Page 71 of Uncharted Desires

Her heart skipped a beat at her confession. Although it had only been to herself and a cabbie who didn’t speak English, it was still monumental. She loved West, and she was too chickenshit to tell him.

A voice on the radio piqued her interest, making her sit up straight in her seat. “Can you turn that up?”

The cabbie just shrugged.

“Louder, please.” She made the motion of turning a knob and pointed to the radio.

“Ay.” The cabbie turned the volume knob.

“Yes! Thank you.” Kat let out a relieved breath as she heard West’s deep voice through the airwaves. They were broadcasting the press conference on the radio. He was still talking, which meant she had time to reach him.

“ . . . so you won’t tell us who the woman you were on the island with is?” one reporter asked.

“For her privacy, no, I will not be giving her identity at this time. All I’ll say is she was just a member of my production team.”

Kat ground her teeth. He didn’t even say she was one of his musicians. In an instant, he had made her even more anonymous. He had removed himself from her even further.

“How did you get off the island?” another reporter asked.

“A group of fishermen from Sawu Island came by and saw us. They took us back there and helped us find our way to Jakarta,” West replied.

They had agreed with the authorities to keep Cocaine Island out of the press for now. They needed time to search, and they wanted to keep it quiet in hopes the traffickers wouldn’t leave and find a new island.

The press asked West a few more questions about how they’d survived. He at least gave her props for catching the fish, but not by name. She zoned out for a while, thinking about how she was just the nameless woman by his side, and how if she stayed with him that would always be her lot in life. That loving him wouldn’t be enough for her. She couldn’t just hang back anymore, riding his coattails.

“What’s next for Weston Monroe?” the reporter asked.” That got her attention.

“You know, I’m still kind of deciding,” West said with what sounded like slight trepidation.

“That’s not what your manager said,” the same reporter replied.

Kat heard a barely perceptible curse from West under his breath and gave a slight laugh that the radio didn’t even bleep it out. Then she went back to worrying about what the hell this reporter was talking about.

West took a breath. “I have accepted a two-picture deal with Onslaught Pictures.”

The press room erupted, and Kat’s mind swirled with questions as she ignored the rest of the press conference.

When had he done that? He hadn’t told her. She believed he’d made the wrong decision, but he was unconcerned with her perception. He was set on acting, and she had no choice but to accept it. Kat realized her issues had nothing to do with the acting but was more about the fact that she worried she would never fit into that lifestyle. At least music she understood.

She was racing—well, racing was too generous a word—through Jakarta to save a man who didn’t seem to care one iota about her. Even worse, he had told Declan, who had leaked it to the press. The fact that Declan knew before her just added insult to injury.

“Okay, that’s enough questions.” A woman’s voice cut through the insanity of the pressroom. Kat heard a shuffling sound as they pushed chairs back, the press conference over. “If you have any more questions, you can reach out to me at Stacy Lark PR.” The woman’s voice came through crisp and clear. Kat knew who Stacy was and had seen her a few times on tour with them. She was authoritative, strong, and never put up with West’s crap. Kat liked her a lot, even if she didn’t really know her.

The feed cut off, and a disc jockey came on thinking it would be funny to play the latest Weston Monroe single. As the song played, Kat thought about how surreal it was to be hearing her own voice in a cab as she rushed through the streets of Jakarta. She really should never complain again about interesting things not happening to her. She was ready for some peace.

“How much farther?” She gestured, moving her arms in and out, trying to convey distance.

The cabbie held up his thumb and index finger close together, and Kat took that to mean not much farther.

She closed her eyes, focusing on her breath. She had to make it in time.

“That was a clusterfuck, Stace.” West walked through the back hallway of the Jakarta Globe adjusting his suit coat. “How did Dec even get to them so quickly? I shouldn’t have told him about taking the movie deal.”

Stacy shook her head as she walked in stride with him.

West stopped, turning toward her. “I know. You said not to trust him, and I think you’re right. You know, I’ve been having money issues.”

That piqued Stacy’s interest. “Really?”