Dreams Do Come True (23 page)

Jesse yanked away from Dennis and headed back in Ebony’s direction. The bitch talked too much, and she needed to be taught a lesson. He was glad Shontell slapped her. She deserved it. What the hell was she thinking? “You really think I could have loved you? Look at yourself. Now look at Shontell. She is what class means, and you are nothing but a freak and a slut. I used you. I don’t love you. I never want to see you again.” He gave her the most evil look she had ever seen on him. Ebony broke down in tears harder, and Jesse turned his back. In his mind, he was calculating how much he would save by not supporting her anymore.

He needed to get Shontell alone so he could explain. He was just about to walk over to the bar, when he heard Ebony’s words. He stopped dead where he was. 

“Jesse, I guess since you don’t want me, I can tell Shontell everything,” she spat at his back. Shontell looked at her with distaste.

“Tell me what else? What could be worse than what you have already told me?” she asked her, looking defeated because she couldn’t handle the betrayal too much longer.

“Well, for starters, the night you caught him cheating…it was me and Annette in the bed with him.” Jesse’s eyes got huge. He spun around on his heels. And with lightning speed, he headed back to where she was standing. He couldn’t believe that she had just ratted him out. He caught the look on Shontell’s face, and his heart sunk.

“Wh… what did you just say, Ebony?” Shontell stuttered. She was looking at her with so much hurt. Jesse was heated. He felt so much rage and should have known he couldn’t trust Ebony. She was going to ruin everything he had been working on to get his career back. He couldn’t allow Ebony to tell her about the songs. He panicked and grabbed the knife off the buffet. Before he knew it, he was stabbing Ebony and everyone was screaming. He felt himself being pulled off of her lifeless body, as she slumped to the floor with a thud. There was blood everywhere—on him, Shontell, and the ship’s floor. Shontell was across from where he was standing. In between them, lay Ebony. She started screaming. The room moved in a fast pace within minutes. He wanted to reach out for her, but someone was holding him. He saw Shontell fall to the floor.

Jesse struggled with the hands that were holding him. Eric and several security guards were around him within minutes, and he was forced to lay still on the floor. His vision was clouded from the tears that were forming in his eyes. Jesse stopped struggling. He was suddenly tired. He watched as the guards covered Ebony’s body. The ship’s doctor was kneeling next to her body soon after.

Eric looked over to Shontell and then to where Sandy stood, nodding to them but staying focused on the task at hand. He lifted him up once the body was removed. Jesse looked around for Shontell. Nico was kneeling next to her whispering to her, as she kept her head down. He didn’t want Nico next to her. He called out to Shontell. Her head snapped up. He could see the tears flowing down her face.

“Shontell, Shontell. I love you. I did all this for you. I love you. You hear me?” he was shouting towards her direction. The guards led him out of the dining area. He looked back, trying to see Shontell. Nico was now holding her, and he couldn’t see her face. What right did he have to be with her? She belonged with him. 

  Everyone was looking at him. He had to protect his career. This may still help to resurrect it. At least that’s what he was telling himself.

Shontell

Shontell refused to look at Jesse, although she could hear him calling her name repeatedly. Nico held her tight and kept whispering, “Everything is going to be okay.” But was it? Sandy ran over to her best friend, and Shontell collapsed into her arms. Sandy patted her hair and let her cry her heavy sobs. Sandy’s tears flowed as well. Everyone in the room was visibly upset.  Nico stood with John, as they all had to remain in the room to be questioned. Shontell and Sandy both dried their eyes. The ship’s captain came into the room and called them over one-by-one to get their details. When it was her turn, Nico asked her if she needed him. Nodding her head, he joined her in the private room where they conducted the interviews.

“Nico, please don’t leave me,” she whispered during one of the breaks the captain allowed her to take. Her interview was much more extensive.

“I am not going anywhere!” he told her with sincerity in his eyes. The captain returned and questioned her for twenty more minutes. When he released her to go, they went straight to his room. Opening the cabin door, he ushered her in and had her sit on the couch. He had room service bring her some tea, and he gave her the sedative the doctor gave him for her. Within minutes, she felt her body starting to get relaxed. She gave Nico a half smile, as she closed her eyes.

Shontell woke up from her sleep with a start. She was sweating. The room was dark, and she figured she was in her room. She could hear voices in the other room. Her head hurt, so she just laid back down. She heard a faint knock on the door, and then the room flooded with light. Sandy walked in and put a cool towel on her forehead. Shontell opened her eyes and tried to sit up. “Are you okay?” Sandy asked her. Shontell nodded, asking her what happened. She only remembered coming into the room with Nico. Sandy filled her in with as much detail as she knew. Nico left to do the concert, and the captain asked him to keep the incident quiet since it happened in the private dining area. They still didn’t know how Ebony had managed to get into that area. Sandy told her that her family would notify Ebony’s parents that evening. Her parents had already called a few times to check up on her, after Sandy called them to let them know what happened.  They wanted to talk to Shontell, but said they would wait until she was up from resting.

Sandy told her that Jesse was being held in a guarded room. She had just finished giving her the last of the details when Nico opened her door and walked into the room. Shontell sat all the way up.  Sandy got up and excused herself, as she grabbed the towel she brought in and quietly left them alone. Shontell wanted to go straight into his arms. But instead she patted the bed next to her and Nico sat down, gently folding her in his arms. 

Nico took his shoes off and got into the bed with her, pulling her closer to his body. All through the concert, he felt like he was on automatic. They all did. They prayed for Ebony and her family before they went on stage. Dennis felt the worst, as he was the closest to Jesse but even he didn’t know all his secrets. He was the one who was so adamant that he be included as one of the celebrity guests. He was in shock. Nico worried that Shontell would blame herself for all this. He wanted her to know that she couldn’t blame herself. Jesse was responsible for his own actions.

“Shontell, please don’t think any of this is your fault. As bad as this whole situation is, Jesse and Ebony are both adults. You can’t control their actions. I am sorry this happened. Baby, please talk about this. Don’t shut me out,” he pleaded with her, as he tipped her chin towards him. Shontell didn’t reply to his words. Nico felt her slipping from him, and he needed to hold on. He knew that he would need to give her some space. He also wanted to be there for her. He was thinking about asking Martin about cancelling the overseas tour. He didn’t think that he could be without her for the six weeks that they were scheduled to be there. Maybe he could get her to go with him. Nico and Shontell had somehow fallen asleep in each other’s arms. He was awakened by the sound of his cell phone going off. He answered in a whisper, but what the caller said made him sit straight up. He looked over at Shontell as he got out of bed so he wouldn’t wake her. 

“You can’t be serious!  She can’t handle that now,” he spoke into the phone in a hushed yell. He listened to the caller and sighed, as he saw Shontell watching him out the corner of his eye. He ended the call and walked back to the bed. How in the hell was he supposed to tell her this? He looked at her, and she knew something was wrong. 

“Who was that on the phone?” she asked him. Nico ran a hand over his face and looked at Shontell. He took a deep breath before answering her. 

“That was Martin. He said that the captain contacted him and said that Jesse is being irrational. He is refusing to sign his statement and cooperate unless he talks to you first. He said that he only wants ten minutes. Then they can do whatever to him. But not until he sees you first.” Shontell looked at Nico with an open mouth. She sat there for a moment or two. She wanted Jesse out of her life. If this was how to do it, then she would do it. Sighing, she swung her feet out of the bed, putting her shoes on.  Holding her hand out to Nico, she said, “I will go, if you will come with me.”

Standing outside of the door where Jesse was being held, she became scared. She wasn’t scared of him literally. But she was scared that she wouldn’t be able to handle the situation.

“Okay, I am ready,” she told him, as she squeezed his hand hard. 

“You sure?” he asked her, not even caring about the pain in his hand.

“No, but I don’t see much of a choice. I know that you are nearby, and that will help,” she replied. An officer walked up and was about to get them in, when the captain held up his hand to Nico. “Son, I can’t let you go in there. He will go off the handle if he sees you two together.”

“I am not letting her in that room with him alone,” Nico told him. 

“You don’t have a choice. I’m sorry.”  Nico looked over at Shontell

“It’s okay. I will be okay. Come get me one second pass ten minutes,” she told him, giving him a weak smile.  He let go of her hand, and Shontell instantly felt cold. The captain nodded, the officer opened the door, and she walked in. Jesse had his back to her. She walked around the table, after the officer who was watching him acknowledged her. Jesse looked a mess. His usually curly hair was wild, and his eyes were bloodshot red. He looked tired. When he heard her footsteps, he looked up and his whole face changed. 

“I…I didn’t think you would come,” he told her.  Shontell didn’t say anything, but took a seat. Jesse was handcuffed at his hands and feet, which made her feel a little better.

“Why did you want me to come is the better question? Why did you ask to see me?” she asked, not breaking the stare they shared.

Jesse looked at the woman he had been in love with for the past five years and knew his life was over. When they told him what he did, he went crazy. He didn’t even remember stabbing Ebony. He just remembered that he had to make her stop talking. He could see the sadness in her eyes and how tired she looked. It broke him even more to realize that he was the cause of it all.

“I needed to see you. I wanted to tell you that I am sorry for all this. I didn’t love Ebony.  She was just my way of staying close to you. She always keeps me updated on what you were doing when you left me.” Shontell looked at him with shocked eyes and an open mouth. 

“You’re kidding, right? You were keeping tabs on me?” she asked him.

“Don’t look at it that way. I just thought of it as keeping an eye on my investment. I did save your company. Plus, you wrote those songs for me. I wanted them. I needed them for my career revival,” he confessed to her. He touched the cold steel that encased his wrists.

“You know, you are a sick man. I am not your investment. You needed the songs? You can’t be telling me you think I have those songs. I wrote those when we were together. But those songs are history—just like we are.”

“What?” he yelled. This made her jump, and the guard moved forward. 

“What do you mean the songs are history? I need those songs. I need those songs,” he continued to yell at her. Shontell could not believe that this is what it was all about. She felt sick.

Eric stepped closer and his voice filled the small room, taking them both by surprise, “Sir, lower your voice or we will end this conversation,” he said to him, as he placed his hand sternly on his shoulder. Jesse’s eyes looked wild. He was angry at her. How could she do this to him? Those songs were going to bring him back on the scene. She was bluffing. She still had them and was probably going to use them with her new man. “Shontell, I better not hear my songs on the radio. If you record those songs with Nico, I swear I’m going to…”

“Going to what? Kill me like you did Ebony?” she yelled at him. 

“Aren’t you even sorry you killed her? Why did she die? Because she was about to tell on you? I can’t believe I ever loved you. You aren’t a man. You’re a coward. I hope you rot in jail,” she told him, as she stood up. She slapped him across the face.  “That’s for Ebony’s family,” she told him, as she headed to the door.

“Wait, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I overreacted.  I…I love you. Shon, please…don’t walk out yet.” He quickly calmed down.

The officer called her name, motioning to the paper. Shontell slowly sat back down. She looked at him, and he thought he saw a glimmer of love in her eyes. He needed her, and he needed her to believe in him.

“Shontell, please tell me you will support me through this,” he begged.  Shontell just looked at the guard and then back at him. 

“I will do anything for you, Shontell. I just need to know you will be there. I am sorry I used Ebony. I needed you back in my life, but I thought you wouldn’t give me the time of day unless I was back on top again.” He continued to plead his case to her.  This was his chance to make her see how much he loved her. It was his last chance, as he went to touch her face and felt the cuff biting into his skin.