Uncut (Unexpected Book 4) (54 page)

“Oh goodie, I have a welcome committee,” I say, lightening up the punch that is coming. My parents? Fuck, Grandma Janine. No, please don’t. “Where are the flowers and the banners? Something like
MJ, you’re my hero
would’ve worked.”

“You done?” he groans.

“As long as you don’t give me some shitty news, yes.”

Mason pulls his phone out and shoves it into my chest while starting to walk. He’s in a shitty mood.

A grainy picture of some teenager lying on the ground appears on the screen. Not sure what this means, but I scroll down.

Sophie Doesn’t Know It All

By Christine Tovey

Aggie Levitz, sixteen, found unconscious on floor of L.A. nightclub early yesterday morning. Rumors of potential drug overdose have been reported from within Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center where the former child actor is currently a patient. Other scandals involving Levitz this year include driving under the influence, misdemeanor cocaine use, and petty theft.

Aggie Levitz? Who the fuck is Aggie Levitz and why do I have to care about this shit?

“It gets worse. Look at the next screen.”

A picture of a young Thea holding her shirt up to expose her censored boobs with a headline that knocks me down. Metal icon?

Daughter of Metal Icon Locked In Rehab

By Christine Tovey

Seventeen-year-old Aggie Levitz, of Sophie Knows It All, seems to have carved a new image for herself. The actress and former model has been self-admitted to The Dunes East Hampton rehab center. Her father, Martin Levitz, held a press conference this morning to disclose details behind her decision.

Thea is a Levitz. She’s Martin fucking Levitz’s spawn. No. No, that can’t be true. Not her. I let a string of curses leave my mouth.

“Yep, get all that out of your system before you read the shit about the bad boy of the Decker triplets double-timing Hollywood’s tramp with an unknown man.”

I hand over his phone and turn mine on. Alerts pop. My name is trending all over the net. MJ is at the moment being dragged through the media world because he decided to fuck a . . . I can’t say it, because my girlfriend is anything but all the shit they’re plastering on the screen.

“I’m not my family,”
she said yesterday.

“Why are you here, Bradley?”

“I’m your security detail for the day,” he says, pulling me to the opposite side of the exit. “The media vampires are thirsty for your blood. Plus, we need your people to help us wipe all the shit. Dad’s taking care of Thea.”

My sister is on full-bitch mode while everyone is working to control the scandal. I’d lie if I said that the crap she’s saying isn’t affecting my decision toward what I’ll do with Thea. Martin Levitz is considered enemy number one in this household. My parents haven’t said much. Gabe’s taking care of Gracie, and Pops is here helping to control the chaos. He’s answering some questions for Pria while she prepares a communication that includes that there’s no feud between Martin and him.

It doesn’t fail that as usual, his ex-best-friend and former bandmate is already using the spotlight to spin his own reality. A reality show. He’s inviting Thea to go back to rehab, that this time she’ll have the full support of her family.

“She’s Martin fucking Levitz’s daughter, father,” AJ spits. “I mean, why couldn’t she say that? We’re best friends, aren’t we? You tell your besty everything.”

“I don’t know, AJ, why couldn’t she?” Pria stops typing and stares at my sister. “It’s so easy to say,
“By the way, my parents are famous”
to your best friend. Isn’t it?”

AJ’s eyes narrow on Pria. “This is different.”

“No, it’s not, AJ. This is a thousand times worse.” Pria stands up, and gets closer to her. “Did you read all the crap she was involved in? That in itself makes you want to hide your past. Add that this family has a grudge against her father and there’s no way she can win. Still, she was going to do it soon.” Pria turns her gaze to me and I nod.

“You knew?” AJ asks. Jacob and I stare at Pria.

“Yeah, and I made the mistake of telling her that you’d be pretty understanding.” Pria goes back to the table, takes a seat, and starts typing. “Take your time, I said. The Decker family is pretty supportive. They’d never judge you for that shit, Thea. Yep, that’s what I said. And I was wrong.”

I gaze at my brother who lifts his hands shrugging his shoulders, confirming that he had no idea about Thea, or that his wife knew. Also a stern,
don’t fuck it up
warning.

Don’t fuck it up?

“There’re secrets that we just can’t share because they aren’t ours to share.” Pops walks to the middle of the room. “It doesn’t matter what each one of us knew. Best friend, son, we all are loyal and have to keep quiet. What matters right now is that we stay together as a family.” He directs his gaze at Pria. “We’re supportive, and we don’t care who her father is. Now, everyone back to work before my own shit comes back to bite me.”

Mason and I look at each other and stay quiet. The old articles are already out. Martin hasn’t missed the opportunity to highlight that I’m just a party animal like my father. Not only that, he mentioned that my fathers used to have threesomes in the tour bus every night.

“Hey, Matthew, I received an email asking for the name of your male companion. Any comment?”

I bang my head against my keyboard. “No, I think a sex tape of us is enough to send my
male companion
over the edge. Releasing his name might give him a heart attack.”

Pria flinches. AJ and Jacob gag. A part of me wants to die. My entire family watched me fuck my boyfriend. I’ve no idea how and who filmed Coop and I having sex. It’s only a three-minute tape but that’s enough to send a closet guy to a bunker for the rest of his life.

“What if Thea did this?” AJ springs into Sherlock Holmes mode. “To . . .”

“Really? She was the one filming herself in the pool with . . . motherfucker.” Lightning strikes me. Coop’s sister breaking into his house and catching them while fooling around in the pool. “That bitch. Mason, Tristan’s sister. Look into it. I bet she’s the snitch.”

He nods and continues typing. “If so, you saved me a lot of man-hours. We just have to get Thea and bring her home.”

How about Tristan? I’ve no fucking idea how his father is. He hasn’t answered one of my calls or texts.

S
omething is wrong. I brush my teeth for the sixth time in the past four hours. Maybe I should ask Chris to help me with my next appointments. Should I just take the rest of the day off? That sounds better than asking each patient if they don’t mind if I leave . . . while I rush out of the office and puke my brains out—unprofessional.

I pull out my phone to call Matt, but I hesitate. He hasn’t called or texted since he boarded his plane in Santa Barbara. I’m doomed. In conclusion, the sensible thing to do is cancel my appointments and head home. I only have three patients left for the day. Before stepping out of the bathroom, I run through my calendar. If I have to skip the rest of the week I have to . . . I check the month of February and one thing is clear. I’m a week and two days late.

A week.

And two days.

“No, no, no.” The words bounce from wall to wall. “No. I’m not ready.”

This can’t be happening. We’re not ready to take any more steps. Coop isn’t sure about Matt and me . . .

I leave the office and head to the receptionist. “Hey, Laura, can you cancel the rest of my appointments?”

She places a hand on top of mine. “You look green, go home. And don’t worry. If you need tomorrow off, call me early; keep those germs away from the office.”

I nod, head back to my office, and pick up my purse. My patient is no longer in there. It makes me wonder why he left but at this point I don’t care. I only have so much time before I have to search for another restroom.
The nerves of sharing my soul this weekend are why I’m tied in knots
. I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about the outcome. There’s no baby on the horizon.

When I reach the main floor, there’s a crowd outside the glass doors. Instead of going through there, I take the back entrance and jump into a cab. My phone rings; the caller ID reads Unknown. I decline. The car ride is yet another bad idea, as another wave of nausea hits me and I barely make it down before puking one more time. Joy. As I’m about to open the door of the building, a brilliant idea sparks. An at-home test. If anything, I can just find out exactly if I’m just freaking out about speaking up about my past, or . . . a baby? I can’t think of any other reason why I’m puking my brains out. When I reach the pharmacy my only thought is going in and out with several boxes of proof that I’m in no way pregnant.

Buzz, buzz, another ring tone. Damn.

Unknown: Thea where are you, I need to find you, sweetheart.

Unknown: Thea, pick up that phone. This is urgent.

I ignore the urgency of the call and focus on the display where thousands if not millions of brands promise they’ll give me an accurate result. Next to them, condoms and lubricants. The irony. My only solution is to grab three different types of tests, three boxes of each. I place the boxes on top of the register, add a pack of gum, swipe my debit card, and wait for my receipt. The young woman at the counter hands me my receipt and the bag with the tests. Her eyes meet mine and she smirks. “You’re that girl in the magazines.” She points at the stand next to the candy and the gum.

Aggie Levitz Back In Action.

By Christine Tovey

I scoop up the first magazine and flip through the pages until I see old pictures, recent pictures, and headlines in bold words.

Wild Child Doesn’t Fall Far From Rocker Tree

By Christine Tovey

Actress Aggie Levitz arrested for possession of cocaine late Thursday night. This is the second arrest for the Sophie Knows It All-star this year alone. Levitz’s publicist refused to comment on the matter . . .

My heart thunders. This can’t be happening.

She’s not back. I haven’t done anything.