Page 39 of Scarred Heart

He was going to wish he had never started this.

14

ROWAN

“Rowan?I have Lex Landry’s office for you.”

My head snapped up at Noelle’s announcement through my desk phone’s speaker.All I wanted was a quiet Friday after a hellaciously busy week and a night of broken sleep after the fight with Rhiannon and a text to Spencer which I knew must have hurt him.If only I didn’t care so much whether I hurt him.

Now, I had an unexpected call from a studio boss.Why would he call directly?It didn’t matter that I tried to tell myself there was nothing wrong.My stomach churned in the second it took to lift the phone receiver and tap the blinking button to the extension where Lex waited.“Mr.Landry.What can I do for you?”

“So that’s what it takes to get your attention?”Spencer’s voice held a sharp, bitter sort of humor.“I have to pretend to be somebody you feel like talking to?”

Son of a bitch.After his several attempts to reach out yesterday afternoon, I blocked him for the rest of the day.Clearly, we had different ideas about what it meant when a person requested space.It was never my intention to block him permanently.At least, not until now.“Not cool.You’re wasting my time now.I wasn’t kidding when I said I need space.”

“Listen to me.This isn’t about that.”After that came a shout.“Stupid fuck!Get off the road!”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m in the car,” he grunted out.“Traffic out of Malibu is a fucking nightmare.Something very big has come up.Very important.I need you to follow directions and not ask any questions.I’ll answer them later.”

“Uh, sure.” I had to laugh off my discomfort.Noelle and I would need to have a talk about properly vetting my phone calls.“I’ll get right on that for you.”

“Rowan,” he barked loudly enough to make my head snap back.“This is serious.I need you to get Hannah out of school and take her to the Beverly Wilshire.I’m probably being overcautious, but I don’t want to take unnecessary risks.”

Dread slithered up my spine, but I tried to ignore it.“You want me to do what?Why?You’re out of your mind.”

“Please,Rowan.Listen to me.I know it’s a lot to ask but there’s a good reason for it.I’ll explain when I get there.”A car horn blared in the background.

“You can’t call me and order me around like this.As if I can drop everything at a moment’s notice, all because you said so.”Was this his way of forcing us into the same room?Ignoring my needs?Rhiannon was right.I shouldn’t have brought him into our lives.

“Please, get mad at me later.Right now, I need you to get Hannah and get to the damn hotel.Don’t tell anybody where you’re going, and don’t stop at home for anything.We’ll figure that out.”

The dread was starting to spread, lighting up the darkest corners of my brain.This wasn’t a joke.No way he’d keep up the act for this long.

“I made the reservation in Lex’s name,” he continued.“There’s a standing order to keep a suite free for any big shots he wants to impress.I let the staff know you’re on your way.Use Lex’s name, not your own.Do you understand?That is critical.”

Suddenly, I was very scared.“I don’t understand any of this,” I whispered over the fear rising in my chest.

“I know.I’ll explain when I get there.Do as I say…please.”

“All right.”He had me freaked out, to say the least.Were we in danger?How could we be?How long were we supposed to stay at the hotel?He had a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

In the meantime, I had to explain this to my daughter when I didn’t have the first idea what was going on.It was a good thing in retrospect that I’d been so busy earlier in the week, meaning fewer meetings scheduled for today.

After doing a little last-minute rescheduling with Noelle, I headed out under the pretext of an emergency, which might not have been a lie.

* * *

“Why are we doing this?”Hannah’s wide eyes sparkled with mischief as we walked to the car after I pulled her out of school for the day.It wasn’t something I’d ever done, meaning this was a big adventure for her.“Where are we going?”

Only a mother would understand what it meant to pretend everything was fine when inside, the opposite was true.“We’re going to have a special weekend.It’s going to be a big adventure.Spencer got us a penthouse suite at the Beverly Wilshire as a surprise, and I thought it would be fun to get there early.”What a lame excuse.

Good thing she was a very excited ten-year-old who wasn’t currently in the mood to think logically.“Really?Cool!”

“So you’re excited?”

“Mom!”I remembered being her age, unable to believe my parents didn’t get it.“Do you know how many famous people stay there all the time?There’s always pictures of people walking in and out of there.Maybe we’ll see somebody!”

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