Chapter 24

twenty-four

A dam watched as Serenity sat down at the breakfast bar. The serious expression on her face was one he didn't think he had ever seen before. She looked as if her entire world had just fallen apart. His stomach muscles tightened. This was not going to be good news.

“I got a call today.”

“The one when we were on the way to the beach?” Mick asked.

She nodded. “I let it go to voicemail. I just listened to it.”

He shared a look with Mick, then they both looked at her again.

“What happened? Did someone die?”

She shook her head as her eyes filled.

“It was from the National Tattler. They know about us.”

“What?” Adam said, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation in his own head. “They know about us? Us three?”

“Yeah, why do they care about that?” Mick asked.

She swallowed and looked away as if trying to gather the courage. He wanted to rush to her side and comfort her. Adam had the idea that she was too fragile—as if she would shatter if he touched her. When she looked back at them, her expression made his heart drop. She looked so sad and alone.

“I told you I changed my name when I was sixteen. That I was in the entertainment industry, remember?”

They both nodded.

“My real name was Kayleigh Rose Michaels. I went by Kayleigh Rose.”

He had heard the name. Knew there were bad things associated with it, but he couldn't put his finger on the story.

“Kayleigh Rose? As in the teenage star of My Sister Sam and Daughter Knows Best ?” Mick asked.

“Yes. You heard the guy at the beach. You knew I was on shows.”

“Yeah, but it just didn’t click.” He knew that wasn’t true. “You...you got in a lot of trouble.”

She nodded. “I was headed to a short slide into drugs if I didn't walk away. I told you, I emancipated myself.”

“You were the tabloid queen at the time.”

She closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them again, tears spilled down her cheeks. “Yes. I hate that term, but I was. I wanted to do everything bad. I was hell bent on ruining my life.”

“And so, they found you?” Adam asked.

“Of course, they did,” Mick said, irritation dripping from every word.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“Maybe you wanted a little publicity so that you could get an extra big advance for that book you’re planning. A story like this would definitely garner attention.”

He looked at Mick. “Come on. You know she didn't do it.”

“I don't know anything. You hid all this shit from us for a few months. But that was your plan all along.”

“I didn't try to start up with you. You pursued me, if you recall.”

Mick jerked a shoulder.

“I knew this would happen. You are no different than all the others.”

“Hey, babe,” Adam said and approached her, but she held up her hand.

“No. Just no.” She drew in a deep breath. “My friend Nicola has already been called and, more than likely, my mother will find out about where I am. But Nicola is going to take care of things, or try.”

“And how can she do that? Call a press conference for you?”

The sad look on her face dissolved into anger. “No. She works for Wulf Industries and is bringing down hell and damnation on those involved in this. Hopefully, she can keep them from running the story.”

“She can do that?” Adam asked.

“She's Jensen Wulf's assistant, so yeah, there’s a very good chance she can do exactly that.”

He opened his mouth to tell her it would all work out, but true to form, Mick was losing his shit.

“Fat lot of good that's going to do. The story's out there.”

“Jesus,” she said, her voice rising. “It isn't out there yet.”

“What do you care? You'll win out in the end.”

“Oh, is that a fact?”

“Yeah.”

Adam opened his mouth again to try and calm the argument, but Mick had hit a sore spot for Serenity and she went after him.

“Yeah, that's exactly what I want. I have spent the last decade under another name just so I could come out once I started a relationship with two men. Actually, that was my plan from the beginning.”

“Babe,” Adam said, but she shot him a dangerous look. He had to fight the need to step back from her. “Don't. You don't have the right anymore.”

He wanted to protest, but he had a feeling that if he did, he would end up breaking her. She had a coat of armor on, but he had a feeling she was very close to losing it.

He nodded and she turned on Mick.

“Do you want to know why I left? Why I changed my name?”

“I don't really give a f--”

She held up her hand. “No. I got to hear all about your precious feelings, now you are going to know what my life was like. I had my first job when I was five. I remember thinking it was just for play. Then it became a job. When my father walked out, my mother had been desperate. She realized I could make money and she didn't have to do a damned thing, so she started pushing me. When I understood that if I didn't get a job, we would lose our apartment or maybe we just would go without eating for a day or two, I started having panic attacks. My mother got me a prescription for valium. I was eight.”

Jesus .

“It got worse, you know. I was never a daughter, but a commodity. I worked, she lived the good life. I know now, looking back at it, if I hadn't made it in the legitimate industry, I would have probably ended up in porn when I turned eighteen. Well, I hope she would have waited until I turned eighteen. Either way, she wanted a certain lifestyle and she wanted me to provide it.”

“Serenity,” Adam breathed her name out.

“Don't you pity me.”

“I don't pity you.”

He glanced at Mick, who said nothing. His face was expressionless.

“Either way, the end of the whole entire deal came the morning I woke up in the hospital. See, at sixteen, I felt washed up. My show was being canceled. They hadn't told my mother, and I didn't want to tell her. I didn't want it to be another disappointment that she could hold over my head. So, after work, I went home and swallowed half a bottle of that valium she had supplied.”

“You...”

“They said I was dead for a few seconds. Truth is, if Nicola hadn't shown up to check on me, I would have died. And I wanted to be dead. See, I didn't want to think about what I would have to do next. What horrible thing I would be forced to do and live with later. I wanted it to go away. I was sixteen years old and I felt as if I had failed at life.

So, that morning, my mother showed up in the hospital.”

“Wait, didn't you live with your mother?”

“We had an apartment she never slept at, so basically, I lived by myself.”

His life had sucked. His mother had been a crack whore who had liked to beat on him, but she had never turned him out to make money. And that is what Serenity’s mother did to her. She hadn’t turned her into a whore, but she had used her own daughter to provide her a living, which was just as bad in his opinion.

“She wasn't happy with me. She said that if the tabloids found out about my mistake --that's what she called it--that I would be ruined. She berated me, called me a failure. That was before Nicola walked into the room. She read my mother the riot act and kicked her out.”

“Nice story,” Mick said, in his asshole voice. Adam hated the voice and knew what it meant. Mick was in a dark place.

“Not particularly, but it tells you something. I do not ever want that bitch to find me. I don't want to be a household name. I want to be who I am right now. And the woman I am right now has one message for you.”

“What?”

“If you loved me like you said, you would have never thought I would have done this to someone I loved. To two someone's I loved. So, please, by all means, go fuck yourself.”

With that, she turned on her heel and headed out the door. He wanted to go after her, but Adam knew there was one person who needed him more right now, and that was Mick.

“What the hell was that about, Mick?”

“What?”

“What? Jesus, you really are an idiot. And this is so typical of you. You get all excited about something, and when everything doesn't go particularly perfect, you decide to blow it the fuck up.”

“I’m not the one with the secret past.”

“Secret past? What the hell? We’re a freaking soap opera now.”

He opened his mouth, but Adam had heard enough. “You do realize that you could have checked her out at any time before and during the relationship? With our connections, you could have easily found out everything about her. Hell, we probably could have googled her name and found her. After that guy said Daughter Knows Best on the beach, did either of us investigate? No. We didn’t.”

“I didn’t want to.”

“Nope, you sure didn’t. You wanted her to be perfect, and in your eyes, for a while, she was. Now though, you think she did something, that she somehow brought this on herself.”

“You make it sound like she’s a victim.”

“No, she’s a survivor. She accomplished it the only way a sixteen-year-old could. And she has thrived.”

“You sound like you admire her.”

“Yes, I do, but this is more about identifying with her. You have no idea what a shitty childhood is like. I do. I know what it’s like to have a parent who doesn’t give a shit about you. I know the feeling of worthlessness that wells up inside of you. I’m thirty-three years old and I still have to deal with it. Not every day, but more often than I would like to admit.”

“Adam,” he said, his eyes widening. “I had no idea.”

“How could you? You grew up in the safe shelter of Estelle McGrath. She made sure you had food. I bet you never worried about eviction notices either. Think about things from Serenity’s perspective.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I can’t. She lied.”

“Oh, Jesus.”

He needed to step away because there was a chance he would punch Mick if he stayed. Neither of them needed that. But someone did need him.

Turning, he strode to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to check on Serenity and leave you some time to deal with being a complete and utter asshole.”

He left without waiting for Mick’s answer.

As he hurried over to Serenity’s house, he texted Estelle. They both needed a heads up just in case the scandal did hit the tabloids. He knew that her sweet baby boy wouldn’t think to let her know. He would think about it later, but Adam knew Mick wasn’t prepared to just now.

He sent the text just as he stepped up on Serenity’s lanai. That’s when he heard her. Quiet sobs filled the air. The soft sound broke his heart even more. This pain came out of her childhood. He understood. Show any kind of weakness and your enemy could use it against you. Only, for a neglected and abused child, their enemy was the person who should have been their protector. He kicked off his shoes, and without knocking, he stepped inside of her house. She wasn’t in her front room, so he had a feeling she was in the bedroom. He followed the sounds of her weeping and found her curled up on her bed. She was facing away from him.

If Adam had any doubts whatsoever of his feelings for her, they would have ended right then and there. His chest fucking hurt.

“Serenity.”

“Please, just go away.”

Instead of arguing with her, he walked around so he could see her face. It was red and her eyes were puffy and still filled with tears.

“I can’t go.”

“Yes, you can. Just turn around and go back to that idiot.”

He chuckled. “He is an idiot. If I go back right now, I’ll punch him.”

He wanted her to laugh, but instead, a fresh wave of tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. You should go back to him. I couldn’t bear it if I broke you apart.”

He couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled her forward, picked her up, then he sat down on the bed with her on his lap. He was happy when she didn’t try to get away from him.

“You could never break us up. If we did break up, it would be on us, not you. Secondly, when Mick gets like this, you just need to leave him be. I’ve discovered that if you push, he pushes back.”

She sniffed. “It isn’t like him at all.”

“Yes, it is. You’ve only seen happy Mick. He has some dark moments, and it often happens when he realizes that life isn’t perfect.”

She opened her mouth, but his phone rang.

“That’s Mom.”

“Your mother?”

“Our mother, but Mick’s by blood.”

“Why did you call her?”

“Because no one can kick her baby boy’s ass like a military mom. And she needs to know about this so they can be prepared.” He clicked the phone on. “Hey, Mom.”