Page 107 of You Rock My World
We love you. We want you to be okay.
Rehab isn’t a bad word. It’s a way out. Take it.
Everywhere, across platforms, it’s the same. No one is defending her behavior or buying into her version of events. They only want her to get better. I could cry with relief.
It worked. The fans are on our side.
Despite what Billie did—the threats to me, to my family—her public implosion doesn’t make me happy. It makes me sad. Because for all the fire and rage Billie threw at the world, this is all that’s left. A mess of bad choices, of pain, of a woman who never figured out how to stop sinking.
I close my laptop and rub my eyes.
I’ve no idea what will happen next.
With Billie. With Dorian. With me.
Everything is a dumpster fire, but I feel finally free of all the secrets and the lies. I think of Dorian’s phoenix tattoo and hope that our love, too, can rise out of the ashes of this mess. But it’s not just me who has to make the decision. I need to speak with my family first.
* * *
When I arrive at Lily’s house, I can tell that my sister has a few choice words for me. I’m positive they have to do with the interview. But I’ve no idea what her angle will be. Is she going to berate me for putting her and Penny at risk? Call me irresponsible? Demand I leave Dorian?
She circles around the topic as we cut vegetables for soup in the kitchen while Penny does her homework in her room.
Lily slices through a bell pepper, then lifts her gaze to me. “Guess what the nurses at the hospital couldn’t stop talking about today?”
I freeze mid-chop. “What?”
She levels me with a look. “Rian Phoenix’s interview about his mystery woman.” A pause—pointed, loaded. “And the trainwreck of his ex-wife. Oh, and how this mystery woman can’t be with him because said ex-wife threatened her family.”
“Lily…” My eyes sting, and I set the knife down, pressing the heels of my hands against the counter. “I didn’t know about the threats. The moment I found out, I told him that if I had to choose between him and my family, I would always pick you.”
“Well, you’ll have to call him back and tell him you choose him instead.”
My head jerks up. “What?”
“You heard me.” She tosses a handful of peppers into the pot like it’s nothing and we’re debating what spices to add to the soup instead of making life-changing decisions.
“I can’t.”
“Sure can.”
“No. If Billie goes public, the press will hound you and Penny. This doesn’t affect only me.”
Lily lets out a short, unimpressed breath and waves the knife. “California has strict laws protecting minors from press harassment, I’ve looked it up.” She gives me the same objection as Dorian. “If they so much as point a camera our way, I can sue them for enough money to retire early. And I bet your boyfriend has an entire team of lawyers on retainer just for that.”
“They could still harass you, and mom, and Moira.”
Lily scoffs. “Please, if they go anywhere near Aunt Moira, they’ll be the ones running for their lives. And I’m really photogenic.”
I gape at her. “You’re serious?”
“Like a grandma at bingo night.” My sister puts the knife down and wipes her hands on a dish towel. “I won’t be the reason you’re miserable, Josie.”
I stare at her, struggling to process this shift, this opening where I thought the door was locked and bolted.
“I watched the interview.” Lily’s features soften. “The way he looked into that camera when he said he’s in love with you…” She swallows, blinking quickly, her thoughts must’ve inevitably drifted to Daniel. To the love she lost. “A love like that? It doesn’t come around often. Once in a lifetime if you’re lucky. And when you find it, you don’t throw it away.”
I’m ready to argue that I refuse to make her or Penny’s lives harder. But before I can, the unmistakable sound of an electric guitar echoes through the courtyard.
