Seduction by Song Page 18

  (And of course, I wasn’t going to try.)

  Maddie’s the only one in the room when I get out from the shower after the water runs cold. I hear April and Juliet shuffling out in the hallway, though, so I shoot Maddie a confused look, hoping that nothing had gone wrong after I stopped listening in on their conversation. I would never forgive myself if my problems caused them to have a terrible fight.

  It’s with a great big smile that Maddie greets me, though. I blink, feeling even more confused at the sudden shift in her demeanor.

  “Erin!” she says, waving me over excitedly to the laptop she has open on the bed in front of herself. “Look, look.”

  I head over cautiously, still drying my hair with a towel as I settle down next to her. “What is it?”

  She turns the screen towards me, showing me a new article on her favorite entertainment blog. I stare at it for a moment, shake my head, and then stare again—the headline was preposterous.

  Romeo Ortiz to Louise Valdez: You’re a Liar!

  I can barely keep my eyes focused as I read the rest of the article. Romeo had just delivered a late night interview, apparently, to tell the public of the truth about his last concert.

  “Yes,” he said, the article reports, “I married Louise Valdez in secret several years ago. We have been separated for the past two years. She forced herself on stage at my last show. I did not invite her to the stage or to the concert—we are not on good terms. We are not reconciling.”

  I skim the rest of the article—more denials, more thinly veiled anger. I could tell that Romeo was truly upset at having Louise back in his life for whatever reason, but—but that didn’t change anything. He still lied to me. He still hid her from me.

  “They were separated,” Maddie whispers after a moment. “I mean, that’s obviously still bad, but it’s practically like being divorced!”

  I feel giddy for one split second, allowing myself to think, she’s right! That’s not so bad! It’s only a fool’s dream, though. Although it’s not any of my business whether a person who is separated from their spouse can or can’t date someone else, but I would never have gotten involved with someone who was separated—I would never be a home-wrecker in a marriage that might still be saved.

  I sigh and shake my head, pushing the laptop away. “Thank you, Maddie—for trying, but this really doesn’t change anything. He should have told me about her.”

  “I know, I know,” she says, a small frown coming to her lips, “and I’m sure he knows, too. Erin, you’re so happy with him—.”

  I try to smile, covering her hands with my own. “It’s okay, Maddie. Thank you, truly. I just—I just can’t be involved with a married man. I just can’t be the other woman.”

  “But don’t you want to hear him explain?” she asks, squeezing my hands lightly. “Don’t you want closure? Are you telling me that if he were outside right now, dying for a chance to explain himself, you wouldn’t want to hear it?”

  I sigh, pulling my hand back and standing to slip into my clothes. “Of course I want to hear him explain it, Maddie—I want a good explanation that would make me forget all this ever happened so that I can keeping seeing him, loving him. But that explanation doesn’t exist. Nothing can make this right?”

  “So he shouldn’t even be allowed to try?”

  I smile at her—she’s every bit the hopeless romantic that my father is, and I know he wouldn’t want me to give up so easily. Even though I have no intention of seeking Romeo out and talking this through, I nod, admitting, “I would let him try.”

  “Oh, good,” Maddie says, hopping out of bed, “because he’s outside. April and Juliet have been keeping him at bay.”

  I blink at her a few times just to make sure I heard her right. Once I’ve confirmed with my ears that they did just hear her say that Romeo was outside, I allow my mouth to gasp.

  “He’s here?”

  Maddie nods, so giddy that she can barely contain herself. I would be annoyed with her for delighting in the pretty fucking awful time of my life, but I know she can’t help herself—hopeless romantic and all.

  “Can I tell them to let him in?”

  I bite at my lip as I finish getting dressed, and I shift my weight on my feet a few times before I shake my head. “I don’t know, Maddie. What he did—.”

  “I know, and oooh, I am so angry with him,” she says, nodding sympathetically. “I’m going to give him a good piece of my mind—but only after you’re able to talk to him. I think you deserve to hear it, at least.”

  We stare at each other for a while, her eyes full of hope and mine full of weariness—though I would be lying if I didn’t feel a spark of hope starting to flare within me again.

  “You’ll stay close?” I ask, quietly. “If I—need you to take me away from here?”

  She nods. “Of course, honey. We’ll all be right outside. We’ll always be here when you need us.”

  I hesitate for a moment longer before finally nodding, settling down on one of the beds. I know I must look like a complete wreck—my hair is sticking out in all directions and I removed all my makeup in the shower. I couldn’t even bring myself to care, though. I felt like a wreck, and I suppose a small part of me wanted Romeo to see that.

  Maddie smiles at me one last time before pulling the door open and slipping out. She leaves it open just a crack, which is exactly where it stays for a minute while I hear April saying something angry, but muffled, out in the hall.

  Finally, the door opens and closes behind Romeo.

  He looks terrible and terrific at the same time. He’s still dressed in his stage outfit and looks every bit like the rock star that everyone calls a sex god, but his shoulders are hunched and he eyes and cheeks are more sunken in than I’ve ever seen them.

  He looks, more than anything, sad. My heart flies out to him, but I rein it back in—or I try to, anyway.

  “May I sit down?” he asks, his voice hoarse and raspy.

  I nod, slowly, and say nothing at all. He takes a few more steps inside and takes a seat on the bed I’m not occupying, sitting down heavily on the edge of it so that he can face me. I pull my legs up to my chest, hugging my knees.

  “I was barely eighteen when I met that woman,” he says, keeping his voice quiet and low.

  I shiver, feeling nausea start to brew in my stomach. God, they were high school lovers? How could I ever compete with that?

  “We married in secret, everyone telling me I had to keep up the act of being single for the sake of my fans,” he continues, bridging his hands in front of himself. “For a while, it was—thrilling, I can’t deny that. But it’s been over for an even longer while. Yes, we’re still married by law, but we’ve been separated—.”

  “Yes,” I say, biting the word out coldly as I hug my knees tighter. “So I heard. What I want to know is why I had to hear from some article on the Internet—from some rumor—instead of from you.”

  He exhales sharply, clearly frustrated with himself. “Damn it, Erin, I—don’t fucking know, alright? I don’t know why I didn’t tell you. We just had such a great thing, and I didn’t want to ruin it—.”

  “Ruin it with a bit of honesty?” I ask sarcastically.

  He stands, suddenly, his eyes narrowing for a split second before he sighs, rubbing at his temples with one hand. “With history—and that’s exactly what she is, Erin. She’s history.”

  I frown. “Does she know that?”

  “Yes,” he says, quickly. “We’ve been separated ever since she started fucking every one of her co-stars on set. She knows that.”

  “It sounds like you haven’t exactly been chase, either,” I say, almost regretting it as soon as I spit the words out—that was probably going too far.

  Romeo looks hurt for a split second before he frowns. “You really think she’s telling the truth? You really think I just hook up with groupies whenever I feel like it?”

  I cringe. Even though he kept Louise a secret, I still believed deep in my heart tha
t he wouldn’t have lied to me about this—about my being special to him, my being the exception. He truly didn’t seem like the type of man who would sleep around, even if his—I shudder at the thought—wife was being unfaithful first.

  “I don’t know what to think, Romeo,” I say after a moment. “You’re married.”

  “It’s a technicality,” he says sharply. “I was in the wrong placeof mind when I did it. I was low, I had a problem with alcohol and I blamed myself for my mother’s death. Louise was the only one who would listen at the time and then it took off from there. But it never was passionate. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do, but it turned out so wrong in hindsight.. Of course, we didn’t think about pre-nups and shit like that, so we never filed for divorce because of the legal mess it would make.”

  Which makes—a lot of sense, actually. I shake that thought out of my mind, though, and frown at him again. “So, what, I’m just supposed to be your mistress while you stay married for convenience?”

  “No!” he shouts, flinching as though he were about to slam his fist into the wall, but just barely managed to contain himself. “Erin, it was never like that.”

  “Then what was it like, Romeo?”

  He breathes out sharply again before sitting himself down, more slowly this time. “When I pulled you on stage that first time,” he begins, choosing his words carefully, “you were just a fan in the crowd—but then you sang with me and you danced with me and I knew I had to see you again, had to know more about you. You were so beautiful, captivating—so natural in my arms. I got so caught up in you that I couldn’t even think about anything else—I couldn’t think about her, about the past. You make me live in the moment.”

  I laugh, a bit bitterly—and if I felt my heart melting for him, I didn’t admit it. “Is that what you said to her when you proposed?”

  “No,” he says, more evenly this time. “I would never say anything like that to her. She’s plastic—I knew it back then, but I thought that was what I wanted back then and she seemed to listen to me. But she’s nothing like you. You’re nothing like her. You’re so much more, you’re everything I want.”

  I shiver a bit at the words. He sounds so sincere that I almost believe him—but even if I did believe him, what would it change?

  “It doesn’t change anything,” I say out loud. “You’re still married, I’m still—.”

  “You’re still the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with,” he interrupts, standing again and stepping towards me to hold a hand out to me. “Erin, I swear to you—there is nothing between Louise and me that didn’t die long ago. After the tour, I’ll make the separation official and—and we’ll go from there.”

  I stare at his hand. He maintains his distance, respectfully not touching me. It’s a simple offer—nothing more, nothing less. I believe every word that comes out of his mouth—or, at least, I believe that he believes it—and I want so badly to take his hand, but my heart is still aching from our confrontation earlier that day.

  I want to ask him how I’m supposed to trust him. I want to ask him if he thinks I even should trust him, if he deserves my trust. I want to ask him to never see Louise again, even if I don’t forgive him—but in the end, none of these questions are important enough.

  “Remember how I told you that if you betray my trust, I will never forgive you?”

  He nods.

  “You want to spend the rest of your life with me?” I ask, my voice so soft that it comes out sounding almost timid.

  He smiles, small and hesitant. “I truly do.”

  I take a deep breath. Then, I take his hand.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  I allow Romeo to take me back to his hotel room because it’s not fair of me to make the girls stand out in the hall while we take up space inside of their room. April glares at Romeo as we exit, but I reassure her that I’m not being made to do anything against my will. She lets us go, finally, but only after making sure I have my phone and know to call if I need anything—anything at all.

  “Your friends love you,” Romeo says, almost awkwardly, as we walk in silence towards his hotel.

  I nod absently, stepping away from him when he tries to wrap an arm around my shoulder. “No, just—please don’t touch me. Not yet. I’m—still thinking.”

  “What about?” he asks. I can tell by the tension in his shoulder that he’s frustrated—with himself more than anything—but he doesn’t let that frustration show in his tone.

  “You,” I say, simply. “Me. Us, I guess, and—trust.”

  He watches me intently, but doesn’t pry. He lets me find words at my own pace, something I’m very grateful for.

  “I don’t know that I trust you, Romeo,” I say, honestly. I close my eyes for a second, trying to ignore how hurt he suddenly looks. “I—want to try, though. It might take time, but I still want to try.”

  He nods, instantly. “I know. I know, and I—understand.”

  We walk along for another few blocks, our hands bumping against one another every once in a while until I finally work up the nerve to take his hand. He smiles at me and, even though I can’t find it in me to smile back just yet, I feel it warm my heart.

  Romeo explains everything in greater detail back at his hotel suite. Louise was his childhood sweetheart, yes, and they married young. His band manager, Louise’s father, kept everything a secret for them.

  Then, she began to accuse him of sleeping around not long after they were married and, although Romeo denied all those accusations, she began to spend more and more time away from home. It wasn’t until he caught her having sex with the co-star of her last movie in their own bed that he realized she had been defending herself all this time. She started accusing him when she began to have extramarital affairs—what better way to deflect suspicion, right?

  Their marriage fell apart quickly after that. There was no media scandal covering it since their relationship had been a secret in the first place, but because they never signed a pre-nup, there was no divorce, either. Even though Romeo moved out and stopped seeing her entirely, Louise threatened to take him for everything he was worth if he dared to file for divorce. Since Romeo had no other romantic interests, he simply decided to go with it. Everything seemed to be less of a hassle that way.

  He never knew he would meet someone like me, he went on to say, who would sweep him away in a whirlwind of passion. He didn’t know how to tell me after those first nights we spent together—he didn’t even think about it, about her. By the time he knew he wanted to be in this, with me, for the long run, he didn’t know how to bring it up.

  “I never meant for it to come out this way,” he says, “but it would have come up. After all, I couldn’t very well marry again while I was still married, hm?”

  I blink, my heart fluttering at the thought—he wanted to marry me? I bite down on the urge to ask, to make him say it again, and simply smile instead. “I think now would be a good time for you to kiss me.”

  Now, of course, was exactly when the door to his suite slammed open once more.

  “Romeo!”

  To my surprise, and relief, the person to storm into the hotel suite this time was not Louise Valdez. Instead, it was a stocky man who spoke with a light Spanish accent as he launched into a rant that I couldn’t make heads or tails of. Romeo stands to greet him, trying to calm him down as much as he can. Their brewing argument turns into full Spanish, and I’m only able to catch a few words that I understand with what little understanding of Spanish I retained from high school.

  I do manage to catch the words girl and manager, though, and I have to strain for another minute before I can put everything together. They were talking about me, I could tell, but who—.

  “Santiago,” Romeo says with a note of finality to his tone. “Stop.”

  I blink.

  Santiago.

  Santiago Valdez?

  That would explain who the man was—manager of the Rocks, father of Louise Valdez. I feel hor
ror settle in deep in my stomach and the urge to hide rises until Romeo turns back to me, smiling reassuringly.

  “Oh, that is her, is it?” Santiago says, frowning my way.

  I blink, standing awkwardly. “Sir, I—.”

  “You dare take her to your room?” Santiago continues as though I hadn’t even spoken. “What do I pay security for if you take girls to your room? Random girls you do not even know.”

  I cringe, taking a step back even as Romeo holds a hand out to me.

  “She’s not—.”

  “Dios, the things I put up with. I told you, explicitly, no girls are allowed on this tour!” Santiago sighs, shaking his head. “I tell you boys again and again—they are a distraction.”

  I blink, thoroughly shocked. It was obvious enough that Santiago didn’t care for my presence, but I would have thought it had more to do with my being the woman in his daughter’s husband’s life than…a no girls on tour dates rule?

  “She’s not just some girl, Santiago,” Romeo says, dropping his hand again and turning to me. “She’s—special.”

  “They are all special to you boys—.”

  “No,” Romeo insists. “It isn’t like that with her—with Erin.”

  Santiago stops, abruptly, and turns to look me over. I straighten my back, determined now to show weakness in this moment. If he was going to judge me, he would have already made his decision—I can at least keep my dignity about me while he berates me for being a distraction, a girl.

  “I see,” Santiago says, rendering me speechless once more. “You are not like Dante.”

  Romeo scoffs. “Of fucking course I’m not like Dante.”

  As though he didn’t even hear him, Santiago continues, “Erin?”

  I nod, hesitantly. “Yes, sir. I—I’m sorry.”

  The apology comes naturally. Even though I knew I wasn’t to blame for Romeo and Louise’s failed marriage, it still felt strangely sacrilegious to stand in front of her father as the other woman—the new woman. This man hadn’t done anything wrong, after all, and I don’t mean to cause him pain.