“I think that’s the best idea.”

“I need to tell Liam.”

“I’ll take care of that when we’re in the car. Let me see if I can get ahold of Reed.” She pulled out her phone and dialed, her hand not stopping with the slow steady circles at the small of Harper’s back. “He isn’t answering.” She frowned after a minute. “I’m going to need to go in there and get him. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” Harper nodded. “It isn’t like I have anything else to throw up.”

Celeste’s mouth formed a concerned line. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Harper sat by herself for a couple of minutes before sitting still became too much to do. She needed to stand. Walk around a little. Get the feeling back in her legs.

But when she stood and turned around she wished she hadn’t. She suddenly didn’t have legs anymore. Kiki was standing there, arms folded across her chest, making her breasts pop over the top of her low-cut shirt.

She was alone. Her little entourage hadn’t followed her outside.

“So you’re the girl?” Kiki asked, a slight sneer in her eyes as she looked Harper over. She clearly wasn’t impressed. “I saw your picture pop up on his phone when you called him once. We were in bed at the time—”

“No, you weren’t,” Harper cut her off. “You think we haven’t discussed this little game you’re playing? Think again. You aren’t going to get in my head.”

The flash of delight in Kiki’s eyes said wanna bet? “At first I wasn’t sure if he’d fallen for a chubby girl. Or if he knocked you up. A little bit of both it seems.”

“Go to hell.”

“Oh, darlin’, is that any way for an expecting mother to talk?” Her gaze dipped to Harper’s belly, and the malevolent delight behind those icy blue eyes was unmistakable.

On instinct, Harper’s hand went to her little bump, shielding Sofia and confirming Kiki’s assumption in one fell swoop.

“Oh, this will make for a fascinating story. I couldn’t have written it better myself. A love triangle. I’ll be the woman scorned, and you’ll be the tramp who stole my man. And even though Liam is meant to be with me and he wants to be with me, he can’t be, because he got you knocked up. It’s kind of perfect actually. Everyone will love me, and hate him…but oh, they will despise you.”

“What’s your problem?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have one. This is just fun.”

“So this is all just a game to you?”

“Pretty much. And since I can’t have what I want, why should you?”

It was at that moment that Celeste was out the door, her eyes narrowed as she looked between Kiki and Harper, and she made a beeline to them. “Why don’t you go somewhere else and spread your poison?”

“Maybe you should talk to your little friend over here about not spreading hers. Though, getting knocked up is an interesting strategy on getting a guy. Not what I would use, but different strokes for different folks. Good luck with”—she motioned at Harper’s belly—“that.”

And then she was walking away, heading back to the building and disappearing through the side door.

“Harper—”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned, staring down at her shoes and trying to breathe again. The panic was simmering just under the surface and she needed to push it down. “I just want to get out of here.”

“Reed is getting the car.”

“Okay.” Harper nodded, chewing on her bottom lip in an attempt to keep her mouth closed. She couldn’t stop replaying the last few minutes, and it was just making her want to start vomiting again.

Was this really what it was going to be like? Was this the price to pay for being with Liam? Her name in the tabloids as his popularity grew. Combating lies. Dealing with other women wanting him.

Her lip fell from her teeth, trembling as the sob broke out of her mouth.

“Sweetie,” Celeste whispered next to her.

Harper turned automatically, her aunt’s arms wrapping her up in a hug and holding her close as everything came crashing down again.

*  *  *

It was about halfway through the show when Liam couldn’t find Harper in the crowd anymore. One minute she’d been there, the next she was gone. He hadn’t had a problem keeping track of where she was before, his eyes always landed on her. Not only that, Celeste and Reed were missing, too.

Though he told himself that they’d probably just moved a little farther from the stage, the unsettled feeling only grew through the last hour. And if he’d checked his phone during the two minutes he was backstage before the encore, he wouldn’t have gone back out.

There was a missed called and voice mail from Celeste followed by a string of texts. He pulled up the texts first:

9:38 pm—Harper didn’t feel well and needed to get out of there.

9:39 pm—She’s going to be okay. We’re going to my house.

10:15 pm—Call me when you get out. She’s in bed.

She’s going to be okay? Meaning she hadn’t been when Celeste had sent those. And she hadn’t been okay enough to call or text him herself. He immediately pulled up Celeste’s phone number and hit Dial. Two rings vibrated in his ear before the line clicked.

“Hey, Liam,” Celeste said, the light playful tone he’d come to associate with her the last couple of days was gone.

“How is she?”

“Better, she drank some tea to try and settle her stomach and then took a shower.”

“Settle her stomach? Did she get sick?”

“She had a bit of a panic attack.”

“Panic attack?” He was pretty sure he was about to have one.

“Liam,” Celeste said his name calmly. “Harper is fine.”

“And Sofia? She’s okay? They don’t need to go to the hospital or anything?”

“No, Liam. Your daughter is fine, too. If I’d thought that I needed to take them to the hospital, I would’ve.”

“Okay.” He closed his eyes, his hand gripping the chair in front of him as he bowed his head. He knew Celeste was a doctor, one of the best in her field, but he wouldn’t believe Harper was fine until he saw her with his own two eyes.

“Why don’t you head over here?” She managed to read his mind through the phone. “You two can stay the night. She needs to rest, so waking her up isn’t the best option.”

“I’m leaving now.” Liam looked around the room, grabbing his bag on the floor and shoving his stuff inside it. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“See you then.” But before the line disconnected she added, “They are both going to be fine, Liam. Breathe and don’t drive like a mad man to get here.”

Yeah, that was going to be easier said than done.

When he walked out of the room there were still a number of people milling around. Normally he’d pop out and do a little meet-and-greet, but there was no way in hell that would be happening tonight.

He needed to get to Harper.

But before he could make it to the back door Kiki was blocking his path.

“I don’t have the time or patience for you tonight.” He shook his head as he sidestepped her.

“I met your girlfriend…or is she your baby mama?”

He stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned around. “What?”

“She seemed to be having a bit of a breakdown. Poor thing, and in her condition, too.” She shook her head pityingly. “Threw up all over the side of the building.”

“Kiki, I’m going to tell you this once.” He took a deep breath, the fact that she’d been anywhere near Harper was making it difficult for him to not lose his shit. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

“Don’t worry, Liam.” She tilted her head to the side as her eyes narrowed on him, a mean smile on her mouth. “I’ve gotten everything that I need.”

He said nothing as he turned around and started heading for the back door again. He was done with this conversation. Whatever else she had to say wasn’t important.

Getting to Harper was all that mattered, getting to her and finding out exactly what had happened.