Fade to Red

A beautiful woman that he never wanted to see again, much less, touch.

She was all he could see. Roxie. Roxie. She’s not Roxie.

Relationship or not, he loved Roxie. If he’d doubted it before, he was sure of it now. He’d hoped to put her out of his mind and had only succeeded in realizing he was in love with the woman.

Megan had been all over him the night before and he’d been all over the Jameson. When she unzipped his pants and got on her knees, he let her. But when he looked down and focused on the dark hair begi

She’d stared up at him in shock when he told her to get out. She wouldn’t leave and he was too drunk and exhausted to force her out.

It doesn’t matter that you didn’t have sex with her—you still went too far, you filthy fuckin’ loser.

He gagged over the sink, fisting the mirror and cursing every ounce of Jameson that still sang in his veins. He rinsed his face with cold water, put the phone in his pocket, and walked out of the bathroom.

Megan leaned up on her elbows when he went back into the room and watched as he tried to button his pants.

“Come back to bed, let me finish what I started last night…” She had smudged mascara circling her eyes and he felt his stomach heave at the sight of her.

His phone buzzed again. He took it out of his pocket as she said, “Ignore it. Come here.”

He took her hand off his hip. “If I didn’t want you when I was drunk I sure as hell don’t want you when I’m sober.”

He didn’t even hear the rest of what she said. He gathered what little he had with him and got out of there. Finally glancing down at his phone, his gut curled when he saw he’d missed twelve calls.

He didn’t listen to any of his messages, but called Nate. “What’s going on?”

“A lot. Meet me at Cedar Sinai. There are already reporters, so find a way in without being seen.”

He texted Nate when he was close and Anthony met him at one of the back entrances. Anthony came to an abrupt stop when he got a good look at Beckham.

He shook his head. “Beck…”

“I know. Believe me, I know I screwed up.”

“Follow me.”

They walked as fast as they could and Anthony talked quickly.

“Nate will meet you upstairs. He’s talking to the police right now. It’s Roxie. An explosion went off by her cottage—they’re monitoring her closely.”

“What?” He stopped walking and Anthony tried to keep him moving.

“I’m taking you to her. Just keep walking. Beck, have you heard from Ian at all? Since yesterday at the airport?”

“No, why? Is Roxie okay?”

“I think she will be, but she’s been through a lot. Like I said, they’re really watching her closely, so I think there’s still concern about all the smoke she inhaled. You’re sure you don’t know anything about Ian? He’s been missing since yesterday.”

“Missing? What the hell is going on?” He wanted to punch something.

“He took Sparrow and Journey to your house, left to run errands, and never showed up for their a

Beckham drew a sharp breath. “Something’s wrong. He’d never do that.”

“I know. Howie and Matt have been looking into it.”

Roxie woke up and looked around. Beckham was sitting by her, with a tight grip on her hand.

She blinked and tears ran down her face.

“Rox,” he breathed. “I’m here. I’m so sorry. Are you in pain? You scared me so bad…” he paused and took another breath. “I’ll get the nurse.” He pushed the button behind her.

“My eyes are on fire,” she whispered.

A nurse hurried into the room.

“Fastest service ever. Celebrities have magical powers,” Roxie croaked. “Where am I?” Her voice barely came out; she sounded like a million fires had settled down in her lungs.

“Cedar Sinai,” the nurse said, smiling at Beckham.

“You look rough,” Roxie said.

Beckham’s heart dropped. The nurse laughed. He didn’t.

He brought her fingers up to his lips and kissed each one. He’d nearly lost her. This was all his fault. If he had been with her and not … oh God, what a fucking idiot. He squeezed his eyes shut and held her hand to his cheek and kept it there.

She was so shaken, she let him.

When he opened his eyes, both Roxie and the nurse were staring at him.

“How bad is the smoke inhalation?” he asked the nurse. “Is there anything we can do to make sure it doesn’t get worse in her lungs?”

“We’re starting a brief course of steroids and will be watching her for at least 24 hours, possibly longer. Sometimes symptoms can worsen later, and with all the smoke she took in, we just need to run some tests and keep a close eye on her.”

Beckham nodded. “I plan on doing that too.”

“You need to go get ready!” Roxie protested. “You’re not missing the Grammys for me…”

“I’m not going anywhere. Nate’s taking care of it. He let them know we had an emergency and that we won’t be there.” He looked at the hand that was bandaged. “Does your hand hurt?”

“Yes. Very much. But, Beckham, you have to go. You’re up for … what—8 Grammys? You can’t miss that!”

“I don’t care,” he enunciated each word. “I’m not leaving you.”

She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. “Can Ian cover it for you?”

He shook his head but didn’t tell her about Ian.

“Have you seen Joh

Nate came into the room a little later. Roxie was still sleeping and Beckham hadn’t moved. Nate’s eyes narrowed when he saw Beckham.

“How is she doing?”

“She was awake for just a few minutes earlier. They’ve got her pretty drugged up. What about the guys? How are they?”

Nate shook his head and put his hand around the back of Beck’s neck. “They … didn’t make it, Beck.”

“What?”

He shook his head again. “They’re pretty sure both died instantly. A bomb went off around 12:30 a.m., looks like it did the most damage outside. There’s a small crater where their tents were.”

“A bomb?” Beckham got up and walked to the window, his fist softly pounding the wall. “How the hell does this happen?” He turned around to make sure he hadn’t woken up Roxie.

“I don’t know much yet. They’ll probably question Roxie pretty soon. I saw the police with the owners of the house earlier. The guy called the fire department and got out there with a hose before the fire got too out of hand.”

Beckham pressed down on his eyes and squeezed. “Joh

“He’s outside waiting to see you.”

“Ten years we’ve been together. They’ve been through it all with me. I just can’t … believe it. Roxie will be devastated too. She already felt bad that they were-” He looked at the ceiling. “I can’t believe she got out of there.”

“She had a guardian angel tonight, that’s all I know. It’s hard to even process about the guys … it’s go

They leaned against the wall and didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“And Ian? You think it’s related at all?”

“I don’t know what to think. You know him better than I do, but I can’t picture him abandoning Sparrow on their a

“I’ll call her in a little while. Can’t imagine what’s going on in her head, with what’s happened to Roxie and the guys.”

Nate nodded. “We have guards at the house with her, and she’s been checking on Roxie practically every half hour.” He shook his head. “Poor girl’s spooked.” He put his hand on Beckham’s shoulder. “You watch your back, do you hear me? And listen, I’ve made sure you’re completely free of everything tonight. The police are guarding this floor, so you shouldn’t have to worry too much about cameras or anything else. Don’t you even think about anything but this one right here.” He looked at Roxie. “Be with her.” He leaned closer to Beckham’s face and jabbed his finger into Beck’s chest with each word: “Don’t. Blow. This.”