“Oh, that’s James,” Brenda added, smiling in the baby’s direction. “He’s just five months old, so unfortunately, when his daddy is at work, he’s gotta come along with me. Milk machine and all.”
“James is no trouble,” Angelo said while pulling faces at the infant. “Are you? You’re just a happy baby who loves his mama, aren’t you?”
Did he just…baby talk?
Brenda chuckled, then turned her attention to me. “Well. I definitely wasn’t expecting you to be pregnant, Billie, so that complicates what I was planning.”
“Spit it out, Brenda. What do you want?” Angelo was terse, to the point, but still snuggling James. It was making my brain short-circuit. At no point in all of this drama did I ever stop and think about Angeloactually being a fucking father.He was a natural, and it was freaking me the hell out.
Brenda didn’t seem offended by his tone; she just flicked him a cursory glance before returning her gaze to me. “Billie, maybe the boys never mentioned me since I was off work and adjusting to life as a new mom—like I still should be if it weren’t for this fucking merger mess—but I’m the manager for Bellerose.”
Oh.
I glanced down at my belly, now understanding her concern. She thought I was carrying a Bellerose baby.
“I see,” I murmured.
Brenda tilted her head to the side. “I’m not sure you do, honey. I came here to ask for your help, but this… this is not going to go down well.” She was talking about my belly again.
I frowned. “I don’t follow. I’m not carrying Rhett’s baby, if that’s the concern. It’s Angelo’s. We have all the medical records if you want to see them to verify. I can understand that it’d be a whole PR mess for the band to have an unplanned pregnancy, but that’s not this. Angelo and I are—”
“That’s not what this is about,” Brenda cut me off. She glanced at Angelo, then sighed. “Bellerose is in a bad way right now. Jace seems to be totally detached from his emotions, which, given your history and current state is kind of understandable. Didn’t you—”
“Yes,” Angelo growled. “Leave it alone, Brenda. Billie and I were both there; we don’t need to revisit ancient history.” Like when I’d told Jace I was leaving him for his best friend, shattering his heart right after he’d signed his recording contract. With Brenda. That now made sense why she was familiar with Angelo, since she’d offered him the same contract back then.
She nodded. “Well, anyway. Flo is on the outs; apparently, she orchestrated some kind of abduction of Billie, which, of course, didn’t happen. Thank goodness. But the boys are holding her accountable anyway.”
It took all my control not to react. As far as Bellerose was concerned, I’d willingly returned to Angelo. But thatwasn’twhat had happened. Ihadbeen abducted that night, stolen away and tortured by Ricci men until Angelo saved me. And now I was finding out thatFlorencewas the one responsible.
Holyshit. I would kill her. I’d fuckingkill her.
Angelo must have read my mind again because he placed a hand on my knee and gave me a little squeeze, grounding me and reminding me of the act we had to maintain. Happy couple.
Brenda was still talking, so I swallowed my rage and focused on what she was saying. “…and Rhett is one overdose away from being involuntarily admitted into rehab. That boy is all kinds of messed up, and I have no idea what to do to help him. Actually, that’s not true; Ihadan idea but now… not so much.” Another pointed look at my belly.
I wet my lips, grasping onto what she was saying. “Rhett… why is he so bad? I didn’t… I mean, we were together but not serious. And not for long. Surely, I didn’t…” Was I to blame?
Brenda shook her head. “It’s not on you, Billie. It’s on him and his long-term refusal to seek professional help. I read the blog post about how you two met, so you already know about his white-knight impulses. That’s all baggage from his childhood, and something recently has triggered a spiral.”
“If I was to speculate,” Angelo murmured, rocking James as the little dude’s eyes drifted shut, “I’d say that Billie leaving him to return to, in his opinion, an abusive relationship has triggered his memory of his own mother choosing to stay with her abuser rather than escape with her son.”
My jaw dropped, and Brenda sighed. “Really, Angelo?”
The tattoo-covered mafia heir just shrugged. “I also read the blogs, Brenda. I know what’s going on.”
She made an irritated sound, her brows drawn tight. “Well, regardless. My job is to fix the band and ensure they produce their contractually bound album. Which they can’t do if Rhett is locked up in rehab, or worse.”
Dead. She meant dead. Was hethatbad? Fuck me, I felt awful for my part in that.
“Wait, what blogs? You both mentioned blogs. What am I missing here?” I frowned, glancing between them both.
Brenda just arched a brow at Angelo, who sighed. “It’s a gossip blog,” he told me. “They’ve been causing a bit of drama for the entertainment industry for the past year or so, but recently the full focus seems to be on Bellerose. And you.”
“Me?” I squeaked, panic flooding through me. “Why? Wait, just show me.”
I didn’t have a phone of my own—prisoner, remember? So I needed Angelo’s. He exchanged a long look with Brenda, then reluctantly handed it over.
“It’s calledThe Dirty Truths,” Brenda helpfully informed me, and I navigated to the blog site in question.
