Outsider (9 page)

Ethan
burst into the room, his dark eyes scanning the space quickly, and after
spotting her, rushed to her side. “What’s going on?” he asked as he pulled her
off the sofa and into his arms.

“She’s
ruined me,” Reagan said. “I trusted her, and she destroyed my credibility, my
relationship, my career.”

“Who?”
Ethan said, his body stiff with anger, his arms tightening around her. She
clung to him. He was exactly what she needed. He never questioned her reasoning,
just supported her through every horrible pile of shit life threw her way. He
was always there for her. Always.

“Reagan,”
Steve said as he crossed the room from the door he’d just entered. He laid a
hand on her shoulder, but she shied away from it, pushing herself even closer
to Ethan. “I know it seems bad now, but this will pass. Your life isn’t over.
People forget scandals quickly. You just have to wait it out until the next
celebrity does something worse than whatever it is you’re accused of doing.”

“How
the fuck would you know?” Reagan said.

Dare
snorted. “Oh, he knows. He was completely trashed by the tabloids during his
divorce.”

“And
at the time, I thought my life was over,” Steve said. “The slurs against my
character just kept piling up and piling on. At one point I was assured I was
the worst man who ever lived. And now it’s old news. No one cares.”

“You’re
not helping,” Ethan said to Steve. “Reagan obviously cares. And when I find out
who did this—”

“You’ll
what?” Steve said, getting into Ethan’s face. “Kick her ass?”

Reagan
was used to being sandwiched between two men, but having Steve so close behind
her made her uncomfortable enough to drop her arms from Ethan’s body and try to
get away. Ethan wouldn’t have it, however.

“I
might,” Ethan said.

“If
anyone gets to kick her ass, it’s me,” Reagan said. She was usually a good
judge of character, but she’d been completely wrong about Toni Nichols.

“You’ll
just make things worse,” Steve said. “Don’t make a scene. Stay quiet, keep your
head down, and lick your wounds quietly. If you ignore the shitstorm, it’ll
blow over quickly.”

“That’s
your advice?” She turned to glare at him, unable to fathom that someone who’d
also been smeared by the tabloids would suggest she meekly take this fucking
bullshit without a fight.

“It’s
good advice, Reagan,” Max said, crossing his arms across his chest. “I know
reading negativity about yourself is infuriating and your first instinct is to
fight back, but you can’t win against the media. They’ll crush you into the
dirt if you try. I know you think it’s bad now, but it can always become a lot
worse.”

“Whose
side are you all on?” she asked, tears flooding her eyes.

“Yours,”
Steve said. “Logan’s little lamb will never work in this industry again. We’ll
make sure of it.”

Steve’s
promise was little consolation. Everything Reagan held dear had been destroyed
by the traitorous bitch and she got fired for it? Big whoop.

The
dressing room door opened, and Toni stepped inside. Her pleased little smile
sent rage boiling through Reagan’s veins. She dashed across the room and
slammed both palms into Toni’s chest, sending her stumbling backward into the
wall.

Reagan
clenched her hands into fists, not sure if it was to keep her from strangling
the life out of Toni or to use them to punch the startled look off Toni’s face.

“How
could you?” Reagan screamed at her. “I trusted you. I stood up for you. How
could you do this to me?”

Toni’s
eyes widened—a clear sign of her guilt.
Yes, bitch, you’ve been caught.

“What?”
Toni said, her gaze shifting from one person to another. “I don’t understand
what’s going on.”

Reagan
snatched a copy of the
American Inquirer
from beneath Butch’s arm and
shoved it in Toni’s face. “You sold our secrets to the tabloids.”

Toni
actually seemed to be reading the headlines. Was she
that
proud of her
accomplishment? With a growl of rage, Reagan crumpled the paper and shouted,
“What do you have to say for yourself?”

Toni’s
gentle brown eyes appeared enormous behind her thick glasses as she lifted her
face to Reagan’s. Her skin had gone ashen. Even her lips were pale. If she was
worried that Reagan was about to rip her arms off and beat her with them, it
was a legitimate concern.

“Those
are terrible,” the traitor said. “Awful. But I didn’t . . .”

Reagan’s
jaw ached as she clenched her teeth. Toni didn’t even have the guts to own up
to what she’d done?

Toni’s
lips trembled as she whispered, “I wouldn’t . . .”

Bull-fucking-shit!

“Don’t
you dare fucking lie about it!” Reagan shouted. “Don’t you fucking lie!”
Someone—probably Ethan—squeezed her arm. But it wasn’t the strong hand holding
her back that gave her pause. It was the tears in Toni’s eyes. Her features
crumpled, and she inhaled a ragged breath. It was as if Reagan were seeing
someone who felt the way she felt—like her dreams were shattered, her life was
over, and she’d never be happy again. There was one difference, though. Toni
deserved to feel that way.

“Get
your shit off the bus and get out of here,” Steve said. “We never want to see
you again.”

“Butch,”
Max said, his tone authoritative and laced with finality.

Butch
stepped forward and bodily removed Toni from the room.

Reagan
could hear her protests out in the corridor. “Butch, you have to listen to me.
I didn’t
sell
any information to the tabloids. I swear.”

Oh?
Had she handed over the band’s secrets for free? That was even worse.

Reagan
turned and found herself crushed into Ethan’s broad chest. The only thing that
could have been better than Ethan’s devoted support would have been having Trey
there as well. And she knew if Trey hadn’t been onstage when this all had gone
down, he’d have been in her corner too, just as she wanted to be there for them
whenever she was needed.

“So . . . Who
wants to tell Logan?” Steve asked. “Not it!”

Reagan
cringed. As much as she despised Toni, she cared about Logan’s feelings. She
knew how much he loved Toni. In the short weeks he’d known her, he’d completely
entwined his life and his heart with hers. Reagan didn’t volunteer to deliver
the news.

“Where
is he anyway?” Dare asked.

Ethan
pressed a kiss to Reagan’s hair and lifted his head. “He’s onstage with
Sinners.”

Reagan
frowned and tipped her head back to see his face. “What? Did something happen
to Jace?”

Ethan
shook his head. “He’s not playing bass. He’s singing.”

“Singing?”
That made absolutely no sense.

“Sed
got news that his father died just as they were going on stage,” Ethan said.
“He was so choked up, he couldn’t sing, so Logan sent him home and started some
karaoke with Sinners to entertain the fans.”

Steve
laughed. “Anything to get himself in the spotlight.”

“I
think it’s sweet of him,” Reagan said.

Ethan
extended a hand toward Max. “I was on my way here to ask Max if he’d like to
participate and sing a few Sinners songs when Steve grabbed me in the corridor
to deal with Reagan.”

“
Deal
with me?” Reagan arched an eyebrow at him.

“His
words, not mine,” Ethan said.

“Of
course I’ll help out,” Max said, crossing the room in several long strides.

“Is
Sed okay?” Reagan asked Ethan as they followed Max and the others toward the
stage.

“He’s
really torn up,” Ethan said.

“And
Trey?”

“You
know how he looks up to Sed. The whole band does.”

Trey
would be beyond upset if Sed was hurting. Sed had helped him through a very
difficult period in his life. She didn’t want to pile on to Trey’s troubles by
telling him about the mess they were in—that
she
was in. The article
hadn’t said anything bad about Trey, just that he was clueless about his whore
of a girlfriend’s affair with her bodyguard. But she didn’t want Trey to find
out about the news secondhand either. She’d find a way to tell him. Gently. She
wanted him to hear the story in conjunction with the ready support of someone
who loved him and not in the harsh, soul-crushing manner she’d been informed.

“What
did the tabloid say about you?” Ethan asked. “Was it really that bad?”

Reagan
bit her lip, the limited words she’d read echoing through her head. “It wasn’t
good.”

Ethan
tugged her against his side and pressed a kiss to her temple. “We’ll get
through it.”

“You
really
are
cheating on Trey?” Some woman Reagan didn’t recognize
sputtered at her from a few yards down the corridor. “Are you stupid? Don’t you
know there are hundreds of women who would jump at the opportunity to call him
theirs?”

“Only
hundreds?” Reagan smirked. “Try
thousands
. And it’s none of your
business, but I’m not cheating on him.” It’s not cheating if he knows about it
and encourages it and
participates
, she wanted to scream at the clueless
woman. But she knew that would only make the mess worse. Maybe Steve and the
other guys really had been offering sound advice.

“I
just saw him kiss you.” The woman pointed at Ethan.

“I’ve
had a very trying day,” Reagan said, “and he’s being supportive.”

“Why
don’t you see your way out of here before I’m forced to remove you from the
premises?” Ethan said, his voice hard as steel.

“By
what authority?”

“By
my
authority,” Butch said, nodding at Ethan. “Not that he needs it.”

The
woman scowled at Butch and trounced off. “Should I know her?” Reagan asked.

“Local
event coordinator. So, no, not really. She’s always a pain in the ass,” Butch
said. “Every time we come through Albuquerque she’s mouthing off to someone.
Where’s Logan? I figure it’s time I tell him about Toni.”

Reagan
gaped at him. “You’re volunteering?”

One
corner of Butch’s mouth twitched beneath his mustache. “It’s in my job
description.”

“Telling
the band’s bass player that his girlfriend is a backstabbing cunt is in your
job description?” Reagan had thought her contract with the band was ridiculous,
but Butch definitely had it worse than she did.

“Delivering
bad news,” Butch said. He lifted his eyebrows in a hopeful expression. “Maybe
this doesn’t count.”

“It’s
definitely bad news,” Reagan said.

Butch’s
shoulders sagged forward. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

The
lead singer of opening band Twisted Element was currently onstage with Sinners,
singing an interesting version of their hit song “Twisted”—fitting, she
supposed—and Logan had seemingly vanished. Trey kept glancing toward Reagan and
Ethan standing in the wings and watching the unusual performance. She couldn’t
tell if he knew about the tabloid yet, or if he was looking to them for support
over the ordeal his band was going through. Reagan would definitely call the
butchery of the hit song’s signature battle cries an ordeal. And the band would
be lost without their front man. Sed was far more than a lead singer to them
all. He was a friend and their leader.

When
the song ended and Max headed onto the stage to rescue Sed’s microphone from
Twisted Element’s lead singer, the crowd went wild.

“Thank
you, Tobias, for that inspired cover of ‘Twisted!’” Max’s voice came through
the speakers. He approached Trey, tilted his microphone away, and whispered into
his ear. The smile Trey always sported onstage dropped from his face, and his
eyes met Reagan’s. He nodded curtly and headed toward the wings. Reagan groaned
inwardly. So much for gently telling Trey about the tabloids. Brian caught his
arm as he passed and asked him something, but Trey pulled free and kept walking.

When
he reached the side of the stage, he took Reagan’s face between his hands and
stared into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m
trying to be,” she said, her heart thudding with a mix of anxiety over the
shitstorm she was currently caught up in and gratitude that she had not one but
two supportive men who loved her. True, many of her problems were caused by
having two men, but she’d rather weather the storm with them both than be without
either.

“How
are you holding up?” she asked, reaching for Trey’s hand and giving it a
squeeze.

“Don’t
worry about me. This shit doesn’t bother me in the least.”

Well
that made one of them.

Trey
pulled free of Reagan’s grip and patted Ethan’s arm. Reagan could see Trey struggle
with his urge to be more affectionate, more passionate. He must continually battle
to keep those tendencies—as they pertained to Ethan—locked inside. Reagan
wondered if it would make their situation better or worse if they just came out
and told everyone that they were all invested in each other. Worse, she decided
immediately, her heart heavy and her eyes aching.