Truth

I knew Brooklyn well enough now to know when she was getting flustered, just like last night when I told her I knew she gave Rod lyrics that weren’t mine. Her face grew pink, and her big emerald eyes looked elsewhere.

“Do I need to pull your shirt up and look? Because I will.”

She gasped. “You will not!” Then she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” I mumbled, taking a step toward her.

“Whoa, what?!” Jackson exclaimed, slamming the champagne bottle down on the table.

Finn cracked up, throwing his sweaty head back. I was certain he mumbled something under his breath like, “I knew it.”

“Oh my GOD!” Brooklyn yelled, throwing her hands up while giving me a death glare. Then she looked over at Jackson with an exasperated expression on her face. “He saw me naked because someone put a fake snake in my shower and I screamed bloody murder.”

Jackson paid no attention to Brooklyn, and he looked over at me. “You saw her naked and didn’t think to tell us that? Betrayal.”

I chuckled and walked back into my room, ready to strip off my concert clothes and get into something that wasn’t clinging to my sweaty skin. Really, I just needed a breather, because anytime the shower thing was mentioned, I started to picture her, and it would be embarrassing as hell to get a damn hard-on right there in front of everyone. The second I was pulling my black sweats and shirt out of the drawer, erasing all thoughts of Brooklyn naked, my phone vibrated, ricocheting off the table.

My heart dropped, thinking it would be no one other than Angelina—out of habit, of course. After my shows, she’d call me, and we’d talk for a good while. That is, until things slowed way down, and she disappeared off the face of the earth, shutting me and everyone else out.

With a shaky, sore hand, I pulled it up to my ear to answer.

“Hello?” I rasped out, the fear evident in my voice.

“Reid, hello. It’s Darcy.”

My shoulders instantly relaxed at the sound of my lawyer’s voice. “You’re calling awfully late, Darcy.”

She sighed. “Well, I wanted to wait until after your show to talk to you.”

Just like that, my heart started to thump. “What’s going on? Tell me you have something good to tell me. Have you found out where she is?”

She paused, and I could hear my heart beating like a drum. “We did.”

It felt like the world had stopped moving. I gripped onto the dresser and held my phone with a tight grip. “And?”

“Well, we didn’t technically find her, but her parents finally folded. After I tell you where she is, you have to swear you’ll stay far away, Reid. You have to let us handle this very delicately. Her parents have already refused to give up any more information, but I’m working with the courts on fixing that due to… everything.”

She was talking about the whole baby ordeal because, really, at this point, that was all I had connecting me to Angelina.

“Where is she?” I demanded, sweat droplets forming on my temples.

“Reid, do you understand what I’m telling you? You have to stay out of it. Her parents…”

I groaned. “I know. They fucking hate me and think I’m the reason for Angelina running off and losing her fucking shit. I get it. But—”

She interrupted me. “There are no buts. If you interfere, the courts will side with them. If they don’t want to give you any information—even if there is… or was a fetus involved—then they won’t. Tread lightly, Reid.”

I paused, taking several deep breaths. “I get it. Where is she?” I could hear Brooklyn’s laugh from the middle of the tour bus, but I pushed it away, turning my back on the door.

“She’s at Bloomsdale Psychiatric Institute.”

Every nerve in my body died. It felt like all the blood from my body was pooling at my feet. What the fuck? Bloomsdale Psychiatric Institute? A dagger went right to my heart. Of all places, she’s there?

I finally managed to get out the word, “Why?” after what felt like an eternity.

“That’s what we’re working on. I’m trying to get pull with the courts, stating that you need to know this information even though you’re not family. If you were married, this would be a lot easier to navigate, but the only thing I have holding you two together is the fact that she said she had a baby and that it was yours.”

I swallowed, and it felt like glass. “You have no confirmation on that yet? And what about this Lori person that Angelina kept mentioning?”