Beneath the Stars (Falling Stars 4)

I struggled to swallow around the moment. Around the need that had me in a fist. My stomach in knots of greed, and my thighs trembling with desire.

I didn’t know whether to curse the call or be thankful for the interruption.

Before I could orient myself, Rhys had shot clear across the bathroom. Both his hands were braced on his doorframe like they were the only things holding him back from coming for me again.

The man panted like a beast.

So unbearably gorgeous it hurt looking at him.

Clearing the discomfort from my throat, I moved over to my phone.

Disgust and fear staked through my being when I saw the name on the screen.

Definitely, definitely cursing the call.

But I had to answer it.

I couldn’t shrink or cower.

I had to play it cool.

Pretend.

Still, I wished Rhys wasn’t there to witness it.

Pretending was the one thing he’d asked me not to do with him, but that was going to prove hard to do.

“Mom,” I answered, turning my back on Rhys and doing my best to keep it together. For my voice not to tremble.

“Maggie, darling, how are you?”

She asked it casually and with all the feigned haughtiness she’d perfected. She was great at acting like she’d been raised in that mansion in the Hills instead of a trailer park in San Jose.

The suspicions I’d been fighting all morning flared. The feeling that she was digging. Prying. Knew more than she would ever let on.

“I’m great.” I tacked on all the faked enthusiasm I could muster.

“Oh, that’s wonderful.” She couldn’t even cover her disappointment. She was most likely hoping I was dead in a ditch somewhere. “Where are you?”

Not in a ditch.

I had to keep myself from spitting the words. Had to ignore the rash of anger that slithered beneath the surface of my skin.

If she was playing me, then I had to play right back. Pretend as if I had no clue what she was after.

“Don’t you remember?” I almost sang it. Like I was in some magical place. I was, but she definitely didn’t get that part of me. Not anymore. Not ever again. “I’m nannying for Royce and Emily this summer.”

You know, since my condo had gone up in flames.

“And where might that be?”

“It’s at an undisclosed location. I had to sign an NDA promising I wouldn’t let anyone know. I’m sorry.”

“Well, wherever you’ve run off to, it’s time for you to come home to LA.” She snipped it. A clear demand.

My head shook, and I whispered the words in a rush, “That’s not going to happen.”

“That’s fantastic, Maggie. Abandon your mother in her greatest time of need.”

Now this? I doubted very much that she was faking.

My mother had been absolutely devastated over the death of my father six months ago.

Devastated by the loss—the loss of the millions of dollars that no longer resided in her bank account to be precise. I doubted she was missing that money as much as the secret stash that had gone missing.

My daddy’s stockpile that the feds had never known about.

My sigh was bitter. “That’s funny, Mom, considering you ignored mine for years.”

She had gladly gone along with my father, pretended as if Cory Douglas hadn’t brutalized me. Hadn’t stolen my innocence. My faith and my hope and my belief and mangled it into a ball of terror that had sat on my chest for years.

All those years until Royce had gotten free and then had freed me.

It had all been in favor of keeping her luxurious lifestyle intact.

“That accusation was fabricated, and you know it.” She tsked like I was silly. “You fell down the stairs, remember?”

Pain staked through my heart.

I hated that I still felt it. That I still expected something better from her.

“I was fifteen.” I whimpered it on a shallow breath, my head dropping as low as my voice. “Fifteen. And you dismissed it, denied it, to keep the money rolling in.”

From behind, a shockwave of rage reverberated through the room. Banged against the walls. A harsh growl was intertwined with the ferocity of it.

No question, Rhys was picking up on the bits I didn’t want him to hear.

“Well, whatever happened, it doesn’t matter any longer. It’s behind us now.”

I battled to guard myself against her blatant disregard.

Still, I stumbled a step forward, unable to process the cruelty.

“Now, it’s time to stop this nonsense and come home where you belong. There are matters to attend to.”

The warning was there. Clear and present. All contained in the hoity pride she wore like a brand.

Disbelieving laughter escaped from my tongue. “No, Mother, there is nothing left. Nothing left to say. Nothing left to do.”

I could almost hear her teeth grinding to dust before the venom came pouring out. “Your pathetic brother put you up to this, didn’t he? Convinced you into holding onto your morbid little lies to keep us apart? All of this is his fault. None of this would have happened if he hadn’t stolen your father’s position at Mylton Records. Your father was innocent. Royce framed him. Was jealous your father wasn’t his father, too. He’s responsible for it all.”