Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

A week later, Juliette was sitting in her tiny apartment sipping some hot tea and wishing a giant hole would just open up and swallow her, effectively putting her out of her misery.

She was officially unemployed.

She and Vanessa had the uncomfortable conversation, but there was no coming back from any of this. It didn't matter that Max and his team lied or how obvious he'd been about it. The fact was that she slept with a client and didn't see what was coming, didn't stop Greg Wylder from getting his fifteen seconds of fame. Naturally, Max had sold the footage to all the gossip sites with the headline that didn't put Simon in the best light.

SIMON BENNETT HEARTLESSLY SHUNS LONG-LOST FATHER! IS AMERICA'S SWEETHEART REALLY A VILLAIN? HAVE WE ALL BEEN DUPED?

Yeah, it hadn't been pretty, and her heart broke for him.

Well, it broke and then hardened when she thought about how he had told her he loved her and immediately assumed the worst of her.

Whoever was doing his PR managed to get the story shut down and scrubbed by the end of the day, but there were still some sites talking about it. But through it all, the show went on and the tour continued. Tonight was his last stop in Chicago, and then the tour had a week off. Because she knew his schedule intimately, she knew he was going back to LA to the house in the Hollywood Hills to relax. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he needed it.

Nikki had texted her every day, keeping her up to speed on everything, but Juliette never replied. She couldn't. Every time she allowed herself to think about that day, all she could see was Max's smug face when she stepped out of Simon's dressing room. She'd refused to acknowledge him, but he taunted her the entire way out of the venue.

"You should have just played ball, Jules. Or better yet, backed the hell off after that first call we had. You brought this on yourself, and I can't wait to see how you spin your way out of this one!"

Everything that happened had been humiliating and for a guy who gave everyone the benefit of the doubt, he hadn't for her. She'd foolishly let herself believe that she was enough and he'd gone and proved that she wasn't. She hadn't been enough for her parents either. They cared more about drinking and fighting than their own daughter.

So yeah. She was pretty much done with love in any and all aspects. It was better that way.

Unfortunately, she was still woefully unemployed, but on the flip side, getting a new job didn't require giving her heart away, so she'd take that as a win.

Finishing her tea, she went and showered and vowed that she was going to force herself to sit down and go over her finances and set some realistic goals for herself. The smart thing to do was move out of this wildly overpriced tiny apartment. She could easily find someplace cheaper outside of the city. Finding a job was going to be the real challenge, though. Right now, it seemed almost impossible.

When she came back out to the kitchen table with her hair up in a towel, she saw she had multiple missed calls from a number she didn't recognize. It was the first time she'd even looked at her phone since last night, and it looked like they'd been trying to reach her since about eight yesterday evening. They'd left a message every time too, so…

"Hey, Juliette, it's Jax. Simon's brother. Um…can you give me a call, please?" And then he left his number. The next message came an hour later. "Hey, it's Jax again. Simon's a wreck and everyone's really worried about him. I'd really like to talk to you about this. Call me." Again, he left his number.

Her heart was racing because she wanted to call and see what was wrong, but…the smart thing to do was keep her distance. It was best for everyone.

But her curiosity got the better of her and she listened to the next message and Jax was sounding a little more pissed than he had in the previous calls.

"Okay, I get it. You don't want to talk. And considering what you did, I don't blame you. But Simon's talking about canceling the rest of the tour and we can't let that happen. So maybe put your selfishness aside and do the right thing!" Then he ended by repeating his number again.

Before she got to the next message, her phone dinged with a text from Nikki.

Nikki: Got the confession that you're not responsible for Greg showing up!

Nikki: Things are pure chaos here! Please come back!

Nikki: Jax has been trying to call you. Have you talked to him?

Nikki: I really wish you'd talk to me. Even if it's to tell me to leave you alone.

This was Juliette's MO, though. She always retreated when things got bad in her personal life. She'd learned after her rebellious youth that her impulsive nature always got her into trouble. So when things went bad personally, she'd just retreat and wait for things to get better.

"I don't ever see this getting better," she mumbled.

Jax's next two messages were more of the same and she deleted all of them. Simon Bennett was no longer her problem.

But oh, how it hurt just knowing that.

Stupid heart.

Stupid, traitorous heart.

The sound of someone pounding on her door made her jump, and she had no idea who the hell it could be. She wasn't friendly with any of her neighbors, and there was security in the building. No one could come up here without the doorman notifying her.

Fixing the towel on her head a bit, she shuffled over to the door and looked through the peephole.

"Seriously?" she whispered before the pounding started again.

"I know you're home, Jules!" Jax Wylder said loudly. "And I've got all day!" More banging.

Muttering a curse, she pulled the door open and did her best to look unaffected. "You're trespassing," she blandly told him. "And now I'm going to have to get Henry fired for letting you up here."

Rolling his eyes, he stepped around her and walked into her apartment. "You're not going to get anyone fired," he told her as he looked around. "Nice place. Kinda small, but…it works."

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Really? You want to talk about floor plans and design choices? That's why you're here?"

He looked ridiculously large in her small space—almost like he was in a dollhouse. "No, that's not why I'm here. I left you like a dozen messages and I thought you'd be professional enough to return them. Then I thought you'd mature enough to return them. And then…" He laughed softly, "I thought you'd be human enough to give a damn about what Simon's going through."

And that was the one that made her snap.

"Human enough?" she repeated with maniacal laughter. "Your brother tossed me out of the arena! And that was after telling me he loved me! I did what he asked and I left, Jax! I told him I wasn't guilty, and he didn't believe me! He wasn't human enough to believe me or give a damn! So don't you dare come into my home and try to guilt me! I would never do anything to hurt your brother! Ever! I love him!"

Sliding his hands into his pockets, he nodded. "That's what I was looking for," he said. "The entire situation just…damn, it just got out of control, but you have to know that he needs you. He knows he messed up, but this is all new to him. Simon has no idea how to fight or how to make up because that's never been an issue for him. I can tell you with great certainty that I've never known him to argue with anyone in his life until you."

"Great. That's flattering," she mumbled.

"You know what I'm saying. He's not good at this and doesn't know what he's supposed to do in a situation like this."

Moving over to her tiny sofa, she sat and fidgeted with the towel on her head. "Well, you can tell him sending his brother to fight his battles isn't a great move."

"He has no idea that I'm even here. He…"

There was another knock at the door, and Juliette sat in stunned silence as Jax went over to answer it. Then, she sat in more stunned silence when Noah walked in.

"Sorry. Traffic was a beast. Hey, Jules," he said with a small smile. "Where are we at?"

Jax frowned. "Where's Mick?"

"Out in the hallway. He got a call."

"What is happening right now? How did any of you get by Henry?" she asked. "Why is Mick here? Hell, why are any of you here?" Then she looked directly at Jax. "According to you, I'm practically the devil."

The cocky bastard grinned at her. "I was baiting you. I figured if I pissed you off enough, it would make you call me back."

Beside him, Noah sighed loudly. "And I'm going to apologize for that," he told her. "My brother sometimes has the maturity level of a twelve year old and hasn't realized that goading people rarely works. If anything, it usually pisses them off."

Shrugging, Jax grinned at her again. "Sometimes it works. You held your own pretty good when we were goofing around in Seattle. I thought for sure you'd call me just to ball me out."

Mick let himself in. It was the first time she was meeting him in person and while she wanted to get up and greet him, she was basically sitting there in her robe with a turban on her head and there was no way to look like a serious businesswoman dressed like that.

"Wow, this place is small," he said as he shut the door. "It reminds me of the first apartment I had in LA. I loved that place!" Walking over to her, he shook her hand. "Good to see you, Jules. Sorry about the ambush."

Sighing loudly, she asked, "Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

The three men looked at each other, but ultimately Mick explained. "First, why didn't you come to me and tell me exactly why Simon was so against this film? I mean, I knew he had some topics that were off-limits, but why didn't you tell me what his reasons were? I would have had those guys out of there in a heartbeat!"

Staring down at her hands, Juliette realized this was not something she was prepared for—at all. "Could I maybe have five minutes to get dressed and dry my hair? I'm not comfortable sitting here like this."

No one argued and she quickly scrambled to her bedroom and shut the door, her heart thundering. All she had to do was take the blame, let them say what they had to say, and this would all be over. Maybe then she could move on with her life.

But she was still going to have a hard conversation with her doorman because a little warning would have been great.

Ten minutes later, she felt calmer as she rejoined them and went back to her spot on the sofa. Maybe it was rude not to offer them anything to drink, but it was rude of them to show up unannounced too.

Looking at Mick, she kept her expression neutral. "It wasn't my place to tell you Simon's reasons. And he shared them with me as…as…" She let out a soft breath. "He shared them with me as a lover, not a publicist. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a bad person. I protect my clients and the people I care about."

"Okay, but you knew this was a huge sticking point and things were getting ugly," Mick pushed. "If I had known…"

Since she didn't have anything to lose, she said exactly what was on her mind. "Here's the thing, Mick, you did know. You knew how much Simon was against this and you didn't have his back. You figured he'd keep being the nice guy, the compliant guy, and just do what needed to be done without making waves. And you know what? Shame on you! Even nice people need help sometimes! Hell, sometimes they need it more than anyone because people walk all over them or simply don't take them seriously! If you had put your foot down as soon as he raised his concerns, none of this would have happened! It wasn't a big deal for Max and Jacob to ignore Simon, but they sure as hell never would have ignored or defied you!"

He pulled a kitchen chair away from the table and sat down without uttering a word.

So Juliette continued, "I did my job to the best of my ability—I looked out for Simon. I stood up for him. I was the one who went toe-to-toe with Nick and Max and everyone else on that damn project whenever they pushed the envelope. But my personal relationship with Simon was private. I wouldn't have told you anything he said to me in confidence, and I still won't. You are the one who dropped the ball and created this nightmare, not me."

It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Mick studied her, scratching his chin. Then he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and gave her a nod. "You're absolutely right. I should have taken Simon's request more seriously. I thought maybe he'd be able to handle whatever the guys threw at him. Hell, the only reason I know anything about his childhood is because of these guys." He nodded to Jax and Noah. "A lot of people have baggage from their childhood, Jules, and honestly, I thought it was just something minor. I had no idea the extent."

She glared at his brothers because she felt like they betrayed Simon.

The urge to throat-punch them both was strong.

"I know what you're thinking," Noah said to her. "And we told Simon we were going to talk to Mick."

"And he was okay with it?" she asked. "Because I don't believe it. I begged him to speak up and he refused."

"Well…he hasn't really talked to anyone, or responded to anyone, I should say," Jax explained. "He's just…he's not in a good place, Jules. You have to go see him."

"The film deal's dead in the water," Mick told her. "And Max Yearsley's career is as well. I have a lot of friends in this industry, and my legal team is one of the best. He won't be making films about anything ever again. Hell, I'll make sure he can't even take video at a friend's wedding. He's done."

"How…?"

Now he smiled. "The thing about being the nicest guy in show business? People want to defend you when you're under attack. Simon's got a lot of people behind him. Once word got out about what happened, no one was going to work with Max."

"Or me," she added with more than a hint of sarcasm. "Most of those news reports dragged me pretty well too."

Mick waved her off. "Pfft, please. You think you're the only one who knows how to put a favorable spin on things? Grab your phone and Google your name and Simon's and tell me what comes up."

"Mick…"

"Just do it."

With a huff, she grabbed her phone and did as he asked. "Juliette Bellucci and Simon Bennett." And then she waited.

…The Power of You singer and his publicist recently went their separate ways professionally and personally, but sources close to the power couple say both were manipulated by filmmaker Max Yearsley.

Groaning, Juliette looked up. "Seriously?"

"Keep reading," Mick encouraged as he pulled out his own phone.

Juliette saw one news report after another stating how people were rooting for the couple and how happy they were together.

"Mick, this is all a bunch of BS. No one even knew we were together."

"Everyone on that tour knew the two of you were together," he countered. "You didn't have to be groping each other in public for people to know." After a moment of scrolling on his phone, he handed it to her. "Here. Read this one."

There's talk of Simon Bennett's The Power of You tour turning into The Power of Heartbreak tour. Reports of a break-up between the singer and his publicist, Juliette Bellucci, have people wondering if the show will go on. Last week, false accusations fired at the publicist stating she was the cause of a devastating reunion between Bennett and his estranged father. Those reports were quickly cleared up when a recording of filmmaker Max Yearsley began making the rounds where he admitted to manipulating the pair for the sake of wanting a more dramatic documentary on Bennett.

Handing the phone back to Mick, she shrugged. "Okay, great. Everyone knows Max is a douche. That doesn't change the fact that I'm out of a job. People aren't going to remember what he did; they're going to remember the crap about me first. Trust me. It's what I do for a living. I know how the media works."

He chuckled. "You don't pull any punches, do you?" It wasn't a question. "Come with us to LA today. Talk to Simon. We can have the two of you out and about being interviewed by breakfast tomorrow to clear this whole thing up."

"I think you're all forgetting something," she said and watched as all three seemed confused. "I didn't agree to any of this, and I'm not going back to LA. That's not my world and…it's just better for everyone if we just let this story die, okay?" Then she stood. "I'm sorry that you all came this far for nothing, but next time I promise to answer my phone and save you all the time." Walking to her door, she pulled it open. "Safe travels."

Jax's jaw dropped. "But…"

Noah looked disappointed.

Mick stood with a serene smile and handed her his card. "I'll be in touch. Take care of yourself, Jules."

They were gone a minute later and she had to wonder if they'd ever really been there at all. She was expecting a long, drawn-out back and forth before kicking them out. Once she was alone, however, she found she suddenly had a lot to think about.

But answers still eluded her.

It was the pounding on the door that woke him up. The blackout curtains were drawn because he wanted to keep the world out, but apparently the world had found him.

Bastards.

Sluggishly, Simon made his way across the room and yelled, "Go away!" His voice was raw from lack of use, and it hurt to clear it. When the pounding continued, he repeated his command. He'd never done that before, and hoped it worked.

"Open the door, Simon!" Jax yelled.

It was pointless to argue. His brother was far too stubborn to give up and go away, so he had no choice but to open the door. "How'd you find me?" he asked as he shuffled back to the bed and flopped back down on it.

Jax turned on the lights. "Dude, we've been looking for you all over town. Why didn't you go to the house in the hills? That's where Nikki said you were going."

"Didn't want to go there. Too many memories," he murmured. "I just wanted to be left alone."

Sitting down beside him, Jax was quiet for a moment. "Look, I get it. You fell in love and it didn't work out."

"It didn't work out because of me. This was all my fault. I hurt her—me and my…my crazy life hurt her. What the hell was I thinking?" The shuddery breath was out before he could stop it. "She's suffered so much in her life and just when she was seeing she could trust people, I totally betrayed her. Worse, I accused her of betraying me!"

"Okay, to be fair, that whole situation was a shitshow. Have you tried calling her and apologizing?"

He shook his head. "I'm so ashamed of myself, Jax. I have never hurt anyone. Ever. The look on her face when I told her to leave will haunt me forever."

"Yeah, I get it, but…maybe you should tell her that. Tell her you're sorry. Hell, go to her and tell her face-to-face. Sitting in a hotel room and smelling like you haven't showered in days really isn't helping anything."

"It's helping me. I just needed the quiet. I'm so tired of people being around me all the damn time. I was enjoying sitting in the dark and sleeping." He paused. "Until you showed up and ruined it."

"You're sitting in the dark in a two-star hotel. Seriously? You couldn't pick a better place than this?"

Groaning, he said, "Are you done? No one asked you to come here."

The muscular hand grabbing the front of his t-shirt got his attention.

Then, getting yanked up to a sitting position definitely held it.

"Don't you get it," Jax said heatedly. "We're all worried about you! Nikki's freaking out that you're not going to go back to the tour, no one's known where you've been, and it's been impossible to get in touch with you! They had to postpone your studio time for the new album, so people are freaking out." Releasing him, he stood up. "You made a mistake, Simon! But that doesn't have to be the end of everything!"

"I made a mistake and then, in typical Dad fashion, he swooped in and ruined my life again! I put my foot down and I won't be giving him another dime. I've got my lawyer involved and if Dad comes near me again, he'll be arrested for extortion. I'm done!"

"Okay, okay…I get it. And you're well within your rights, bro, but…don't let him ruin this for you. Don't let him ruin what you have with Juliette."

"Had. I don't have anything anymore." Closing his eyes, he silently willed his brother to leave.

"Oh my God…would you stop?! You're being far too dramatic and freaking wimping out here! A real man would get up and fight for his girl! A real man wouldn't take this shit lying down—literally and figuratively—like you are! This sad shell of a person isn't who you are, Simon, so stop it! You're stronger than this. Hell, you're the bravest, strongest guy I know, and that's why it really pisses me off that I have to stand here and remind you of it."

"Then leave."

He heard Jax's huff of annoyance.

"I'll go, but I've got one more thing to say."

"Fine."

"She's miserable too. She may put up a good front and all, but she thinks she's doing right by you by staying away."

That got his attention, and he shot up straight. "What the hell are you talking about? How do you know?"

"Because Mick, Noah, and I went to see her."

"Where? Is she here in LA? Back in New York?"

"She's back at her place in New York," he replied. "And she just looked…I don't know…sad. We tried to convince her to come back here to LA with us, but she refused."

"Because I hurt her."

"Because she didn't want to hurt you, bro. Seems to me you both need to talk to each other."

"I don't even know what I'd say or where I'd begin." It was almost ludicrous to admit that because he made a living out of writing songs and knowing exactly what to say, but where Juliette was concerned, Simon didn't think there would ever be the right words to tell her exactly how he felt.

"Figure it out," Jax told him. "Soon. This isn't a life, and it doesn't have to be like this. Don't let Dad or that Max guy win."

And as much as he hated to ask, he had one last thing on his mind. "Did you talk to him?"

"Who? Dad?"

Simon nodded. "He mentioned something…you know…that day…about wanting to talk to us about something that concerned all of us. I was so freaking livid that I didn't want to hear anything he had to say, but…I guess I'm stupid for being curious."

"You're not stupid, and yeah, he called me, but I was really pissed off that he did that to you and didn't want to hear whatever he had to say either."

"It was probably just him looking for more money. That's all it ever is."

Raking a hand through his short hair, Jax let out a long breath. "I tried really hard to keep him out of your life, Simon. I'm sorry that he played us both. All my life, I made excuses because I knew I had a different relationship with him than you and Noah did. When he saw you getting successful, I honestly did everything I could to distract him so he'd leave you alone. I had no idea you were giving him money too."

"I know. You don't have to apologize for anything. It's not your fault."

"But I feel like it is. He's always used the threat that if I didn't give him money, that he'd go to you and make a big public spectacle so you'd pay him off to go away." He shook his head. "So I knew how messed up he was. I just kept thinking that it was all empty threats, and no father would actually do that."

"It's not a surprise. He's been doing it for years. I just made sure things were in place so I never had to see him. That day was the first time I'd actually seen his face since before I went on that reality show."

"Wow."

"What did you say to him? How did you even find him?"

"Nikki found out where the film guys were putting him up. She called me pretty much immediately after it all went down. I went to the hotel the next day and threatened him. I actually think I scared him because I'd never seen him like that before—he was almost cowering as I berated him for what he did."

Simon studied him. "Did you give him money?"

It took a moment, but he ultimately nodded. "I told him it was the last time. He'd done the damage he always threatened to, so there's nothing he can hold over anyone's head anymore."

"How did he react to that?"

"That was the weird part, he got really contrite and tried to tell me he had something important that I needed to know. But I didn't want to even look at him at that point. I threw the check at him and walked out."

He tried to envision that scene, but one thought came to mind. "Do you think he's sick? Or dying? It just seems odd that he would mention to both of us, at the worst possible moments, that he had something important to talk to us about. You'd think if it were really important, he wouldn't have screwed me over the way he did."

"That's the thing, Simon. He didn't think that was what was happening. He truly believed that Juliette called him and that you wanted him there with you as part of the documentary."

It pained him to ask. "And we're sure…?"

"Yeah," his brother said firmly. "We're sure. It was someone from Max's office."

Deep down, he now realized she wouldn't have done that to him, but in that moment, it just all made sense.

Jax nodded. "So…now what? Are you ready to leave this place?"

Looking around the room, he shrugged. "I don't know."

That clearly wasn't the right answer because his brother walked around, packing up Simon's few meager belongings and tossed them in his bag. "Let's go. I've got a suite at The Ritz Carlton waiting for you."

"Jax…"

" Ugh …God, Simon! Can we just… go ? People are relying on you, man! Are you really prepared to put your entire tour crew out of work? Would you feel good letting all your fans down?"

"No." But he wasn't so sure. It still felt pretty awful to be him right now.

"Most importantly, are you willing to let Juliette go without a fight? I mean, I can't guarantee you guys are going to work everything out and get married, have a bunch of kids, and live happily ever after or some shit, but you really need to try."

And the thing was, he could totally see himself and Juliette doing all those things.

He just needed to find the words to convince her.

Stretching, he walked into the bathroom and cringed at his reflection. It was time to get out of this pity party. He'd wallowed long enough and Jax was right, there were people relying on him. There was no way he could stay holed up like this for too long. And if he were being totally honest, he missed the music. He'd forced himself to sit in silence, and there hadn't even been music in his head for the last few days.

But now…now…

In the depths of your eyes, it's undeniable…

"Okay," he murmured softly, a slow smile tugging at his lips. "That's something."

A love so fierce, it's simply indescribable…

"Jax?" he called out.

"Yeah?"

"Make sure there are guitars waiting at the hotel!"

"Yes! Finally! I'm on it!"

Music and melodies swirled in his mind and even though he was eager to leave this place, he needed to clean himself up a bit first. Jumping in the shower, he quickly washed up, feeling better than he had in days.

"Call Nikki!" he yelled to Jax.

"Doing that right now!"

Stepping out of the shower, Simon dried off, brushed his teeth, and changed into clean clothes. When he stepped out of the bathroom, Jax was on the phone and pacing, but it was obvious he was talking to Nikki.

"Have her call Mick to let him know what's going on too," he said as he walked around the room one more time to make sure he had everything.

Five minutes later, Jax hung up and smiled at him. "She's got it all going on. Food will be waiting for you at the Ritz in the suite, Mick is being called right now, and everyone will know the tour is going to resume as scheduled next week. Anything else?"

He let out a long breath and grinned. "I think that's everything." He paused. "Jax?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

His brother gave him a lopsided grin. "That's what brothers are for. Now come on. You've got music to make."

Nodding, he agreed. "Yes, I do."

And an apology.

But could it be both?