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“If I’m going to be chased by the press, I might as well look good doing it,” I snorted, grabbing my bag as Ben checked his watch. “Where are we heading first, anyway?”
“For a coffee. I’ve booked us a nice, exclusive place. I need all the gossip on Alex’s new venture and the wedding plans, of course. You two are my new favourite couple!” Rolling eyes, I motioned to Ben that we were ready to leave.
Milly had booked us a table at a stylish coffee house popular with celebrities in Manhattan. At her request, we were seated out of view from the large, bay windows at the front of the shop.
“How is our favourite rock star, then?” Milly asked once our drinks had been delivered to our table.
“Busy,” I sighed. “He’s taking everything in his stride. You should have seen all the producers that were eating out of his hand yesterday. Some wanted to eat more than his hands.” That skinny bitch came into my mind.
“You must be talking about Maya!” Milly snorted. “I heard she was in town.” How would she know that? Had Alex and Maya been that close back in the day?
“What’s the deal with her and Alex, anyway?”
“Nat, she’s nothing to him. She hung off his dick a few times in the nineties, but that’s it.”
“No orgies?”
That made Milly spit her coffee out, laughing loudly. “Who told you about the orgies? Alex?”
“She was boasting about them yesterday.” I ran my hands through my hair, stressed. “She was eye fucking him throughout the entire meeting, too. What was his obsession with blondes when he was younger? I honestly don’t get it. Wait! Was Ness blonde?” Why did I even ask that?
“Yes. Ness was blonde.” Fuck! I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat at that revelation. Had he been trying to fill the void she’d left behind? “You have to stop comparing yourself to her, Nat. Alex fucked just as many brunettes and red heads back in the day, too.”
“She’s the only other woman Alex has loved. It’s hard not to.”
“You can’t compare yourself to a ghost. Ness…well, she was an evil piece of shit! All she thought about was herself! She was the one who got Alex hooked on drugs in the first place! Did he ever tell you that?” He’d explained that they’d done drugs together, but that was it! “I’m guessing he gave you the sugar coated version of Vanessa Brooks. Do you want to hear the true story? You can’t ever tell Alex that I told you, though.” Shit! Yes, I wanted the true story! “I better get us another coffee. This could take a while.”
After a few hours, I sat there flabbergasted. Vanessa Brooks had been toxic for every man that had ever fallen under her spell. One thing I hadn’t realized was that she was a couple of years older than Alex and Matt!
She’d met the band when Alex was only sixteen. Apparently, she had been dating his billionaire friend, Oliver at the time. The moment her eyes fell on Alex when he went on stage, she wanted him and split with Oliver. They had a one night stand. Steel Roses and his music was all Alex wanted to focus on. He wasn’t looking for a woman on his arm and knew Matt liked her and didn’t want to cause problems with his friend. Ness thought he was denying his feelings toward her, which she saw as a challenge. When he never returned her affections, she used Matt to try and make Alex jealous. When Steel Roses got their first big break, Alex got stage fright at the sight of the large crowd. That night, he got his first taste of drugs when Ness slipped them into his mouth with her tongue, explaining that they would give him the confidence to become a god. He was addicted to her and the drugs from that night on. The sex mixed with the high he got from the drugs was the ultimate elixir to Alex. One kiss. That’s all it took for their six year affair, which I knew a little about, to begin. Steel Roses rose to fame, their popularity growing to epic proportions. All the while, Ness kept Alex hooked with drugs and sex, all behind Matt’s back. Gina knew about the affair, as did Milly and Diego. Even his label knew about it, and Alex was ordered to keep the affair secret or finish it. Somehow, Matt had never suspected, and the band was making too much money for a rift to occur between the members. Alex was trapped, loving someone he couldn’t have, and because of that, he spiralled out of control. He couldn’t see it, but Ness was toxic for him. She would goad him, determined to make him pay for not choosing her over the band. Ness made his life a living hell, but Alex couldn’t keep away.
The night Ness took her life, Alex had explained to Milly and Diego he couldn’t live that way anymore. He had finally seen sense, and realised he needed to set her free, make her understand that they were never going to be together. It wasn’t for the sake of the band, it was for Matt, who had become a brother to him. Alex knew if he carried on with the drugs and alcohol, he’d be dead within the next ten years. His addiction was at a dangerous level, and with Ness in his life, nothing was going to change. His love for her was slowly killing him.
Something deep inside made him hope that one day, if he was lucky enough, he’d find a better life. Tears streamed down my face as Millie finished telling me the truth that was too hard for Alex to share. All this time…he had been dreaming of a love like ours.
“Do you understand now?” Milly asked as we sat in the back of the SUV. “He’s been dreaming of the kind of love you two share all his life. You don’t have to compare yourself to her anymore. You are everything that is good for Alex. Ness was everything that was bad.”
“It’s hard to believe that all his demons were caused by one woman.”
“Alex loves fiercely, you know that. It’s nice to see him consumed by the right woman, though.” Milly nudged me as the car door opened. Shit! Where had the paparazzi come from? “Word must have gotten out that you and Alex are in town. Come on! Let’s do some shopping! Flip them the bird if you want.” I wasn’t going to do that! With my head held high, I put my sunglasses on and allowed Ben to control the crowd as Milly and I walked into the shops.
“How was your day with Milly?” Alex looked tired as he joined me in the hotel’s VIP bar. I hadn’t been back long.
“Good! She made me buy too much stuff, though. There was this dress for thirty grand that she insisted I buy. I kept putting it back, but she’d pick it up again. She’s worse than Diego!”
“I had to cope with both of them for over ten years, Straight Lace! How do you think I coped?”
“I have no idea,” I smiled, touching his face. “How did things go today?”
“It’s been an interesting day. I had a surprise visitor at the recording studio.” Tilting my head, I urged him to go on. “Gina came to see me.”
“Gina! As in your ex-manager, Gina?”
“Yep. She left Rock Records. Apparently, the label is moving in a direction she doesn’t like.” If he was about to tell me that she was joining Harbour Records, I wouldn’t be able to hold in my excitement! “She’s in, baby!”
“In? What…with us?” Gina Rosewood! The best band manager in the world! This was incredible!
“Yep. She’s got a few bands that she wants to run past me next month.”
