Page 116 of Undone By The Mountain Daddies

“Looking at your phone, reading what people are saying about you, is far less dangerous than actually being back in that place.”

“I agree with Knox,” says Cash. “You don’t know that place like I do.”

“You’re forgetting I used to work as a private chef. I’ve met my fair share of Hollywood scum.”

“That’s different. You were observing as an outsider. Sienna’s been an actress for years.

I think about her being in love with her co-star. She better not be rekindling things with that douchebag. I’ll take his head off with an axe. I don’t even care who sees me.

“It’s easy to get sucked in,” says Cash. “Trust me, I know.”

“Because of what happened to your parents?” asks Eli.

“That,” says Cash, “and because I fell in love with the wrong girl. I thought she loved me. But she only loved the idea of me. She used me to get rich.”

“What happened?” asks Eli, pulling up a chair.

“She wrote me into her book, and it became a New York Times bestseller. She acted like she was into me, but that was only because she wanted me to stick around until she had all the information she needed. She got her first advance and never spoke to me again.”

“Shit.” I raise my brows. “You’ve never told us that before. That sucks, man.”

Cash wipes a hand over his forehead. “I just hope she doesn’t get sucked back in.”

“Sienna is strong,” says Eli. “She won’t fall for those people again.”

“We don’t know that,” sighs Cash.

He sits back on the couch. I watch him carefully. Cash was starting to open himself up to love again. And now that love is back in LA, and she might never come back.

We all fall silent, listening to Henry's pencil scratching against his paper and the crackling flames of the fire.

It’s too quiet around here. And ever since I woke up to that note from Sienna, it feels like an important part of me is missing.

Cash has a valid point. We could totally lose her.

“If she isn’t back by the end of the day, I’m going down there.”

“Knox—”

“I don’t care. I can’t stand the thought of those people harassing her.”

Cash clenches his jaw, gazing at the floor.

“And don’t even get me started on that son-of-a-bitch Holden. If he puts one finger on her, I’ll slice off all ten.”

“You said that this is something she has to work through by herself.”

“As I said—seeing what people have written about you is very different from going back there. I don’t trust any of them. She’s got nobody in her corner. Nobody taking down the paparazzi for her. She’s alone, surrounded by fucking wolves. I can’t just stand by and not do anything.”

Cash nods, slowly dragging his gaze back to me. “Yeah. You’re right. If she’s not back by nightfall, we’ll take your truck and get her.”

Another charged silence falls between us.

It’s time someone addressed the big, fat elephant in the room.

“When we get her back, we stop competing against each other,” I say.

“I agree.” Eli looks at me. “Our problem isn’t with each other. It’s down there—in LA. That’s why we all came up here in the first place. We can’t tear each other to shreds because we all want the same woman. It’s stupid.”