Wild Renegade (12 page)

"What?
No, he wouldn't do that to you," Alex says in confusion.

"Yeah,
that's what I thought, but she's there, in his room, both of them naked,"
I say brokenly. I step into the elevator and hit the button for my floor, which
is only up one. "I gotta go," I choke.

Alex
frowns hard at me but lets me go. The elevator doors close and I have to bite
my lip to keep from sobbing. My heart is aching and I can't believe I let
myself fall for him. How could I have been so stupid? Did I really think
someone of Ace's status would really want an exclusive relationship with me?
Did I really expect one of the biggest pop stars, who
has
a notorious reputation for being a player and cheater, to be faithful to me?
Stupid, stupid, stupid.

~Ace~

"I
want her gone, Lizette! GONE!" I bellow as I pace furiously back and forth
by the window in her and Beau's room.

I
can't even comprehend what the fuck happened this morning. Alex watches me from
his seat on the couch, and he is livid about the whole thing, too. As soon as
Nicole stormed out, I flipped out on Hillary and demanded to know how she got
into my room. Apparently, she snuck into my room while the maid was cleaning it
and stole the extra key card off my dresser. What a fucking psycho!

She
was at the bar last night and tried coming onto me and tried to kiss me, but I
shoved her away and tried to avoid her for the rest of the night. I was pretty
drunk by the time I got back to my room. I stripped out of my clothes and
passed out on my bed, so I didn't hear her come in. But I know that I didn't
sleep with her and I was as shocked to see her when I woke up as Nicole was.
But Nicole fell for Hillary's little set up. She saw us both naked and believed
what the cunt said. I really thought she knew me better than that. Although, I
can see how seeing your boyfriend naked with another woman in his room can
blind you from the truth. I would be furious, too, if it were the other way
around. Needless to say, Alex showed up a minute later and I made him march her
ass, still wrapped in the sheet, back to her room.

"Alright,
Ace, calm down," Lizette soothes.

"Calm
down? That fucking
bitch
just ended my relationship
and you want me to calm down? Fuck that! I'm beyond being calm right now! How
the hell am I supposed to make this right with Nicole? You should have seen her
face, she was devastated!" I snap, shoving my hands roughly into my hair
and lacing my fingers together. I close my eyes. God dammit! Nicole's face
broke my heart. She looked so hurt and betrayed. Nothing I said this morning
got through to her.

"Listen,
Ace, I need to find a replacement before I fire her. Give me a day or two to
fly someone out here to take her place," Lizette replies.

I'm
about to respond with a "hell fucking no" but Lizette's phone beeps.
She looks at it and frowns.

"Nicole
wants me to send out that press release saying that you two are no longer a
couple." She sighs.

"Don't
do shit, I'm going to fix this," I say adamantly and point at her.

"Lizzie,
we can't keep Hillary around after this, she needs to be fired immediately.
 
We can do the show without her,"
Beau chimes in.

Lizette
and Beau stare at each other for a moment before she nods. "Alright,
fine," she agrees.

I
send Beau a grateful glance. He didn't have to say anything, but he did because
he knows how much Lizette takes what he says into account. Beau gives me a
tight nod in return. I have no doubt that he's feeling my pain right now.

Lizette's
phone beeps again. She looks at it and bites out a nasty curse.

"What?"
I ask warily.

"Got
a text from the publicist, apparently TMZ just ran a story on their website
about you and the girl you kissed at the club last night that was not your
girlfriend." She sighs again.

"WHAT?"
I squawk.

She
holds out her phone for me to see the picture. I snatch the phone and look at
the perfectly timed picture of Hillary trying to kiss me. Our faces are only a
hair's length away from each other and I have a grip on her upper arms. It
actually looks like I'm pulling her in instead of pushing her away. Oh, fuck
me! This just keeps getting worse. How am I ever going to explain this to
Nicole? She will never believe me after seeing this. Dean and Alex are my only
witnesses and she probably won't believe them either because she'll think they
are just covering for me.

"What
am I gonna do?" I whisper dejectedly and hand Lizette her phone back.

I
drop down onto the couch next to Alex and hang my head.

"Tell
me the truth, Ace. Did you cheat on Nicole? Because this honestly looks like
you did." Lizette frowns.

I
lift my head and stare her in the eyes. "I swear on my life that I did not
cheat on Nicole. I was pushing Hillary away when that picture was taken. She
was trying to get me to kiss her but I refused. I would never cheat on Nicole,
especially with Hillary," I say sincerely.

"How
drunk were you? I mean, you could have just made a bad decision..."
Lizette continued but I cut her off.

"I
would never cheat on Nicole no matter how drunk I was! I fucking love her for
Christ's sake! I LOVE HER!" I snap angrily as I shove to my feet.

Beau's
head whips around to look at me, his eyes wide and surprised. Holy shit! Did I
really just say that out loud? I mean I know that I love her, but I haven't
told her or anyone else yet and here I go blurting it out in anger. I glance at
Alex to see that he's looking at me also, eyebrows raised.

Lizette
nods, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Okay, Ace," she replies,
not asking any more questions. "I'll do everything I can to get this taken
down."

"Thank
you," I murmur as she taps the screen of her phone and puts it to her ear.

She
stalks away as she starts talking rapidly on the phone to whomever she called.
I'm not really listening to anything she's saying because I'm too caught up in
my own thoughts. I drop my head into my hands and roughly rub my face. I can't believe
that this is happening to me. I've finally found the one woman whom I want to
spend the rest of my life with and she's ripped away from me by some crazy ass
jealous bitch who's playing mind games.

"I
gotta go talk to her," I grumble and start for the door.

Alex
shoots up from his seat to follow me. Out in the hallway, I start for the
elevator with Alex in tow.

"Maybe
I could try and talk to her?" Alex says.

"I
don't know, man. I don't know what to do." I sigh heavily and rake my hand
through my hair.

At
the elevator, I jab the up button. When the doors open, Alex and I step in and
I hit the number for Nicole's floor. I lean back against the wall and close my
eyes. I'm starting to feel sick to my stomach. I don't know what I'm going to
do if I can't get her back. I have never felt more lost. The elevator lurches
to a stop and the doors slide open. I step off and Alex follows. I'm thankful
for his support. He knows the truth and so does Dean. It's just about getting
Nicole to believe it now.

I
stop in front of her door, take a deep breath and knock. I can hear movement
from inside but she doesn't answer. I knock again.

"Nikki,
baby, I know you’re in there," I call through the door.

She
still doesn't answer or open the door. I brace my hands on the doorframe and
drop my forehead to the door.

~Nicole~

I
hear a light thunk on my hotel room door. I know Ace is out there wanting to
talk, but I'm feeling too raw, too exposed, and as soon as I see him I might
fling myself into his arms and tell him that I don't care what he did and that
I still want to be with him. I won't do it. I won't be that girl. I peek out of
the peephole but I can't see anything, it's all dark. He must be leaning
against the door or something.

"Nicole,
please talk to me. You have to know that I would never do that to you,"
Ace says from the other side of the door. "Hillary snuck into my room
while the maid was cleaning it and stole the extra key card. I swear to you
that I did not sleep with her," his tone emphatic.

A
new rush of tears hit me and I have to cover my mouth to keep from crying out
loud. I turn my back to the door and lean against it, letting myself slide down
to the floor. It even hurts to hear his voice. I've never been cheated on
before, so I had no idea how badly it actually hurt, until now. The feeling of
betrayal is like a nasty sore that keeps festering.

"I
saw the picture, Ace." I choke through my tears.

Sebastian
sent it to me with the subject title, "Vaughn is a dead man."

"Dammit,
Nicole! I was pushing her away! She tried to kiss me but I was shoving her away
when the picture was taken!"

I
drop my head into my hands. I don't know what to believe - what my eyes are
seeing or what my heart is telling me. I know what I saw and I know what it
looks like. From what I've
seen,
he's
a fucking liar and totally cheated on me. But my heart...my heart is telling me
that he's telling me the truth and that he didn't cheat on me. Ace is silent
for a moment. I almost think that he's left before I hear his tortured voice on
the other side of the door. His voice is closer to my head this time, so he's probably
either squatting or sitting against the door like I am.

"Baby,
I don't know what to do or say to make you believe me. I
promise
you that I have not and will never cheat on you. I am not a
cheater; I have never cheated on a girlfriend, ever. Those stories you've heard
are all lies that the paparazzi made up for headlines. I want you in my life. I
need
you in my life. You mean
everything to me. Why would I want to fuck up what we have to sleep with some
psycho chick? You have to know deep down that I would
never
do that to you. You have to know that,” he begs, his strained
voice trailing off at the end.

I
don't even know how long I sit there crying, but by the time I pull myself
together and look out the peephole, Ace is gone. Dammit! I don't know what to
do. I grab my phone and call Raelynn. I curl up in my bed as I wait for her to
pick up. After four rings, she answers.

"Hey,
Nikki," she says cautiously. "How are you?"

"I
know you know," I reply.

"Right,
let’s cut the bullshit then. What the fuck is going on?" she demands.

"Ugh!
I don't know..." I say then go on to tell her everything from what I
walked in on to what Ace said while outside my door.

Raelynn
is silent for a moment as she takes in everything I told her. Then she says,
"Honestly, he sounds genuinely distraught about this so I'm leaning toward
he didn't do it. But why don't you just take some time to yourself and think
about everything?
 
You’re upset
right now and not thinking clearly. You are not a stupid woman but I think your
emotions are blinding you to what you know is the truth. I mean, you've told me
multiple times how desperate this girl is to be with Ace, so I have no doubt
that she would go to this extent to break you two up. She's probably wallowing in
her success right now."

I
snort. "It's funny that you say 'wallowing' because she kinda looks like a
pig."

Raelynn
barks out a laugh. "Ha! That
is
funny!"
   

"It's
not like I can really take a few days off, though. I mean, there is a concert
tonight, I can't just bail." I sigh.

"Okay,
so if Ace comes to you wanting to talk, just tell him that you need some time
to think and can't talk to him right now. I'm sure he'll give you the space that
you need," she replies.

"Yeah,
okay. You're right. Thanks, Rae," I say.

"You
know I'm here for you, Nikki. Just say the word and I'll send Sebastian out
there to kick Ace's ass." She chuckles.