Page 26 of First Comes Forever

“I’m sorry, do you think this is the first deal I’ve ever closed? Info first. Why’d Amani move to L.A.? She talks about Denver like she had the best life. Close friends, her family, and she loved her old apartment downtown. Why leave?”

Her playful smile disappears and her lips tighten. For a moment, we just listen to the slight whistle of the breeze, but I’m quiet as I watch Cici’s demeanor change. It’s clear she’s reflecting on something really unpleasant, and now I’m a little nervous to get the information I just paid for with my favorite car.

“She came to L.A. for an audition as a news anchor.”

“I had no idea she was in journalism.” I can’t really picture Amani as a news anchor. Actually, at the moment I’m having trouble picturing anything other than her, red-faced, sniffling, and trying desperately to cover up the fact she was crying in her car.

Cici shakes her head. “She’s not. It was a scam anyway.”

“How so?”

“It was a little fishy when she was told that the audition was simply a formality, and she definitely got the job. But she had such a big following on social media, she figured they’d seen her on camera enough to know it was a good fit. So she packed up and moved to L.A.”

I immediately come to Amani’s defense. “It’s not that far-fetched to cast based off of social media these days. I don’t blame her.”

“True. But it gotveryfishy when she made it to her audition and they wanted her to strip down naked. Apparently, it was an ‘all nude’ set.”

I roll my eyes as I let out a short exhale. “They lured her into porn.”

“Yup. I mean, of course she didn’t do it, but she kind of got stuck out here, I suppose. She left Denver because…” Cici trails off much to my annoyance. I mentally count to ten, remembering I’m not the most patient man when I’m feeling agitated. The idea of someone preying on Amani like that is making me want to pay a visit to that producer with a crowbar in hand.

“Because of what?” I bark out. “Sorry,” I mutter, softening my tone.

Cici glares at me but acquiesces my request nonetheless. “Adam, I honestly don’t know. We met because she was looking for part-time PR and social media management. We went through her influencer business and as much as she wanted to outsource her involvement with social media,she’sthe brand. It’s really hard to have someone else take over. All I know is she seemed desperate to get away from the apps, but she was making so much damn money. All other job avenues paled in comparison and she had some big expenses.”

“Expenses such as?”

Cici claps in my face. “Dude. Enough. This is not an episode ofGossip Girland I’m done spilling my friend’s secrets. All I’m saying is Amani was desperately looking for a way out of the social media game…and I guess she never found it.”

I grab the only jelly-filled donut in the box and take an unenthusiastic bite. My mind is swimming.Was someone harassing her? Did someone hurt her? Did she secretly do that porno and had mixed feelings about it? Cici clearly doesn’t know that Amani’s trying to get pregnant, so what big expenses is she talking about?I have a hundred questions, but I settle on only one more. “Why would a ridiculously successful influencer want out? It’s kind of the American dream, isn’t it? You’re a business owner making a lot of money from a platform that you’ve built on youropinion. I mean—”

“Adam,” Cici grumbles. “You’re not honestly that dense, are you?”

“Apparently…” I screw up my face in confusion.

She sighs. “You know how we don’t let Chase touch his own Instagram. He’s not allowed on TikTok. And remember how after Kayla cheated on him, and he walked offThe Renegadeset, then was later caught by the paparazzi with what can only be described as a parade of strippers, we didn’t let him on the internet at all for like a month?”

“I remember.” After Chase singlehandedly put the hashtag “manslut” on the map, the studios shied away for a while and we lost a few opportunities, but I knew it’d pass. It always does.

“Mark moved into the beach house to watch him, and Jay was literally on babysitting duty to make sure he was never alone with his phone to accidentally stumble upon all the atrocious bullshit people were saying about him.”

“Yes, yes, Cici, I remember the dark age of Chase’s career. What’s your point?”

“It took ateamof us to protect him. Amani is absorbing all of that shit on her own. Of course she wanted out.”

“That’s different, though,” I say. “Chase is a major celebrity. People are far more brutal with A-list celebrities because they don’t see them as people. Just subjects to talk about.”

Cici shakes her head and blows out a small breath. “You’d be really surprised. It’s not just celebrities. And plus, they have the privilege of being an asset that very powerful people want to protect. Influencers like Amani? They bear the same responsibilities and have none of the same protection and privileges. They are bullied, ridiculed, shamed, and then told they are pussies if they admit they arehurtabout being bullied, ridiculed, and shamed. Believe me, it’s my job to know how disgustingly arrogant and cruel these keyboard warriors are and make no mistake…it is a warzone.”

My heart clenches. I’m suddenly feeling angry enough to be vengeful.Is this why she wanted a baby? Something to distract her? Or she just wanted something…innocent?

“You okay?” Cici asks, glancing at my fist. I suddenly realize I’m squeezing the donut so hard, red jelly is spilling down my hand.

“Oh, crap.” I reach for the roll of paper towels and quickly clean up the sticky mess. Once I’m done, I slide the keys to my Jag over to Cici. “Want to go pick up the Jag? It’s in storage in Malibu.”

“Bleh, Malibu?”

“Yes, Malibu.” Randy’s is one of the only garages I trust with my cars. It’s also where Amani’s vehicle is being fixed.So, two birds.

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