“I don’t know, Beck. Think about it, though, she could be telling the truth. Why wouldn’t she tell you if he was yours? She talked about providing for him. She could have gotten millions out of you by now, if that’s what she was after.”
Beckham squeezed his eyes shut. “You’re right. If he’s not mine, I’ll owe her a big ass apology. But if he is, I’m gonna have a hard time ever seeing her face again. I’ll just have to so I can see my son.”
The words ‘my son’ echoed around his brain, staggering him with their weight.
He thought of his conversation with Leo and how much he’d liked the kid in such a short amount of time. His heart raced at the thought of Leo being his little boy.
“Sounds like she’s gonna be around a while, either way.” Nate brought his attention back to the present. “Time to step up those acting skills.”
Anthony showed up before he left the bus.
“Roxie says she’s not dancing tonight,” he said, wringing his hands.
“Like hell she’s not. If I have to fake it, so does she.”
“Beckham, she’s shaken up. You need to talk to her. She told me about her burned clothes.”
Beckham lifted his eyes to the ceiling. In all the excitement, he’d forgotten about that. He felt bad for a moment, but then caught himself. What if this was just another stunt she was pulling? That didn’t make sense … why would she ruin all her clothes? He was losing it. Fuck it, he needed a drink more than life.
“Are you listening to me?” Anthony gave him a little shake. “We had to send someone out to buy her something to wear tonight. And then this with her … son. I don’t know—maybe it’s not a good idea.”
“Roxie thinks it’s Brooke messing with her things, which we need to deal with, but I can’t even think about that right now. We have security on Roxie. Howie set up security for Leo. And the press isn’t gonna hurt Roxie, they just want a story. She’ll be fine. Tell her if she wants her paycheck she needs to get out there.”
Anthony’s stare leveled him. “Beck, I know you’re angry, and I don’t know what to make of all this, but Roxie is not a bad person.” He put his hand on Beckham’s shoulder. “And I’ve never seen you happier than you were the other day, with her.”
Beckham shrugged. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“I’ll see if I can get her out there.”
Before Anthony was all the way out the door, Beckham called him back in.
“Hey, where did all this come from anyway? Who leaked this story?”
“That trampy journalist was on a gossip show earlier, pretty sure it was her.” Anthony pursed his lips. “Mariette? Miriam? Mi-something Wethers.”
“Well, fuck me. Mirielle Wethers. I don’t know whether to thank her or bury her. Maybe both, if I’m lucky.”
Ian stepped beside him as they walked through the back halls of the auditorium.
“I’ve heard about the mess with Roxie and Leo,” Ian said. “We were at their hotel today swimming and Mirielle stopped by. That woman is a snake, Beck. I wouldn’t trust anything she says.”
“How long have you known about Leo?” Beckham asked.
“I met him the last time he visited Roxie.”
“Funny. She has sex with me but doesn’t trust me enough to tell me she has a child?” Beckham rubbed his eyes and squinted at Ian.
Ian held his hands up. “I don’t get why she didn’t tell you about him. Makes no sense to me. She’s so proud of him, I’m shocked she hasn’t talked about him non-stop on this tour, but she hasn’t. She told Sparrow that we’re the only ones who know about Leo because of Journey—she’s wanted to remain professional, but knew we’d understand how much she misses him.” He studied Beckham and gave his hair a tug. “It’s weird, I’ve never thought about Leo looking a thing like you, but I do see similarities. That being said,” he pointed at Beckham, “Roxie is decent, and if she says he’s not, he’s not.”
Beckham stopped walking and glared at Ian. “Nice to know where you stand.”
Ian shook his head. “I’m standing right here beside you, and I’ll also continue standing by Roxie. I haven’t known either of you a helluva long time, but I know you’ve both become good friends to Sparrow and me. If I have to be the one to talk sense into either one of you, I will.” He put his hand on Beckham’s shoulder and gave it a shake.
Beckham returned the favor, shaking Ian a little harder than necessary, until he felt better.
“How are you so laid-back all the time?” Beckham asked.
“Lots and lots of sex with my beautiful wife,” Ian said. “If you and Roxie can get on the same page as each other pretty soon, maybe you can be as copacetic as me.” He was prepared this time when Beckham tried to grab him. He jumped out of the way and laughed all the way down the hall.
Normally Beckham had no trouble getting into the zone, but tonight he felt all over the place. When he wasn’t thinking obsessively about what it would be like to have a son, he was trying to cloud out the images of Roxie that had taken over his mind. Her skin, her hair falling down her silky back. Her breasts in his hands and mouth. Her whimpering his name. The look on her face when she shattered around him.
Ever since being with her, his body craved her. How had everything gone so haywire?
His body ached. His head hurt. His throat had a solid lump in it that wasn’t going away. Maybe he was coming down with something. If thousands of people weren’t counting on him to show up, he’d cancel the show. There was no way he could get away with that, not this late.
Sierra found him in the dressing room. He knew she’d heard about what happened. She didn’t say anything, just came over to where he was sitting and hugged him.
Nate came in a couple of times and walked back out each time when he saw they were still sitting there.
“What are you going to do?” she finally asked.
“Find out the truth and take him to Italy with us.”
She leaned back. “If he’s yours, you mean. And even if he is, you can’t just take him from her, Beck.”
He heard what she was saying and he knew she was right, but … if she’d really kept him from his son all these years, he was absolutely going to make sure he spent the rest of his life making up for lost time. Whatever it took.
There was a brisk knock on Roxie’s hotel door. She opened it to find Anthony standing there, holding up a dress. “Here, put this on. We’ve been waiting on you. The show starts in thirty minutes!”
Her eyes widened. “Beckham still wants me to do the show?”
“You know the saying—it must go on, baby!”
“This is all too much.” She shook her head. “I’m not ready,” she told him. “And I told you earlier I’m not doing it.”
“You can throw on more makeup on the ride over. Suzanne and Coco can’t even help you now.”
“Whatever happened to Tracy? She did my makeup the best. I miss her.”
“She was the best, but she flaked and didn’t show after her little sick break. You only get one chance with me.”
Roxie lifted an eyebrow.
“Besides you, I guess.” He rolled his eyes. “Come on, hurry up. We don’t have time to dilly-dally. Beckham sent me over to get you. I told him about your concerns and he said he was taking care of more security.”
“You guys are insane, you know that, right?” She scowled at Anthony and then looked at Chloe and Leo. “I really just want to be with them. It’s been a crazy day. We were going to hang out together…” Her eyes filled with tears. “If he manages to somehow take my son…” she whispered. “Leo is not his, Anthony.”
“Then there shouldn’t be any problem,” he said simply. “We’ll take them to my bus. It’s all planned out.”
“I don’t know. I’d rather him not…” Roxie crossed her arms over her chest.
“Put the dress on and let’s all go. I will personally keep Leo and Chloe company tonight,” Anthony promised.
“Yay!” Leo said. “And Beck said I needed to visit his bus!”