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“Dr. Copeland feels it would be in your best interest to have someone accompany you up to the mountains for the next few days, and the board agrees with him. I’m not saying they don’t trust you, but well… they don’t trust you. They think it’s too soon for you to be left alone with a world of temptation at your fingertips, and they can’t risk you doing something stupid that could bring the good name of Rochester into disrepute.”
I glance at Dr. Copeland. “Your faith in me is flattering.”
“Don’t shoot the messenger. It’s actually a condition they’ve placed on your release. When’s the last time you were up at the mountain house?”
The edge of my mouth twitches. “About six months ago, right before we flew to LA. I screwed up then, too, and that’s where I ended up.”
“I see.” He nods, exhaling a slow breath. “Perhaps Nick could stay with you?”
“Nick?” I ask.
“Sorry, no can do. I’ve got back to back meetings for the next few weeks trying to organize the tour. I’m deep in negotiations with the guys in Paris to secure the stadium we want. I can’t afford to be away right now, I’m really sorry, but as you know, time is money.”
“What about Reed?” I ask, hopefully.
Nick shakes his head. “If you think I’m leaving the two of you alone together for any length of time, you’re fooling yourself. You’ll kill each other. And besides, my lead singer/songwriter isn’t going anywhere until he nails those last couple of songs he’s been working on.”
“I can do it,” says Dee, closing her laptop and sitting up, stretching her fully tattooed arms out and above her head. Her tight T-shirt strains over her large breasts. I’d normally look. Not today. “I don’t mind helping out. I’ve been working my butt off lately, and I could use the break. It could be fun.”
Nick seems pleased by the idea. “Awesome!”
I’m not so sure. Being locked up in a house with Dee for days on end could equal a whole lot of—
“I’ll do it.”
My head jerks so quickly in the opposite direction that I almost get whiplash, and Sienna’s wide-eyed gaze instantly meets mine.
Pink tinges her cheeks beneath her makeup, but the confidence in her voice disguises any uncertainty she might feel.
Nick’s face lights up like it’s Christmas and New Year’s all rolled into one. “Oh, yes, even better,” he says, rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. “No offense, Dee.”
Dee scoffs, mumbling something under her breath that none of us can make out. But Nick, bless him, just keeps on talking without paying her a second thought. “That’s a great idea. A professional can handle things way better than we can if things go south.”
“They won’t,” I grumble.
Dr. Copeland doesn’t look as convinced as the rest of us. “Sienna, you don’t have to—”
“It’s fine, Paul.”
Nick wrings his hands together. “I can arrange for someone from our security detail to accompany her, if that’s what you’re worried about, Doc. If it makes you feel better, we can have surveillance cameras installed, too.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Sienna states simply.
Dr. Copeland sighs, somewhat skeptically. “Perhaps Chad could go instead? That would make more sense.”
Chad lifts his head. He doesn’t say anything. But he doesn’t have to. His face says it all. He’s as keen on the idea as I am. No, thank you.
“Dr. Copeland, please,” Sienna interjects. “Kael and I have come so far together, and I’d really like to see things through to the end. Full circle, you know? I’d like to see how far we could take things between us. Push the boundaries, you know? I think we still have some unfinished business.”
Holy fuck.
I honestly don’t know if we’re all still talking about the same thing anymore.
“I mean, God knows what he’s going to walk into up there,” she continues. “The place could be full of booze, drugs, whatever. I need to be there to help him get through this next stage. The transition stage. You know as well as I do, Paul, how hard it can be for a recovering addict to be surrounded by old temptations, things that could lure them back into old ways. Let me do this.”
Nick speaks up again, shy of doing a fucking little happy dance, and it’s like the decision’s already made by the gospel according to Nick Dundas.
“You’ll have your own bedroom and bathroom, of course,” he says. “I can arrange for a handyman to install a lock on the bedroom door if that makes you more comfortable. Would you like that? Wouldn’t take him more than an hour I’m guessing.”
