Page 139 of Fame And Secrets

She bit her lip. “Back to Charleston. Back with my family. I need to get away from Armando until I can file for divorce. He, uh…he found out what I did, going with Julian and Zane to find you.” She dusted the earth with her toe. “It didn’t end well.”

I grabbed her hand and held it tight, noticing the fresh bruises on her arms. “Will I ever see you again?”

Faith held back the tears, the only thing she had left the media hadn’t spilled for the world to see. “Of course you will. If you think I’m not going to be at that little girl’s first birthday, you’re sadly mistaken, my dear friend.”

I gave her a halfhearted smile. “I never wanted you hurt because of me.”

She shook her head and smiled sadly. “It had nothing to do with you, Pheebs.”

“It had everything to do with me. He attacked you twice because you got involved with my problems. I know men like him. He’ll do it again.”

Faith grabbed my chin, forcing my gaze upward. “I think this had more to do with Zane than it did his precious image.”

I cornered her stare. “Is he why you’re leaving too?”

Faith glanced to the side and watched Julian and Zane engrossed in a hushed discussion. “It’s just time for me to go home, Pheebs. It’s what’s best.”

“For who?”

“Everyone.”

“You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

Nervously pulling down the skirt of her dress, Faith glanced again at Zane. “Phoebe, it’s not that simple. It’s been amazing, but it’s over. I can’t stay here running from Armando every day, and we both know Zane isn’t a one-woman kind of guy.”

“He wasn’t before you,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Pheebs, a man doesn’t change his entire innate behavior in a few months.”

I took note of Zane’s coiled body language. “Well, I’ve seen….”

Faith shook her head emphatically. “Don’t compare Zane to Julian. They’re nothing alike. Julian is a relationship-oriented kind of guy. I like Zane…probably more than I should. But I like him the way he is. I don’t want him to change for me. I’m too fucked up for anyone right now.”

“Can you walk away from him that easily?” I asked, pinning her with a serious stare.

Closing her eyes momentarily, Faith opened them and peeled back the layers of her heart. “Zane came into my life for a purpose. Even now, I’m not sure what that purpose was, other than to make me see there are men who care for women without possessing them.” She sucked in a chest full of air and blew it out slowly. “Life goes on, Pheebs. We deal with the choices we’ve made. Whether they’re right or wrong, decisions make us own up to who we are.”

“Faith…”

She placed a hand on my arm. “You need to go. It’s your honeymoon. I promise I’ll call when my plane lands. Take care of you and that baby.”

I began to protest, when Julian appeared by my side. Leaning down, he placed a kiss on top of my head and nodded in Faith’s direction. “I don’t know how to say I’m sorry, Faith.”

A confused look passed over her face. “For what?”

“For doubting you. For not sticking up for you when you needed it. You saved Iris. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

With a defiant shake of her head, blond waves fell over her shoulder, masking the evidence of a slap. “I’d do it all again for the same outcome.” She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. His free arm went around her waist as they hugged awkwardly. Pulling away, she wiped wetness that gathered underneath her eyes. “Take care of her, Bale. She’s family to me. I’m trusting you to keep my family safe.”

With a solemn nod, he pulled back from her. “With my life.”

This time, her smile was real. “I don’t doubt that at all.”

***

I stood at the edge of the gazebo, watching Eliza and Chloe take turns cuddling Iris against their chests and buzzing her around the garden like a human airplane. It made me laugh. So much had happened, it felt like a lifetime had passed since Julian pulled me from the boiler room. Four weeks hardly seemed accurate.

Ryker and Julian traded brotherly punches to each other’s shoulders as my brother-in-law eyed up a group of young co-eds in short shorts and flip-flops by the water’s edge. His life had just begun…new experiences and lessons just waiting for a budding rock star to learn.

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