“Where are you going?” Angelo asked, rising to his feet with a frown.
I sent a brittle smile back. “Figured I’d go wild, hit up some strip clubs, do some drugs. Maybe I’ll find another ex-boyfriend from the mafia and get pregnant. Who knows?” Then I snapped my fingers giving a low chuckle. “Oh wait. Bit late for that.”
Turning my back on them, I headed back upstairs to the bedroom I shared with Angelo to find my boots. I didn’t want to run into Rhett or Gray right now, but I needed fresh air. So I pulled on my warm boots, grabbed a coat, and headed out the back door.
I couldn’t see any of the missing Bellerose members, so I zipped up my coat against the cold and set out toward the stables. Brenda had told us before we arrived that this farm belonged to her godparents and that they took care of the animals while Bellerose was using the house. It gave me the confidence to approach the horses and not worry that they belonged to a neighbor.
As I drew close to the stables, though, the low hum of voices made me pause mid-step. Then I did the only mature thing and quickly hid behind a stack of hay so that I could listen.
“…something else going on here,” Grayson was saying.
Shit. Of course they were in the stable; where else could they have been if I hadn’t seen them outside? Idiot, Billie.
“Like what?” Flo asked, her voice timid and anxious. “She won’t even look at me, let alone speak—”
“She won’t look at any of us,” Rhett snarled, “because she knows she’s got a lot to feel guilty for. Jace warned us, all along he tried to tell us, and we—you too, Gray—were too fucking cuntstruck to pay attention to the red flags.”
“Bullshit,” Grayson growled. “None of this is adding up, and you know it.”
“What I know is that Billie is fucking pregnant right now. And she’s back with Angelo, who she swore—goddamn fucking swore—she wasn’t with. She lied to me, Gray. To us. She fucking stared me dead in the eyes and said she wasn’t with him, and now she turns up carrying his baby?”
“Allegedly,” Flo commented. “If we’re taking their word for it.”
Rhett gave a low, humorless laugh. “Great. So that’s just fucking great. You think she could be carrying my kid and lying about it? I don’t know what’s fucking worse right now.” There was a crash, like he’d just kicked something. Then he swore. “I need to drink something. Or smoke something. Gray, you got any more liquor stashed?”
“Sorry,” the big guy rumbled. “Nothing left.”
“I have a couple of joints in my bag,” Flo offered tentatively. “Brenda didn’t even check mine.”
“Sold,” Rhett grunted.
A scuffle of feet saw me shrink lower in my hiding place, and a moment later both Rhett and Flo exited the stables. Neither one of them looked back to catch me there; they just stalked toward the house with their hands stuffed in pockets and their shoulders hunched.
Grayson didn’t leave, though, and after a minute, my curiosity got the better of me. I scrambled awkwardly to my feet, then slipped inside the stables. The lighting was dim in here, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust enough to see the drummer down at the far end, scratching a chestnut horse’s ears.
“How much of that did you hear, Prickles?” he asked without turning to look at me. Of course he knew I was there. Gray was basically superhuman, I was convinced.
I bit my lip nervously, folding my arms under my breasts. “Um, only the tail end. Enough to hear that Rhett hates me, but that’s not exactly a shock. He thinks I lied about everything.”
Gray gave the horse another pat, then turned around, taking a few steps closer to where I awkwardly shifted my weight from foot to foot. “Didn’t you?”
God damn it all to hell. This was harder than I’d ever anticipated. “I hate this,” I whispered, dodging the question. “I’m so sorry, Gray.”
He closed the gap between us, raising his hand to stroke a finger down the side of my face ever so gently and using his knuckle to tilt my chin up. “You can tell me the truth, Billie. I can help.”
Words bubbled up in my chest, desperate to spill out. I wanted to confess the whole messy story to Gray because I believed him when he said he could help. That he wanted to help. But just as I parted my lips to tell him all my secrets, my eyes caught on a tiny reflection in the corner of the stables.
A camera?
It could have been my imagination, but I couldn’t take that risk. So I pasted on a fake smile and shook my head. “There’s nothing to tell, Gray. Angel and I are just here on behalf of Big Noise to ensure the album gets recorded in time for the scheduled release party.”
His eyes narrowed, his brow furrowed. “That’s it?”
I jerked a nod. “That’s it. You should head back in. Rhett will have a window of creativity while he’s stoned that you all could utilize in the music.”
Gray squinted at me a moment longer, then gave a small nod and walked away.
That was it. Just… took my word and walked away.
I’d thought my heart was done breaking, that there was nothing left to hurt. I was wrong.
fifteen
BILLIE
The urge to get on a horse and just ride off into the sunset was almost overpowering. Freedom was right there, within reach. No more Riccis, no more mafia threats, no more Bellerose… I could just disappear and reinvent myself. I still had a trust account holding a suspiciously large amount of money left by my parents. I’d never touched it before, almost certain that it’d been gained illegally and could be part of the reason someone had tried to burn us alive. But fuck, maybe it was better than getting other people killed as they attempted to help me. Even if it was stolen.
I couldn’t make myself leave, though. For one thing, I couldn’t leave Angelo to suffer his father’s wrath in my absence. No matter how proud Giovanni was of his son, he would still make him hurt. And then there was Bellerose. Rhett, Gray… even Jace. They might hate me now, but a tiny part of me held out hope that we could move past that and get back to how things were.
Also, I had never ridden a horse in my life and wasn’t about to learn on the run.
So eventually I had to force myself to go back to the house. I dragged my feet, but my stomach was growling with the need for food, so I had to suck up my courage.
Thankfully, it seemed like all members of Bellerose were in the basement recording studio, so I was free to make myself a sandwich in peace and quiet. The floor creaked as I was cutting my sandwich into triangles, and I gasped when a strong, tattooed hand gripped my hip.
“I was looking for you,” Angelo commented, his other hand wrapping around my wrist like he was scared I might try to stab him with the knife I held. “What were you chatting about out there? You didn’t go sharing our private business, did you, Bella?”
The dangerous vibe in his voice made me shiver with fear. He was speaking quietly, his lips against my hair as he held me tight. To an observer we might look like a loving couple sharing a moment. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I was so focused on the hidden surveillance that I’d forgotten Angelo was not my friend.