Falling Star (Combustible Book 2) (17 page)

He pulled her into his arms and looked into her blue-green eyes. “Alone?”

She nodded. “You’re hosting the barbecue. Let me go make something. Besides, Mila is probably wondering if I forgot all about her. We were supposed to do lunch.”

He sighed, letting her go. “Promise you’ll be early?”

“Sure. Have any requests?”

A smirk pulled one corner of his mouth up. “Nothing you’re granting until we’re alone.”

“Then you can tell me when I come back.”

“Okay. Call me if you need anything.”

She dipped her head and slipped outside. He followed as Tina hurried up the driveway with Blaze in tow.

His heart sank when he saw the desperate look on his sister’s face.

Tina smiled as she stopped in front of Ella. “Hi, you must be Ella. Blaze has told me so much about you.”

“Hi, I am. And you must be Tina,” Ella said with a smile and an outstretched hand.

Tina relaxed and shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet the woman who’s finally settled my brother down.”

Ella glanced back, blushing. “I hope so.”

Trent wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You have.”

Tina’s eyes dulled. “Hey, Trent, Blaze begged me to bring him early. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me around.”

“Sure, of course, I do. You’re welcome to come. You can stay, catch up.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive.”

Ella turned. “I’ll see you later.” She ruffled Blaze’s hair. “You too, buddy.”

“Bye, Ella,” Blaze hugged her leg and she patted his head before heading home.

Tina turned to watch Ella enter her house.

“You’re right. She looks like Raven Star, but she’s not. No big actress would settle down here. Besides, she’s more down to earth than those movie actresses.”

Trent smiled, but his heart sank. He didn’t know how to respond to Tina’s comment. “So, you aren’t here to drop off Blaze?”

“Nope. Was hoping I could hang out, catch up with my big brother. Let Blaze play ball with you.”

He grinned. “Sounds like fun. Maybe after lunch, I’ll take you all for ice cream.”

“Best uncle ever!” Blaze exclaimed.

Tina gave Trent a sad smile. “I’ve missed so much.”

“But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

Chapter 21

Ella stood in the living room, peeking out the window, waiting for Trent and his sister to go inside. Finally, they did. Ella flopped onto the couch and grabbed her phone, dialing Mila.

It only rang twice before she answered. “Finally. I was starting to wonder if you forgot all about me.”

Ella smirked. “Not completely, but Trent kept me busy.”

“I can imagine. You ready to talk?”

“Yeah, want to go for a drive with me? I need to go to the store.”

“Hang on.” Everything was quiet for a long moment. “I’ll pick you up. We’ll have a little one in the car seat. Valor just went down for a nap, and he likes riding so he should stay asleep.”

Ella grinned. “Aww, you can bring my buddy anytime you want.”

Mila laughed softly. “Be there in five minutes.”

Feeling free, she hurried upstairs to splash on some makeup and put her glasses on. She was back downstairs by the time Mila pulled the car up to the curb.

Ella peeked into the backseat with a grin. Seeing her best friend’s baby made her crave that kind of stable connection. Hopefully, she and Trent would form a similar bond… one day.

She climbed into the passenger seat and grinned at her oldest friend. “You and Kyle make beautiful babies.”

“Yeah, we do. But we aren’t talking about me right now. What happened yesterday?”

Ella told Mila everything about the day before, all the way through her middle of the night freak-out. She sucked in a breath and looked at their surroundings. Mila had driven out into the country, away from everything.

A shudder rocked through Ella, leaving her trembling. “Where are we?”

Mila shrugged. “Driving outside of town, and circling back. Valor naps best in the car.”

“Why out here?” She winced at the squeal in her voice.

Mila looked over and frowned. “Ella, are you okay?”

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

“I’m heading back.”

“Sorry, when I realized where we were, the panic edged in. I guess I started thinking about the guy who followed me. These panic attacks are happening more and more often. I thought it was getting better.”

Mila reached over and squeezed her hand. “I think you need to talk to someone. A counselor or therapist. Sounds like PTSD.”

“Yeah. As much as I hate admitting I have a serious problem, I need to deal with it and don’t know how.”

“And you can’t disappear without a word like you did yesterday. What if this happened while you were all alone?”

“I started thinking that when I saw what I did to Trent’s chest. I was ready to hurt him and run.” She leaned her head against the glass. “I can’t keep doing this.”

“You said Trent didn’t want to let you leave. I’m sure he was more worried about you than a scratch.”

A sad laugh escaped as she pushed back in the seat. “Doesn’t change the fact I need help. Any other time and he gives me a sense of security I can’t even describe. But I woke up, half pinned. Mentally, I was back in that room with my stalker holding me, his hands on my skin.” Shivers ran through her from head to toe. “I thought Trent was him. I was ready to hurt him so I could get away.”

“You didn’t realize who it was. That’s understandable. You weren’t awake. And I guarantee he wouldn’t have held you afterward if he was upset by your episode.”

Ella pressed on her temples and closed her eyes. “He doesn’t understand. I could have really done some damage if he hadn’t backed off me so fast.”

“But he brought you back. Next time, he’ll react faster, and he knows what you need now. He’ll help you get through the nightmares.”

“And if he doesn’t? If I can’t get over it? That asshole stalker is still out there. What if he was the one following me?”

Mila shrugged. “I believe it was some paparazzi jerk following Ryan and then trailing you. He probably wanted to know who the new woman in Ryan’s life was. Apparently, a reporter was arrested in some tiny town. Authorities had warrants out all over California. It’s trending. They never identified you. You covered your face enough, and the sweats. No one has speculated it was you.”

“That’s a relief. Though I doubt it is for Ryan.”

“I still don’t understand why you two never hooked up. You get along so well.”

Ella snorted. “He’s a good friend, that’s it. Besides, he’s happy with his other half.”

“Yeah, I know.” Mila laughed and glanced over. “But man he’s hot. I would have traded places with you in a heartbeat.”

“Not since Kyle, though,” Ella teased.

“No. And hey, you tamed the caveman.” Mila giggled. “You should have seen him yesterday before you showed up.”

“Was he worse than what I saw?”

“He was. Trent wanted to hunt you down and find out what happened. You had us both worried.”

“Sorry. Things are… intense between us. It’s more than a regular attraction. I can’t deny that’s powerful, but he washes away the fear and makes me feel safe. Except last night.” Ella turned toward her. “Do you happen to know any therapists around here?”

“Not personally, but Kyle does. They work with a guy who suffered PTSD from something that happened on the job. I could get you the number.”

“Thank you. I don’t want to completely lose it and attack Trent again. I already feel like an ass.”

“You scratched him, Ella, you didn’t cut him open.”

Ella looked out the window. “If there had been a weapon in reach, I would have used it. I was mentally back there in that room, only I wasn’t tied, and the stalker was on top of me. Then it clicked I had nothing on, he didn’t have anything on, and my head jumped to the worst possible scenario. I would have done anything to escape, Mila.”

“Have you remembered more about the stalker?”

“I don’t know. Sort of. There are things that make me think I might actually know him, but that’s crazy.”

“You’re not crazy.”

Ella snorted. “Remember that guy who followed me around in high school? The one who died in a house fire with his parents?”

“Logan Poole? He was always creepy.”

Ella nodded. “He had steel gray eyes. So does my stalker. He was big like Logan but harder, muscular. That was forever ago, though. What if he didn’t die? What if he bulked up and is still fascinated by me?”

“But the investigators found his body, didn’t they?”

Ella snorted, leaning her head against the glass. “They found a charred body. They wanted to close the case. What if it wasn’t him?”

“Then whose body did they find?”

“I don’t know. But I remember reading that the fire started in his room. They closed that case really fast.”

“Anything else to make you think it could be him… or maybe a relative? Didn’t he have a brother in the military? He could have looked the same.”

“Maybe, but why would his brother know me? He called me Ella. No one but you had called me that since I moved to LA. My real name isn’t listed on IMDB or any of the wiki pages I know of. I’ve never told a reporter my name, where I came from, nothing. Hell, they haven’t even made the connection that Sam is my brother. So how did this guy know my name? My mail was always in my stage name.”

“Have you told the police?”

Shaking her head, she looked over. “They never took my stalker seriously, Mila. I reported the first letter four years ago. He broke into hotel rooms, my condo, my trailer on set, you name it. The guy left me gifts. They never found him. Then he took me away and God knows what he would have done if I hadn’t gotten out of there. I don’t trust the police to do shit this time around.”

“But if this guy is somehow related to Logan, or maybe even is Logan, they can track him down, find him, and put him away.”

“That means telling the police here. No one knows where I live. I don’t want to be splashed all over the gossip sites again.”

“The police here aren’t going to put you in that position. They’ll want to keep you safe. And I know at least one who would do everything in her power not only to catch this guy but also keep your secret.”

“I’ll think about it. First, I need to find someone, a shrink or something, to talk to.”

“Maybe ask them what they think. I’m willing to bet they’ll advise that you contact the police.”

“Let me deal with one thing at a time,” Ella pleaded. “No one knows where I am. I need to get my head on straight first.”

Mila squeezed her hand. “If I can help, tell me.”

“It’s good to have a friend in the real world.”

* * * *

“Seems like they’ve been gone forever,” Trent muttered.

Kyle leaned against the counter with a beer in his hand. “They’ll be back before you know it. I’m sure Mila took her for a drive. Valor was sleeping, and he always naps longer in his car seat, especially in a moving vehicle.”

“That’s not comforting. Someone followed her yesterday. She said she got rid of him when she sped by a police station in some random town. The police pulled over the other car. She didn’t stick around to see what happened.”

“Well, she’s smart, at least. She knows what to watch for and what to avoid. And Mila isn’t going to drive around for hours. Besides, if Ella lost whoever was following her, then chances are they don’t have a clue where she is.”

Trent dropped his elbows to the counter, leaning over. “I’m worried about her. She freaked out last night. She thought I… shit. How much has Mila told you?”

Kyle shook his head and looked away. “Not much. I don’t want to pry. But if she’s who I think she is, then she was definitely abducted. The guy had her for a couple days. There’s no telling what he did to her.”

Trent rubbed at his face, wondering if her nightmares were more or less flashbacks. Standing up, he turned to Kyle. “We were asleep last night. She woke up, trying to push me away, beating at my chest, until I was aware enough to move my ass away from her.”

“She okay?”

“Now, yeah, but it took a few minutes to get her to come back to me. She was so locked in her memories, she attacked like a caged animal. I don’t care about the scratch or the bruises. I just needed to break through. Seemed to take forever.”

“Sounds like what Metcalf went through. Took him time, but he got through it. Think she’d talk to someone about it?”

“I honestly don’t know. Ella doesn’t like talking about anything in her recent past, but will talk about her childhood. She felt guilty about last night and tried to leave. I convinced her to stay. It tore me apart that she cried herself to sleep, but I held her so she wouldn’t have to face the fear alone.”

“It’s serious, isn’t it?”

Trent looked over and caught the smirk on Kyle’s face. “Her fear? No shit.”

“No, what you feel for Ella.”

Standing straight, he pushed his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. Everything is different with her. I knew we’d burn up the sheets, but there’s so much more than the sex. I want to hold her, to hear her laugh, watch her smile. Then when she’s out of her mind with fear, I want to take it away and beat down whoever the asshole is who did this to her. Somehow I need to make it right for her.”

“No offense, but she may need a therapist. You can help, but if the trauma is that deep, she needs a professional.”

“Yeah, probably. I’ll call Metcalf. See if he can get me that number. Hopefully, she doesn’t hate me for suggesting it.”

“You said she felt bad for hurting you?”

“Yeah, but she didn’t hurt me. I didn’t even feel it until later.”

Kyle’s brow arched. “What the hell did she do?”

Trent nodded down the hall and moved where they were out of sight of the windows. He didn’t want Blaze or Tina to see, even though they were still out back.

Once Kyle followed, he lifted his shirt up to show him the scratches and the bruise. “She’s a fighter. She would have done more damage if I hadn’t moved.” He smoothed his shirt down.