The curse that slips off my tongue is a reaction to how quickly my hesitation with my feelings has shifted to complete certainty. How did that happen? But the word is also because I’m incredibly attracted to Donovan’s acting skills and wasn’t lying when I said I’m desperate to kiss her. Needing to hold her in my arms is turning into a bone-deep ache that might never go away, and nothing about her walking away feels right.
But my mom is staring at me with poorly hidden satisfaction, so I let all my breath out in a heavy exhale and run a hand down my face. “You knew,” I choke out.
“That’s why I’m here,” Brenda replies. “As soon as I read that story and realized she was using you like your so-called friends have done, I knew I had to come.”
Nothing in that article hinted at Donovan using me, or even that the woman I’m allegedly datingisNova Tate. The article hasn’t even beenlive for an hour, and Brenda told me herself that she lives in California. At bare minimum a two-hour private flight away. She was here already.
Clenching my jaw, I resist the urge to call her out on her bull and explain to her how my friends are some of the best people I know.
I still need to hear from her why she’s doing all of this so I know how to stop her.
“Give us a minute, guys,” I say wearily, looking from Hunter to Janie.
“Are you sure?” Hunter asks at the same time Janie points at her phone where I left it on the couch.
“Out!” I bark, hating my harsh tone as I watch them slip out to the hall. I should give them both a raise. Ten percent at least. Or maybe I’ll just name them as my beneficiaries because there’s a good chance a one-on-one conversation with my mother is going to be the death of me.
As soon as we’re alone, I slowly move to the couch and sink onto it. “I didn’t know you paid attention to stuff like that,” I say, like it’s some grand revelation.
She’s hesitant, but Brenda makes her way across the room and sits on the other end of the couch, her back straight and her fingers fidgety. When she picks up Janie’s phone, still open to theHot Scoopstory, she can’t hide her triumphant sneer, and it takes everything in me not to roll my eyes.
Clearly I did not get my acting talent from my mother.
“I pay attention to everything in your life, Derek.” Her voice is sickly sweet, without a hint of real warmth. “We’ve had our differences in the past, but you’ll always be my son.”
By blood, maybe, but that doesn’t make her a mother. “I don’t know who to trust anymore,” I say, letting my voice waver. “It feels like no matter what I do, everyone around me is out to take advantage of me.”Including you, I don’t add.
She reaches over and puts a hand on my shoulder, and I have to resist the urge to shy away from her touch. “I tried to warn you of the dangersof fame when you were a child, but you wouldn’t let me help you. I understand why you were angry with me back then, but I’ve always been here for you, Derek.”
I scoff. “You wanted to use me like everyone else.”
“I was in a bad place.”
“You seem fine now.” I let my eyes fall to the hand on my shoulder, where the enormous diamond glistens in the sunlight coming through the sheer curtains.
“Yes, well, the heart isn’t always right the first time. Love is complicated. I know you were interested in Nova, but she’s clearly not—”
“Why should I listen to anything you say to me about love after what you did to Dad?” I shift my shoulder away from her hand and furrow my brow as I meet her steely gaze. “You hurt him, and then you blamed me for your divorce. I was akid. And you wonder why I struggle to trust anyone who gets close to me.” At this point, I’m not sure any of this is acting. The pain certainly feels real.
With a heavy sigh, Brenda lets her eyes trail over the article on the phone in her hand. “You’re too good of a man to see what I see, Derek. You’ve let people into your life who are no good for you. It’s not your fault. If that worthless father of yours had actually made an effort to raise you, then maybe—”
“Stop.” I jump to my feet as a flood of emotion ripples over me. This isn’t where the conversation was supposed to go, but the pain in my chest is making it clear that it’s something Ihaveto talk about if I’m going to move forward with my life. “No, he wasn’t a picture perfect parent, but at least he didn’t blame all his problems on me. He didn’t fill me with guilt that followed me for years. He let me forge my own path, and for that I owe him all of this.” I wave my arms around the suite before turning my focus back on the woman in front of me. “So why would I ever trust you when you did the opposite?”
To her credit, Brenda doesn’t cower beneath my question. She sits tall, blue eyes so similar to mine fixed on me as she takes a breath. “Because you have no one else,” she says eventually, her words calm and measured. “Your friends let you fix all their problems for them and have now moved on. Your little river fling hid her real identity from you and is using you to regain the fame she lost. Even your idiotic assistant isn’t loyal to you like you think she is.”
I clench my jaw. Janie’s definitely getting a raise after this. If this is what she’s been dealing with for a year and a half, I’m sending her to an all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas for however long she wants to stay. “You’re lying.”
Brenda shakes her head and holds up Janie’s phone. “I’m not. And if you need proof, it’s all right here. She’s been feedingHollywood Hot Scoopinformation about you and your friends from the moment you hired her.”
Taking a step back, I let the tension in my body waver as I stare at the phone like I already know what horrors I’m going to find. “I don’t believe you.”
“I tried to warn you so many times, but she never let me reach you. And now look at where you are. You have no friends. You can’t date because everyone wants your fame. You can’t even take a vacation without someone trying to use you. You’re alone, and you know it, Derek.”
Nothing she says is true, and yet her words still sting. She really thinks so little of me and my ability to build relationships? She’s either blind or delusional. Or maybe she’s projecting her own issues onto me. I have no idea, but I’m ready for this conversation to be over.
“I have only ever wanted what’s best for you,” Brenda says and slowly rises to her feet. She must have taken my silence as agreement, which is fine by me. “I made a mistake when you were a kid, but I’ve been trying to fix it every day since. You just have to let me in so Ican.”
“How?” I croak.
