Page 56 of The Forbidden Trio

“Celine, Jaden. Jaden, this is my friend Celine.”

Without looking at Janie, he took Celine’s hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it, smiled at her. “Lovely Celine. That sounds like a song.”

Celine batted her long, dark lashes, and Janie shook her head, smiling, and backed away. They looked like they didn’t need any company. She turned and bumped into Cole’s brother, Chase. He looked a lot like Cole did, but with longer hair and his eyes were more green than blue. He gave her a quick hug.

“Hey, Janie. You having a good time?”

“I am. It’s a great party, a great night. And the album is amazing, but I knew it would be.”

“We’re all pretty damn happy with it. The crowd seems to be going for it.”

She nodded agreement. “Have you seen Cole anywhere?”

“Not for a while.”

“You’ve been too busynotfighting off the girls fawning all over you?”

He grinned. “One or two, maybe. It’s a rough job, but I’m up for it.”

She shook her head. “You rock stars.”

He leaned in, his voice low. “Can I tell you something? I’ll never get used to this rock star thing. I mean, I go home and take out my own garbage, you know?”

Reaching up, she patted his cheek. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone your dirty little secret. Hey, if you see Cole, will you let him know I’m looking for him?”

“Sure.”

She decided to find the restroom and do a quick lip gloss check. Her small black leather clutch purse in her hand, she moved through the main studio and down the narrow hallway packed with people. At the end of the hall the bathroom door stood partway open. She pushed through and went in—and was surprised to find two men standing over the tiled counter, one of them Ken Stacy, the band’s manager. He looked up, wiping his nose.

“Janie? Didn’t see you there. Hi.”

“Hi, Ken. I’m sorry—I didn’t know anyone was…”

Her polite smile froze when she saw the line of coke laid out on the counter, the rolled up bill in his hand. Her stomach knotted.

Fuck.

Cole’s manager doing blow in the bathroom. It was too much like the old days—the bad old days when Cole had partied himself right out of her life. And if Ken was getting high… Panic flooding her, she took a step back, then another. She felt sick.

She couldnotgo through this again.

She turned and hurried down the hall, her heart a jackhammer in her chest, pushing past the people, most of whom she didn’t know and maybe didn’t ever need to.

What had she expected from the music industry? This was a party. One where the man who said he loved her was nowhere to be found. Where she’d caught people doing drugs in the goddamn bathroom.

Classic.

And she was a classic fool.

She pushed her way through the double doors that led to the lobby area, through the heavy door that led to the street. Pausing to lean against the wall, she drew several deep gulps of air into her tight, empty lungs. It was several minutes before she remembered she was on a Hollywood street at ten at night, and she pulled her cell phone from her purse and called a cab.

She tried not to cry as the cab rolled over the L.A. streets, but the tears came anyway, the city going by in a watery blur at the periphery of her vision. Her pain was the only thing she could focus on. Her life, and how it felt, once again, as if it were over.

At least, she and Cole were over.Hadto be. She couldn’t risk her heart again on the hope that he could resist temptation. And his success in the music world would only mean more parties like this one, more opportunities for people like Ken to ruin everything. What had she been thinking? He may have six years of sobriety under his belt, but she heard stories every day about people who went back to drinking and using. Especially musicians.

People like Sonny.

It was too much. Too damn scary. Rich… Sonny… Cole could be next. Who would hold her while she watchedhiscoffin being lowered into the ground? How would she survive it? It made her ill even to think about it.

---