Page 13 of Her Beastly Billionaire Rock Star
Charlotte set down her half-eaten pizza slice and braced her hands against the edge of the chair. Again, she said nothing, but he had her full attention. It felt to him like she was soaking up everything he said.
He raked his hand through his hair and continued. “I watched it over and over and over, thinking that couldn’t have been me. I loved my grandma. She was an amazing woman, and I’d…dishonored her in every way possible. The next day, I checked myself into rehab. I promised I’d never touch any of it again. Never.”
“Until the night of the crash.” She caught his gaze and held it.
As much as he found himself wanting to come clean, he couldn’t forget the look in Sunny’s eyes…she’d begged him. Even if it meant he took heat for something he didn’t do. He hadn’t been able to save her life, but he could save her memory.
“Yeah,” he whispered. It was as loud as he could speak.
“How did you meet Sunny? What was she like? Admittedly, I don’t know much about her because I don’t follow social media or famous people.”
Chuckling, he smiled as he remembered first meeting Sunny. “Crush was invited to be on a late-night show to perform. Sunny happened to be on that night as well. We were in the green room, and I was so nervous. It was my first time on any kind of show. She was sweet and friendly and so down-to-earth.” At the time, he’d had no idea how much she was hiding from the world.
“It surprised you that she was normal?”
He nodded. “I guess it did just a little. We only dated for a short while. I mean, when I was in town, we’d go out, have dinner, that kind of thing, but we weren’t really…together, together. She was someone I cared about.”
Charlotte chewed her lip. “Did you ever see yourself with her long term?”
“No, not at all. I was a big kid, all about rock-and-roll and partying. I definitely wasn’t looking to settle down. I had visions of rock-star perks, and I’d yet to enjoy all of them.” He paused. What he would give to step back in time and throat-punch some sense into himself. “She was as bright and bubbly as you could imagine. She wanted love and a family, and I wasn’t ready for that. I respected her, though.”
“How was it to find out she got married?”
“It was a blow because it felt like she was the one who got away for a while after. Then she and Bruce started having problems.”
Bigger problems than even Malakai knew. The man was abusive and cruel. Sunny called Malakai roughly six months after they were married, asking if she could hang out at his place for a bit. Of course, he’d said sure. He was in Europe on a yearlong tour. Not like he needed it for a while.
If only he’d known how much she’d needed someone. “They’d hit the red carpet and play like nothing was under the surface. She was so desperate to be wanted, and I had no idea at the time.”
“What about her mom?”
“They had a weird relationship.” The same kind of vibe he got from Octavia and Charlotte. Maybe that’s why he was drawn to Charlotte. He’d failed one woman who was crying for help, and he’d seen the same cry in Charlotte’s eyes the second he looked into them. That sadness. “I never figured it out, but I was also never around the both of them for an extended period of time. So, I could be wrong.”
Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest. “Did she ever do anything about Bruce?”
Wow, when Charlotte said she didn’t follow famous people, she was telling the truth. Either that or she was an excellent liar. He thought everyone knew about Sunny’s marriage problems. “She was in the process of divorcing him when the crash happened.”
Malakai also suspected the details of her divorce reaching the media was behind Sunny’s alcoholism. He’d been trying to convince her to get help, but she refused over and over. Finally, she’d agreed to go. A week later, she was calling him, drunk and asking for a ride home.
“Wow. That had to be hard for her.”
He nodded. “People expected her to be perfect all the time.”
“Poor woman. Thinking she had to maintain an image of perfection for people who didn’t even care about her.” Charlotte took a deep breath. “I wish I’d known her. It sounds like she needed a friend more than anything.”
Malakai hung his head. “She did…” The sentence trailed off. He was close to a year sober when he realized Sunny was in trouble. He’d tried being a friend to her. Going to clubs, watching out for her, but the more he did it, the harder it was to resist falling back into old habits. It was so wild.
Typically, she didn’t drink while she was out. She was already drunk when she got where she was going. How anyone could doubt her acting chops was beyond him. She could fake holding it together like no one else.
Eventually, he had to take a step back. His thinking was that she needed to fall hard to get the help she needed, but it never happened.
“I don’t know that she ever really had a friend. Most people just wanted what they could get from her. Their piece of fame, a donation to this or that charity, and things like that.”
Awkward silence fell over them. Malakai suspected Charlotte didn’t know how to respond, but who would? Everyone had masks. Charlotte definitely had one. He’d felt it…seen it that day in the office. The monster under a kid’s bed never really went away; the kid just got older, and the monsters that were hiding were the ones they’d created as an adult. It wasn’t lava they were avoiding when they got out of bed; it was the face in the mirror.
Malakai stood, suddenly no longer hungry. “As much as I’d like to swim, I think I’m calling it a night. Like I said, my house is your house, so make yourself at home.”
Charlotte pushed off the chair and touched his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
