Page 86 of Sapphire Storm

“There was this one girl, about my mom’s age. They got to befriends, but then one day they were up for the same role, and the girl hadpreviously made the mistake of telling my mom she was allergic to sesame seeds.So the night before her audition, my mom volunteered for kitchen duty.” Racheldidn’t need to fill in the rest. “Something’s missing in my mother. I thinkbecause she had to kill it all those years ago after her mom abandoned her.Like she went so deep inside herself that she’s the only thing she can see. Butthe point I’m trying to make is that if Connor and Logan don’t react to thefile, she will keep going until she finds someone who does. An actor quits whenthey’re dead. That’s, like, her motto.”

“Very spiritual,” Donnie grumbled.

No one said anything for what felt like an eternity.

Rachel finally broke the silence. “I thought about becominga doctor, when I was in high school.”

“Why didn’t you?” Ethan asked.

“A voice in my head said the only way my mother would see mewas if I went into the same business. Then she could see my career as anextension of her own. And it’s worked for this long. I feel like I’ve had asmuch of her in my life as I possibly could. But now we’re here and I feelresponsible.”

“Rachel,” Ethan finally said. Whatever she heard in his tonemade her turn to face them. “I don’t want to seem ungrateful because I neededto hear all of this, very much, but there’s another way to end this.”

She shook her head. “No, there isn’t. I threatened to come outas asexual an hour ago and she made the same threat. To you.”

There was another silence during which Donnie’s hand came torest on his shoulder again. “Looks like you’ve got more people looking out foryou than you thought.”

“You spoke to them?” Ethan asked.

Rachel nodded. “I spoke to her after they landed. Shewouldn’t let me talk to him. She said he was too upset and he needed to calmdown.”

“Still upset? After an eleven-hour flight?”

He was guessing about the flight time, and so he threw outthe average travel time between the West Coast and Europe, especially after therefueling stops needed for a smaller private plane. But she didn’t rush to fillin the blank about where her mother had taken Roman.

“Where are they, Rachel?” he asked her.

“I’m not going to tell you that, Ethan. If you try some heroshit and jump a wall or something, it will end very badly for both of you. Someof her craziest fans are overseas, and her security when she travels is hard-fucking-core.And I’ve never seen her this invested in something. Hank’s right. She thinksthis wedding is her swan song. She hasn’t gotten offered a good role in adecade, and this whole thing is her chance to shine. Maybe her last.”

“What makes you think I’d pull some hero shit, as you putit?”

“Ask Hank. He could use some ice for his jaw.”

“Yeah, but,” Donnie interjected, “you’d better tell Romanthat Ethan punched your Mustache Man ’cause eventually they’re going to havereal good sex over it, ’cause that was fucking hot, dude.”

“That’s enough, Sex Monster,” Ethan whispered.

“Seriously, though,” Donnie responded. “I didn’t know youhad it in you. I figured you’d just flambé him or something.”

Ethan wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t manage it.

“I’m headed there this week,” Rachel said. “Write him a letter,something he can tear up. I’ll give you his response. ’Cause something tells meshe’s going to keep him under armed guard until the wedding. Literally.”

“Deal,” Ethan said.

“All right,” Donnie said, stepping between them, “let’s walkthe lady back to her car. Something tells me her security detail isn’t workingat full strength tonight.”

22

“It felt like a miracle, honestly,” Roman said.

He was proud of how he’d saidhonestly.Like it wasan afterthought. Three dots appeared before it in the script, so he figuredthat was the right read.

Perched on the edge of the sofa across from his, the boss hecouldn’t get free of watched his every move with penetrating intensity. Behindher, Melanie, Diana’s birdlike and perpetually anxious publicist had stopped pacingand texting long enough to watch his performance. She’d flown in the day before.Now, her toothy smile encouraged him to continue.

Roman cleared his throat. “I mean, one day, you turn and youlook at the person who’s been next to you the whole time, and all of a suddenyou see something you’ve never seen before. You see—”

“No!”With a loud clank, Diana slammed her coffeecup into its saucer. “No, no, sugar. Someone! You seesomeoneyou’venever seen before. That’s the point. You’re supposed to be telling us how youfell in love with your best friend. You’re making it sound like she sprouted awart on her chin.”

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