“Whoops.” She giggles, and I’m about to laugh too when I notice something.
“Shit, Jacinta, your nose is bleeding.”
“What?” Her hands fly up just in time to stop the drop of blood from dripping onto her dress. She catches it on her finger and stares at it.
I dig around in my pocket, knowing I’ve got a lens cleaning cloth she can use. Pulling it out, I hand it to her, and she dabs daintily at her nose. Riku has now joined us, and he’s staring at the blood on the cloth. There’s something on his face that says there’s deeper meaning to this, something that catches my eye.
“I guess all the stress is getting to me,” she says faintly, pinching her nose. “I’m going to see if Nana has a wet wipe. She usually does. Good luck tonight, Shane.” She kisses me on the cheek and rushes away before either of us can say anything.
“Is that normal?” I quietly ask the silent bodyguard as we track her path to her seat.
He grunts. “No. Not that I’ve noticed.”
“You really think it’s the stress?” I ask, pushing a little. I can see that he’s weighing something in his mind.
“No, I think she’s using. I’ve suspected it for some time.” He lowers his voice so that only the two of us can hear.
“Coke?” I ask, and he nods.
“Yeah. Every time she has to appear in public, it’s like there’s a personality change. She dreads it and worries, then all of a sudden, she’s the happy life of the party. You’ve known her longer than I have. Have you noticed anything off?”
I quickly shake my head. “No, I never would have suspected her of being on the gear. She’s never displayed that kind of behavior before. In fact, her company policy says that anyone caught using during a show will never be hired again.”
“She really wasn’t happy about this plan of Cole’s, but she agreed to do it because she’ll do anything for her family. Hope was shocked when she discovered Jacinta agreed,” Riku shares with me.
“Jacinta has always been a homebody, preferring her books and horses to parties. But you’re right. If he played it so that she was helping her family, she would do just about anything. I bet she’s also racked with guilt about what happened to Jax and Harlow.”
“Yes, she told me she felt useless.” Riku’s words confirm what I had expected.
“Well, if her nose is damaged, she’s been relying on it to get through all the public appearances. Has she been speaking to her therapist?” I ask him, and he yanks on his ponytail in frustration, huffing.
“She says she is, but I very much doubt it.”
“Alright, so what do we need? An intervention?” I ask, trying to come up with some way to help her.
“Addicts don’t like to be confronted, but it’s usually the best thing for them.” He sounds like he’s speaking from experience, but I don’t push for answers about it yet. He’ll share when he’s ready.
Spotlights illuminate both the staircases and the balcony, interrupting our conversation. The emcee for the night steps out, and the crowd hushes as he starts to introduce Jace’s line.
“Shit, I’ll talk to you after, okay? Just watch her.” I push my way back into the middle of the crowd of photographers. I want to be in the right place to take the best photos I can for Jace’s first show. Unfortunately, I don’t think this situation with Jacinta and the drugs is going away that easily, so, right now, I need to focus on what I can control.
As the music starts to pump out of the speakers, Riku makes his way back to where Jacinta is sitting. She’s in one of the back rows, so he stands directly behind her. She startles slightly at the heat of him at her back, but she relaxes when she realizes it’s him. He puts his hand on her shoulder, and she leans her head against it. It all happens so quickly that no one would have noticed unless you had been staring at them like I had. Riku may be the best person to help her at this stage.
ChapterEight
Jacinta
Jace’s debut show is a hit. The designs are gorgeous, and everyone raves about them at the afterparty. The coke I stole from the models is long gone by the time I stumble into bed. I got another nosebleed while I was dancing with Alex, and his eyes narrowed with suspicion, so I feigned exhaustion and took myself off to bed.
I wake up the next morning with only Riku in my bed. I’d still been pissed with Ash and locked the door between our rooms. I feel a little guilty about it now because I know he was just looking out for me, but still. There have been a lot of things outside my control lately, or rather, throughout my entire life. For someone else to try to take this away from me, decide when I need a little help to get by… It just wasn’t his place to comment or his decision to make.
We return to LA with the rest of the family on the big plane after breakfast. The crew had worked hard to dismantle the show, and all the clothing racks had been delivered to the plane while we’d partied and slept. There’s a subdued attitude on the plane, everyone having had too much to drink or not enough sleep from the previous night. Most of the men retire to the theater to watch a movie, but Dad and Poppy stick with the rest of us in the lounge area.
“Those babies in there better be girls,” Hope grumbles, her arm covering her eyes as she lays across a couch. “I’m so sick of all the testosterone in this family.”
“Hey,” Dad complains even though he has a grin a mile wide. It’s what always happens when the subject of the babies comes up.
“Present company excluded.” Hope lifts her arm and blows Dad a kiss. “You and Poppy are always the exception.”
