No Place to Hide (Rocking Racers Book 2) Read online

  “When can she leave?”

  “We’ll keep her in overnight for observation, just in case, and then she’ll be able to go home tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, Doc.” I stick my hand out for him to shake.

  “No problems. She’ll be moved to the ward in a bit, and her family, if she wants, can visit then.” I nod.

  He claps me on the back. “Your wife is going to be fine, Mr Matthews. She’ll be sore, but she’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah, okay,” I say, still in a daze. I walk into Knley’s area, take a seat by her bed, and hold her hand. I gently press my lips to the back of it. God, this woman. So incredible, so full of life. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I press another kiss to her hand and feel the other run through my hair.

  “Knley?” I ask as I lift my head.

  She’s squinting and her voice is rough, but when she smiles it’s all her. “Hi, handsome.”

  “Fuck, love, you had me so worried.”

  “I know, I’m sorry.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Sore. My head’s pounding like a son of a bitch, and it’s really fucking bright in here, but other than that I think I’m okay.”

  I chuckle. If she’s swearing she’s okay. I kiss the Band-Aid on her forehead gently.

  “How bad’s the media?” she asks.

  “Dunno,” I answer, shrugging. “Don’t care either.”

  “My mother must be going apeshit.”

  “Or something. She’s in the waiting room, along with Sloane, Quinn, Bria, and Reed. I thought she was going to blow a gasket when the doc told her we’re married and I’m now your next of kin.”

  She chuckles, then winces. “Shh, love,” I soothe. She moans and my dick twitches. I hate that she’s in pain, but fuck, anytime that noise comes out of her mouth I can’t help but react.

  “She’s not coming back here, is she?”

  “Your mum? No, love, she’s not. I told the doc you wouldn’t want to see her.”

  “Thank you,” she says as she nuzzles the pillow. A minute later she’s asleep again.

  I quickly slip out so I can update everybody. When I get to the waiting room, there’s only Sloane, Quinn, Bria, and Reed.

  “Where’s Helen?” I ask.

  Sloane snorts. “She um, left,” Bria says.

  “Really?” I ask, shocked.

  “Yeah, she said she had other stuff to do,” Reed says.

  “Why do I feel like I’ve missed something?” My eyes focus on the two Rhodes girls.

  Sloane pats my arm. “Trust me, brother-in-law of ours, it’s better if you don’t know.”

  “She made a scene,” I surmise.

  “She made more than a scene,” Reed confirms.

  “Yeah, she didn’t take the news of your marriage well,” Quinn says.

  I take a quick look around the waiting room. Nothing seems to have been displaced, so that’s got to be a good sign. “Well, everything out here’s still in one piece, so that can’t be too bad, right?”

  “Sure, if that’s what you need to help you sleep tonight, then yeah, it wasn’t too bad,” Sloane says.

  I sigh. “Are you going to need to put out fires?” I ask Bria.

  She smiles. “It’s all good. How’s Knley?”

  “No, seriously, Bri, if you need to go, Knley would understand. We don’t want to cause problems for you.”

  “More,” Quinn says. “You don’t want to cause more problems.”

  We all laugh. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

  “And it’s okay,” Bria says. “I’ve been working with someone for the past few months, so they’re dealing with all of this.”

  “So the Ryans broke you, huh?”

  She laughs and hugs Reed. “An opportunity came up to expand, so I took it.”

  I nod.

  “I take it since you’re out here and not at all panicked, that Knley’s okay?” Quinn asks.

  “Yeah, she’s all good. A bit sore, she’s got a killer headache and some sensitivity to light, but other than that she’s fine. They’re keeping her here overnight for observation, but that’s just a precaution.”

  “Can we see her?”

  “She’s going to be moved soon and then you’ll be able to.”

  A few hours later, we’re all gathered in Knley’s room.

  “You know this is all your fault,” I tell Reed.

  “Mine? What the fuck?”

  “Well maybe not yours, it’s Bria’s.”

  “Hey! Leave my wife out of this,” he says, squeezing Bria tighter. The one thing you have to know with them is they will only ever need one chair between the two of them. Reed hardly lets Bria out of his sight, and given his family’s shitty luck with women, and in light of current events, I totally get that. In fact, I’m considering adopting a similar attitude.

  “Nope,” I say, nodding, “totally Bria’s fault. She broke your family’s fucked-up lady curse, so it had to jump to the closest person and clearly that was me.”

  “Well fuck, man,” Reed says.

  “That’s bullshit,” Knley croaks.

  “Shhh, love,” I tell her. “I’m guilt-tripping Ryan. We could milk that for years.” We all laugh.

  “The only thing we’re cursed with is a psycho mother,” Knley continues.

  “Except she didn’t know about what we were up to today.”

  “Actually,” Bria says, “my partner has some info about that. They’re coming here so they can fill you in.”

  “Well, isn’t this mysterious?” Sloane says. Bria just shrugs.

  A little while later we hear footsteps approach Knley’s room.

  Rhodes Apart

  Rocking Rumours exclusive: Helen Rhodes on how she’s been cut out of her daughter’s life.

  Coming just an hour after being denied access to her daughter McKnley’s bedside after a nasty car accident, Helen Rhodes tells us just how far relations between the two have sunk.

  “It’s heartbreaking,” Ms Rhodes tells us. “I’ve only wanted the best for my girls and have done everything humanly possible to ensure that happens, but it seems in relation to McKnley it’s all come to naught.

  “I’ve known for a very long time that Cole Matthews was a bad influence on my daughter. I thought that problem was solved, but it appears he’s stuck his claws in even deeper this time. Still, to deprive a mother the chance to see her child, a child who has just been involved in a very serious car accident, is callous and downright cold. What sort of person does such a thing?” We’re wondering the same thing.

  “Not forgetting the fact I wasn’t even told of my daughter’s engagement, let alone invited to the wedding. It’s supposed to be the happiest time of a girl’s life. How can that be without her mother, especially one she sees every day?

  “I just don’t know how we got to this point,” she says as she dabs at her eyes. “We used to be so close, more like best friends than mother and daughter. Now I feel as if I’m no more than a stranger. I’ve devoted my whole life to my girls and their careers, and now that McKnley has everything she wants, I’m obviously seen as surplus to that, no longer needed.”

  It’s a sad indictment on just how bad relations between the two women are that it’s come to this. We hope for all involved that differences are able to be set aside and fences mended.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Knley

  We hear footsteps approaching and a head pokes around the door.

  “Frank!” I croak, then wince.

  “Knley, my dear, what have you gotten yourself into?” he asks, coming into the room.

  “Just keeping myself in the tabloids. You know me, the media whore.” He gives me a kind smile.

  On the bed beside me Cole clears his throat.

  “Oh sorry. Frank-Yoda-Clark Kent, this is my husband, Cole Matthews.” The two men shake hands. “I don’t think you’ve met my youngest sister, Sloane? Sloane, this is my favourite journo, Frank. And over there is the second-cutest
couple in Australia, Bria and Reed Ryan.”

  “Actually,” Bria says, “er, Frank and I already know each other. He’s the partner I was telling you about.”

  “Huh?”

  “About two and a half, almost three months ago, Frank, as we’re calling him, approached me with an opportunity to expand my PR dealings,” she explains.

  “What, he just popped up out of the blue?” I ask. “I’m hurt, Frank, I thought you only fairy godfathered me.”

  He chuckles and pats my hand. “I’m a friend of Bria’s parents. They told me what she had going on with Avery and the team. I saw an opportunity, so I took it.”

  “So what is it exactly that the two of you are doing?”

  “Well, I’m still doing PR for Ryan Racing, but with Frank on board, I can offer a more tailored media approach.”

  “So you’re not a journo anymore?” I ask him.

  “Freelance, like I told you. I’m also working with Bria now, helping her keep an eye on things.”

  “So you sent him to interview me? Gave him the demos?” I ask her. I’d given them to her to get her opinion. She’d told me on my first trip to Booker that she was a fan. I’m glad I did that now. She blushes and nods.

  “I had spoken to Cole and knew his reason for your break-up, and while I respected that, I thought it was bullshit. You two belong together. So when Frank came along, I sent him to give you a nudge in the right direction.”

  “You did more than that,” I say. “You inspired a whole new face for Places.”

  “And we’ll be expecting our cut of the royalties for that too,” Reed says, and we all laugh again.

  “But thank you,” I tell her. “Both you and Frank. Without you, I don’t know how long it would’ve taken me to get my arse into gear.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Reed says. “You owe me fifty bucks. I had my money on Matthews cracking first.”

  “I’ll include it in your royalty cheque.”

  “Much appreciated.”

  “So, Frank, since you’re Bria’s go-to guy now, what’s the goss?”

  He sighs. “You’re not going to like it.”

  “If it has to do with the media or my mother, then I’m never going to like it.”

  “Then you’re really not going to like it.”

  “She did this?” I growl as Quinn gasps.

  He nods. “She had someone at Births, Deaths and Marriages, just in case any of you girls,” he looks to Sloane and Quinn, “decided to ‘do something stupid,’ as she’s calling it.”

  “Unbelievable,” Cole mutters under his breath.

  “So when you filed your Notice of Intended Marriage, she was alerted. Of course, you had eighteen months to get married, so she was still in the dark as to when exactly, but when the form was accessed at the registry office this morning, the final question was answered. Of course because we booked the appointment so late, they didn’t have much of a head start, but it was enough for Helen to call her minions to work.”

  “Fuck me,” Reed curses.

  “I’ll leave that to your wife,” Cole says.

  “So she tipped off the photographers?” I ask, ignoring my husband and his best friend. Frank nods.

  “Why? What’s her end game?” I ponder.

  “My guess is she wanted proof to show how far out of your life she’s been pushed. There’s been rumours swirling for months, ever since the Palais show. They gained traction when you released the No Place to Hide EP and were seen with Cole again.”

  “She’s positioning herself as the scorned mother,” Bria adds. “Her performance in the waiting room was all to add fuel to the fire. Although I’m sure she was worried about you as well.” I give her a look.

  “I don’t get it,” Quinn says. “Why would she do that instead of accepting Knley’s decisions?”

  “Because she’s not in control,” Bria answers. “You said it yourself, Knley’s decisions, not hers.”

  “She’s never liked us making our own choices,” I remind my sister.

  She sighs. “I know, but to stoop to this level?”

  “It’s clear Knley is moving in a different direction,” Frank says. “I think your mother realises this and knows she’s powerless to stop it, so she’s milking it for all it’s worth.”

  “The media’s going to play this as a power struggle between me and Mum.”

  “Probably,” Frank agrees.

  “I’m going to be the bad guy.”

  “Isn’t there something we can do?” Cole asks.

  A smile crosses Bria’s face. “There’s something.”

  “What?” I ask.

  “You’re going to have to do some positioning of your own,” she warns.

  “How bad?”

  “Nothing drastic, just a slight dramatization of what’s already gone on.”

  “Okay,” I say warily.

  “What I would suggest is do your own interview, with Cole. Explain how you got together, the pressure you felt to be someone you’re not, the pressure to please your mother. We’ve all watched Toddlers and Tiaras or Dance Moms, we know how stage mums operate. Your situation was no different.

  “Talk through the breakdown of your relationship. Cole, you might like to add how Helen has never liked you. Use all the propaganda she drummed up after Knley broke her arm, then you’ll need to explain how you ended up playing solo at the Palais.”

  “You think it could work?” I ask, unsure.

  “If we play it right. You don’t want sympathy. You’re not going to get it. Right or wrong, the public assumes that if you’re famous you don’t have problems, so they’re not going to feel sorry for you, but if we give them a love story, then they might just be inclined to fight for your happy ending as well. Give them an underdog struggle so they cheer when you went on stage at the Palais to show your mother who’s boss. You know, sticking it to the man and all that.”

  “Damn, angel, that was hot,” Reed says, breaking the spell Bria had cast. I look to my sisters and raise an eyebrow. Or I think I do; my head still feels fuzzy. As much as I don’t want to do this publicly, my mother has left me with no choice. This time she’s gone too far.

  “Better you than her,” Sloane says.

  “Blake and Ashton?” I ask.

  “They’ll be on board,” Quinn assures.

  I nod. “Cole?”

  “Whatever you need, love,” he tells me before kissing my forehead.

  I turn to Bria. “Let’s do it.”

  Coley Speak Out

  Prime-time showdown! At long last mega couple Coley, Cole Matthews and new wife McKnley, are set to break their silence in a highly anticipated interview to air this Sunday at 8:30 p.m. We’re told the prerecorded interview will touch on the Places guitarist’s troubled relationship with her mother as well as the development of the couple’s own relationship.

  It comes days after Helen Rhodes’s own sensational claims, reported here exclusively, about the dramatic breakdown of the relationship between mother and daughter.

  While airing dirty laundry publicly isn’t normally something we would recommend, we can’t help but be transfixed to such a dramatic and highly entertaining disintegration of the relationship between the two Rhodes women.

  Whether this interview will help repair that relationship or fracture it further, only time will tell. What is clear though, is that there is still a lot to go in this saga.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Cole

  Bria Ryan is a machine. A media-eating, PR-genius machine. What she’s doing with Reed, I have no idea.

  Knley was released from hospital a couple of days ago, and today is the day we take Helen Rhodes down! Okay, so it’s not that dramatic, but we’re fighting back. The media have picked up her bullshit and run with it, making Knley and me the bad guys. It’s been hard, really fucking hard, to sit back and watch Helen drag Knley’s name through the mud. My only saving grace is knowing this interview is happening and we’ll be able to get our side of the stor
y out.

  Bria has organised for Frank to interview us on behalf of a major TV network. It will also be syndicated in print and going out to the major papers in each capital city.

  “You ready for this?” Frank asks.

  We’re in the suite we rented for the weekend, Knley and I together on the couch, Frank diagonally opposite us. I look to Knley. She smiles, and I nod.

  “Right, let’s do this.”

  Frank does an introductory spiel then turns his attention to Knley and me.

  “First off, McKnley, how are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay. I had a headache for a bit and light was not my friend, but I’m good now.”

  “There’s been a lot said in the media the past few days about the events of Monday.”

  “There’s a lot said about me on any given day,” Knley answers, and I smile. Score one for Mrs Matthews.

  Frank chuckles. “That there is, but this time it seems the media have turned on you.”

  “The media love to hate me. I’m the bad girl of rock ’n’ roll, and they love it every time I live up to that name.”

  “You’ve got to admit, you do live up to it a lot.” Geez, Frank, I thought we were all friends here? I get that he can’t be too soft on us, but fuck.

  Knley nods. “I did live up to it. The image worked for me, it worked for the band, and it was a fun role to play, but that’s all it was, a role. That’s not who I am.”

  “So if you’re not McKnley fucking Rhodes, bad girl of rock ’n’ roll, who are you?”

  She smiles and takes my hand. “I’m McKnley Matthews, wife of Cole Matthews and lead guitarist for Places.”

  “You’re still in Places?”

  “My sisters and I have never spoken about disbanding, so yes, I’m still a member.”

  “You recently released an EP, No Place to Hide, which saw a significant shift in the tone of the band. Why was that?”

  “I felt we’d stagnated. If you listen to all of our albums back to back to back, the music all sounds the same. I felt, and so did my sisters, that it was time we branched out a little. We’re not the same girls we were when we first started. Our music should reflect that, show our growth and the maturity we’ve gained over the length of our career.”