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Three swift strides, that’s all it takes before Sean firmly slams his hand against the door and prevents me from opening it. He blocks my exit. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t believe this,” I cry out. “Do you know who I am? You can’t do this to me!”
Sean laughs. It’s a real laugh and it brightens his face and fills his eyes as he leans back against the door. “Seriously?” The amusement is gone immediately. His eyes darken and his chest rises in warning. His temper is still beneath the surface. “After spending the last sixteen years of pretending the crazy woman inside your head doesn’t exist, you’re pulling that shit with me?” The anger rages through his eyes. Its warning is received via a shiver in my bloodstream. “You’ve spent your entire life searching for obscurity and now you want your prima donna status?” He catches both of my wrists in his hands. “Don’t think that just because you’re screwing around with a movie star you can start acting like one. It doesn’t work like that. Not with me, sweetheart.”
“You don’t scare me, Sean Anderson, because you’re not man enough to take me on.”
His hands tighten around my wrists. Desire hot enough to melt the chocolate sizzles in his eyes. Fireworks lit up inside my stomach. The fizz and pop all over my body.
“Fine.” He drops my hands. “You don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself.”
“Don’t give me a guilt trip, Sean.”
“Trip? You’d need an extensive vacation honey.” He sneers as he folds his arms over his broad chest. “Did you forget Mimi walked away from this life to be a mom?”
Oh, here we go! I roll my eyes and walk away. I walk deeper into the sitting room. I’ve been standing up for too long already today. My body is telling me to rest. And honestly, I don’t want to listen to Mimi’s sob story again. Poor Mimi was chased out of Hollywood by the paparazzi. She had to move to New York.
“She wasn't the one too busy to help her best friend plan her wedding.”
He can think whatever he likes, Julia knows the truth. Or at least part of it. I have a feeling Mimi hasn’t been wholly honest about my involvement, taking the credit herself.
“And then you go pull a crazy stunt like ripping poster boy’s heart out in front of the nation. You don't give a damn about how it affects your sister!”
I slam my fist against the bar between the kitchenette and the sitting room. Who the hell does he think he is?
The fierce rush of adrenalin is very much needed to keep my body upright without support. “Mimi lives in New York because Justin hasn’t got a clue about Macaulay!” I shout. Sean’s mouth falls open in surprise. “Yeah, that’s right. So don’t pretend to give a shit about my twin sister, Sean, because you don’t know a thing about either of us!”
“Like you do, Ash?” He glares at me. “Your latest stunt has gone down really well with Justin's loyal fans. She’s the one being dragged through hell on social media because you decided you wanted revenge!”
“Like I said, guilt tripping me into an interview won’t work.”
“You've changed your look to avoid the press and the fanatics but what about Mimi, did you think to suggest a new image to her?”
I reach out to the counter for support. He’s right. I have changed my look. I didn’t want anyone to find me. But Mimi is the one with Krystal's signature dark cherry mane of waist-length waves. A look she only took on to help me. Mimi is the one getting all the schtick.
“Fine.” I sigh, dig out my cell phone from my bag. “You’ve made your point. I’ll put my contingency plan into action.” His brows reach skywards. “Yes Sean, I’m already prepared for occasions such as these. I’ll have Mel put out a press release. Now is there anything else?”
CHAPTER 10
ASHLEIGH
“You do a cover up very well,” Sean says, but I’m not sure if his words are a compliment or an insult. He puts his cell phone on the unit and bends down to the well-stocked fridge for a bottle of water.
It’s only taken an hour for the press release to go out via my website and my social media channels. My assistant, Melissa, has taken care of the announcement that Krystal Valentina was sporting a new look while out in Las Vegas the night before. It claims that I’m now in New York with my sister. A few minutes after my post went out on Instagram, Tristan tweeted Krystal Valentina was testing her new look with him, Ryder Matthews, JT Preston, and several other friends in Las Vegas.
“Will I remain forever covered up like a dirty secret?”
“It’s not a cover up, it's a deflection.” I lean against the unit from the other side. I slipped into my bedroom about forty-five minutes ago, took pain medication, and now I’m a little higher in the clouds than normal. I’m focusing on keeping my feet firmly grounded. Otherwise, being this close to Sean might cause me to do something I’ll likely regret.
I wring my unsteady fingers together as I consider the rest of my answer carefully. Will Sean remain a secret? “You know I like to keep my private life private.”
Everything Krystal is, everything she does, it means nothing to me. It never has. It never will. I quit law and came back when Mimi needed me. I gave it everything, because there was no going back to a profession I walked out of with no warning.
But I’d learned from Mimi’s mistakes, too. Everything I care about and everyone I love will always be hidden from the rest of the world. They will be secrets because it’s the only way to protect them from the cost of being famous. The paparazzi. The rush of being popular. The need to extend those five minutes of fame to fifteen minutes and beyond. The hunger for fame and eventually the all-consuming greed and abuse from those within the system.
“Krystal Valentina is not who I am, Sean, she’s what I do.” I sigh quietly. I wish we’d had the chance to get to know each other again before this happened. There is only so much a voice on the end of the line could say. No body language, no facial expressions, no touch. Only a tone to communicate. And even that wasn’t always possible on a crowded set from the other side of the world.
“I go to work just like everyone else does,” I continue. It’s not like he cares anymore, anyway. “I switch her on when I walk out the door and I turn her off when I walk back through it. That’s the only way I know how to survive my world.”
