Page 27 of The Price of Fame

Nine

MARKUS DEBATED WHETHER TO WAKE as he had kept her up late and knew she hadn’t slept well after their conversation about protection. He hoped she knew how happy he would be if she was expecting. He paced the room, worried. Maybe Kylie shouldn’t have flown as far as she did yesterday. He was used to the long flights and late nights, but Kylie wasn’t, and if she was…

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had no idea if they were even true until Kylie confirmed them. Having been up for hours, he now reluctantly went back into the room to wake his sleeping beauty because he had no choice.

He had just over an hour to tell Kylie he was going to perform their song at the awards ceremony, that he had arranged for special designer dresses to be delivered, and that he had paid for everything, including the makeup and hair artists who were coming. She wouldn’t be happy, as she wasn’t one for attention.

Leaning over her, he kissed her cheek, whispering, “Omorphoula, it’s time to wake up. You’ve slept most of the day away.”

She let out a groan and pushed him away. “Go away. You kept me awake most of the night.”

He lifted her up in his arms when she stretched, and she let out a squeal as he walked with her to the bathroom. “It’s shower time. Time to get ready.” He held her with one arm as he turned the taps on with the other. Not caring about the shorts he had on, he got under the warm spray. “As much as I’d like you to stay naked and in our bed, I made a commitment to go to the ceremony, and they were nice enough to move people around so you could come.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she mumbled, “Fine. Put me down. I’ll get ready.”

He gently slid her down his body. She grinned up at him as she felt the evidence of his arousal. He lathered his hands with her shower gel and washed her body.

“You are a machine.” She rubbed herself against him as she trailed her fingers down his chest. “How long does this awards ceremony go for?”

Closing his eyes, he prayed for patience as she slipped her hand into his shorts and started stroking him. He stopped cleaning her and took a deep breath before moaning, “Omorphoula, stop. I have people coming soon, and if you start this, they’ll hear things you might not want them to.”

She paused in her exploring and glared up at him, the water splashing over her face and cleaning the shower gel off. “Who is coming?”

Turning off the shower, he got out and wrapped a towel around himself and held out a towel for Kylie. She grabbed it and flung it around her while she marched past him into their room.

“I’ve had someone drop off my suit, and some dresses should arrive for you soon to save you searching for something to wear. I also have a makeup artist and hair stylist coming to give you an extra hand.”

She didn’t say anything as she dressed in a yellow summer dress, and then turned, staring at him. Finally, she nodded.

“Thanks, I will use them as long as I get a choice, and if I don’t like something, I can say no.”

Letting out a breath, he nodded back and hoped this was the only drama of the night.

Standing back stage, he agonized about not being smart enough to cancel. He didn’t know how long Kylie would last at this rate. She’d come out of their room hours later, after the stylist and hairdresser had finished, looking stunning. She walked to him in a long, flowing sky-blue dress that plunged in the back. It emphasized all her curves, and he’d been tempted to just stay home, but when his manager showed up to shoo them along, he guided her to the limo.

Their arrival together caused a media frenzy as the press bombarded them with questions. The one thing he hadn’t anticipated was the nastiness of some of his supposed fans. They yelled at her to go home, to be with one of her own men, or rude things about her body, basically anything nasty. Grateful she didn’t understand Greek for once, he was relieved to get inside and to their seats, only to groan at who he’d been seated next to— his ex-girlfriend, Helena, and her new man.

Kylie knew as soon as the woman smiled at them and introduced herself as an old friend what Helena had been to him. She went stiff and slowly removed her hand from his, not saying a word.

He’d won all of the awards he’d been nominated for and was now closing the show.

Taking a deep breath when his name was called out, he walked out on stage with his guitar and sat on the chair. He closed his eyes for a moment before starting, and then he opened them as he sang, searching out Kylie, only to find her seat empty. Closing his eyes again so he could concentrate on the song, he prayed she hadn’t left, and for the first time in years, he hoped this would all hurry up and end so he could go and find her.

Kylie didn’t speak much Greek, but she had been trying to learn to surprise Markus. She understood some, and the woman next to her hadn’t helped when she repeated things in English, saying she was just trying to help. Kylie wasn’t stupid. She knew the woman had had a relationship with Markus. It didn’t bother her that much, but everything else was getting to her. She had understood some of what had been yelled at her outside, and she couldn’t get over the cruel stares from most of the women.

Needing a moment before she had to return to the chaos, she’d snuck off to the restroom, only to be locked in. So here she sat, looking around the lavish room, thanking god she had put her foot down about bringing a purse with her phone and ID.

Only having Markus’ number, and not knowing who else to call, she sat in the restroom and debated what to do. When she’d called Markus, he hadn’t picked up. She’d known he wouldn’t, but she had no one else to try. She doubted the police would take her seriously, plus she didn’t speak Greek. She had banged and yelled on the door until her hands were bruised and her voice hoarse, but no one came.

Now she sat looking at her phone, trying to decide what to do next. Bored, she called Gemma and got voice mail. Without thinking, she called James. He answered, sounding pissed.

“Where the fuck are you?”

Thanking God the media in Australia didn’t care if she was engaged to a celebrity, she took a deep breath and slowly told him where she was and what had happened. “I was going to come and talk to you, but…”

She heard things smashing in the background. “Tell me this is all some weird joke. Tell me I’ll wake in the morning, and this will all have been a dream.”

She winced and glanced around the bathroom. Her heart broke as he whispered, “Tell me you said no, or that you haven’t known him long enough to marry him.”

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