“Shannon,” Jace said before his father could reply. “You’re not like that. You’d never do something so shady to me. I know you wouldn’t.”
“Exactly,” his dad agreed.
“But you think Roan would? That man is the sweetest person I know. He would never—”
“He’s also, unfortunately, in love with you,” Jay stated, and I stared at him in such utter shock that my mouth fell open. I was momentarily lost for words.
“That’s … that’s ridiculous. Roan and I have a friendship. We always have, but it isn’t romantic.”
“Tell me, Shannon, in all the years you’ve known me, have I ever been wrong?” The question was confronting even while he kept his tone gentle.
I frowned because, honestly, he hadn’t, but still, the idea of Roan being in love with me was preposterous.
“Look at the painting he did of you, Shannon,” Jace added. “It’s evidence enough.”
“But that was just …” I trailed off, flustered as my brain tried to make sense of someone I’d considered a friend for many years harbouring a secret love. I tried to set it aside and focus on the main subject at hand, but it was just too jarring.
“So, you suspect that because Roan’s supposedly in love with me, he’s pretending to be Jace online? How does that make sense?”
“You were married to Jace,” Jay replied softly. “You were in love with him. Sometimes people wish to be the person the object of their desire truly wants.”
His statement made me bristle with self-consciousness. My gaze went to Jace briefly, and when I found him already watching me, I swiftly looked away. He was no longer the object of my desire, but to be reminded of how much we once meant to one another was upsetting.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat and soldiered on, “That’s a little farfetched, but okay, even if Roan is a legitimate suspect, how do you reason in Elias, Kami, and Angus? They’re Jace’s bandmates. The four of them have been through so much together. Plus, Angus is practically a brother to Jace. It couldn’t possibly be any of them.”
Even though there was no love lost between Kami, Angus, and me, I knew that they adored Jace. They’d never do anything to hurt him.
“It’s not that they’re particularly suspicious or have cause to do such a thing,” Matilda said as she and Jay shared a look. “It’s simply that we can’t rule them out at this point.”
“Exactly,” Jay agreed.
“This is such bullshit,” Jace muttered under his breath. His dad shot him an arch look, and Jace shook his head, vaguely apologetic before he asked, “So, what other stuff did she know about me?”
His father exhaled a heavy sigh. “She knew about your drug problem, which isn’t public knowledge. The catfish seems to have used your addiction to solicit sympathy from Alison during their chats. She also knew that Roan and Elias are brothers, which was how she knew to check out Roan’s Instagram account, where details of tonight’s event were shared. She actually wasn’t expecting to find you here. She thought you were still in hospitalin Japan, so she planned to find Roan and ask him for an update on your wellbeing.”
“I need to call Angelica,” Jace said, shifting forward as he finally let go of my hand. It was a relief because I couldn’t be his life raft in this situation, no matter how much my heart yearned to comfort him. Far better that he call his manager and get her to handle things. “I’ll ask her advice on how to approach this. I might need to put up a post or a video letting the fans know there’s someone out there impersonating me, and that if anyone’s been having an online relationship with me, they’re being conned.”
“Good idea,” his mother agreed. “It might also be prudent to have Isla and Dixon come watch over you, just in case there are others out there who might try to approach you in public like Alison did.”
Isla and Dixon were part of Astro’s security team when they were on tour. The band members didn’t normally need security when they were home in Ireland because we didn’t have a big paparazzi culture. Also, their fanbase here wasn’t as ravenous. People were used to seeing them about, so they weren’t such a hot commodity.
“I can talk to Angelica for you,” his dad offered, pulling out his phone as he headed for the door. “Give her the rundown.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Jace nodded.
“I’ll go check on the others,” Matilda added, glancing between the two of us before she left with Jay.
Then I was alone with my ex-husband, and goosebumps tingled on my palm from holding his hand for so long. I contemplated how truly easy it was to get sucked back into his orbit. It was especially tough because I’d always been drawn to comfort him during times of sadness or stress. When his old bandmate, Cai, had died in a car accident that they were both involved in, I truly felt like Zara and I were the onlything keeping Jace afloat. But we still hadn’t been enough. He’d turned to drugs as a secret way to cope.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, and his eyes fell on me, looking conflicted and stressed and just generally confused. It was a lot to have fall on you in one night.
“I feel … I don’t know. This entire situation is fucked.” He dragged a hand through his hair, and I fought the instinct to reach out and rub soothing circles into his back. I managed to resist, thankfully, because touching him would only lead to me losing more of my ability to remain unemotionally involved.
“I think that once you let your fans know what’s going on, things will get better. It takes the power away from the catfish because people will know it’s not you.”
“I hope so,” he said, eyes still on mine. “Thanks for sticking around.” A pause as he took me in, and something pleasant yet deeply uneasy began to bloom in my chest. “Everything is better when you’re near.”
The way he was looking at me was too intimate. There was so much in his eyes he wasn’t saying, but I could feel the impossible weight of it. Jumping up, I pulled out my phone to check the time, not making eye contact when I said, “It’s late. I promised Margie I’d pick up Zara before nine-thirty, so I need to go.”
