Everything to Me. Simona Taylor

reached into her bag, extracted a dollar between two fingers, and laid it on the table before him. “Toss it into the jar next time you pass. Now answer the question.”

      He sighed heavily. “I knew. I was dead set against it. When Shanique’s voice started to go, because of the…” He paused.

      “Drug abuse,” she added helpfully.

      He nodded. “I considered canceling the last few concerts. She almost lost her mind…and so did the backers. My financiers.”

      “You’d have lost millions.”

      “Correct.”

      “So you decided the show had to go on.”

      “As I said, I didn’t decide. The music director, her voice coach and other…interested parties…thought it would be best for all involved. Shanique just had a few more shows to go before her tour ended, and then she could get some rest. And some…”

      “Help.”

      “Correct,” he said tautly.

      She took one more step onto dangerous ground, and behind her, the path to safety faded in the distance. “Did you know she was using?”

      The answer was curt. “I knew.”

      “And you did nothing?”

      His expression darkened. “I know you don’t think much of me, but no, not even a dipstick like me would sit by and watch a woman destroy herself. I tried talking to her. I scheduled appointments with a therapist. She missed all of them. I was setting things in place for an intervention when…” A disgusted huff escaped his clenched teeth. “When your unnamed friend slipped you the details of this story. And the rest, as they say…” He trailed off.

      The wine went sour in her mouth. When her column first hit, she’d received a furious call from Trent himself, demanding that she tell him how she’d gotten her hands on the information, but she’d remained professionally silent. She followed the first rule of journalism: protect your source. And in her case, she had more than one good reason to do so. She wondered what he’d say if he only knew exactly who that friend was.

      She couldn’t…could not look at him. Her gaze dropped to her plate, and she discovered that the sight and smell of the meal she’d been enjoying so much had become overpowering. Her stomach rolled.

      “Shanique made her own choices,” Dakota reminded him. “When you look at the bare bones of the case, she only has herself to blame.”

      “She did make her own choices,” Trent agreed softly, much to her surprise. “Bad ones.”

      Dakota couldn’t help but notice the tenderness with which Trent spoke of Shanique and her problem. Realization dawned. “It was you who made her go into rehab after…you know.”

      He nodded.

      A memory resurfaced of Shanique outside the doors of an expensive rehab clinic, flashbulbs popping, a forest of microphones in her face as the newshounds, having caught wind of her presence, had converged on the scene. Tearfully apologizing for her actions, begging her fans to forgive her, promising she’d be back on stage once she was clean again. Trent had stood stoically by her side, his face a mask, eyes hidden behind dark glasses. One arm around her shoulders, the other urging the media back when they got too close. He was a silent, solid rock.

      His protective body language, the way he positioned himself between Shanique and the aggressive slew of reporters, had spoken volumes. Only a man who loved a woman took that stance. Even as she asked the question, she knew there was no way he could deny it.

      “You and Shanique really are romantically involved.”

      He looked directly into her eyes. “Are we involved? No.”

      She gasped. He was lying to her face! “How can you sit there and deny—”

      “I’m not denying,” he said crisply. “I’m being precise. Shanique and I aren’t romantically involved, as you so delicately put it. Not now. We were. Past tense.”

      She tried to conceal her satisfaction, tried to put a lid on her rising excitement, but it was difficult. To her knowledge, Trent Walker had never publicly discussed his personal relationship with his biggest star, and here he was, admitting it to her. The next question was obvious. “What happened?”

      “Rehab happened. Shanique’s career taking a nosedive happened.”

      So the relationship had fallen apart in tandem with Shanique’s career. His glittering singing star had gone supernova, and he’d bailed. Trent must have blamed Dakota for both catastrophes.

      “You…broke up with her when she went into rehab.”

      His brows shot up, shock resonating in his voice. “I…? You must really think I’m a son of a bitch, huh?”

      She was too confused by the passion in his response to speak.

      She didn’t have to. He continued, his words like acid rain. “I would never abandon a woman at the darkest point of her life. As much as it would surprise you, she broke up with me.” The mole at the corner of his mouth was like a period at the end of an abrupt sentence.

      He sat back, his rigid body going limp, the eyes that held hers losing focus as he gazed off into mid-

      distance. To Dakota’s horror, a cloud of hurt and sadness drifted across his face. She was looking at a man who’d been burned, and who was tasting grief and rejection warmed over.

      Then she understood. Dakota’s story had led to Shanique’s humiliation, which, in turn, had caused Shanique to push Trent away. No wonder Trent hated her.

      To ask was to bring fire raining down onto her head, but she did so anyway. “Are you still in love with her?”

      The warm eyes went cold. His chair scraped as he got abruptly to his feet. “Interview’s over, Merrick,” he told her.

      He threw a dollar onto the table.