Page 121 of Creed

My mother was spending time with Melissa and teaching her how to handle my affairs. Mom did a lot for me over the years and knew how to handle all the things that came with my career. They arranged for my photo shoot to happen in Louisville instead of flying out somewhere and neglecting my responsibilities at Creed’s Lake. The photos would be used for my magazine interviews and for movie memorabilia.

It was a rush of madness to put it all together. Jason sent my belongings from Malibu and the shipping was delayed somewhere between California and Indiana. I was frantic because they weren’t delivered until the morning before the shoot and my costumes from the studio were in with them. It took both of Creed’s Brothers and six prospects to get it all moved in and my clothing arranged. We had to sacrifice another spare bedroom to accommodate my entire wardrobe and costumes. I was forced to sit through a video call with Nicole to choose which costumes to take with me, then their stylist sent more clothes, more jewelry, and Addie kept letting the puppy out from the crate and she was trying to chew on my costume pieces. It was a mess of chaos and totally insane. Melissa was trying to tackle the puppy, and I tried so hard not to laugh but then she was making jokes about her legs being too short to chase things and then I really couldn’t stop laughing. Melissa and I eventually fell to the floor together as we tried to calm our laugh. She was a godsend, and I knew I chose the right person for the job. Then Josh got involved and Nicole mentioned the jewelry value and then there was another meltdown happening. The asshole went and collected my personal jewelry box and tried to take it to the safe at the command center, so I had to tackle him. The entire evening was a disaster until I screamed at the top of my lungs and they all froze and once again looked at me like I was an alien. To say I was overstimulated was an understatement. Then Nicole decided she was going to hop on a jet and whip everyone into shape. That was when I fell to the floor in a heap and bawled my eyes out.

Of course, Nicole freaked out because I’d end up with puffy eyes for the photo shoot. Josh told her to fuck off and she’d never make it through the gates.

As I cried, Nicole gave everyone a lecture over the video call about allowing chaos to erupt and kindly asked them all to leave the room. Then I had to hear all about how I made her son happy, and I was not to put Hollywood ahead of him. I mean, the woman just had chemotherapy that day and was the biggest bitch in the world, but was dealing with my emotional instability. She wanted to reschedule the photoshoot for a day I was more organized since all my belongings just barely arrived on time. I refused, just wanting to get it all out of the way so I could focus on Addie and Creed’s Lake. Plus, Nicole’s lecture about Creed angered me. She never wanted to be his mom before her diagnosis and my life with him, and suddenly she was mom of the year? I could admit her tears were genuine when we had dinner in California, but it was still hard to trust her word about him since she had so many years to make things better.

I had nine men, an assistant, a puppy, and a selfish bitch rushing around me and it was just too much. I appreciated their help, but was relieved when they left me to organize on my own. Nicole slowly and calmly told me each piece of clothing and each costume to put into garment bags. Thanks to her I had it all done in twenty minutes all by myself.

The next morning was more insanity. Josh made coffee, but he didn’t know about the imported coffee beans and made Folger’s instead. That sent me off on a tangent, Nikko peed and pooped everywhere but the puppy pad when Addie snuck in the middle of the night and let her out of the crate, and I broke a nail after I walked the puppy outside and tried to put her back in the crate. Thankfully, all I needed was a shower and some comfy clothes to be ready to leave.

Josh refused to let me drive myself to the photo shoot because of crazy fans and paparazzi. That pissed me off, but Ididn’t have a choice. We took Addie to daycare, dropped Nikko off for training, and Melissa was covering my classes for me. She wasn’t a teacher, but all she had to do was go over their work with them. It was just grammar anyway. The girls were really behind in their educations so they needed to learn a lot before they could take the test.

She was also helping the boys with the freshman English classes they never passed in California. They had a lot of work ahead of them if they were going to earn enough credits to graduate on time. Especially Weston who still needed all of his English credits before the end of spring.

“How many hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry is in this truck right now?” Josh asked as he drove his truck toward I-65.

I shrugged. “A lot I guess.”

He glanced at me like I was the insane one. “That’s just one reason why you couldn’t make this trip alone. Are you insane?”

I shrugged again. “Probably.”

“Creed left me with direct orders. You are not to leave Creed’s Lake alone. If I have a mission to command at night, Patrick or Axton are to stay with you. I understand its annoying, but just deal with it for Creed's sake.”

I crossed my arms. “I don’t understand why. Addie and I stayed by ourselves at night before Creed left.”

He glanced at me again. “Are you serious? Not only did a few prospects leave during lockdown, you’ve just premiered the biggest movie to hit the box office since Death’s Door. The paparazzi are camped out along the road to Creed’s Lake. Theyknow you’re here now and so do the assholes that used to try and sneak into your house in Malibu. He didn’t want us to take any chances with you. That’s one reason he avoided commanding any night missions. You didn’t notice he was working a semi normal work schedule? There’s also a heavy presence of Cartel up north right now waging a war against the Devil’s Rejects.”

I looked out the window and rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” He was frustrated. “All you want to do is sleep, you cry all the damn time, and your attitude is shit.”

I glared at him. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because my best friend was murdered, I am adjusting to motherhood, my little sisters best friend just died because of your stupid prospects, Addie might be a blossoming serial killer, I have a puppy that’s destroying the house, I just released a new movie, the love of my life is on a suicide mission somewhere on the other side of the world, and I keep starting my period.” I started to cry again.

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Okay, fine you have good reasons, but I need you to trust Creed and the rest of us. We are just trying to keep you safe.” He glanced at me again. “Creed is my brother. We may not share blood, but my loyalty to him is unwavering. That means respecting his wishes to keep you and Addie safe. I know you wish you had a normal life, but so does everyone at Creed’s Lake. Do you think as young men we knew how much trauma would impact the rest of our lives? It does and it changed every single one of us. We know we cannot live normal lives. We’ve accepted it, just like you need to accept it as well. You have been pouring your heart and soul into Creed’s Lake, trying to educate young women that were cheated out of their educations. You’re building their confidence andyou’re making an impact. Life is getting better for you, I can see it every day when you come home from work. But unfortunately, it’s time you realize your life will never be normal. It wasn’t when we were kids, and it won’t be in the future. Once Creed returns, you’ll feel better about it. Next year your last movie will premier and then give it some time to calm down. You’ll have Creed with you at night and you won’t need us as much. He simply doesn’t feel security is as tight as he first thought. Some changes in security are coming and things will get better. As far as your woman problems, that’s between you and someone else, not me. Its disgusting.”

I ignored the last thing he said. “My safety in Cold Springs was fine until the whole thing with Callie. I have a hard time believing it won’t be that way again.” I doubted him.

“Its like that for us too, and you’re right, the people of Cold Springs don’t pose a threat. It’s the people coming in from everywhere else. It will calm down, but just be prepared for security risks here and there. That’s always going to happen. You’re an icon now, Morgan. That’s what happens with fame. You should know this better than anyone else.”

“I don’t know what I would do without Creed’s Lake. At this point I almost hate leaving. I can ride bikes with Addie, work in the yard, and do just about everything I could do if I weren’t a former actress. I just hate being followed around like a puppy. I don’t think this is what Creed meant when he said for you to watch out for me. Jake left and I didn’t get a moment alone with him. At least let me have some freedoms while in my own home.” It was frustrating.

“If you have nothing to hide when you’re with Jake, then why does my being there matter? Sorry, I don’t know the guy and Creed would never forgive me if he tried something on you.”

That pissed me off. “Ugh! If Creed didn’t trust me with Jake he wouldn’t have given him clearance!”

We argued all the way to Louisville. Josh was worse than Creed!

Once I got to the studio loft the production team rented for the day, all the magic began. Josh stood in the corner with his arms crossed the entire time the hair and makeup team worked on me. I think I even heard him growl when wardrobe, which was one woman and one man, took me behind the screen to change. Alterations were already done, but I gained weight rapidly in my chest area. The one spot I previously had a hard time gaining weight. So, the seamstress had to work quickly to let a few things out while I went ahead and put on the period clothing which was a little more forgiving. When I walked out from behind the screen, Josh’s eyes about popped out of his head. The swells of my breasts were spilling over the torn corset. He had a meltdown and tried covering me with his own shirt. There he stood, shirtless, panicking over my costume. It was embarrassing and I had to call Axton to intervene. They didn’t understand the cleavage was a part of the costume. Then Josh took a picture of me and sent it to Axton. He turned on me as well. Thank God for Valerie Bolton who raced down to Louisville and saved the day. Josh and Axton were worse than Creed and it was frustrating. Of course, Creed didn’t want me to be nude in a photo shoot, but I wasn’t nude, and it didn’t show any more than my dress did at the premier. Valerie was able to contain Josh and the shoot proceeded.

He was more than fine with my Victorian Era dresses that had high collars and covered my ankles. God love the women who finally tamed Josh and Axton. I’d have to wish them a lot of luck.

Josh about broke a camera when I walked out in a satin dress for the interview photos. He said the satin showed my curves too much and he wanted to know when my boobs turned to watermelons. He said they weren’t that way last month and Valerie had to make threats to tell Creed that Josh was looking at my boobs.

Josh Magnus was a pain in my ass. I ended up riding home with Valerie and that was when I learned the truth. It was her the guys were force to watch as she was raped. She had her own trauma to deal with after that day, but she observed a shift in the guys personalities. It was the very reason they focused on shutting down sex trafficking around the world. Those weren’t their only contracts, but they were most passionate about those cases. By the time I was at the daycare to get Addie, I had forgiven Josh and Axton, but Valerie promised to talk to the guys about respecting women’s choices when it comes to their bodies.

I was exhausted by the time we got home. I ordered dinner from the Community center and relaxed the rest of the night without any care in the world about all the things I needed to get done. My body was saying enough was enough. Addie and Josh played with Nikko, and I just let it go. If they made a mess, I’d get it later or call Tina.

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