Command Performance (26 page)

“He won’t go. We’ve talked about this before. He won’t go and I can’t make him go against his will.”

Something was off between them. Things felt icky. He drew her close to soothe her and whispered against her neck. “If you go live at home again, how am I going to make love to you every night? How are we going to fit in our sexy times, good girl?”

“I don’t know,” she said, turning her head away from him. “Maybe you can invite Constance over. From what I understand, she’s a good girl too.”

He released her. “Constance? What are you talking about?”

“Are you still in love with her?”

His mouth fell open. “No. God, what is this? Miri, I adore Constance but—why would you ask that? Of course I’m not in love with her, I’m in love with you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you cheated on Jessamine with her? That you broke up your marriage for her?”

“That’s not why our marriage broke up. It wasn’t like that. Who told you that? Who have you been talking to?”

“Jessamine came to visit today. She told me about Constance. She told me about your first wife, how you cheated on her and dumped her when you became famous.”

He held up a hand. “Stop. Stop right there. How dare you powwow behind my back with Jessamine—”

“I can talk to anyone I want!”

“—and then throw it in my face?”

“She sought me out because we’re getting married. To tell me the truth about you before it was too late.”

“No.” Mason shook his head, fury twisting in the gut. “Think, Miri. She didn’t come here to tell you any truth. She came here to get at me. To destroy me, to break my heart. To poison you against me. She always has to win, especially over me. Don’t you see that?”

“Did you cheat on her with Constance or not?”

Mason drained his drink and slammed the glass down on the counter. “Yes, I cheated on her with Constance. But our marriage was already over. Hell, I’m not proud of it, but I was hurting. Constance was a warm body, someone who couldn’t turn me away.”

Miri’s eyes narrowed. Definitely the wrong thing to say. “So you used her. You’re a user in addition to being a cheater. She said that too.”

“Miri—”

“You did the same thing to your first wife. To Kathy. You used her and then you left her.”

Dragging Kathy into this was pure evil on Jessamine’s part. He couldn’t excuse that behavior away, and Jess knew it. “Miri, please, listen to me.”

“I don’t want to listen anymore. I think I know everything I need to know.”

“No, you don’t. My relationship with my first wife was complicated. My life was complicated, things just went sideways. I was so immature, I was newly rich, famous, and every woman in Hollywood wanted my dick. I was an idiot, I was unprepared to deal with things. When I let Kathy go, it was for her own good. Believe me, she’s much happier now. She’s married to a great guy. She’s okay.”

The more he talked, the more he realized he condemned himself. Damn Jessamine. He would wring her spiteful neck.

“And my marriage with Jessamine,” he snarled. “If you could even call it such a thing. God, we had so many issues. She has no fucking right to narrow it down to one little sound bite. ‘He cheated on me with Constance.’ There was so much more to it than that. I can’t even explain to you—”

“I wish you would explain to me,” she said, hands on her hips. “And while you’re explaining, what was your deal with Satya?”

Mason felt like a boxer being pummeled in a ring. This was so unfair. None of this had anything to do with Miri, with his love for her.

“What did you two have together?” she demanded. “When did you last see her?”

“Months ago,” he shot back. “And I’m not going to apologize about Satya, because she’s one of my oldest friends.”

“And your lover.”

“She was my lover for a while, but not anymore. The sexual side of our relationship ended before you and I went out for the first time. She’s engaged to somebody else, and they’re getting married in the spring, so I doubt you have anything to worry about.” Mason held up his hands. “Look, I’ve been one hundred percent honest and faithful to you. Yes, I made mistakes in the past, big ones, but I’m different now. You made me different. You made me want to be a better man.”

“What movie is that line from?”

Mason died a little inside. After weeks and months of emotional closeness, Jess had managed to turn Miri completely against him in one day. “If there’s nothing I can say that you’ll believe, where does that leave us?”

“It leaves us right where we are, in a relationship built on lies. In a relationship that started with a lie.”

“You were part of that too,” he said. “I thought we were putting all that away.”

“Putting it where?” Her eyes filled with tears. “You are your fame and your career. Is there even room for the other stuff?”

“How can you ask me that? How can you say I’m only my fame? Only my career? Jesus Christ!” he thundered, throwing up his hands.

“I don’t think I want this, Mason.”

“What do you mean, this?” His voice cracked and broke on the last word.

“This. This engagement. This marriage. This life as your arm ornament, your good girl.”

“Oh, Miri.” He went to her because she was crying, but she wouldn’t let him touch her. She backed away. She
backed away from him
. “Miri, please.”

“It’s not just the stuff Jessamine told me. It’s been a few weeks now that I’ve been second guessing things,” she said through tears. “But I thought you were worth it. Maybe you are worth it but I can’t...I just can’t. I started to think about calling off the wedding, but then I didn’t want to set back your image again. You know?” She laughed bitterly. “Is that sick or what? I’m still on your PR team, I can’t help it. I was afraid of what people would say about you if I left. But that shouldn’t be the reason for staying in a relationship.”

Mason swallowed hard. His heart was freezing into a lump of ice in his chest. It was hard to breathe past the hurt that was choking him. “Really? You’ve been thinking for weeks now that you wanted to leave me?”

“Yes.” Now her tears flowed in a gush. “I’m not cut out for this, for being your wife. For all the baggage that comes with it. I’m losing myself, and I’m losing my love for you because of it. I’m afraid of where it ends up.”

“Miri, don’t do this, please. Why don’t we just take a break? Go stay with your father for a while, help him out, think things over. Why does this have to be so rash?”

“It’s not rash. The night we got engaged—remember? I was going to break up with you. I was trying to think of the right words to pull away from you.”

Mason knew that. He’d known, which was why he’d proposed to her, to cement her to his side. He realized now he’d only delayed the inevitable. He realized now he’d just caused her a lot of unnecessary pain.

“I— I knew, even back then,” she said miserably. “I’m sorry. I know this will look so bad, but I promise I’ll disappear. I’ll lay low for six months, a year. I’ll take care of my dad and I’ll find a way to pay you back for the house, and for all the money you gave us.”

“I don’t care about the damn house or the money,” Mason said. “I don’t care how it’s going to look in the media. Miri, you said you would marry me. Why did you agree if you felt this way?”

“I don’t know. Because I was starstruck, I guess. Because you put me under this spell. You know, you said you were young, you were immature, that you made mistakes. I think I did that too. I just know I can’t go on like this. I can’t handle it anymore, and I think you know, deep down, that we’re not right for each other.”

“No.” Mason paled in helpless fury, his hands curling into fists. “I know, deep down, that we’re meant for each other. You’re making a mistake because you’re scared, and yes, immature. I know about that, I know about immaturity and making stupid mistakes and learning the hard way. You take all the time you need, go off and do what you have to do. I’m not going to stop loving you and I’m not going to stop taking care of you. I’ll be waiting for you when you come out of this confusion you’re in.”

“I’m not confused,” she said, twisting off the engagement ring he’d selected so carefully. She held it out to him. “Take it.”

He shook his head. “No. Keep it. You’ll need it when you come back to me.”

Their beautiful love, fractured, defeated by doubt. Well, he didn’t doubt for a second. He looked into her red-rimmed eyes, gazed at his conflicted, sweet girl, and took a deep breath.

“I love you, Miri. I’ll love you forever, no matter what. Forever. Period.” With those words, he turned his back on her and left. He had someone else he had to talk to. He climbed in his car and roared out of the driveway. He needed to have a few choice words with his ex-wife.

*** *** ***

Jessamine barely glanced up as he stormed into her trailer. She waved off the pursuing security guards with an absent condescension that made him see red.

“Coffee, Mason?” she asked with a smile. “I’ve been expecting you.”

“You filthy, cunty, godforsaken
bitch
!”

She burst into throaty laughter. “Childish as ever, with the name calling. Either sit down and be civil, or get out.”

“You’re going to lecture me about civility? Really? When you’re pouring threats and lies about me into my fiancée’s ears?”

Jess held up a hand. “I didn’t tell her one lie. Not one.”

“You scared her. You spun stories to turn her against me. You pulled the rug out from under her, and why? To get back at me like the petty, heartless bitch you are? I apologized for what I did to you, Jess. For what I did with Constance. It’s been two years now. Can’t you get over it?”

His ex-wife traced her lips, staring down at the script in front of her. “You never apologized.”

“Yes, I did.”

“You didn’t mean it.”

“And you’ll never forgive me anyway, right? So who cares? Why are you still gunning for me? Why is it so important to you to ruin me?”

“Oh, come on. Cutting you loose from that Durand twit is hardly ‘ruining’ you. Mason, sit down. We need to talk like adults, as difficult as that is for a manchild like you.”

“I’ll show you a manchild,” he said, bristling.

“Ooh, yes, show me, big boy. I miss that side of you. That was the only part of you I ever had any use for.”

She knew how to push every one of his buttons, knew exactly how to infuriate him and make him feel three feet tall. He sat the length of the trailer away, in her padded makeup chair, as she sprawled with a sigh on the couch. “Okay, talk,” he snapped. “Explain to me why you did what you did today. Explain what I need to do for you to go back and fix things up with your goddamn manipulative tongue.”

“Oh, I’m not fixing anything up. Miri Durand can suck my left tit. I care even less about her happiness than I care about yours.”

“Why? What do you have against her?”

Jess’s eyes widened. “What do I have against her? Don’t you see my humiliation? Of course you don’t. You could never see the shit right in front of your face. How do you think it made me look, you proposing to her? I can’t measure up to sweet, doting Miri Durand, especially with you slavering over her like an idiot. I’m left twisting in the wind like some rejected jackass. I had to adopt a damn baby for damage control.”

Mason stared at her in horror. “I hope that’s not true. God, Jess, no one was judging you against Miri. That’s all in your head.”

“It’s not in my head.”

“To begin with, you two couldn’t be more different.”

“Exactly. Everyone thinks you gave up this—this!” she said, gesturing to her perfect, svelte physique, “so you could take up with that...that child. You dumped me for not doing your BDSM depravities and then gave all that up for Miss Innocent and Pure. It’s embarrassing.”

“First of all, I didn’t dump you over the BDSM. That’s
your
story that you put out there with the help of your lackeys,
your
story that almost ruined my career. So don’t cry to me now that it’s backfired on you.”

“Well, I’ll do your kink stuff now,” she blurted out. “If you’ll get back with me, if you’ll drop Miri, I’ll do your stupid kinky shit. Every once in a while, anyway.”

Mason gawked. “What?”

“Look, let’s be professional about this. Our stock was higher when we were together. You know it, I know it. We’re both miserable apart. The solution is simple: Miri dumps you, we stage a big reconciliation, you leave your kinky, base ways behind so you can embrace your life’s true love. Me.”

He blinked, trying to process her craziness. “You’ve started smoking crack. Is that it? You’re on the pipe now? Because I can’t honestly figure out how you’d come up with such a scheme otherwise. Jessamine, crack kills.”

“This isn’t a joke,” she said with a huff of impatience. “You could never get serious when you needed to. It’s time to grow up.”

“If growing up means reconciling with you then I would rather be thrown into a vat of barracudas.”

“We didn’t have it so bad.” Jess slid him her siren look. The eyes, the lips, the way she held her body. So many times he’d been taken in. “Mason,” she slurred in that sultry lisp of hers. “We belong together. You’re not a one-woman man. When we’re together, I’ll let you mess around as much as you want, just like I used to. When I mess around, I promise I’ll be discreet. We can both have what we want, plus we’ll be fixing our careers. And the baby... Well, maybe we can adopt a sister for her to keep her busy. She’s actually pretty sweet. I named her Jemma. Nice name, isn’t it? Jessamine and Jemma, and Mason, her daddy.”

“You should have named her ‘Victim’.” Mason shuddered. “Nothing against your little girl, but I’m not interested. I love Miri and I’m sticking with her. She comes before everything else, especially your imagined griefs and shortcomings.”

“She’s staying with you after everything I said?”

“No, she’s leaving me. You were successful with that part of your scheme, but the part where you and I get back together? Dream on.” He stood and walked to the door of her trailer, then turned back. Such a miserable, conniving human being. Jeremy always said Jess was a sad person, that all her machinations came from a place of fear, of desperation in her lonely soul.