The Stars Trilogy (84 page)

She had ambivalent feelings about the soundness of Dare’s decision. But there was one thing she was sure of, he was acting according to the dictates of his conscience and not his common sense.

Her tears fell. Despite his cruel rejection of her, she still thought he did the right thing.

At least he was all right. He wasn’t harmed.

That was all that mattered to her.

Within a week, Dare was officially divorced from Gabrielle. Remington obtained her signature without any fuss from her and the court stamped its approval without further delay.

He was single again.

Morgan, Gabby and Boyd planned everything carefully and he had to give it to them, it was a brilliant plan. Almost flawless. They would have carried it out successfully if he didn’t have the presence of mind to press the priority call key of his phone before he threw it away. The events that followed were all recorded in that call he made for Cruz, the primary number in all his phones. The conversation was recorded so clearly because Cruz had stuck a bug in his phone again without his knowledge. But Cruz took a while in accessing Gabby’s private elevator as she had it code-locked the moment he came into her unit. Cruz had to alert the building administrator to undermine Gabby’s code. The man in charge of the building’s mechanical utilities didn’t believe him at first but well, Cruz had his persuasive skills. He pointed a gun to the man’s temple.

The rest progressed like the scenes from one of his action movies. 

He’d fired Boyd, too.

Gabby implicated the lawyer in her case as a principal accessory. Boyd was immediately arrested by the police. The fucker refused bail.

He knew why, of course.

Boyd was more afraid for his life outside the can. The poor motherfucker had the feeling he might be joining his buddy Morgan in the afterlife soon.

Indeed, Boyd would be safer in jail.

“I’ve thought about it. If you think that we should sell, then I’ll go with you on that. Let’s sell.”

Uly stared at him from across the table. They were inside a container van office parked within the vicinity of their Deep Bossier territory.

Dare decided to fly on his jet to Texas this morning to see his business partner. Uly was tied up with work and couldn’t leave Texas so he went to him. He couldn’t wait to finish all his pressing business concerns so he can move on to the more important phase in his life without interruptions.

Uly took him to the drilling site and showed him the progress of their operation. Indeed, they hit a gold. He was not an active participant of this part of their business. It was Uly’s turf and Morgan’s...

Sadness suffused him as he thought of Morgan. But how everything turned out was a result of Morgan’s actions. Either Morgan was motivated by his love for Gabby or greed, he didn’t know. Some people got too greedy but some people would not balk at committing murder to protect their personal interests, too.

“I have been thinking about it, too. I think you’re right. We shouldn’t sell at this point. However, if Raine offers a ridiculous price for it, say five bil, then we’ll sell.”

He nodded. “Deal.”

Silence.

“How’re you dealing with the Feds?” he asked Uly after a while.

Uly smiled confidently. “I let them sniff. They can sniff all they like.”

“Confident they’d smell roses everywhere?”

Uly’s smile turned into a smirk. “We’re clean. I feel bad for Morg, but whoever offed him must have been really pissed at him. I heard he had gambling debts. Those violent loan sharks won’t think twice in sending you to your Maker if you make out with their money too long.”

He nodded. “I see.”

Uly stared at him, his eyes intense. “I know you and Morg were friends. We’ve been friends, too. It hurts to lose a friend. But only if he was a real friend. When your friend starts betraying you and causing you real harm, it’s time to sever ties.”

He didn’t answer. Sever ties. What a way to sever ties.

“Enduring a thorn on your side would be your ultimate demise. It will infect you, contaminate you and poison your system and it will surely kill you in the end. I always remove thorns in my side. Bad for business.”

He nodded. Who can ever argue with such practical logic? These Russians sure knew their business.

“Between you and Morgan, I’m glad that you’re the one alive. You have always been a man of your word, Dare, and I value you like family. I’d kill to protect you, my friend.”

“You would?”

“Do you doubt it?”

Their eyes connected like a blood compact.

They understood each other.

“No, Uly. I won’t ever doubt you again.”

Chapter Thirty-six

“What is hurting you, my love? Tell me. I want to help you. Make you feel better. Make you feel good again. I want to make you happy. Tell me...”

CELINE WAS AWAKENED by the shrill ringing of her cellphone in the afternoon as she was having a nap. She rolled on her back and groped for her phone under the bed covers. It was Yva.

“Girl! Are you watching TV?”

“No...” she said groggily.

“Oh, you don’t know yet?!”

“What...?”

“He’s here!”

“Huh? Who?”

“My goodness, open the TV,  girl, now!”

“Just tell me, Yva.”

“Your Hollywood hunk is in the country!”

She rolled her eyes. Her friends were huge fans of Darcee, too. They seemed to be vicariously living their fantasies through her, wishing they’d experience what she’d had with Dare.

“Girl, I was sleeping soundly and you woke me up because of this? I’ll hang up now. I’m still sleepy.”

“He will guest in
Celebrity Talk
in a bit! It’s being announced every five minutes! Everybody’s glued to their TVs except you apparently!”

She jack-knifed to a sitting position on the bed. “Wait, I’m confused. What are you talking about? He’s in LA. He’s so busy there. Why on earth would he be here?”

“Just open your TV, at your channel. They didn’t tell you?”

“Wait...!” She grabbed the remote control from the side table and opened the TV. She tuned in to AZN channel.

“Are you watching now?”

“Shhh!”

True enough, an announcement at the bottom of the screen flashed.

‘Dare Montgomery live on Celebrity Talk! Don’t miss it!!!’

She froze.

“Have you seen it?”

“Yes...Yva, I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay!”

Confused, she stared at the TV screen. Dare was really in the country. But why? Her insides fluttered like crazy. Her heart was now pumping so hard as her mind raced with questions.

The announcement flashed again.

She picked up her cellphone and dialed her mother’s number. Marjorie wasn’t picking up. She called her father next. He too wasn’t answering. Even her brother was ignoring his phone!

What the hell was happening? Why were they all suddenly incommunicado? This was so unlike them who were always keeping track of her activities.

Why would Dare appear on
Celebrity Talk
? Jordan would surely kill him on sight! Her brother was deaf silent when she arrived from LA. She knew Jordan very well. If he wasn’t asking questions, he was beyond furious inside. Not only was he not asking questions, he wasn’t even talking to her. She was scared of her brother more than her parents.

She called Taryn Verga, the host of
Celebrity Talk
.When Taryn didn’t pick up, she knew something was not right.  When the boss was calling, the employee must answer, dammit!

She couldn’t bear the suspense anymore. She called Kelsey. The woman picked up.

“Celine! Hello, darling?! How have you been?”

Kelsey’s all too cheerful greeting was a dead giveaway.

“What’s happening, Kels? Why is he here?”

“Oh, you know?” Kelsey played innocent.

“Yes. It’s all over the TV. What gives?”

“Oh...well...we are here! Surprise!”

“Don’t play coy with me. Something’s up. Tell me.”

“Darling, aren’t you going to say hi to Dare?”

“No. Never.”

“Never?”

“Kelsey, just tell me the truth! What is he doing here and appearing in my family’s TV station for crying out loud!”

“Well, he doesn’t want to offend your folks by appearing in the other networks. He knows the ratings are going to shoot up so he’d rather give it to your station.”

She rolled her eyes. She wanted to tell them that her family’s TV station was the biggest in the country and they didn’t need help with the ratings. “Hah! My ass!”

“It’s true! Honey, are you watching TV? Dare’s nervous here. Wanna talk to him?”

“No!”

“Aw come on, why won’t you talk to him? He just wants to say hi.”

“Tell him to go back to America! He’s not welcome here! Bye!”

She cut off the call.

Something wasn’t right. She could smell something fishy. Kelsey called her twice but she didn’t answer. Her friends started calling one after the other, texting her.

She muted her phone.

She waited in anxious anticipation for
Celebrity Talk
.

When the show was finally on, she could barely sit still in her agitation. What the hell was he doing on Philippine TV? A Hollywood big shot didn’t visit this country without a movie to promote or a cause to attend to like extending help to the victims of a calamity of apocalyptic magnitude.

Taryn Verga, the fashionable host of
Celebrity Talk
appeared excited as she entered the set amid boisterous applause from the live audience. The studio was packed to the rafters. Taryn had to calm down the audience before she could start her spiel.

“Ladies and gentlemen!... This is a historic episode for
Celebrity Talk
. This afternoon, we are honored and excited to have one of the most important figures in international cinema today. A real Hollywood megastar, a philanthropist, a producer and now, a budding director, the one and only Dare Montgomery!!!”

Her breathing was arrested as she saw Dare emerge from the back of the set. He flashed his megawatt smile to the audience and waved. The studio could have caught fire and nobody would have noticed. The audience was in a total frenzy.

Dare gave Taryn a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The normally brash TV host looked flustered.

They both sat down.

Dare looked relaxed as he leaned back on the sofa. Taryn was sitting in an armchair, facing him.

“Mr. Montgomery. Welcome to the Philippines!”

“Thank you. I am so happy to be here. And please call me, Dare.”

The audience was one chorus of screams. Dare waved at his fans again.

“Welcome to
Celebrity Talk
, Dare! This is truly a surprise!”

“Thank you for having me on the show, Taryn. Sorry for the short notice. I just landed this afternoon.”

“And you came straight here?”

“That’s correct. Couldn’t wait to see where Celine works.”

Celine’s heart seemed to leap out of her chest when he mentioned her name.

Taryn’s eyes widened. “Oh my God! He mentions her right away!”

Dare looked like he was blushing but he shrugged and just grinned.

“So, Dare...here is the question.”

“Please be gentle.”

Laughs from the audience.

“Okay. This is as gentle as I can be. Why are you here in the Philippines?”

Dare took his time. He turned to the audience. The camera zoomed in on his handsome face.

Celine swallowed hard. She couldn’t help it. God, she had missed him! So much!

“I’m here to visit Celine Lavega, my girlfriend. I heard she owns this TV station.”

“Oh my gawdddd!” Taryn squealed.

Celine fumed. Girlfriend?! Did she hear that right? He just called her his girlfriend on national TV? Hah! The nerve!

The audience just went plain crazy.

“Okay, okay! Quiet dahlings!” Taryn hushed the audience.

Dare was grinning from ear to ear.