Unwritten Read online

  Lori stared at her a long time in silence. Then she shrugged. “Well then, congratulations. Let’s go celebrate.”

  The funny thing was, Kate no longer felt like celebrating.

  Part IV

  MUSIC’S BIGGEST STAR BARES ALL

  February 1 - #1 Celebrity News Source

  Katherine Hayes has had more than her fair share of trouble in the last six months. A nude photo scandal, a feud with her mother, a tour-ending knee injury, rumors of drug and alcohol abuse, and finally, allegations that she was raped as a teenager.

  * * *

  She’s kept quiet through it all, until now. In a powerful statement posted today on her website, Katherine officially adds her name to the #MeToo movement as she speaks publicly for the first time about her assault and the impact it’s had on her life. It’s a big step for the notoriously private star, and we wish her all the best as she looks toward the future.

  27

  Kate stood in a darkened hall on the set of The Carla Bovari Show, listening to her introduction as her stomach cramped and fear pounded in her heart. She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. Yesterday, she’d had her stylist chop off the blonde lengths that had been her signature for so long. He’d added rich honeyed tones, with long layers and a loose curl that just kissed the tops of her shoulders.

  A new look for the new Kate.

  Carla’s voice echoed down the hallway. “Today, she’s here with us to set the record straight about her past and to tell us about her new charity to benefit victims of sexual assault. Ladies and gentlemen, Katherine Hayes.”

  The audience erupted in applause, whistles, and shouts. It was deafening.

  Kate’s heart lurched into her throat. She gulped a breath, wiped the moisture from her palms, and walked onto the brightly lit set.

  The crowd rose to their feet, and the noise reached earsplitting levels.

  Kate swept her gaze over them. A sea of faces smiled back at her. Fans who still loved and supported her, even now. Tears stung her eyes as she waved and blew kisses to them. Their enthusiasm, their support and love filled her like warm honey, thick and sweet inside her. It settled the butterflies beating frantically against her ribs. She stepped onto the stage and shook Carla Bovari’s hand.

  Carla greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. They sat across from each other in overstuffed chairs, and the cameras swung into position. “Katherine, it’s wonderful to have you here with us today.”

  “It’s great to be here.” Kate looked out at the crowd again, smiling as the vise around her chest eased.

  “I know this is hard for you, so let’s cut straight to the chase,” Carla said, her expression serious. “You were assaulted as a teenager.”

  Kate took a deep breath and blew it out. Here goes nothing. “Yes. When I was seventeen, my mother’s boyfriend beat and raped me.”

  “I’m so sorry. Was he prosecuted?”

  She unclenched her fingers from the fabric of her pink knit skirt. “No, he wasn’t. I was young and terrified. The man who attacked me was a police officer, and my mother believed his claim that I had seduced him. She threw me out of the house, so I left town. I came to New York and tried to put it behind me.”

  “And were you able to?”

  “No. It’s haunted me all these years. I’ve recently been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and I’m in therapy to help me finally come to terms with what happened.”

  Carla shook her head. “A police officer. What a terrible abuse of power. Katherine, if you could, would you press charges against him now?”

  Kate shook her head. “The statute of limitations on rape in Connecticut is five years.”

  Carla sat back in her chair and folded her hands across her knee. “That’s true. However, a new law in Connecticut eliminates the statute of limitations for sexual assault crimes in which DNA matching the accused was recovered. Was DNA found in your rape kit?”

  Kate drew in a sharp breath. Her eyes darted to where Jenn sat in the front row, looking as shocked as Kate felt. “I…I don’t know.”

  Her heart hammered. Jim hadn’t worn a condom.

  Carla leaned forward. “Will you press charges?”

  Cameras swung around, zooming in to catch her response. The studio was so quiet, she could hear the faint hum of the lights overhead. Kate dug her fingernails into the arms of her chair and gulped another breath. Her nostrils flared.

  This was an ambush. Carla had deliberately left it out of her list of interview questions.

  Welcome back to Hollywood, Kate, where ratings come first.

  She thought of the girls watching, young girls afraid to face their attackers, girls who looked to Kate as their inspiration. Her ribs ached from the pounding of her heart. She cleared her throat and raised her eyes. “Yes. If there’s DNA, I will press charges.”

  The audience erupted in applause.

  Carla smiled. “I hope he gets what he deserves.”

  * * *

  Kate’s knees shook as she walked back to her dressing room.

  “You were fantastic,” Jenn whispered. “Welcome back.”

  “I hope Harry rips her a new one for dropping that bombshell on me out there.”

  Jenn patted her back. “Oh, he will. He was on the phone with a producer before you went off the air. She got her facts right though, Kate. I checked during the commercial break.”

  She swallowed. “Really?”

  “Really. Get the bastard.”

  Kate drew a shaky breath. “After all this time?”

  “Hell yes. I’m proud of you. You did great today.”

  Kate exhaled. Her body felt like she’d gone three rounds with a heavyweight boxer, but she’d done it. And it felt damn good to take control.

  No more hiding. No more secrets.

  If only Josh could be here to share this with her. At that moment, she would have given anything to feel his arms around her. She hugged herself instead, swallowing past the tightness in her throat.

  Jenn stopped at the doorway to Kate’s dressing room. “The car will be here in about ten minutes.”

  She went inside and grabbed a bottle of water, gulped half of it, then sat and spent a few minutes composing herself. Her whole body shook with the aftermath of all the adrenaline. While she waited for the car, she checked her messages and found a voicemail from Lori.

  “My mother just called and told me she’s checked into rehab. She wouldn’t say anything except that it was all taken care of, so I assume you had something to do with this.” Her voice wobbled. “Thank you, Kate. This means more to me than you could ever know.”

  Kate pressed a hand to her heart. It had been the very least she could do, and she was so relieved that Lori’s mother had actually followed through. When Jenn came for her a few minutes later, she went home bone tired and walking on air. It had been a hell of a first day back in the spotlight.

  Harry was waiting in her living room. He described in comedic detail the verbal lashing he’d given Carla and her producer. Then his expression sobered. “You were fantastic today. I mean it.”

  “Thanks.”

  He rested a hand on her leg. “Don’t ever sell yourself short, because it took a lot of guts to do what you just did.”

  A lump rose in her throat as she nodded.

  He leaned back. “I had a little chat with Doreen’s boyfriend, Fred Matarazzo, and it turns out Marin Starr’s team was behind the smear campaign against you. They hired him to dig up dirt on you.”

  She gasped. Of course. It should have been obvious. The girl was oozing bad vibes when Kate met her that night at Velvet. “Wow, I’d have done most anything to make it to the top, but this? That’s messed up.”

  “Unfortunately, not illegal. From what I gather, your mom was just a pawn in their game. I’m not sure how much she even knew of what was going on.”

  She nodded, breathing through the pain. “I wish…well, I wish a lot of things, but it doesn’t make a damn difference now, does
it?”

  “You did the best you could in an impossible situation. Do you want to make a statement about any of this? About Marin Starr’s involvement?”

  “No. What’s done is done. I’m finished with tabloid drama for this lifetime, but…shit.”

  “What?”

  She pressed a hand over her eyes, shaking her head. “I knew something was off that night at Velvet. I had a few drinks, but I know how to handle alcohol. Marin gave me a drink. She must have spiked it with something so that I’d look like a hot mess in front of the paparazzi.”

  Harry’s eyes hardened. He looked ready to kill. “Do you have evidence?”

  “No, but I’d never felt like that before. I was…well, in retrospect, I guess I was tripping on whatever she gave me. I was under so much stress at the time—and so embarrassed about those tabloid pictures—that I just tried to forget about the whole thing. I never really gave it much thought, or I might have realized it sooner.”

  “I’ll have a few words with her manager.” Color crept up his neck into his cheeks, and a muscle next to his eye twitched.

  Kate didn’t envy Marin’s manager. “Fine, but nothing beyond that. I mean it. I’m finished being tabloid fodder. And besides, it will give me that much more satisfaction when I kick her ass at all the awards shows next year.”

  She’d show Marin what a real star was made of.

  28

  Kate stared at the suitcases by the door. This was it. She shifted restlessly from one foot to the other. She was about to embark on one of the most important journeys of her life, and yet the thought of getting on that plane made her sick to her stomach.

  The front door opened, and Jenn burst in, wearing a white knit skirt and teal shirt, her red hair glistening in waves over her shoulders. “I am so excited to go to Provence, you have no idea.”

  “That makes one of us.” Kate shrugged into her jacket and reached for her purse. A few minutes ago, her pet sitter had left with Ben and Jerry. It had to be the thought of not seeing them for several months that made her chest feel so hollow, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She refused to entertain any other possibility.

  Jenn looked at her in surprise. “I thought this role was a dream come true for you.”

  “It is.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what’s the matter with me this morning.”

  “Well, I’m excited enough for the both of us. Castles, lavender fields, the Mediterranean, hot Frenchmen…”

  “Hot Frenchmen?” Kate turned toward Jenn. “What about Chris?”

  “Oh, I broke up with him last month while you were in North Carolina.”

  “I had no idea. I’m really sorry it didn’t work out.” Kate led the way toward the door.

  “It’s okay. It was a very non-dramatic breakup. Once we got to spend a few weeks together without me traveling, I realized there was no spark between us. He didn’t look at me the way Josh looks at you.”

  Kate walked right into the doorway with a thud. “He didn’t…what are you talking about?” She rubbed her elbow, hoping she didn’t arrive in France with a big, ugly bruise.

  “When Josh looks at you, it’s like you’re the only woman in his universe. And you look at him the same way. I could feel the magnetism between you guys every time I was in the same room with you.” Jenn paused. “I want that too, and I’m not settling until I find it.”

  “That’s a very romantic notion.” Kate turned away as tears swam across her vision. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  “Are you okay?” Jenn asked.

  “I’m fine.” Two tears spilled over her eyelids. She laughed as she brushed them away, only to have them replaced by a torrential downpour. She sank onto the floor and pressed her face in her hands. Laughter mixed with tears until she was red-faced and hiccupping.

  What the hell?

  Jenn sat next to her. She slid her iPad onto her lap and toggled through a few screens. “I could have you in New York by eight o’clock tonight.”

  Kate’s head jerked up. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  She wiped the tears from her face and took a deep breath. “But I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Lance and Bill and Mark…in France.”

  Jenn shrugged. “So miss it.”

  “I don’t miss meetings. It’s unprofessional.”

  “Be unprofessional for a change. I dare you. Go after what you really want.”

  Kate scrambled to her feet so fast, her head spun. “Antigone’s Field is what I really want. I want to be America’s Sweetheart again. I need that. I need them to love me.”

  Jenn stood, her green eyes locked on Kate’s. “Do you? Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “The old Kate needed that. The Kate who held everyone at arm’s length and measured her happiness by the approval of her fans. She needed the status this movie will bring.”

  She drew back as fresh tears threatened. “And the new Kate?”

  “She doesn’t need that stuff. You want it. Heck, who wouldn’t? You’re the envy of every actress in Hollywood right now. But love doesn’t wait forever. So are you going to fight for it or not?”

  Kate raked her fingers through her hair. What in the world had gotten into Jenn? She couldn’t possibly pass up this opportunity. And neither could she go to Josh today, then leave the country without him.

  She couldn’t do it. There was just no way.

  “Marlena said a man who sounded an awful lot like Josh was hanging around your front gate the last weekend you were in North Carolina,” Jenn said. “Since he flew across the country looking for you, I take it he’s had reason to find out you changed your number.”

  Kate stared at her shoes as her heart throbbed in her throat. Had her housekeeper really seen Josh here in Malibu? Or was it yet another rumor?

  “I happened to hear Mina Flores was a close runner-up for the role of Antigone. She’s just itching to go to France. I bet she could leave on a moment’s notice.”

  That brought Kate to her senses. “Holy hell, Jenn, stop it. Let’s go. The limo’s waiting.”

  Jenn nodded. “After you.”

  They stepped outside into the bright California sunshine, and Kate slipped her sunglasses in place. The limo driver opened the door for them before disappearing into the house to retrieve her luggage.

  Kate settled onto the black leather seat. She stared at her white stucco house with its oversized windows overlooking the ocean, the glittering pool, the gardens protected from the view of even her closest neighbors. Her oasis.

  So why had the rooms seemed so empty the last two weeks?

  The void in her chest had grown so large, it threatened to swallow her whole. What good was the movie of her dreams if she couldn’t call the one person she wanted to share it with? The person she wanted to share everything with. The first person she thought of when she woke in the morning, and the last person she thought of before she fell asleep at night.

  She clutched her blue cotton peacoat, her eyes wide. “Oh my God, I’ve packed all wrong.”

  Jenn wrinkled her brow. “What?”

  “It’s going to be so cold in New York!”

  Jenn’s head bumped the roof of the limo in excitement. “Well, buy a coat at the airport. Oh my God, Kate.”

  “Harry’s going to kill me.”

  “I’ll see that he doesn’t.”

  She stared at Jenn for a moment, then threw her arms around her. In that moment, she knew their relationship had changed forever. Jenn wasn’t just her personal assistant. She’d become a friend. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “The house in Provence is rented through June. Go. Maybe you’ll find a hot Frenchman who looks at you like you’re the only woman in his universe.”

  Jenn grinned. “You’re really doing this?”

  Kate wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “I am. God help me. This is either the best or stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

  “Best. The best
, definitely.”

  * * *

  Kate sat on her hands to keep from fidgeting as Anton drove across the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge into Manhattan. The familiar skyline twinkled like a starry necklace beneath the night sky. To her left, the top of the Empire State Building glowed a happy pink, in honor of Valentine’s Day just a few days away.

  She leaned back against the cool leather seat. It had been a month since she fled New York with her life in pieces. Seeing it now sent a shiver down her spine. So much had gone wrong. How in the world could she hope to make it right?

  She’d kept her mind carefully blank during the long flight from LA. Her cell phone showed half a dozen messages from Harry. No doubt he was furious. Lance Deering was probably cursing her name too. She hadn’t done herself any professional favors backing out of a movie like Antigone’s Field, and last minute to boot.

  She’d be lucky if she ever saw herself up on the big screen again. And right now, she couldn’t care less. The Mercedes pulled to a stop in front of a familiar brick apartment building, and her breath caught in her throat. She’d risked everything for this moment. Goose bumps pebbled her skin, and they had nothing to do with the paper-thin jacket she still wore.

  She reached for her purse. “Thanks, Anton. If I’m not back in ten minutes, you can go.”

  Anton tipped his hat with a smile.

  A rush of cold slapped her face as she stepped out of the car. She darted for the lobby, but her hands were shaking so badly, she could barely negotiate the front door. The doorman rushed to help her. She jogged up the stairs to Josh’s third-floor apartment, hoping the exercise would settle her nerves, but it only left her even more breathless.

  She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath, then shook the nerves out through her fingertips the way she would before a performance. She reached up and knocked on his door, even as a fresh swarm of butterflies burst loose in her stomach, racing up to lodge in her throat.