Page 53 of Creed

“I’m just trying to make myself clear, so you don’t mistakenly think there’s some sort of romance between us. I’m not obligated to tell him everything about my life. I would never betray your trust. It’s something I know first hand how hard it is to give someone, especially since you don’t know me well. I think what you have here is amazing and I wouldn’t ever want to put it at risk.”

I studied those eyes and saw truth in them. “You’re not angry that I kept the truth from you?”

She snorted which was kind of adorable. “Maybe if I was a normal person, but nothing about me is normal. I don’t trust people because they use me to make money for themselves. I can’t expect you to tell me your life story. I suspect your egg donor would also use you to benefit herself. I can understand and respect your reasons for not telling me. Actually, your attitude toward me makes a lot of sense now. You understandably thought I was like Nicole and her crazy friends. I can’t blame you for that, Creed.”

She had no idea how hard it was not to reach over and take her hand in mine. But I had to remind myself that she was an actress, and I wasn’t ready to give her the trust I had no choice to give her now. She knew the truth and I figured it would happen eventually.

“Don’t forget, I’m the snobbiest bitch in Hollywood. How do you think I got that reputation? It certainly wasn’t because Iwent out of my way to make friends with people out there, that’s for sure. It’s time to retire. Not just because I want my freedom, but I also no longer have the backing of the studio. Jake is kind to everyone and somewhat lives that life. He sleeps around and plays the game to a certain extent. That’s not me, and now it’s time to get to know the real Morgan Rossi again. I guess I’m trying to say that I don’t need a nondisclosure to keep your secret. It’s safe, just like I have a feeling my secrets are safe with you.”

I felt the smile form on my face. “What secrets would those be, Morgan?”

A tear fell and her eyes met mine. “That I tell myself and others that I’m proud of my work, but at times I felt exposed, and exploited when I had to undress in front of the camera. That I killed a man not even two days ago and I’m so cold hearted that I don’t regret it. I’m happy he’s dead and that makes me a horrible person. I know I’ve made the news, and my dad is talking to my PR agent, but I’ve got to face the public someday and it scares me.”

I couldn’t help myself and reached over to squeeze her hand. “That doesn’t make you a horrible person. Not only did he try to kill you, he made you watch as he killed your lifelong best friend. With time you’ll find peace with it.”

I fought the urge to pull her into my arms. I knew if I did that, I’d not want to let go. I was far too attracted to her to be so close while she was vulnerable.

“I just don’t want the world to know about all the private details. I held her as she died, and those final moments weren’t just horrifying, they were private.”

I shook my head. “Nobody needs to know those details.”

She smiled through her tears. “I promise I will protect this community. I won’t breathe a word. What you are doing as far more important than anything I’ve ever done or will ever do in my life. Nicole Powers is a horrible person, and you deserve a better mother. You’re right about her, she would expose you just for all the attention and glory she craves.”

We didn’t say much more before she once again composed herself and tried to eat her salad. All she said was that my half brothers were both still teenagers and one wanted to act, while the other got into trouble most of the time. Then she asked the most obvious question. Why didn’t Nicole look me up on Google? If the stupid bitch did, she would see that I “retired” and owned a bike shop in Indiana. There was a simple answer, the woman didn’t care enough. All in all, the fact that I lived in a gated community and owned a bike shop wasn’t a secret. It was just what we really did in the gated community that needed to stay a secret. When we were done, I told her to go on up to bed and get some rest. I would take care of cleaning up dinner. Surprisingly enough, there was no mess, and it took me only a few short moments to place the dishes in the dishwasher. After that was when I went on my search using the world wide web. I wanted to look at every interview, public appearance, and anything I could find on Morgan Rossi. I was searching for any flaw in her story, any attention seeking behavior and publicity stunts. I even looked for what her costars may have said about working with her. Every costar interview said she was lovely to work with, but guarded and unwilling to interact off set. Then I found an article about her dating a history teacher and some even went back to high school when she dated Tristan. On the surface it seemed she was exactly as she said. Other than some tabloid obvious lies, there were no scandals or from what I could tell no publicity stunts. Then I hit the images icon, and Isaw what people may have confused as a resting bitch face as she stood on the red carpet, but I saw something different. Her gorgeous eyes didn’t sparkle the way I saw them. They were hollow or maybe a better term would be empty. Even the ones where she was on Jake’s arm. The woman obviously rather had been anywhere but where she was at that moment.

I sat back in my office chair and ran my hand down my face then my beard. She was too good to be true. That didn’t sit easy with me. Who lived in that kind of spotlight and never fucked up? Maybe her publicists worked night and day to cover her shit up. I made a mental note to have someone from headquarters do a very thorough background check. Not that one hadn’t already been done, I did that when she first came home, but I wanted to dig a little deeper.

I glanced at the door and listened to make sure she didn’t sneak downstairs, then did the one thing I told myself I wouldn’t do. I typed Morgan Rossi Lingerie shoot in the browser and instantly regretted it. That one false move led me to one shameful as hell shower. As the water trailed down my body, my hand had a mind of its own when it began stroking my painfully hard cock. My imagination took me to visions of my hands cupping those gorgeous breasts as she rode me up and down until my release came in intense waves of pleasure. My hand slapped against the shower tile and my head rested against it as I recovered from not just the release, but the most vivid images my imagination could have conjured up.

Adjusting

Morgan

After a hot bath, I threw on a t-shirt and panties for bed. I thought the bath would help relax me, but I still struggled to sleep. My heart was broken, and I tried to erase the memories of Callie dying in my arms. Instead, I thought of Addie. I remembered when she was born, and I demanded a short leave while I was filming Death’s Door. I’ll never forget the moment she was placed in my arms. There was instant love, and I cried as I held her. My sweet best friend created such a precious life, and it amazed me.

I remember Addie falling asleep and after I laid her in that hospital bassinet, I crawled in bed with Callie, and we curled up together. We daydreamed about Addie’s future. I said she would grow up and become successful in business, but Callie said she hoped Addie would grow up to be like me. I had to put a stop to those silly dreams right then. I told her I was unhappy, and my success was always temporary. That fame wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and that Addie would do better. We finally settled on the idea that we just wanted her to be happy. It was as simple as that, find happiness in whatever she did.

I returned home for Addie’s Baptism. Callie wasn’t Catholic, but chose the Catholic Church because Shane wassupposedly raised in the church. My best guess was it was through foster care that he was ever in a church. Then she chose me as her godmother and her cousin Dean as her Christian sponsor. Dean was a great man, but unfortunately he was killed two years after the baptism in a helicopter accident. He was a flight nurse in Cincinnati, but was taking lessons to become a pilot himself. It was during one of those lessons when he crashed.

After the baptism, it was video calls, and I hated it. I was so busy that even my family had to fly to me on location for holidays and short visits. Even great grandpa came to Vancouver last Christmas and that was a total fiasco.

As I laid there another kind of guilt set in and it made me instantly ill. Was Callie’s death my fault? I was the one that pushed for an Amber Alert. I reported Addie missing and that put more stress on her situation. It was me that went to that hotel and did exactly what dad and Uncle Darren warned me not to do. I went without help, and it wasn’t until I showed up alone that Callie was killed.

Out of frustration, I got up from my bed and decided to take a peek outside at the lake. Remembering everything Creed told me through the day, I made myself a promise. I would protect his community the best I could. He took a huge risk when he brought me to his home. Not just for him but also all the people that lived at Creed’s Lake. What about the people they helped? His community was bigger than anyone could ever imagine, and he was an important man. It amazed me that Nicole Powers birthed such a human being. She was…well she was flashy, always had to be the most important person in the room, and was deceitful. I lost a big portion of my life because of her and Creed was lucky when she walked away. It might nothave felt that way when he was young, but I thought he also knew he was better without her.

Just days ago, I thought he was a conceited prick, but since I learned the truth, he was simply a beautiful man. His insane good looks didn’t compare to the man I believed he really was, which was a hero. I was sure he did things he hated during his career, but in the long run it all came down to one thing. He saved lives. That was what truly made him a beautiful man. I understood his attitude toward me. He didn’t trust me and that was for good reason. I was associated with his mother. Not just that but he thought, just like everyone else, that I was sleeping with the cousin he never knew.

It wasn’t that long since I stared out to the Pacific Ocean and wondered what would have to change in my life to bring me home to a small house on a lake. Suddenly, I was in a large house looking down to a beautiful lake. It was only lit by the moonlight, but I could still see its beauty. I had no way of knowing so much would happen in such a short amount of time.

I spoke with my mom before my bath, and she updated me on what was happening outside the community. Bits and pieces of what happened went out as breaking news. The paparazzi arrived soon after I left the nursing home, thankfully they didn’t spot me. My PR rep was preparing a statement, and soon after the funeral I would be heading to Europe, well that was the story that would be told. Creed was right, I couldn’t expose the community. I had to stay away from the public. They couldn’t find me staying at Creed’s Lake. I knew he was going to try to work with the Rejects to come up with some sort of agreement, but it was hard telling how long that would take. Addie being found ruined the chance Law Enforcement had toget a search warrant and raid the compound. It was okay though, I was perfectly content staying under Creed’s care.

My phone rang like crazy earlier. Jake and Kenny both were calling almost constantly. They eventually called mom, and she told them I was safe and would reach out when I was available. I knew I needed to call them back, but I wasn’t ready to explain to Jake what happened. Mom said he was already packing to come be with me, but she demanded he stay in California. I didn’t need him to come, I had to protect Creed and needed time to think about what to say to him. I had never lied to Jake, but I knew I was soon to do just that, and I didn’t like it.

Eventually, I laid back down and drifted to sleep. It wasn’t a restful sleep, in fact I had a similar nightmare to the one I had before I left California. Addie was screaming and crying for me, but I couldn’t find her. I woke in a sweat then tried to close my eyes to go back to sleep, but it was no use. After realizing it was the perfect chance to see the sunrise, I pushed the covers off and went to my window. I was surprised to see movement in the lake and studied it as the sun rose. Then it happened, a gorgeous man climbed out of the lake on a ladder and onto the dock. I could swear I heard angels sing as it happened. My lips parted as I took in the most gorgeous view I had ever seen in my life. There Creed was in a pair of board shorts and nothing else. I wasn’t close enough to make out his tattoos, but I sure as hell could see those ripped abs. I bit my bottom lip as he picked up a towel and ran it over his hair, then turned to look out to the lake. My God, even his back was muscular. The man had muscles, great ones, but they weren’t the kind you saw on body builders. His seemed more natural, more…perfect. Sexy, hot as hell, and damn just looking at him stirred something primal inside me. When I realized what I was doing I had to internally laugh at myself. My palm was pressed against the window, and so wasmy forehead. My lip was actually hurting from biting down on it and I didn’t even notice it. I realized in that moment how much trouble I was in, and I wasn’t even thinking about the Rejects or the paparazzi. I was hot as hell for a sexy man that could barely even stand looking at me.

I watched as he walked toward the house with his white towel hanging around his neck. I decided to be a little naughty and threw on a satin robe, quickly brushed through my hair, brushed my teeth as fast as I could, then sprinted toward my bedroom door, but stubbed my toe on the door just as I flung it open. After a few seconds of dancing and cursing, I stepped out of my bedroom. I had to play it cool like his image did nothing to me, so I slowly limped my way downstairs and toward the sound of some kind of kitchen appliance grinding.

Just to play it off like it was any other morning, I yawned as I walked in the kitchen, but the sight of him up close stopped me in my tracks. Yes, he was gorgeous, but the scars. My God, there were so many. He glanced at me and smiled. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, that smile instantly melted my panties.

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