Romance: Gibson's Legacy ( New Adult Contemporary Erotic Romance) (Last Score Book 1) (39 page)

Johnny folded his arms and crossed a leg over his other one, leaning sideways on the wall to face me. Snickering, he commented, “Gibson, if anyone can talk her round, it’s you. This is where all your lines and seductive ways get to join forces, dude. Plus, she’s a chick. I’ve never known one yet that can stay mad at you for more than five minutes.”

All those women I’d ever spun a line, teased or flirted with in the past were haunting me. Johnny’s words were exactly why I’d have trouble convincing Chloe to believe that yesterday wasn’t just staged to ensure I got laid.

Charlotte had already established that Chloe wasn’t in her room and that Gavin had picked up a key for her last night. So we headed directly to his room which would give me a couple of precious minutes to establish where she was before someone from the press caught up with us, because they would think I was heading straight to hers.

When Gavin opened the door, there was something in the way he held the door that told me there was a chick in there with him. I’m not stupid, I’ve stood the same way on many occasions. “Hey, dude, sorry to interrupt you. Do you know where I can find Chloe?”

Being a guilty man all too often, I recognized the look he was giving me and before he spoke, I was already realizing that Chloe was in there with him. My heart began to thud fast in my chest because she was hiding from me.

“Sorry dude, no, I thought she was with you.” As soon as he lied my temper went from zero to sixty and I fought to keep it under control.

“Can I come in for a minute?” Not waiting for Gavin to answer, I pushed him back and strode into the room, expecting to see Chloe sitting there. Instead, I saw her reflection in the mirror; a shocked look on her face, sitting naked in the dude’s bed.

Taking in the scene and that Gavin was half naked, I assumed he’d probably pulled on his jeans to answer the door. Feeling so fucking hurt by her being with him, I wondered who was playing who? I thought she’d left my bed and jumped straight into his. “You gotta be fucking kidding me, darlin’.”

Thunderous thoughts that she’d gone to him for help and the dude had taken advantage of her vulnerability made me want to kill him.

Addressing Gavin, “My security guy made me feel like shit because he said I’d hurt her last night. Guess you were there to comfort her and fuck her to make her feel better, right?”

Gavin tried to speak, “Dude…” Reacting to my seething thoughts, I grabbed Gavin by the windpipe and his nuts because I was done being reasonable. Gavin yelped and I honestly didn’t give a fuck how much pain he was in, it could never be as bad as I was feeling about giving myself to someone, opening up my feelings and getting them trampled upon.

Glancing at her in the mirror, her sitting there holding a sheet over her to cover up what was already etched into my mind, I felt betrayed by the one person I had thought might be the reason, why my life had had such a void until now. The one void that might have been my true purpose in life, who meant more than making music and hanging out in the fucked up world I had sold into.

“Do your nuts hurt? I fucking hope so, I should cut your dick off. You’re a fucking asshole. What is it with you, dude? You got no shame taking my sloppy seconds? Couldn’t fucking resist her even though you knew she had been with me?”

Deep down in my conscience, my rational side kept telling me to stop; that there must be a logical explanation for her being there, but seeing how he behaved at the door and her sitting naked in his bed...it just seemed to add up to a lot more.

So I threw a few more insults around, accused her of getting with him after me. In fact, I almost lost it altogether and really went for it about how she’d played me, then it got to the point where I was so fucking annoyed I was going around in circles.

Suddenly, Chloe got off the bed and stood in front of us naked. Gavin looked away and I could see he was thinking about her modesty, but I was transfixed. She had guts, knowing everything I knew about her and seeing the look on her face, I knew instantly I had called their scene wrongly.

When she started to attack me with words like hypocrite and defending Gavin, getting in between us, I was done. I’d come to protect her and she was turning what had happened between us into a fucking hook up.

“Just who the hell do you think you are, Gibson? It’s okay for you to fuck around and no one else, right? Or, you behave that way and think everyone else behaves like a dog as well? Fuck you, Gibson Barclay.”

Chloe walked over to a chair and began to dress in the cutest blue lingerie and I was mad we were arguing because I’d have loved to have laid my hands on her cute ass in those blue lacy boy shorts she was pulling over the globes of her ass.

She pointed to Gavin who was still looking at the ground. “This guy right here—take a good look Gibson, because this is the guy who took care of me last night when you discarded me. He never slept with me and he never touched me. Gavin was the perfect gentleman. Unlike you, who performed your famous ‘done and run’ routine on me.”

Drawing breath to come back at her, it caught in my throat and I stopped dead in my tracks and gave her a stunned look because that was the last thing I wanted her to feel.

“Is that what you think happened? I used you? Did nothing I said yesterday sink in to that skull of yours? You have no fucking idea how I feel or what I do, or why I left you with Johnny. For one day… just one day I wish people wouldn’t think the worst of me.”

Glancing over at Gavin, he looked as if he were still in pain and I felt sorry for him because by then I had realized he had done my job for me and taken care of Chloe. I should have been thanking him. But I still wasn’t feeling very benevolent toward anyone so I just nodded and said, “Do you mind dude. I want to speak with Chloe alone.”

Gavin raised his brow and turned to Chloe. “Well, what does Chloe think about that, Gibson? Anyone dismisses me, it’s her. For the record because of how you took care of her yesterday the paparazzi were all over her room last night. She was safer with me than she was with your provision. Also, I owe you nothing and you’re lucky that I know Chloe’s history, and have more self- control than you do, because if you want to come at me like that again, best your bodyguard is on the same side of the door. Ever grab me by the balls again, and I’ll break your fucking fingers.”

Gavin wasn’t a pushover I could see that, but I knew if he fucked with my chances with Chloe, I’d fuck with any part of his anatomy I saw fit to. Staring him down, the altercation could have gone either way, but I had a bigger issue to deal with so I let what he said wash over me. “Chloe?”

Exchanging glances with Gavin then me, Chloe nodded at Gavin and he went over and held her by the arms, speaking to her like she was one of his children. “Any problems I’m outside in the corridor honey, okay?” Chloe smiled weakly at him and Gavin limped toward the door. Striding past him I pulled it open and signaled to Johnny to keep him busy.

Once we were alone, I explained my reason for leaving the yacht so abruptly. When I broke the news about the pictures to Chloe she was devastated, as I knew she would be. Her first thought was about the ex- boyfriend coming after her.

“Chloe, the way I figure this is, you can be a victim or you can adopt the so-fucking-what attitude. Personally, I think it has worked well for me, too well really, because no one believes I can do anything honorable anymore.

However, my take on this is that shit happens and after several years of getting pissed and wanting to get even I was beginning to develop an ulcer, so now I have the so- what- nobody- died attitude and that gets me through most things.”

Seeing how devastated she looked, I stepped forward and pulled her against my chest. I remembered the first time I hugged her; how tense she had been. There was no difference in that hug to my effort to comfort her at that point but I held her tightly and after a few seconds felt the sag of her body against mine as she became relaxed, her arms snaking around me and clinging to the back of my t-shirt

Pushing away from me, Chloe’s head tilted upwards, her eyes meeting mine, tears were welling in hers. “What am I going to do? What if Kace finds me? What if these people follow me home?”

Biting her lip, Chloe looked terrified and I thought about everything she had told me the day before and how difficult the situation would have been for the most emotionally sound of people. Add domestic violence to being stalked by the media, and it could push her to a breakdown.

“You don’t have to be anywhere, do you? I mean, when you go back to New York you don’t have a schedule to follow or anything?” Chloe’s brow bunched and I could see she had no idea what I was thinking.

“No, I’m trying to write, I told you that. So …”

There was only one answer to this. “Okay, settled. The best way to keep you safe and get the media off your back is for you to stay with me. You’re coming to Rio with me.”

Chloe immediately tried to free herself from me, but I held her tight and began to reason with her, talking quickly to stop her from shutting down on me.

“Listen, wait, whoa! Those guys won’t let up on us unless we do this my way, I guarantee it. The best way to get rid of them is for me to deal with this with my team behind us. We’ll face this head on. So we issue a statement that we don’t care who knows we’ve had sex, that’s what couples do, right?”

I could see that Chloe was about to protest about the couples reference and I was concerned that she wouldn’t go for it, but fuck I wanted her with me not just because of the press, but because I needed more time with her.

“Okay, we make a statement about us being old friends turned lovers, and that we don’t care who knows we had sex because we’re finally together. I mean, it’s not a complete lie is it? We had met before. Once the press see us together, their ‘groupie’ tag will be dropped and they’ll go find someone else to stalk.”

Staring at me, Chloe looked visibly distressed as she tried to explain her feelings and come to grips with what the pictures meant for her.

“Kace is going to know exactly where I am if I’m with you, Gibson.”

“So he might, but who better to deal with a guy like him than Johnny?”

I could see her mull over what I said. Chloe knew I was right about that.

“How many more days do I have to spend with you for the story to die down? How do I, plain old Chloe Jenner, recover from all of that attention, Gibson? I’ll be known as the groupie girl who won a competition and got to fuck Gibson Barclay, forever.”

When she said that, I really felt for her and wondered what I had done by bringing her into that circus? Chloe’s face was ashen and set in a grave expression and I prayed I’d be able to talk her around to coming with me.

CHAPTER 38 - PASSPORT

Chloe

Shaking my head in disbelief as I inspected my newly acquired passport, I was impressed at the way Gibson’s name could produce it for me in an afternoon. I was more than a little frightened and feeling intimidated about the situation I had found myself in.

Knowing that Kace would have found out exactly where I was as soon as the story broke, I was petrified that he’d find me before I got out of there, so I had agreed without much forethought to accompany Gibson and M3rCy to Rio. So much for my secret new life.

There was no doubt about it, the media articles would have alerted him about my whereabouts and if I knew Kace the way I thought I did, he’d have been on his way to LA as soon as the story broke. We had unfinished business and my instincts told me he would be coming after me with a vengeance.

Biting my lip, I pondered at how ridiculous my situation was. For most girls, being linked to Gibson Barclay would have been a dream come true, but for me, it was beginning to become a traumatic event.

All the press coverage that Gibson talked about made me think that there may be weeks of the same scrutiny, not to mention my reputation and how that would look to parents and the scandal they would have to endure at home.

Apart from that, whatever story Kace had been spinning about me would gain more credence for my apparently off-the-rails tryst with Gibson. Behaving like a star struck teenager was the most likely gossip, or I’d had a breakdown. I could almost hear what they’d be spreading and I was stuck; standing with my head bowed in shame with my hands in my pockets looking guilty, metaphorically speaking.

Every combination I thought about for dealing with the news, lead me nowhere. Gibson was right. Staying with him was the only way to deal with the media and keep me safe from Kace until I could formulate a new plan to get away from him again.

At least Gibson was doing the right thing and not just casting me out to deal with all the attention on my own. It was bugging me that he was going to spin it like we were a couple, because in a few weeks when I was no longer there, I would still have to face everything at some point and maybe I could never go back to my apartment, now that Kace and Gibson’s fans had wind of where I was.

Being with Gibson hadn’t been ideal but it gave me a way forward. After having sex with him it was weird, but I felt like I was free of Kace’s control. However, with the media attention it was critical that I focus on the bigger picture and gain strength from the progress I had made so far.

“Alright. I’ll come.” Gibson’s smile beamed widely then he was hugging me tightly and I felt him exhale as his arms tightened in a small squeeze. “Good girl. I got you, Chloe. No one is going to fuck with you as long as I’m around.”

Hearing him say that made my heart swell. Being near him made me feel heady, although thinking about him taking me with him on tour to another country gave me a bout of nerves that almost made me turn and run.
Am I insane?

Before Kace, I had always been a strong girl. It would have taken a lot to break me. It
had
taken a lot to break me, so right at that moment I had to reclaim myself from falling back into the role of the downtrodden, timid and scared young woman that Kace had molded me into.