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CHAPTER15
Penelope
Mother rushes into the kitchen.“I just buzzed your boyfriend through the gate.”
My boyfriend.I like the sound of it. Excitement wells inside me and propels me off the stool. I haven’t seen much of Cannon since that night. We each had to tell our stories. But Cannon insisted I call my parents first.
Father instructed me not to tell my version of events until his lawyer arrived. Mother was at the police station in under three hours. She stayed at an Airbnb until the ordeal was done. Now we’re back in the house. London and Holland left an hour ago. When Cannon called before his meeting with his FBI friend, I asked him to come over.
I didn’t like how he sounded on the phone. Distant. More like the Cannon I first met. I won’t feel better until I can hold him again. I won’t sleep again until he’s in bed next to me. Every time I shut my eyes, I see Roman’s hate-filled gaze.
It’s been a week of lawyers, law enforcement, and confirmation that Roman is dead while Mick and Tony are in custody receiving medical care. Tony barely survived, but he’s alive. I hate him. I don’t want to be in the same county as him. But I didn’t kill him. There’s peace in that.
Tony and Mick also wielded their contingency plan like the pros they are. They have receipts on Roman. Messages. Conversations. Payments. Roman’s claims that I ran away with my stalker bodyguard were busted, giving me more credibility.
I reach the door as Cannon enters.
I fling myself into his arms. His cedar-and-citrus scent surrounds me. “It’s over?” I mumble into the crook of his neck. “It’s really over?”
“The investigation isn’t done, but they have most of what they need from us.” He returns my embrace, his strong arms holding me tight. Being held like this, I don’t know what I was so afraid of. But the fear will always be there. Roman’s face as he fell. The blame scrawled across it. His annoyance with me until the bitter end. Even while falling to his death, he was an insulting asshole. But he did fall to his death, and it happened right in front of me. It’s something I’m going to have to learn to live with, but I have Cannon to help me.
Mother comes a few steps closer, like she’s afraid to intrude. “I’m really glad you’re here, Cannon. You both can stay in the house as long as you like. I’m happy to have you here.”
He releases me from his hug but keeps an arm around my waist as he directs his question to my mother. “Have you seen the news?”
Her kind smile falters. “If you’re worried about what I think, don’t be. I grew up in the entertainment industry. I don’t mean to be blunt, because we’re talking about your mother, but I knew a lot of people like her and heard of those who were worse. It’s why I was too jaded to continue acting and why I didn’t want Penni in the biz. With her whole innocent fawn thing…” Mother shakes her head and presses her lips into a line. “It would’ve been like feeding chum to sharks.”
I can’t even be mad. She’s right.
The tension in Cannon doesn’t ease with Mother’s words. I rub his back and try to reassure him. “The media attention will die down. There’s always someone juicier to talk about.”
His brows draw together. “It’s already spilled over onto you. They’ve linked you to me. Your ballet history, and that you teach like my mom.”
“Cannon, I’m not like your mom. I’m not worried. It’s baseless, and in forty-eight hours everyone will forget about it.”
I take his hand and drag him down the hallway to the bedroom I stayed in before. I sense this conversation needs a little more privacy than what Cannon will ask for himself.
“Good night, Mother,” I call over my shoulder.
“Let me know if you two need anything,” she replies.
I drag Cannon into the bedroom and close the door. “I think she likes having us back under the same roof.”
“I won’t stay long.”
“She means it. As long as we need to get our feet under us.”
His expression hardens. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” A surge of panic rises inside me. The widening distance between us this last week hasn’t been my imagination. Logically, I know things between us have moved fast. I know that no matter how serious things get between us, I’ll insist on a long dating period before I think about getting married again. But so much has changed since we had that talk in the studio, and I don’t want to backtrack.
“You have a plan for what you want in life, swan. And I admire that. I want it for you. I’m not going to let anything get in the way, even if it’s me.”
“How can you get in the way? Are you talking about the press?” Doesn’t he believe us about Hollywood? They’re going to get bored with him and move on. No one will remember his name, and if they do, it won’t be in regard to his dancing. It’ll be because of his looks and that he’s a badass.
“Penelope, when you reopen your dance school, what are parents going to say?”
My first inclination is to shrug his worries off, but I snap my mouth shut. He has a point. But it was almost twenty years ago, and he was a kid who knew nothing about what was going on. Now he’s an adult, and parents will be well within their rights to question him being in my life since I’m around their kids.
