Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5) (12 page)

Beth pulls the French door open just as we reach the back patio. “Come inside, Celeste,” she says, looking impatient. “I’m trying to coordinate what to wear for the interview.”

Cass quickly shakes her head. “We’re just attending, not being interviewed.”

Beth rolls her eyes, her tone clipped. “You’re the one who taught me that you’re always being interviewed even when you don’t say a word. We must be dressed appropriately.”

Exhaling deeply, Cass apologizes to Ben, then trails behind Beth. I step forward to follow them inside when Ben says next to me, “I’d like a word, Blake.”

Beth and Cass are standing at the entrance of the main room, apparently disagreeing about the upcoming interview. The last thing I want to do is referee their squabble, so I slide a stoic gaze Ben’s way and wait for him to speak.

Ben reaches over and pulls the door closed. Folding his arms, he turns on the patio and faces me, leaning back against the doorjamb. “After the next couple of events the media attention should die down. I want you to pack your things and leave.”

The desire to flatten this entitled prick resurfaces all over again, but for Cass’s sake I manage to rein in my temper. Keeping my eye on the ladies through the glass, I answer in an even tone. “I will leave when Celeste decides my services are no longer necessary.”

I start to reach for the doorknob, but Ben puts his arm across the doorway. “You had your chance with her at that masked party four years ago. I don’t know if the rumors about you two in the kitchen are true...” When I slit my gaze, he stiffens to his six-foot height. “She’s my fiancé now. I’ll take care of her.”

I roll my shoulders, taking advantage of the couple inches of height I have over him. “But can you protect her?” When he starts to speak, I cut him off. “You want to keep her safe, right?” The moment stubborn determination settles on Ben’s face, I drop my casual tone. “I don’t give two shits if my presence threatens your fragile ego, she is my priority. Don’t block my way again.” I return my attention to Cass and Beth in time to see sheer devastation on Cass’s face as she stares at Beth. Once the ladies exit the room, I step forward aggressively.

Ben yanks his arm out of my way at the last second, then calls after me with determined confidence. “Your presence here ends tomorrow night.”

Game on, asshole.
I pull my phone from my pocket and keep my gaze straight ahead so I don’t turn back and smash the smugness from his face. Dialing a number, I wait impatiently for an answer.

“W
ait up,” I call after Celeste’s sister. While Calder and Ben talk outside on the patio, I approach Beth. She’s standing at the entrance of the room, her hair now down, curls bouncing against her pale blue silk blouse. I can tell that I annoyed her when I said I wasn’t going to wear anything with a repeating pattern of animals or nautical symbols on it for the afternoon event.

The fact that Calder avoided answering my question about Ben flirting with “Celeste” in the garden is setting me on edge. I wanted to push him to share what’s really going on in his head about her, but he’d just keep challenging me about my trust in Ben. It’s not like I can tell him that Ben acting polar opposite of his prick of a brother, Jake, and his ruthless father is the whole reason I trust Ben.
Why are half-truths much harder than full out lies?
If Calder discovered what Jake Hemming did to me in the past, I worry he wouldn’t be able to keep his cool when Jake shows up at these events. As long as Jake thinks I’m Celeste, I’ll be fine. I need Calder’s military stoicism right now more than ever. I can barely handle myself in this screwed up situation, let alone try to keep him from losing it.

Beth turns in the doorway to face me, pulling me out of my worried thoughts about Calder. “You’re here for
one
reason,” she snaps in a low tone. “You will wear the most “Celeste” outfit I can find in her closet and not say a word about it.”

Something else underscores the irritation in her voice. A pained tension reflects in her gaze.
Worry.
This is her way of coping with Celeste’s disappearance and what she discovered about her today. I can’t imagine how she must be feeling right now after learning that she didn’t know her sister as well as she thought. And I have a feeling that she really wanted to. With her mother off recuperating, she must feel very alone right now. “I’m sorry, Beth. I didn’t mean to offend. I’ll wear whatever you think is best.”

As Beth stares at me for a second, I can’t let her go without asking the question that had been nagging me since I left her car. “How did you meet Brent?”

She seems surprised, but answers. “It was all very mysterious. The day before the event, I got an invitation. I’d heard rumors from friends who were invited to this exclusive MMA event and was jealous I hadn’t gotten one. The fact I didn’t know who sent the last minute invite made it too hard to pass up, so I went.” She exhales a laugh, her gaze sparkling over the fun memory. “I lined up with a couple of my girlfriends, all of us vying for a coveted ring girl position, and yep, I got pulled out of that line too. I put up quite a fuss when the security guy put me in the hall outside the arena and shut the door behind me. But then Brent stepped out of the shadows in an Armani suit and an irresistible smirk on his face and invited me to watch the fight with him instead. We’ve been together ever since.”

I’m relieved that she didn’t meet him through Jake, but I need to give her a heads up about him. Tilting my head, I ask as innocuously as possible, “Do you feel like you know him pretty well?”

“Of course,” she says, snorting. “I’m sleeping with the guy.”

“You can have sex with a person and not really know him.” God, that’s so true. Instinctive trust and major attraction keeps bringing Calder and me together, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we know about each other.

Beth turns to fully face me. “What are you saying?”

Even though her defensive tone makes me tense, I feel like I should warn her the best way I can. “Your boyfriend is running a business that you know skirts a gray line…” I trail off and spread my hands. “I’m just saying to be careful.”

“Brent’s an aggressive businessman who’s being proactive in building his business. He’s smart to entice high paying clientele by establishing a reputation for delivering exciting bouts that the competition can’t hope to match. It’s just a matter of time before the state legalizes professional fights here. He’s just ahead of the game.” Huffing, she shakes her head and crosses her arms. “Brent told me that I shouldn’t trust you. He said you’re a liar only out for personal gain. I said he was wrong, that you’re trying to help find Celeste. And yet here you are proving him right by trying to smear his character. You don’t know a thing about him.”

For Beth’s sake, I wish that were true. My stomach churns with the knowledge that Brent knows who I am. But does he know I remember the part he played in violating me? The fact he had already set the stage to turn Beth against me proves he was ensuring she wouldn’t believe anything I said. I grab Beth’s arm before she can turn away, my heart racing. “You weren’t supposed to tell anyone that I’m not Celeste.”

“My sister is
missing
,” she hisses. “Brent is the only one I told. He’s the only person I trust right now.” Jerking her arm free of my hold, she glances toward the French door. “You haven’t given me any real reason to trust you. Imagine my shock to look out my bedroom window and see you launching yourself onto Calder Blake’s back.” Narrowing her gaze, she continues. “You will
not
ruin my sister’s reputation by acting like a slut with her security guard.”

Hot words crowd my throat, rushing to be free. The fiery desire to tell her that I know Calder from the past burns in my mouth, but I clamp my lips together; I can’t take a chance she’ll share that information with Brent or what he’ll do with it. The last thing I want is for my connection to Calder to compromise his “Steel” persona in the upcoming MMA fight. The fans might not know Steel’s identity, but since Brent helps run the Elite Underground Club (EUC) that recruited Steel to fight, he has to know who Steel really is. Right now Brent doesn’t have a reason to distrust Calder. But what if he decides to disqualify Steel because of his association with me? I swallow back the truth. “That’s not what was going on—”

“Who do you think sent Ben out there the moment he arrived?” Beth rambles on. “After everything I’ve learned today, I’ve decided that he’s perfect for Celeste. When she comes back, he’ll treat her fairly and look out for her.”

“You don’t understand. I was just trying to—”

“Save it,” she says, throwing her hand up. “For all I know, you’re in on my sister’s rebellion and even now you’re doing everything you can to stall us from finding her. As much as I dislike you being here, my sister is newly
engaged
and you will play the part until she’s found. Stay away from the hired help and you’d better keep things platonic with Ben or I’ll tell my father. I’m sure anything you have to wear while you’re here is preferable to a Rikers’ uniform. I hope that is clear enough for you.”

Beth may as well have punched me in the stomach. She’s treating me like I’m some kind of slutty criminal. My chest aches with the need to tell her everything, starting with Jake and Celeste’s involvement in my life back in high school, Jake and Brent violating me, my sister’s suicide, my cutting…all of it. I don’t understand my desire to make Beth understand me. I haven’t even told Talia most of the details of my past, and she’s my best friend. But now that Brent has poisoned Beth against me, even if I showed her the texts between Celeste and the Deceiver, she’ll probably think I faked those in some kind of twisted collusion with her sister.

Swallowing the hurt squeezing my throat, I force myself to ignore the hot tingling radiating from my wrists and nod. “Perfectly clear,” I say flatly. “I’m ready for you to pick the outfits I’m expected to wear for the upcoming events now.”

A flicker of remorse shines in Beth’s green eyes before she tosses her hair over her shoulder and leaves the room ahead of me.

My hands are shaking by the time Beth leaves my room a half hour later. I stare at the tailored red sweater, white collared shirt, black pencil skirt and matching heels I’m supposed to wear for the interview in an hour. Then I glance over the two dresses in the closet Beth chose for tonight and tomorrow night’s events and realize how very different our styles are. Squeezing my hands into tight fists, I close my eyes and fantasize that Celeste shows up right after the TV crews leave this afternoon.

The idea of just being
me
once more is so appealing, I smile.

A knock at my door yanks me from the daydream and my chest instantly squeezes as reality slams back.

“It’s me.” Calder’s deep voice carries through the wood.

I walk over to the door, but don’t open it. I’m too wound up and tense right now. I don’t want to argue with him over Ben anymore or wonder what he really feels for Celeste. “I just need some downtime, Calder. I’ll see you downstairs in forty-five minutes.”

When I hear him walk away, I sag against the door. I don’t like this tension between us, but I don’t know how to stop it. Instead the distance seems to be growing. That’s what happens when you keep secrets. There’s so much I can’t tell him right now and I know he’ll keep pushing for answers.

Sighing, I walk into the bathroom and brush my hair. I’ve just finished touching up my makeup when another knock sounds.

“Open the door,” Calder says in a matter-of-fact tone.