The Stage (Phoenix Rising #1) (26 page)

“Sir, I’m sorry, but there’s been a mistake.” My voice is shaking and my heart is racing; I want to scream and cry. Part of me wants to thank Kolton from the bottom of my tainted little heart. The other part wants to scream,
what are you thinking!
I’m so taken aback I can hardly even see straight. “Please. Take this car back to the dealership and notify the owner of the credit card that he’s made a mistake.”

The guy is standing there with this bewildered look on his face as I hand over the folder and the forms. He’s holding the key ring as if it’s grown two heads and he’s never seen one before. “I’m sorry about the mix-up,” he finally responds as I head back into the tiny little apartment.

I’m silently bracing myself. Kolton is going to be pissed. I straighten my shoulders and open the door to my apartment.

“Who was that?” Kaya asks.

“Nobody.” I shrug and sit down on the couch again, picking up my dad’s guitar. Sometimes I thank my unlucky stars that this Taylor was in my Golf the night of the fire. At least I still have this, a little piece of my dad’s history. It’s so full of memories of him and me. From before the depression hit him—not really during. During, he didn’t do much but sit around and think about better times.

“Mia Elyse! I know when you’re lying. Who was that?” she asks again, as she’s walking toward me. I shake my head.

“What? Oh, um. Uh, it was a delivery man and he had the wrong address.” She opens the door and looks out.

“A delivery guy for what?” she asks. “I don’t see a delivery truck. All I see is some bad ass Audi outside.”

“Yep.”

“Yep, what?” She’s tapping her foot again. “Yep, the delivery guy is driving the Audi?” she asks. I don’t want to lie, so I say nothing and strum my guitar.

“Is that yours?” She’s pointing at the car. “Is that
your
Audi, Mia?” She starts jumping up and down.

“No!” I say, as she starts to run outside. I hear her screaming, but if I ignore it all, will it just go away? I get up and limp my way back outside. I pulled a muscle during my angry Kolton-run, and it never really got better. When I make it to the front door, Kaya is sitting in the car playing with the buttons inside.

“Get out of there, Kaya! God, it’s not my car.” I put my hands on my hips.

“I looked at the paperwork. Steve, here, says it
is
your car.” I’m shaking my head ‘no’ again. “It’s paid for!”

“No! No! No! Get out! Open the door. Now!” I stomp my foot and feel the heat creeping up my cheeks.

Her whole face drops. Her shoulders droop and she looks at me like I’ve just told her the tooth fairy isn’t real. “Okay, Mia. I swear.” She climbs out of the car like a tiny child told to stand in the corner.

“Steve?” I ask, my voice scratchy from yelling the way I did.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Please, take this lovely car back to the dealership,” I say in a low whisper. “It’s not meant for me.” I glare at Kaya and walk back into the apartment, sit on the couch, and ignore the sensual sound of the engine as it turns on, backs up, and drives away.

Kaya comes flopping into apartment, grabs her purse, and starts walking away. Just when I think I’m going to get out of this easy, she turns toward me. “If someone wanted to do a nice thing like that for me, I’d let them.”

“Then you’d have to answer for why you have that car, wouldn’t you?”

“Is that what you’re really worried about? That people will question where you got the car? Lie. Tell ‘em it was from the insurance money. Who cares what they think? Kolton Royce bought you the most beautiful car ever made and you told them to take it back?”

“He wants to control everything. He smothers me. And then he sleeps around behind my back.”

“No, he doesn’t. Everybody knows he’s pining away. He was doing something
nice
for you.”

“If we get caught doing whatever this is, I’m off the show. He’s getting sued. And, everything about me being on the show is tainted by people thinking I slept with him to get ahead. He makes me look like a slut.”

“Mia, he cares about you. This doesn’t happen every day. This is something special.”

“Can you even imagine what my parents would have thought about this?”

“I think they’d tell you to open your heart a little. Like I’m telling you now.”

“I can’t, Kaya. You don’t understand.”

“You know, you try so hard to do the right thing that sometimes you do the wrong thing.” Her face softens, like she feels sorry for me.

“That’s not fair. You just think he’s hot. You don’t know what he’s like.”

“You mean I don’t know that he’s taken care of everything for you? That he’s refused to take advantage of you, that he bought you a masterpiece to replace your piece of shit Golf?”

“That’s not what I mean. He’s a walking one-night-stand.”

“You’re full of excuses. You know, some experiences, even if you get hurt, are worth it. If it wasn’t amazing, it wouldn’t be worth the struggle.”

“So you’re a philosopher now?” I say, cutting her down so I don’t feel the truth in her words. Her eyes narrow on me and she turns away. “You should, at least, say thank you to him,” she says before she slams the door, leaving me alone with the echo of her words swimming around in my heart.

I pace for a little while, making a little path in the beige carpet, look on the other side of the couch, find Kolton’s phone, and plug it in. For later.

*     *     *

“Mia,” Deloris says after getting Riley tucked into bed.

“Yeah,” I say, looking up from my dad’s guitar. I didn’t bring it to the call back. I guess I’ve been avoiding the guitar. Avoiding my memories. Avoiding the loss of it all.

“Kolton asked me to give you a message.” My eyebrows rise. He’s persistent. Gotta give him that. “You know how I feel about you being able to have boundaries with him. Do you want me to tell you what he said?” I think about it for a minute. In the end, curiosity wins.

“Sure.” I turn my body to face her and she sits down on the couch with me.

“Alright,” she says. “He asked that you call him. He said he’s been trying to get a hold of you. And, for the record, he sounded horrible. I mean, very distraught and panicked.”

“Panicked? When did he call?”

“I was at the park with Riley.” That was right after I’d sent his gift back to the dealership.

“Deloris, he bought me a car and I didn’t accept it.”

“He mentioned it,” she says, looking down. I want to ask her what she thinks, but it really comes down to trust, doesn’t it? Do I trust him enough to believe he wasn’t sleeping with a bunch of women after he’d told me he wouldn’t? Nothing can be solved by gifts, but he doesn’t know any other way. I’ve completely shut him out. “I think he’s concerned about our safety here. I guess you had a run-in with that model.” I nod.

“It was scary, actually,” I admit.

“For me, too,” she says. “I hate to say this, but I think Kolton’s place is safer than staying here.” I think about it for a second. There’s a doorman there that knows she’s not allowed and it’s too high up for her to break in. Here, she only needs to climb the stairs and get through a flimsy door. But is she that deranged?

Really, who knows? I have to protect Riley.

“I’ll give him a call. But I don’t think we should stay at his place anymore.” I say. She reaches over and taps me on the knee.

“You know that I’ll stand by you no matter what you choose.” Her eyes twinkle, telling me that she thinks I’ve made the right choice.

After she walks into her room and closes the door, I have a stand-off with Kolton’s phone. He’s called my phone, but I erased the messages without listening, and didn’t save the number in my contacts. Plus, I think calling him from his phone shows that I’m taking a step in his direction. One step forward; one step at a time.

As I press the call button on his private number, my stomach dances around in excitement and in fear. I’m just going to say—

“Mia?” he says.
What was I going to say? Oh, shit!

“Hi.” Yes, I can start with that. He takes in a deep breath on the other end of the line. Oh, right. I was going to thank him. “Kolton, I wanted to thank you for the car, but it’s really too much. I’d never be able to afford it and everyone would assume things about who gave it to me—”

“Everyone is already assuming things,” he says, his tone slow and seductive.

“Before you say anything else, I need you to know, I appreciate your help, but really there’s just too much standing in the way for you and me. About our safety because of—you know. Is there any way we can keep Manny and stay in a hotel in LA? I just think it’s better if I try to do things on my own as much as possible.”

“The woman you heard asking me to come back was a back-up singer on my new album.” He jumps right to that, ignoring my little independence speech altogether.

“Was?” I say, because that’s the word I noticed the most.

“Yes.
Was.
She was let go.”

“Because of what she said to you while we were on the phone?”

“Yes. Because of her unprofessional behavior while I was on the phone with you. Because she was trying to make you jealous. I’m not going to work with someone who behaves that way.”

“Why would a back-up singer
want
to make me jealous? And how did she know you were talking to me?”

“We’ve had—history.” That’s all he says.

“Oh, like you’ve fucked her?” I want to hurt him; I want him to feel a little of what I felt when Katharina told me about all the women. It makes me sick.

“Mia,” he says, in warning. “I have a past, so do you. But you can’t keep bringing it up. It’s not helping anything.”

“Katharina told me all about your past.”

“That’s exactly why you need to come home. Now.”

“Why? Because she might tell me the truth?” I’m pacing now. I always do that when I talk on the phone. I can’t help it.

“No, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” His voice defies my little threat. And the way he says it, I know he would tell me if I asked. “It’s because she’s willing to hurt you if she has to.”

“Did she threaten me?”

“Yes.” I sit down. The room is slightly spinning.

“Riley?”

“Not in so many words, but she knows about her. She wants you out of her way, Mia.”

“I’m supposed to stay here for four more weeks.” Is it too late to pull the plug altogether? “What if I just drop out? Stay here. Go on with my life?”

“Don’t ever do that. Ever!”

“What?”

“Stop because of someone trying to bully you. She’s not worth it. But here, I can protect you all a lot better.”

“Kolton—is she violent?”

“She threw a vase. She’s mostly self-destructive, but it could get worse if she doesn’t get her way.”

“She said she wanted me to sleep with you because then you’ll leave me.”

“She’s delusional. She’s obsessed with this idea that you’re the problem because—”

“It’s okay. You can tell me.” I close my eyes and listen to his sharp intake of breath.

“She says you won’t share. We weren’t a couple. But she sees those times we hooked-up as something I’m supposed to keep doing, but with you and her. I have to be honest. I don’t think you should stay in Sac. That she actually flew over there and popped your tire. Staying in a hotel is not going to be safer than staying in my penthouse.”

“My head hurts.”

“Listen,” he lowers his voice. Right now, he seems like a steady spot on the wall to focus on while spinning. “I’m trying to keep your name out of the headlines in the mix with me and her. But you need to come home.” The word ‘home’ sounds good to me. It feels like I really do have a ‘home.’ “Your safety comes first—Riley’s and Deloris,’ too. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, but if I drop out—”

“You’re
not
dropping out. This isn’t about winning. This is about facing your challenges head-on. You know that, right?” I stand up again. He’s right. Coming back to his house is safer. I don’t want her to scare me out of trying, but I don’t want anyone else in danger because of me. “There will always be people who try to tear you down, Mia. It’s your choice if you choose to let them win. Don’t let her win.”

“Okay,” I say.
When he says it that way.

“Bring the Audi back with you,” he adds.

“No. I’m sorry. It’s too much.”

“I bought it and I need it delivered to me, please bring it back. Have Deloris drive it if you want.”

“This doesn’t solve anything between us, Kolton,” I add with a defiant note.

“I know that.” His voice is controlled. “We’ll discuss us when you come home. Tomorrow.”

“Bye,” I say, feeling somewhat relieved to have his help again.

“Tomorrow,” he says, like a promise. I hang up on his triumph, feeling like we’re going to a safer place.

Minute to Mistake