“Can you tell the other three what happened?” Riku asks Ash.
“No! Please don’t.” Somehow, telling the others makes it feel morereal. Like maybe Riku and Ash are right, and I don’t have as much control over this as I thought I did. There’s something there, a truth that I don’t want to acknowledge. If I can truly stop at any time, why should I be afraid of them knowing? I can just prove it to them… Can’t I?
“No, Jacinta. They deserve to know. They want to be in a relationship with you, and you owe it to them to be honest.” Riku is firm, and I can see there’s no point in arguing with him. Fine, I need a target for all this poison bubbling up in me anyway. Screw them both. I thought they cared about me, but now I know the truth. The only people I can really rely on are my family.
Ash opens the car door, and Riku places me on the seat before retrieving my handbag from Ash.
“We’ll see you back at the hotel, yes?”
“Yeah, I’ll leave as soon as I’ve told the others.”
“Don’t bother,” I call out. “I never want to see you again.”
“But what about the engagement? What about my sister?”
“We can pretend in public, but stay away from me otherwise. And Riku, you’re fired.”
Riku snorts. “You’re not my boss. Your father is.”
“Just you wait until I tell him. You won’t last five seconds.” I can feel the old me, the pre-movie premiere me, rise up and take control. Bitchy, insecure, coke high Jacinta is fully in play now, and although there’s a small part of me that’s incredibly ashamed at what is coming out of my mouth, it gets pushed right down. “You’ll never work in the industry again.”
Ash and Riku exchange a glance, and Riku shoves me over, climbing into the back of the car with me.
“We’ll see,” he mutters as Ash closes the door and taps on the roof for the driver. I move as far away from Riku as possible. I just have to survive the trip back to the hotel, then I can raid my stash there.
ChapterTwelve
Ashton
Iwatch the limo drive away with mixed feelings. Sadness for Jacinta, because her head must be really mixed up to have become so dependent on drugs to get through public appearances, but also panic for me because of my grandmother’s threat. I just have to hope she regrets what she said and will follow through on the charade.
It feels wrong to be concerned about myself in the face of this. Addiction is no joke, and with the way Jacinta was behaving, it’s going to take a real slap in the face to make her admit her problem. But what Riku said is playing over in my mind… She’s been using coke to help her get through all these events by my side. Is this partly my fault? If my grandmother marries off my sister, then this was all for nothing. I’ve added to the destruction of a girl I’ve come to truly like and enjoy, and it might all be for fucking nothing.
Sighing, I head back to the party. I don’t even make it back to the guys before Camilla has me cornered. “Lord Ashton, what happened to your new fiancée?”
I plaster on a fake smile. “Jazzy wasn’t feeling very well, unfortunately, so she had her bodyguard take her home.”
Camilla’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “Is there a reason for her not feeling well? Maybe the reason for the quick engagement is that the pitter-patter of little feet could be gracing the Summers’ mansion soon?”
Before I can answer, Shane pushes between us, ignoring the blogger. “Hey, come on, man. We’ve got a bottle of champagne to celebrate.”
“Shane, how do you feel about Ash asking the woman you have been seen out and about with to marry him? Ash used to be hot and heavy with Alex. Surely you two aren’t friends?”
“I can assure you that Ash and I are very much friends, and I couldn’t be happier for him and Jacinta. As for Alex, he’s also thrilled for the couple.” Shane grabs me after giving his sound bite, hustling me away from the barracuda who is most definitely on my grandmother’s payroll.
“Thanks, man,” I say quietly, and he squeezes my arm.
“You looked like you wanted to punch her in the face. I thought that wouldn’t be so good.”
I snort at his dry words. “Ya think?”
“Where are Jacinta and Riku?” he asks, sounding concerned. “I thought we were going to play this up for everyone.”
I scrub my hand through my hair and shake my head. “Fuck, man, it’s all gone so wrong. I had no idea it was so bad.”
Shane frowns and pulls me off to a quiet corner. “What do you mean?”
Before I can answer, Jace and Alex join us. Jace is smiling, but there’s a hint of worry in his eyes. “Hey, what’s going on? We’re waiting to toast you.”
