Hollywood Princess (Hollywood Royalty 2)

“Well, from the pictures I saw online this morning, I would say you are not only living the dream, but you’re also banging the dream,” he tells me. I look on my phone and see that I have a ton of notifications.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I tell him, clicking on the link Rachel sent me not five minutes ago. The link takes me to a picture of me and Kellie leaving the restaurant, my hand in hers as I make our way through the crowd.

“Have to say I never thought you would cross that line.” He laughs out loud as I read the headline.

Who is Hollywood’s Princess secret date?

“So how long have you been tapping that?” he asks, and I want to punch his throat right now. “I want all the details. Now that Sandy is knocked up, I have to live vicariously through you.” I don’t answer him, and he just continues. “Dude, I never imagined that you would be the one who breaks the ‘I don’t shit where I eat’ motto.”

“Anthony,” I say, hissing between my clenched teeth.

“Out of all the women to fall off the wagon with, you picked a good one. What is going to happen after the tour?” he asks me the fated question I have no answer to.

“It’s not a big deal, man. I’m just riding the wave,” I say softly, though the words taste like acid.

“Well, I really hope it’s a big wave,” he says. “Okay, I have to go. Sandy is on the other line.” The phone beeps, ending the call. I stand here, looking out at the pond, then turn and walk back into the house to my girl. But I find the bed empty. The bathroom door is closed, so I make my way downstairs and start the coffee. When I walk back upstairs with two freshly brewed cups of coffee, she’s stepping out of the bathroom.

“Morning,” I say, walking to her and kissing her lips.

“Morning,” she mumbles. “Is everything okay?” she asks me, grabbing her cup of coffee and taking a sip.

“Yeah, it’s fine. It was Anthony. There is a picture of us in the paper,” I tell her, grabbing my phone and showing her the picture. She grabs my phone, scrolling to read the article.

“It’ll be fine,” she says. “It’ll be old news by tomorrow morning.” She hands me back my phone, and then I grab my own coffee and walk to the bed to sit next to her.

“I have to talk to Cori,” she says, getting up. “I’ll be right back.”

She grabs a shirt and then walks toward Cori’s room, opening the door and then walking in. I google Kellie’s name and find all the pictures that were taken last night. Kellie looks stunning in her black leather pants and lace button-down shirt. A shirt that I tore off her and lays in shreds on the floor next to her pants. One red stiletto is next to the pile of clothes, and the other stiletto is downstairs at the front door.

We get to the venue at four o’clock where she does the sound check. After that, she hits up the gym and then retreats into her dressing room. She has been really quiet, and I wonder if it’s because the picture in the paper bothers her. “Are you okay?” I ask her, and her eyes look at me.

“Yeah, I just think I might be coming down with something.” She gets up when it’s eight o’clock and puts on her earpiece, and we walk to the stage.

The hallways all look the same in every venue with the white cement blocks. We turn the corner, and I look up. I’m surprised to see Dante and Hunter standing there together when we get to the stage. “What the hell are they doing here?” I mumble, and then they look up at me, and we are suddenly joined by Tommy.

“Hey,” I say when we get close enough to them. They are standing right in front of the stage entrance where Kellie enters. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Brian,” Hunter says, his voice low, and I look over at him, wondering if something horrible has happened, but he doesn’t say anything else because Kellie now talks.

“Good, you’re here,” she says to them. “Thank you for doing this on short notice.”

“Anything for you,” Tommy says, going to her and hugging her, and I look from her to Cori, who just glares at me.

“What is going on?” My eyes glance at everyone, and then they finally fall on Kellie, but I see something I haven’t seen, emptiness. She blinks once, and then looks over at Hunter, who just nods at her and then she turns to me.

“You’re being replaced,” she says, her voice not showing any emotion. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a show to do.” She turns to walk away from me, and I reach out to grab her arm. She stops, her eyes going to my hand holding her arm. “Get your fucking hands off me.” The tone of her voice surprises me, but not more than her yanking her arm out of my hand.