Over the next few days, Ella had plenty of time to ponder what her new life on the beach in California would be like. Staring out the window while Rome drove, or letting her mind wander while she was behind the wheel and he dozed in the passenger seat, there were lots of opportunities for her to daydream about all of the possible outcomes if she tried to stay hidden away in the house, versus letting her parents know she was alive.
In the end, she couldn’t imagine how guilty her father would make her feel when he found out the truth, that she’d faked her ow
It was late afternoon when Rome pulled up to the fence at the end of a long winding drive that led up the hillside toward the new house. They’d stopped overnight, as Ella had assumed they would, and driven into LA slowly, in a roundabout manner, never quite entering the city. Instead, Rome had taken back roads and side routes to Abalone Cove, and now, here they were, going through the gate and sneaking up the driveway, as if they might have to turn around and drive back out again. The gate closed with a sharp snapping noise behind them. At least they could be certain no one would be following them in unless they knew the code.
The beach wasn’t as beautiful as the one she’d left behind. Ella walked along the shore, trying to concentrate on the positives. The water was beautiful, even if it wasn’t a teal blue. The beach was warm, even if it was rocky and the sand wasn’t as white and soft. Some interesting foliage grew in the cracks, even if they weren’t large palm trees.“What do you think?” Rome asked, walking along behind her. “You don’t like it here, do you?”
Four days after they arrived back in LA, Rome stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bedroom, tying his tie. In the mirror behind him, he could see his wife, anxiously chewing her bottom lip, her bare feet sliding along the wooden floor, back and forth, her fingers digging into the floral blue bedspread.“It’ll be fine,” he assured her, catching her eyes in the mirror. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
The hum of the wheels riding the road drowned out almost all of Rome’s thoughts as he stared out the passenger window of Bart’s car, watching the suburbs turn into cityscape. The sun was setting, casting the world in a soft orange glow, reflecting off of the metal surfaces of cars and buildings, creating a warm ambience that might’ve been a comfort to Rome if he was headed anywhere else.Neither man spoke much at all as they made their way toward the restaurant where Rome’s parents would meet them. He’d already spoken at length to Bart ab
Amelia’s was a five-star restaurant where the Hollywood elite mingled with LAs movers and shakers in nearly every industry. It was fair to say not a single person dining in the Italian restaurant was worth less than a few million dollars, except for maybe Bart. Rome wasn’t sure what photographers were making these days, but he didn’t think it was that much. As he stood on the threshold of the impeccably decorated establishment, he took a few deep breaths and tried to still his raging heart. He could do this….“Ah, Mr. Verona. It is nice
The night was unusually quiet. Ella sat on the sofa in the living room, staring out the window at an ocean that continued to cover and uncover the sand, but the hypnotizing crashes she’d grown used to hearing seemed absent. Only an occasional rogue wave, larger than the others, would meet the shore with such velocity that the resulting sound would hit her ears.Her phone sat on the coffee table in front of her, the blank screen looking up at her as a constant reminder that she had no idea what was going on. Rome had offered to leave his phone on in his pocket so
“I am very sorry for what happened to Ella Sinders. It was a tragedy,” Monty Verona began, finally setting his wine glass down to respond to Rome’s statement. “She was a beautiful young woman with her whole life in front of her. I have to say, though, son, I think it is for the better that you had disassociated with her. She clearly wasn’t stable.”Anger began to seethe below the surface, but Rome fought it. So much of what his dad had to say made him want to yell, to reach across the table and punch his own father in the mouth. &ld
Fresh air was a welcome greeting as Rome lifted his face to the sky and took in a few whiffs of the LA street. Fresh might’ve been an exaggeration, but at least the heavy floral perfume his mother wore and his father’s pungent cologne, along with the stifling weight of the conversation he’d just left, were behind him now. Bart hurried him toward the parking garage, neither of them speaking, which Rome thought was for the best since they had no idea if any of the people they were passing on the street were his father’s associates.And there was
Nervous energy bubbled throughout the theater. Dressed in probably the most amazing gown she’d ever seen in her life, including her wedding dress, Ella sat next to Rome holding his hand, and waiting for his award category to come up. The long red ball gown shimmered in the dim light, its full skirt moving and flowing when she walked like butterflies’ wings. If Rome’s category didn’t come up soon, she thought she might explode with anxiety. It already seemed like they’d been waiting for half a day, even though it had only been a few hours since they’d gotten into the limo and made their way to the famous theater in Hollywood where the biggest award show of the year was always held.
It was a gamble. Attending Henry’s funeral was a risk because there would be people there who knew her as Ella Sinders, and as Juliet stood on the periphery, watching the black clad mourners gather around the casket where the pastor was speaking, she spotted the one person she most needed to avoid in the whole world--her father.Of course he was there. Even though Henry’s father had disowned him after he stabbed Rome and then killed himself, refusing to even fly his son’s body back to his native France or attend the funeral himself, Lloyd Sinders had
The fuzzy feeling in his head radiated down his entire body as Rome tried to open his eyes and found it much more difficult to do so than he’d ever experienced in his life. The realization that his arms and legs were heavy, that there were tubes protruding from various body parts, and that there was a steady beeping sound in the darkened room reminded him of what had happened as his eyes finally opened a crack.“Oh, thank goodness!” His mother’s sobbing voice was not at all what he wanted to hear upon realizing he was still alive, that Henry ha
Sitting in the hospital waiting room, Ella was doing her best to keep herself together, but she was struggling. The ambulance had arrived quickly to the scene at Capressies, where Rome lay in her arms, bleeding from the wound in his back near his lung. Henry had buried a six inch steak knife to the hilt. Whether or not it had collapsed Rome’s lung, she didn’t know. No one would tell her anything.The police had arrived a few minutes after the ambulance. While the EMTs worked to stabilize Rome, the officers had asked her a slew of questions about what had h
Not seeing Henry had become nearly impossible. Juliet had absolutely no desire to see him whatsoever, but his constant calling and insisting that she go out with him was getting old. Now that he no longer had control of Rome’s contract, she decided it was time to rip off the band-aid. She’d already told Parker that they were just going to have to be friends, a realization he hadn’t taken well, but she thought he’d get over. She wasn’t sure how Henry would react.She walked into Capressies knowing he was there already. She was purposely tw
Rome walked into the sound stage building, dreading every step he took closer to another day of pretending to chase around unicorns and annihilate them. Drew’s acting was almost as atrocious as the script. The little girl wasn’t bad to work with, but she could only be there for a few hours each day. He spent most of his time listening to Guy argue with the set construction team, hating his life, and praying that the lawyers would hurry up and process the sale of his contract from Henry to Lloyd. It had been two weeks since the Montage show, and so far, nothing had changed, even though he’d only given Lloyd one week to get it done initially. Every day, he walked past the Vinune, wrapped and stored in his living room so that if and when the sale went through, he
“Well, tell me all about it!” Fae insisted as Ella came into her room at the nursing home and settled onto the couch. She had two cups of tea ready on a silver server. Ella wondered how she’d managed that without a kitchen but figured Fae had her ways. The staff absolutely adored her, for good reason. “Did you have a nice time?”Ella smiled at her, slightly amused that she was most concerned about whether or not Ella had had a pleasant experience. She honestly couldn’t say that she had, but she’d choose her words carefully for
Walking away from his wife when she clearly wanted to talk to him wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but Rome knew it was more important for Juliet to speak to Henry at the moment. She could talk to him later--at home. Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to speak to her considering what he’d done. The bottom line was, they’d gotten what they wanted. Or, they would, as soon as Sinders sent him the finalized contract.He stood in the back of the gallery, speaking to actress Chrissy Indiana, not hearing a damn word she was saying, despite the fact that
Schmoozing the filthy rich wasn’t something even Juliet enjoyed (Ella despised it) but it was part of her job as owner and chief executive officer of Montage, so she put her head down and did it. So far, it had made her a lot of money. After her first show, months earlier, she didn’t think it was possible to bring in much more revenue at one event, but she’d been very wrong. Even without the Vinune, she was going to make three times more money than she had at the first show, in profits alone. She was sitting in a good position to be able to buy Henry’s entire company outright if she wanted to.