Chapter 26

The next day Becket asked Ace to take Claire out for the rest of the afternoon. Becket reached Nova's room, nervous to talk to her about his discovery. She opened the door, almost bouncing with excitement to see him.

"Hey, sexy. How was the meeting?"

"Okay, I guess." Becket rubbed his hands together nervously.

"What's going on? Something wrong?"

Stepping past her into her hotel room, he grabbed her hand and took her to sit on the bed. "We need to talk."

"Oh, just great. Here we go. The big blow off."

"What?" Becket quickly turned back to her with a confused look.

"Everything has been going too well. I was waiting to see how long it would take for you to get sick of me."

"Nova, that's crazy. I think the world of you. No, this is serious. I have no intention of breaking things off with you." He looked down at his phone biting the inside of his lip. He figured it was best to just rip off the band-aid and confront the issue head-on. "Did you mean to send this video to me last night?"

"Video? What video?"

Becket handed her his phone. "I know what happened."

Her heart sank. Nova sat on the edge of the bed feeling like a ton of bricks weighing on her chest. "Oh, no. I didn't mean to send that. You watched the whole thing?" She handed it back not even wanting to look at it.

"Yes."

"You must think I'm a monster."

"No, baby. I'm here to help you. I hate Liam and those men who did this to you. I was up all night trying to think of a way to talk to you about it. I want to help you because I realize now why you came to Powerbomb. It was so you would be safe and away from him. Nova, you have to go to the police about this."

"You think I'm a whore, don't you? You think I did it to get ahead." Nova started to weep into her hands.

Becket sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms to comfort her. "I know enough about you to know that is not the case. I think a horrible person took advantage of a young innocent girl."

"I can't imagine what you must think of me now. I know you'll never see me the same."

"You want to know what I see? I see a beautiful strong woman trying to make sense of a situation that was out of her control. I have to be honest. At first, it was hard to hear those things about you. To think about any man other than myself touching you kills me."

"I didn't want to. He forced me."

"I know. I want you to know, I would never hurt you like that. To know someone did makes my heart hurt for you. We all have a past and I don't blame you for any of it. You just got dealt a bad situation, and I am going to make sure that I help you through it. If you'll let me, I'll make sure no one ever hurts you again."

"I'm so embarrassed. I'm not that girl, Becket. I never was. That's why I kept doing drugs after he stopped forcing them on me. I had to dull the pain and shut out what those vial men did to me."

"So all of this was a cover-up for what was happening behind the scenes? You came here for protection."

"Yes. The things in the media that you saw about me busting up hotel rooms and acting crazy weren't real. It's not as simple as me being out of control. I did it so the police would come to keep those men away. It got really bad on some days. The stories of drunken nights in bars, fights with staff, and crazy things like that; it was all a hoax. I set it up. My friend Emma and I did it to keep Liam from drugging me again."

"That's how you were keeping them away? So that's why you were acting out. To keep other people around. If the paparazzi was stalking around, you weren't alone."

"Exactly. I was trying to get clean in the midst of it all. The media got word of me going to rehab and it was an easy way to get attention. The more the media was around, the less chance he had to hurt me. As long as paparazzi were following me he left me alone because he didn't want them to find out the shady things he did. For the past two years, I've been clean. I had to do something to keep him from touching me and that was the only way I knew how."

"This person you have been in the last few weeks. This the real you? Or, is this just for the media too? Are you using me, or do you really have feelings for me?" Becket rubbed his hands together hoping that she really did care for him.

"No. It's the real me. I promise I would never use you. I came here because I never stopped having feelings for you. I trusted you and feel safe when you're near."

"I'm glad to hear that because I don't know if I could take it if you rejected me now. I care too much to lose you."

"In your note you sent me, you said you thought I was just a kid back then. You were right about something though. I did know what I wanted. I knew from the first time I ever laid eyes on you. That teenage girl loved you then, and I still do. It's not puppy love. I honestly love you."

Becket wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on hers. "I love you too."

"You love me? Even after knowing all that?" Looking up at him with a surprise.

"Yes. Don't look at me like that. It surprised the hell out of me too. Who knew that pesky annoying teenager would one day be the woman I would fall in love with," he teased, kissing the tip of her nose.

"So, are you ready to admit you always had a thing for me?"

"You were cute, but you were still underage. I admit nothing." He chuckled. "I'm no creepy perv."

"Trust me. I know. If anyone is honest and morally upstanding it's you. I think if you wouldn't have been a wrestler you would probably be a preacher or a motivational speaker."

"What? Why?"

"Because one - you love to hear yourself talk. Two - you're a really good person, even though you try to pretend to be all hard and serious all the time."

"Why didn't you tell me about all this stuff with Liam? Baby, you can trust me. I want to help you and I sure as hell would do anything to protect you."

"I know. I think that's why I was afraid to talk to you. I was worried you would end up in jail for beating the snot out of him. Beck, I'm not sure what to do." Nova went to pull the envelope from her bag. "This is what Liam gave me the night you asked me to dinner the first time. He also blackmailed me the night we went on our first real date. I have a lot of proof of what he did, and the things those men did to me, too. The movie producer and the two record execs are very wealthy and connected. I'm afraid if I go forward with the information, they'll come after me. They're very dangerous men."

"So, then we need to figure out how to stop that from happening. Nova. I… I talked to your dad. He knows. Eric thinks we should go to Holt with this. He can help us protect you." Becket knew what was coming. She was going to be angry with him so he just braced himself for what was coming next.

"You what? How could you do that? My dad is going to hate me." She started crying and hitting his chest. "Why? Why did you tell him?"

Becket just held her closer to prevent the blows. "Baby, it's okay. He's just glad to know you're safe now. Eric is a jackass at times but he loves you. He's not mad at you. He's mad at the men who hurt his daughter."

"I want to see my dad. I have to tell him the whole truth. Will you go with me?" Nova was embarrassed but she needed her father right now.

"Of course. I'm right here. I'll be right by your side through this whole thing. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but nothing will stop me from protecting you now. I just wish I could have been there to protect you before. I'm sorry I caused you more pain when you first came to Powerbomb. I'm going to fix this. I promise."