Page 74 of Country Music Cowboy
Don’t mind her?The woman filled up the room. Loretta was pretty sure there was no nice way to ask CiCi King to leave, but, dammit, she’d had an amazing night. With CiCi King lying in wait for her, she suspected her night was about to take a nosedive.
“I have a friend atTabloid News Media—TNM?” CiCi smiled. “She told me that your father canceled his interview? Is that right?”
“I believe so.” Loretta tried to be as noncommittal as possible. Yes, her father had called off his interview. Once Margot had made sure her father got the money he wanted, her father retreated.
“Why do I get the feeling he might circle back around, eventually?” CiCi was studying her reflection, almost sympathetic. “From what a friend atTNMtold me, he’d promised an inside scoop on you and my family too.”
“He would say that.” Loretta sighed, blotting her cheeks. “It’s not true, of course.”
“Isn’t it?” CiCi frowned. Well, she tried to frown. It was hard for the woman to be expressive due to the amount of Botox or whatever it was injected into her face. “So you don’t know anything about what he was planning to say?”
Loretta shook her head. “I haven’t spoken to him since…Las Vegas.” It had been a little over a month but, for Loretta, it felt like another life. “Even then, we talked about the performance.” How he wanted tickets…and money. She’d sent him the money, but not the ticket.
CiCi stood up, reaching for the brush on the counter. “You know, Loretta. I feel for you. The media’s exploited all the loss in your life, something fierce. Imagine anyone implying you’re bad luck.” She shook her head. “I guess they’ll say anything to sell a paper, I suppose.” She patted Loretta on the shoulder. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on you at Emmy Lou’s wedding. For that, I’m sorry. If you and Hank are developing a friendship, who am I to stand in the way.”
Her mind was swimming with CiCi’s words, but she managed to respond to the last part. “It really is a friendship.” Loretta met the woman’s gaze in the mirror. “Nothing more.”
CiCi nodded, turning the brush in her hands. “I see a lot of myself in you, Loretta. The sadness, I guess. We both have lousy fathers. Mine disowned me for following my heart. Yours is emptying your bank account as fast as you can fill it.”
An icy coldness settled in Loretta’s stomach. How did she know about her father? And the money?
“And we have mothers who deserted us. When my father disowned me for marrying Hank, my mother didn’t say or do a thing. Can you imagine a mother doing that?” She shook her head. “But your mother just up and disappeared, didn’t she? That must have hurt. To know she left you in the care of a good-for-nothing.” She sighed. “Your father. Your mother. Poor Margot fighting cancer. And Johnny.”
She was not going to talk about Johnny with this woman. “CiCi, I need—”
“No, Loretta. I need you to listen. I have people watching.” CiCi sat the brush back on the counter and looked Loretta square in the eye. “I’ve heard talk that something’s going on between you and Travis—or you and Sawyer. I don’t which is true or if they’re all true, but fun and games are over. Travis can’t risk a run of bad luck, surely you see that? And you, Loretta, are bad luck. And while I feel for you, I do, my family—my son—comes first. You will not screw with his head and send him back to drinking.” Her blue eyes never flinched. “Your daddy needs money. I’ve got money. And if you don’t start behaving yourself, I’ll make sure your daddy gets a whole lot of money to sing whatever song we can come up with. You, your mother, Johnny… I won’t play fair.” She paused. “Don’t make me end your career, Loretta.” With a big sigh, she smiled and headed to the door. “I’ll go see Emmy Lou now. It was quite a show.”
Loretta didn’t know how long she sat there, staring at the door. Should she laugh or cry? It was like she’d been pulled into a soap opera or a Lifetime movie.But this is real.All the horrible words and threats… They were real. Did CiCi King have that kind of power?
The whole damn time CiCi had been ranting, she’d been silent, reeling from what was happening. But now words were bubbling up and clogging her throat.
“Loretta?” Sawyer was standing in the door, his face surprisingly concerned. “Was that Mrs. King?”
Loretta nodded.Yes. That was Mrs. King. She just threatened to destroy my career if I didn’t stop sleeping with Travis.She almost laughed then. Almost. “She…she was looking for Emmy Lou’s dressing room.”
“Try again.” He stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind him.
She stared at him, willing her heart to slow. “What? Why are you here?”
Sawyer crossed his arms over his chest. “I saw Mrs. King leave your dressing room. She tends to leave quite a wake wherever she goes.”
I have people watching.
For all she knew, Sawyer was working for CiCi. It made sense. He was closest to Travis—closest to all of them really. They treated him more like family than an employee. She stared at him, long and hard, wishing she was better at reading people. Not that Sawyer was exactly easy to read.
He crossed the room, his eyes on her face, and crouched by her chair. “It’s my job to protect the Kings.”
CiCi is a King.He had to be working for CiCi. Why else would he conveniently show up seconds after CiCi left behind a web of threats? “She was looking for Emmy Lou’s dressing room,” she repeated.
Sawyer ran a hand over his short-cropped hair, frustrated. It was an unnervingly familiar gesture. Almost like Travis when he ran his fingers through his hair. Sawyer didn’t have the same hair but… She couldn’t help but study the man. Up close this way, the similarities were more obvious than ever. She’d read that dogs start to look like their owners and married couples start to resemble one another. Was that the case with a bodyguard and his client?
It was a ridiculous idea. But no more ridiculous than the other idea, the one growing louder and stronger the longer she looked at Sawyer.
Who was Sawyer? What was his last name? Could he… Was he Hank King’s son? That night, at the dinner table. Krystal and Jace’s reaction. Sawyer’s too. Margot called him Travis’s doppelgänger.Or brother?
But if he was Hank’s son, he’d be loyal to Hank. He wouldn’t be feeding information to CiCi. Things had just become far more complicated.
“Loretta—” Sawyer stared up at her, struggling to say whatever it was he wanted to say.
