Billion Dollar Boyfriend (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Thirty-One

Marine layer hung heavy in the sky the next morning when Shelby slipped out to the back deck at Aiden's house, a mug of coffee in her hand. She heard the roaring surf but couldn't make out the ocean with the fog obscuring her view.

It was the first time Shelby had stepped outside in nearly two days, and she welcomed the cool breeze coming off the water. She would try to coax Aiden to go for a run on the beach, or maybe climb the Santa Monica stairs, if it cleared up later in the day. It would probably be a hard sell, given how anxious he had still seemed when they'd gone to bed last night. He had tossed and turned for a while before Shelby drifted off, and she'd heard him get up in the middle of the night. She wasn't sure when he had come back to bed, or if he'd slept at all. His eyes had been shut twenty minutes ago when she'd gotten up, but his breathing and movement had told her he was awake.

Not that I can blame him, Shelby thought. She sat on a cushioned chaise and took a sip of her coffee. His biggest secret had been exposed to the entire world yesterday. The safe life he'd built had crumbled.

She leaned her head against the back of the chaise and closed her eyes, breathing in the ocean air and listening to the waves hit the shore. She stayed that way for a few minutes, until she heard the sliding door to the deck open.

"Morning." Aiden squinted at the sky. Even though he'd thrown on gray shorts and a white T-shirt and had tamed the bed-head hair she'd seen upon waking, he still looked bleary. Shelby watched his gaze dart left and right as he walked up to the deck railing, and she noticed he had his phone clutched in his hand.

She got up from the chaise to join him at the railing. "If someone is watching us, let them. I'd be impressed if they can see anything through this fog."

Aiden stopped scanning the horizon. "Am I being that obvious?"

"A little bit, but I get it."

"I know the security team is doing its job and I'm being paranoid," he admitted. "My brother even sent a text earlier that he's seen no sign of the media at his place or at my parents' house, which makes me feel a little better. He also said the comments on my video have been mostly good, and there's some sort of 'Leave Aiden alone' social media campaign going on. I think Wally might have started it."

"Wally is a good guy sometimes," Shelby said. "If he thinks putting your story out there on your terms and scooping everyone else will get rid of the paps who were staking out your house, then I trust him. He hasn't been wrong yet with the advice he's given Emily."

"Yeah."

Shelby saw Aiden hesitate, as if there was something more he wanted to say. "What else is on your mind?" she asked.

"Have you looked at your phone yet today?" He didn't meet her eyes.

"Nope," she answered. "I wanted a couple hours of quiet. What's going on?"

"Seraphine interviewed your ex—the one we ran into at the Alcove a few weeks ago. There wasn't much to it, other than him telling her about running into us and describing me as a rich-boy meathead who tried to intimidate him. He didn't say anything bad about you, if it helps." Aiden looked down at his phone, still gripped tightly in his hand. "I'm sorry. This is such a mess, and you shouldn't have to be caught up in it."

"Look at me, please." Shelby waited for him to raise his head. Once his gaze was focused on her, she continued. "You're not allowed to say sorry for any of this. Darren was my bad choice and he's being a jerk. I should apologize to you."

"Nope." Aiden shook his head. "That also isn't allowed. I'm the reason he talked to Seraphine."

"Stalemate, then. Let's agree on that." Shelby smiled in spite of herself.

Aiden started to reply but stopped when his phone chimed. He glanced down at the screen. What he saw there made his forehead wrinkle for a second or two before the on-edge expression that had been lingering on his face was replaced by unmasked surprise.

"My uncle just texted me," he told her. "Authorities in the UK are trying to reach me. He said he just gave them my number here and to expect their call."

He'd barely finished speaking when his ringtone pierced the air. Aiden tapped the screen and brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" He paused. "Yes, this is him."

Aiden covered his other ear with his hand, straining to hear the person speaking to him over the noise from the ocean. He turned away from the deck railing and walked toward the door to the house. Shelby watched him go inside, but she waited for a couple of minutes to pass before she followed behind him.

The call was wrapping up by the time she joined Aiden in the living room. He thanked the person he was speaking to, then lowered his phone from his ear and tapped the screen to hang up.

Shelby couldn't tell if he had heard her walk into the room. She watched him set his phone on the coffee table and noticed a quiver in his hands.

"Is everything okay?" She spoke as quietly as she could, trying not to startle him. It was an absurd question, she knew, since nothing about the last twenty-four hours had been anything resembling okay.

"There's a lead on who tried to shoot me." Aiden sounded both incredulous and dazed. "After the video went live yesterday, a tip came in that's panning out. They wanted to tell me because Seraphine is here in L.A. and they want her brought in for questioning."

"Seraphine?" Shelby repeated. "They think she was the shooter?"

"It sounds like she was involved," Aiden confirmed. "If what they were told is true, though, then the real person behind it was Keira."

* * * *

Talk about problematic exes... 😂  What do you think about Keira possibly being behind the attempt to shoot Aiden, and Seraphine also being involved?