Page 69 of Nothing to No One

Club? Crimson?

“You were at Crimson?” She gasped. “You left the club to come here? Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”

“For what?” Tripp asked. “We live in the club.”

“In New York, we live in the club,” Roxie said. “Here it’s more of an evening retreat. A place to get Zen.”

For them. What about others? Sway wasn’t with the duo, and she didn’t blame the actress for staying away from Roman. She’d never got a straight answer on Sway’s reluctance.

“Is Sway still in love with him? With Roman?”

Roxie scoffed.

Tripp smirked. “Not a chance.”

Amusement faded to a curiosity until the blonde asked, “Do you care? Are you worried she might want him back?”

“No! She can take him. She can have him,” she said maybe too quickly. “I worry with the way he’s fixated on her… She could be in trouble.”

“She’s not the only one.”

Bambi shook her head. “I think Roman will be happy when this is over. As happy as I’ll be.”

“Don’t count on it. He likes the attention, and to have as many people in his orbit as possible.”

“It’s causing damage. I can see it.”

“Damage?”

“To their relationship. Him and Struan.”

“They’re brothers, twins, have been through their whole lives together. Trust me, you’re not causing any harm that wasn’t there already.”

“Struan doesn’t deserve this.”

“So we keep telling him,” Tripp said.

“How do we help? How do we stop it?”

“All we can do is be there for him. He has to make his own choices, his own mistakes. At some point, maybe now maybe in fifty years, it will combust and Struan will realize what life with Roman has cost him.”

“Will it cost him you?” Roxie asked. “You could be enough to make him see—”

“I’m not.”

“You’ve asked him to walk away?”

“I’d never do that. He’s stood up for me. I know he cares. But this is temporary, it’s not enough. When I’m gone, the record will keep spinning.”

“Don’t worry, girlie, we got him.”

Would that be enough to alleviate her guilt about walking away? Struan had people in his life who cared about him. People who hadn’t been able to convince him to leave his brother’s side in all the years they’d known him. Was she doing damage? Was she making it worse? Would the brothers’ relationship survive this, or would the abuse continue?

He’d be okay without her, wouldn’t he?

TWENTY-FOUR

SHE OBSESSED ABOUT it, about him, about them. They needed more time to communicate, which was why she snuck into his trailer not long before he called lunch on the stunt rehearsals.

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