The Stars Trilogy (57 page)

After the tearful reunion, Celine’s relatives turned to him. Three pairs of speculative eyes bored into him.

Uh-huh, definitely not a star struck look.

Thankfully, Celine broke the ice.

“Dad, Mom, this is Dare.” She looked at him with shining eyes. “My parents.”

He extended his hand toward the old man first, addressing him formally. “Sir.” The elder man accepted his handshake with a stern expression.

He then turned to the madam and gave her one of his megawatt smiles. “Ma’am?” he extended his hand, as well. The elder woman’s lips hovered between a smile and a frown. A small smile won and she accepted his handshake.

“And my brother, Jordan,” Celine introduced the guy who was ready to tear his innards out.

He extended his hand toward the guy, risking bodily injury. Jordan was piercing him with a look that only men could understand. Jordan knew what exactly he did to his sister in the mountains and of course, the other guy was not happy with it. As expected, Jordan ignored his hand.

“Let’s go, Mom, Dad. Plane’s waiting,” Jordan commanded his parents like a general and turned around to walk toward the villa nearby.

“Go? Now? But…” Celine looked at her parents and then at him, at a loss for words.

“Yes, now. Let’s go,” her father said in a tone that brooked no arguments.

“But Dad… I…we…” She looked at him again, her eyes silently asking.

“Forgive the rudeness of my son and husband, Dare, but we must go now. We will take care of our daughter from hereon,” the madame said in a formal tone.

“She needs to be tested in a hospital, Ma’am. Please, have her checked for infections or anything. Please, make sure of that.”

“Of course. We’ll take her to a hospital right away.”

“Ma’am...” He paused, unsure how to phrase his next words. “Celine is...we...” He couldn’t continue.

The madame patted his arm. “Thank you for everything, Dare. We will keep in touch, of course.”

The lady had the grace to give him a hug before grabbing her daughter’s hand, leading her away.

Celine walked away with her mother but kept looking back at him. Then she broke away and ran back to him. She stood in front of him, her cheeks flaming in awkwardness.

Hell, he was feeling awkward as shit, too.

“Dare…”

He didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, the intimacy they’d shared in the mountains was gone. Eyes were on them now, scrutinizing their every action, speculating about their every word. He was not ready to share what he had with her, whatever that was, to the world. Not yet. He had to figure out what it was first. “Go on, now. I will call you.”

“W-when?”

She looked so hopeful that he nearly grabbed her in his arms and the hell with her folks. “Soon.”

She nodded and stood there, looking lost and forlorn.

“Celine!” her mother called out to her.

She hugged him quickly and ran back to her mother.

His heart was hammering so fast it threatened to burst out of his chest. He fought the urge to run after them and drag her away from her mother and hightail it back with her to the mountains. But she was with her family now. He had no right to keep her away from her family. They needed to sped time together, alone after the ordeal they’d been through upon learning that Celine disappeared on a plane with him. It must have been a nightmare.

He clenched his fists and watched them disappear into the villa. He turned to Cruz. “Where are they going?”

“They have their own jet waiting for them at the Surat Thani airport.”

He looked at Cruz blankly, not sure if he heard it right. “Their own…jet?”

“Yup. That girl is a billionaire’s daughter,” Cruz said matter-of-factly.

His jaw dropped.
Seriously?!
He looked at Kelsey for confirmation.

She shrugged. “I just found out, when I met her parents last week. They flew in the day we informed them about what happened.”

He closed his mouth and clenched his jaw, floored at the info.

Then his agitation exploded. “Dammit!” he barked at Cruz. “How long have you known?!”

Cruz shrugged. “A while.”

“You knew from the fucking start!” he said accusingly. “You deliberately kept it from me! Why?!”

“For her own safety.”

“Safety?! From what?!”

“From you.”

He looked at his bodyguard blankly.

“To keep her safe from you. I wanted you to continue believing she was with Ben so you won’t play with her. If you knew she was not with Ben, you would have moved on her on day one. But now, I know,” Cruz shook his head, disappointment in his eyes, “Even knowing she was with Ben, you still touched her, you unscrupulous bastard. Nothing is sacred to you.”

Dare was speechless. Cruz had never talked to him like this.

Ever.

Cruz turned around. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Twenty-four

“I’m so peeved today.:((( I ordered the complete remastered Daredevil DVD collection from the US and my brother who was there for business forgot to bring it with him when he came home. I was so looking forward to having the original complete set because it’s not available in the Philippines yet. But bro promised to have one of his friends send the DVDs soon. Hope you’re doing fine today. Please take care always and don’t mind the tabloids too much. They just can’t leave you alone ‘coz they’re making too much money gossiping about you. It will pass. The important thing is that you and Naiomi are okay. She should not read the rags either. You love her, right? All those rumors about you and other women are not true, right? I know they are not true. I know you’re a good man and you have respect for women. The Daredevils love you.:) ”

DARE WAS ABOARD HIS OWN PLANE as he did not want to stay in Surat Thani longer than necessary. He just took a shower, submitted to a series of medical tests by doctors in a small hospital and he was off to the airport.

He found out that Phuket’s tourism had been boosted the entire week of his disappearance as media flew in from different parts of the world to cover the news about him. His die hard fans from Thailand and other neighboring countries flocked in Phuket to await for any development in the rescue operation. As a result, hotels were all fully-booked and businesses were in an all-time high.

He caught an anchor on CNN reporting live on the plane’s built-in TV.

“For the past week, the entire world was kept in abated breath as the Thai government was put under tremendous pressure to locate one of the world’s most famous celebrities whose plane disappeared over the Phuket Mountain Range seven days ago. But Dare Montgomery’s fans can now heave a sigh of relief. The actor was rescued by the Thai Police from the jungles of Khao Sok, days after his self-piloted Cirrus SR20 crashed into the Khao Sok Rainforest. The cause of the crash remains undetermined. Dare Montgomery is currently not available for interview but his publicist has assured the public that the Hollywood actor is well and good and requests for a much-needed rest before facing the media.”

He sighed. Rest was not an option for someone like him. He knew, business was waiting for him right now.

“Welcome back, kiddo,” Kelsey said, gripping his hand.

“Thanks, Kels. Who’s waiting for me at the villa?”

“Your lawyers, of course. They all flew in after I called Remington and told him what happened. And Jamie.”

“Knox is here?”

“Yes, and Ulysses and a few of your director friends. George, Leo, Mark and Brad are here, too.”

“Wow. I have been missed.”

“You have no idea!”

“Okay, give me a run down.”

“The people from Universal, Olympus and Warner Bros. were all going crazy. I already called the bosses and they are eager to see you soon. Your friends at Ferrari have been calling every six hours since you disappeared. My phone never stopped ringing since then. You need to face the media as soon as you’re ready, darling. I can’t fend them off much longer.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

They touched down at the Phuket airport in less than thirty  minutes. His private airstrip’s runway was not designed to land bigger planes like his Bombardier. He had to extend the runway soon. A chopper brought them to the villa in no time.

Again, he was swamped by bear hugs from his good friends and...a tearful hug from Gabby.

He was surprised to see her. Shocked was more like it. What in hell was she doing here?! She was the last person he wanted to see. Especially at a time like this.

He speared Boyd a deadly look. His lawyer paled and gave a helpless shrug.

Great. A crying soon to be ex-wife welcoming him back to civilization after being presumed dead for a week. If the media got a whiff of this...

Fuck! Just the kind of shit he didn’t care to deal with right now.

I’m gonna kill you, Boyd!

Dare was back in his old habitat, being mobbed by the media and the paparazzi. The hounds, an international mix this time, according to Kelsey, were camped at the gate of his property, hoping for a snapshot of him fresh from the Khao Sok rainforest. Various networks and  broadsheets were requesting him for interview.

Kelsey advised him to give a very short public appearance. He had been feared to be dead for a week by his fans all over the world. CNN had been running a steady update on the status of the rescue operation. He owed it to his public who loved him dearly, to show himself alive and well and thank everyone for keeping him in their prayers.

Of course, his publicist was right. She always was.

He faced the selected group of media people that Kelsey assembled in one of the pavilions of his private resort. CNN, NBC and BBC were both there and his interview would be aired live all over the world.

Pandemonium erupted the moment he stepped into the pavilion. Flashbulbs exploded in his face, microphones shoved practically down his throat he couldn’t even hear the questions they were simultaneously throwing at him. He was glad Celine was spared this mad circus. He didn’t want her dragged into any of this shit.

He endured the seemingly endless questions and he answered as politely as he could.

“Does anybody suspect that I was not alone when the plane crashed?” he asked Kelsey after the interview, when he was back in his villa.

“Hopefully not. I specifically instructed everyone here at the villa to keep their mouths shut about Celine or they can look for another job.”

“Good. I don’t want anything about her getting out to the media, or worse, the rags.”

“I will do everything to contain this, Dare, I promise.”

“Make sure Gabby doesn’t act up here. I can smell her stink, Kels. She’s up to no good.”

Kelsey grimaced in distaste. “I already talked to her. I was shocked when she suddenly showed up with Boyd. Boyd said she practically harassed him so she can come here with him. But I won’t let that bitch use you for self-promotion again. She’s used you enough!”

He nodded and massaged his nape.

“Hey, you should take a rest now,” she told him with concern.

“Do you have Celine’s number? Her private number?”

“Yes. You want to call her?”

He didn’t answer.

Kelsey handed him her phone. “She’s on the priority list.”

He took the phone. “Thanks.”

“Go on. You need to rest now. I’ll tell the guys you went to sleep. They’ll understand. We’ll talk in the morning.”

He hugged her ever-dependable business ally and friend. “Thank you, Kels.”

For the first time in his life, Dare googled a woman.

A lot of information turned up about her. Shit, had Cruz told him about her from the beginning, he would have done his own research of her.

Now, why would he do that?

He sighed, still pissed as hell at Cruz. His bodyguard sure had a sweet spot for Celine. He was glad he now had the knowledge that Celine was a virgin and the experience to prove it or he would go nuts with jealousy again.