Page 66 of The Publicity Stunt

"What is it?"

What can it hurt to unwrap it? He'll never get close enough to give it to her anyway. He shows his father a platinum chain with a heart-shaped sapphire. "It cost a pretty penny, but it was worth it. Plus, I sold the ring I bought Sasha last week, so I got some money back."

"How big is this thing?"

"Six carats. The moment I saw the stone, it reminded me of her eyes. And the heart shape just seemed fitting considering how big her own is. It was the step before buying an engagement ring."

Victor sighs. "You really love her."

"It's killing me, Dad, that she won't talk to me. I don't blame her, but I need her. It doesn't feel like life without her."

"I've been there. I know how it feels."

"What do I do with this? Take it back? Keep it and hope she gives me another shot? I'm so fucking lost right now."

Closing the box, he just stares at it until his father takes it from his hands. "Let me hold onto it while you figure out what to do. The last thing you want to do is make any rash decisions."

"Yeah, okay. That makes sense." But even as he says it, nothing that's happened makes any sense. None at all.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Bri

Bri appeared at her first concert for the last leg of the tour in January after everything that happened with the hopes performing would help distract her. She starts in Cincinnati, then she files to Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and ends in Denver. As much as she wishes it would help her move on a little, it just makes everything worse.

Her band knew better to ask how she was holding up, and they quickly learned the new songs she wrote during the break. During sound check, they stayed patient with her when she broke down. Considering the statement Nia released in December, it seemed fitting to play these songs to let the world know how much pain she feels knowing what she lost. That it wasn't fake for her.

Her makeup team also had a lot of work to do. She hasn't been able to sleep, and she knows how pale and sickly she looks. Tessa forced her to eat to make sure she didn't pass out on stage, but everything other than writing music seemed to take so much more energy than it should have. Like she had no strength to do anything but pour her heart into lyrics and chords.

Every time she thought about breaking down and calling Kace, she played Rudy's interview instead. She's watched it so many times she doesn't even need the sound to know every word that either Rudy or the interviewer says. They're burned into her brain and her heart.

The crowd cheered for the new song, and they even chanted horrible things about Kace. Even though she knows she shouldn't, and it's her fans’ right to do what they want, she stopped the show to ask everyone to be kind. Then she had to go back to performing as though her heart hadn't been ripped from her chest and hung up in the town square as a spectacle weeks before.

After the first show in Cincinnati, she walks backstage and takes a few deep breaths while leaning on a brick wall. Normally, the energy from the show invigorates her and has her on a high for hours, but all she wants to do is crawl into her bed and sleep. If she doesn't snap out of it soon, she'll have to schedule an appointment with the therapist she saw shortly after she cut ties with her family.

Heavy footsteps catch her attention, and Bri looks up to see Brett and Rudy when she'd secretly hoped to see Kace. For swift hockey players, they walk like horses clomping in a hallway.

The moment her eyes land on Rudy, all she sees is the interview where he told the entire world her relationship was fake. That Kace had been sleeping with many other women the entire time she was falling in love. Turning her head, she shouts, "Bobby! Bobby, I need you!"

"We just want to talk," Rudy says and holds his hands up. "Please?"

He stands in front of her wearing an expensive pair of jeans and a button up blue shirt. Brett stands next to him in ripped jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt that shows off his arm muscles.

"I don't want to talk to you," she says and looks at Brett. "Either of you."

She turns to leave, and Rudy grabs her arm, turning her to face him. "Please, I'm begging you."

Her eyes look at his arm, and she has no energy to fight back the tears spilling onto her cheeks as she pulls her arm from his grasp. "What did I ever do to you? What horrible thing did I do that warranted that level of humiliation?"

"I'm sorry."

"I've been going over everything in my mind, and I may not have been the kindest to you and Sasha, but I don't think the punishment you doled out fit the crime. It was cruel."

Bobby runs up with the rest of her security team. "Back away!"

"We just want to talk to her," Brett says. "We'll only be a minute. Please, I'll get on my knees and beg you if you need me to."

Bobby's hands rest on her shoulders like a protective big brother. "How the hell did you even get back here? You're on the no contact list right next to your friend."

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