm. “Thank you.”

Johnny released her hand and brought her a cup of coffee. She sipped from it and avoided his eyes. They just crossed a line and there was no going back.
 

“Your dad should have seen through that prick,” Johnny said after several minutes of silence.
 

“He thought I could do better,” Demi said with a sad smile.
 

“Talk to me, Demi,” Johnny said with quiet demand.
 

Demi looked into his eyes and swallowed hard. It hit her all at once that no matter what happened from this point on, Johnny would be there. He wouldn’t let her cast him aside or ignore him. He was focused exclusively on her and no matter how long that lasted, after yesterday, she owed him the truth. Her insides quivered as stress, sorrow and residual fear stirred inside of her. Demi rose and wandered over to the massive couch and sat in the corner, legs folded Indian style. Johnny followed and handed over her coffee as he settled with his eyes trained on her face. She took the coffee so her hands could grip something.

“I worked for Ashton Hotels, no surprise there. I started dating Barry a year before the plane accident.” She mentally braced herself and continued, “We were going on a family vacation and I stayed behind to have an extra day with Barry. I was supposed to fly out the next day. I was in a restaurant when I got the call.” She could still remember what she was eating—a hot roast beef sandwich. She couldn’t comprehend what the person on the other end of the line was saying. Accidents happened, but there had to be a mistake. It couldn’t be her dad’s private plane that went down… “The plane had an engine malfunction. There were no survivors.”
 

Johnny reached out, but she shook her head and pressed back into the couch cushions. She wouldn’t be able to talk if he touched her. His hand retracted. She was used to the gut wrenching pain, but today it seemed sharper than normal. Ever since the plane crash, she felt as if she were walking around with a bleeding heart. Why couldn’t anyone see she was dying right in front of them? How did anyone deal with loss? It was tearing her up from the inside out.
 

“Barry took advantage of the media storm to announce our engagement,” she said tonelessly and wondered why she never saw him for the scum he was. “He never asked me, he just announced it in the midst of all this tragedy to ‘lift my spirits’ and ‘have something to look forward to.’”

Johnny’s incredulity was a balm to her outrage.
 

“I was too focused on the hotel and keeping myself together to care about the engagement. Barry was always there for me and after I lost my family his presence was comforting.” She couldn’t connect the man who tackled her to the ground with the man she lived with for a year. Her hands flexed around the coffee mug and she stared into the dark liquid. “Teddy and my dad were running the hotel and once the accident happened, I had to step into their shoes. I learned that the hotel was in debt, a fact that no one ever mentioned to me.”

Johnny leaned forward, face a blank slate, waiting for her to finish the story.
 

“I focused on getting everything back on track, but all of a sudden the banks were demanding the money and I didn’t have it. Barry offered to pay them off, but I didn’t want his help.” She resisted the urge to hurl the mug across the room. “The banks wouldn’t negotiate with me. At the same time, I was told that someone was trying to buy the hotel. Everything was crumbling around me. I worked longer hours and hustled to pay off the debt and negotiate with the buyer who wouldn’t reveal himself.” Little ripples appeared in the coffee as her hand trembled. “The Ashton Hotel was all I had left of my family and I lost it.”
 

“Baby—” Johnny tried to reach out, but the look on her face stopped him.
 

“On top of the fact that I lost my family legacy, I was let go. The day of your concert was my last day. I went to work, said goodbye to the employees and sat at a cafe, wondering what my next move would be. I had no job, no family, nothing. One of my dad’s friends was passing by and sat with me.”

“And?” Johnny prodded when she stopped.
 

Demi raised her eyes to his and the cold rage shinning from them made Johnny freeze.
 

“He told me Barry called in my dad’s debts and that he was the new owner of The Ashton Hotel.”

“He what?” Johnny asked without comprehension.

Her insides twisted. The same horrible taste of betrayal and disbelief she felt that day engulfed her. “I was trying to decide what to do and these people were selling your ticket. I planned to buy a car and just go on the road after I saw you. You know the rest.”
 

“Why’d he do it?” Johnny asked, watching her like a ticking bomb.
 

“Barry said I chose work over him,” she said in a flat voice. “I wouldn’t set a date for the wedding and I was too obsessed with the hotel so he took it away from me.”

“Fuck.”

“He said he loved me.” She should have punched or bit him. “He actually thought he could force me to go back to New York and that I’d ignore what he did. He was so rational. Why didn’t I realize something was wrong with our relationship?”

“You were trying to cope and he took advantage of your vulnerability.”

She got to her feet and paced with the ‘unicorns are the shit’ cup. “I felt indebted to Barry for being there for me when I had no one. He was patient and kind. He asked me to move in and I couldn’t go back to my parent’s empty penthouse, so I did it.” She made a sound like an angry cat. “I should have kneed him in the balls yesterday. I should have clawed his face. Why didn’t I?”

“You were in shock.”

“That’s a bad excuse,” she said darkly.
 

“Demi.”

“How dare he say he loves me? If he loved me, he wouldn’t have taken the only thing I care about!” she shouted.
 

“Demi.” Johnny appeared in front of her, set the cup aside and braced his hands on her shoulders. “Did you ever talk to your father about taking over the hotel?”

She stared at him. “What?”

“Did you ever talk to him about taking it over?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just answer me.”

“No, we never talked about me taking over.”

His hands squeezed lightly. “You never wanted to run the hotel.”

“What?”

“You never wanted to be at the head. You were content to be behind the scenes and your dad knew it.” When she opened her mouth, he shook her. “You cared about The Ashton Hotel
because your family means more to you than anything else and that hotel is part of your family. Demi, baby, that hotel is
not
your family.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Why are you saying this?”

“Were you happy?”

“Of course not! I lost my family!” She tried to get away from him, but he wasn’t finished.
 

“You made yourself miserable trying to keep the hotel going. If that asshole hadn’t interfered, you might have been successful, but you would never be happy filling your dad’s shoes.”

His words made her stare. “How do you know that?”

“You went into the hotel business because you wanted to make your dad happy, but you have your mother’s heart. I know you, Demi, better than I know myself. Let it go.”

“I can’t,” she breathed.
 

“Let it go.”

“No!”

She tried to shove away, but he caught her up in his arms. She fought like a wildcat, completely out of control as the wall between paralyzing grief and her will to survive crumbled.
 

“Johnny, let me go!” she yelled.
 

Johnny sat on the couch and cradled her on his lap. She stared up at him through a film of tears and heard his voice speaking softly to her. She shook her head as her chest quaked with the need to rage, to scream, to cry.
 

“Let me go,” she pleaded, voice cracking.
 

He buried his face in her hair. “I never could.”

She shoved at him, but he grabbed her hands and tucked them up against his chest. She was awash in pain. She wanted to grieve in private, but he wouldn’t allow it. Ever since the plane crash, she became encased in a cocoon of misery, denial and heartache. She mourned her family everyday, but never put them to rest. She clutched at Johnny, crying for the family she loved more than herself, that she sacrificed Johnny for and lost in a split second. She went from being one of five kids with two parents to an orphan. She had no other living relatives, which left the door open to psychos like Barry who sensed her weakness and pounced.
 

Johnny settled them on the couch and rocked her while she grieved. When the storm passed, Demi was exhausted. Johnny brought her something to eat so she could take more pain killers. He fed her like a little child and she was in too much pain to care that she probably looked like a nightmare. She settled on the couch and heard her phone ring and then Johnny’s voice.
 

“She’s okay, Regan. No, I got it.” A pause and then, “I can cook!”

Demi’s mouth twitched as she buried her face against a pillow. Johnny walked away and continued to argue with Regan in a hissed whisper. She was about to drift off when her feet were lifted. She cracked open one eye as Johnny placed her feet on his lap. He turned on the TV and began to knead the soles of her feet.
 

Demi fell asleep less than a minute later.
 

***

Demi jolted to a sitting position on the couch, her hands pressed against her chest. She was covered in cold sweat and her mouth opened to scream before she got a hold of herself. She was in Johnny’s house, not Barry’s penthouse in New York. She had a vivid nightmare of Barry screaming he loved her as he shot down the plane carrying her family. Demi ran her hands over her face and took a deep, bracing breath and looked around.
 

It was late afternoon and the front door was open. Demi stared, struck with panic and then leapt from the couch to close it. In the entrance, she paused. Johnny and about ten boys played basketball in the street. One boy hung from Johnny’s back and two were wrapped around his legs. This didn’t deter Johnny from lining up his shot and making it. The resulting groans were drowned out by Johnny’s cheering. The nightmare about Barry disappeared as neighbors cheered from their porches and called out advice.
 

A couple strolled down the street, pushing a stroller. The woman looked up and noticed Demi standing there and rushed over. It wasn’t until she came closer that Demi realized it was Regan.
 

“You okay?” Regan asked, giving her a gentle hug.
 

“Yes, I… I just woke up and the door was open.”

“This is one of Johnny’s rituals. The mothers love him since he keeps the kids busy,” Regan said with a smile and then sobered. “I want you to take at least three days, maybe more. I can run things at Ever After for now.”

“But—”

“No, take time. You’ve probably been in work mode for years. Even when you arrived, I made you work the next day.” Regan shook her head. “Take time off and just relax.”

“But I can—”

“Demi.” Regan held up a hand and Demi stopped talking. “If you don’t take it easy, I’m going to tell Johnny to get creative with you.”

Demi gave her a long look and then shrugged. “I guess I can take a couple of days. I feel like I could sleep for a month.”

“I know the feeling. If you need to talk, call me.” She started to walk away and called back, “Oh, and my mom stuffed the freezer with meals. Just heat them up. Directions are written on the foil.”

Brooks waved at Demi and she waved back and headed into the kitchen. She was hungry and she really needed a bath. Sure enough, she found six pans and wondered when Valerie found the time to do this. She definitely had to remember to thank Regan’s mom. She pulled out a chicken casserole, turned on the oven, set the timer and slowly made her way upstairs. She took a long shower and was in front of the mirror brushing her hair when the door opened. She let out an outraged squawk as Johnny came in, covered in a sweat soaked shirt. The towel wasn’t quite big enough to wrap around her body so she had the edges tucked under her armpit and a sliver of her bare hip peeked out.

“Johnny!” she yelled and brandished her hairbrush like a knife. “Get out!”

“You’re okay? I’m supposed to be around when you shower just in case you fall or get dizzy.”

“I’m fine,” she said shortly, feeling exposed and very self conscious. “Let me get dressed.”

Johnny seemed to realize that she was only wearing a towel and it was a bit too small for her body. She saw his lips twitch and glared. Johnny dropped a quick kiss on her lips and backed out, closing the door behind him. She stared at the closed door and brushed her finger over her tingling lips and locked the door before she dressed in a baby blue nightgown and robe. When she opened the door, Johnny was there, waiting.
 

“How are you feeling?” he asked.
 

“A little achy,” she admitted. The cuts on her arms and legs stung in the shower and she had a pounding headache, but she would deal.

“Let’s get you downstairs,” he said and led her out onto the landing and then down the staircase. He settled her on the couch and handed her the remote. “The casserole will be done in fifteen minutes. I’m going to take a shower and then we’ll eat.”

She stared up at him and then nodded. She watched him jog upstairs and turned on the TV and stared blindly at it while she tried to figure out how she ended up with Johnny as a roommate/nurse. She was always so busy trying to put everything in its place, with fixing things and now… There was nothing to fix, nowhere to be except right here with Johnny. Her mind skimmed over the events with Barry and she tensed. How could she not have realized he was such a creep? She found herself looking down at her cuts and jolted when Johnny jumped the last five stairs.