CHAPTER FROM A TWIST OF FAME
“I can’t believe he’s doing this. Of all the stupid, idiotic things!” Jetta balled her fists as she paced back and forth across the kitchen floor.
Mom, still dressed in her robe, turned away from the stove. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll dish you out a bowl of oatmeal.”
Jetta clipped out a hard laugh. “Food is the last thing I need right now!” Her stomach was so tied in knots that she felt like she might barf.
“Honey, you need to calm down,” Dad urged in the same calm, authoritative tone she’d heard her entire life. He lowered the newspaper he was reading and peered over his glasses. “Forge is a professional. He knows what he’s doing. You have to trust him.”
There was a time when she might’ve believed Dad, but he was wrong this time—so terribly wrong. Tears blurred her vision. “Forge is a naïve fool,” she said hoarsely. She gulped to swallow the sob climbing up her throat. “I should’ve never let him go through with this. If he dies …” She couldn’t finish the sentence. Icy fingers clawed at the base of her skull, closing off her throat. A wave of dizziness rolled over her.
Mom came over and put her arms around Jetta. “It’ll be okay.”
A fireball of anger surged through Jetta as she glared at Mom. “You don’t know that,” she snapped. “No one does.” Seeing Mom’s stricken expression needled Jetta with guilt. She sucked in a ragged breath. “I’m sorry.” Her voice broke. “I’m just scared.”
“I know,” Mom soothed, rubbing her back.
The sympathy on Mom’s face caused a sob to break loose in Jetta’s chest. Her breath came in gasps as the emotion gushed out like water spewing from a busted pipe. “I know Forge is trying to fix things, but this is ludicrous.” She allowed Mom to lead her over to the table, where she helped Jetta sit down in one of the chairs.
Jetta gulped and sputtered as she swallowed down her sobs, feeling like a blubbering twit. She’d done a pretty good job of bottling up her emotions, but now they were coming out in full force.
Dad folded the newspaper and put it aside. “I know this is tough,” he began in a sympathetic tone, “but you’ve got to get ahold of yourself. If the boys see you in this state, it’ll upset them.”
The twins had eaten breakfast a short while earlier. Still in pajamas, they were in the den, curled up under a blanket and watching a TV show. Jetta clasped her hands together in a vise grip. Dad was right. The last thing she wanted was to drag the boys into her drama. She’d put on a good face for Forge and the boys; but now that the event was about to take place, she could no longer tamp down her fear.
Everything came together in a hard jolt. Suddenly, she knew what she must do. Her head snapped up. “I’ve got to call Forge! He can’t go through with this.”
A look passed between Dad and Mom.
“What?” Jetta growled.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Dad’s voice grew practical. “Forge and Gray have an agreement. If Forge makes it through this—and I firmly believe that he will—then you will finally be free of Gray.” His voice quivered with intensity. “Think about what that will mean. You’ll be free to build a life with Forge. The boys will have a good, upstanding man to look after them.” He waved a hand. “Granted, I don’t agree with Forge’s choice of a profession. I wish he would have followed in his father’s footsteps and gone into finance. However, that being said, I know that Forge loves you.” His voice lilted. “Think about it, hon … in an hour, odds are that you’ll be a free woman.”
A fierce headache pounded the strip behind Jetta’s eyes. She’d hardly slept a wink the night before, and it was catching up with her. Free. The word was as elusive as the wind—an intoxicating dream that seemed forever beyond her grasp.
“You’re forgetting one thing,” she barked.
Dad lifted his eyebrows. “What’s that?”
“It’s Gray we’re talking about. He can’t be trusted. Even if Forge lives through the stunt, there’s no guarantee that Gray will keep his word and let me go.” Her mind could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth. Forge might die today. Shakes rattled through her body. This was a nightmare! How had Jetta let it get to this point?
Concern touched Mom’s features as she glanced at Dad. “Jetta’s right,” she said solemnly. “Gray’s not going to let her go easily.”
The swift vindication that pinged through Jetta over Mom’s agreement brought her no pleasure. Grayson Wolf, Jetta’s ex-husband, was cutthroat. Also, Gray was super wealthy with a powerful father who was equally cruel. Gray had grown up in San Francisco but moved to Charleston to live with his dad after his mother died in a car accident. Once when he was drunk, Gray confided in Jetta that he suspected his dad had caused his mom’s accident out of retaliation because she’d divorced him a couple of years prior. Gray’s mom had planned to get remarried a week after the accident. Gray believed that his dad wasn’t going to allow his mother to be with anyone else other than him. At the time, Jetta had thought Gray’s theory to be farfetched. Now, she felt like she was living out an eerie repeat. Would Gray eventually kill her? She went clammy cold and then hot. The twins needed their mother. She had to survive Gray for them.
Jetta had questioned why the authorities didn’t investigate his mother’s accident and try to prosecute Leo. Gray’s response was that no one was bold enough to go up against the mighty Leo Wolfe.
A shiver snaked down Jetta’s spine. Regardless of whether Forge lived through the stunt, she had the sickening fear that Gray would never let her go.
For one small moment after they got divorced, Jetta hoped that she might be somewhat free of him. Granted, he would always be a part of her life, considering that they had two children together. However, Jetta had hoped that after the divorce she could build her life independent of Gray. After all, the divorce came about because Jetta learned—when she was eight months pregnant with the twins—that Gray had been having an affair. Jetta assumed that Gray would be too consumed with his many other women to worry about her. How wrong she was!
From the start of their relationship, even back when they were dating, Jetta had put up with Gray’s erratic mood swings. She’d been so starry-eyed and naïve that she failed to heed the warning signs. He started lashing out a year after they were married. He was verbally abusive and hit her once. She was trying to figure out how to leave him and then discovered that she was pregnant. She tried to squelch her disappointment with her marriage and make things work. However, when she found out about his affair, she knew she had to take a stand. Gray allowed her to get a divorce, but he kept a tight hold over her—to the point where she felt like a prisoner. Gray had a steady stream of women who came and went, but he made a point of keeping Jetta on a short leash.
It wasn’t until Forge came into her life that Jetta had dared to even look at another man, much less have a relationship with anyone, for fear of how Gray would react. Getting involved with Forge was a mistake. Jetta had known it then as well as she knew it now, but how could she help herself? Forge was a ray of brilliant sunshine in her otherwise grayscale life. An image of Forge flashed through her mind, bringing a bone-crushing longing. She saw his lively, deep-brown eyes that had the power to see into her soul—his infectious smile, beautiful white teeth, and messy chestnut-colored hair. Forge was bold, fearless, and reckless at times, with a heart of gold. He loved Jetta wholeheartedly, holding nothing back. He even loved her boys.
The pendulum swung both ways, for she loved Forge with all of her heart and soul, with a fierceness that she’d not thought possible, which is why she couldn’t let him go through with this insanely dangerous stunt. He was risking his life for her. Forge was a God-fearing man of honor. His word was his bond. Forge’s weakness was trusting that Gray would keep his word. Jetta knew from painful experience that while Gray was good at talking the talk, he fell way short of walking the walk.
As her dad pointed out, Forge made his living off of performing dangerous stunts. However, Forge was smart and careful, weighing the risks beforehand. Forge was an adrenaline junky, but he didn’t have a death wish. Gray, on the other hand, was a daredevil lunatic who got great delight out of performing death-defying stunts. Even before Jetta and Forge got involved, Gray considered him to be his fiercest rival. Forge and his partner Rafe had a sumo successful YouTube channel. Gray had a thriving YouTube channel also, but he had a third fewer subscribers, which Jetta was sure ate away at Gray’s monster-sized ego. Both Forge and Gray traveled in the same circles and shared many of the same sponsors, which is how Jetta first met Forge.
Forge had been smitten with Jetta from the first moment he saw her. He pursued her with as much passion and zeal as he did anything else, notwithstanding the risk. Like Gray, Forge also came from a wealthy family and wasn’t intimidated by Gray or his father. Today’s stunt arose from Forge exploiting Gray’s biggest weakness—his foolish pride. When Forge first presented his plan to Jetta, she balked, arguing that it was too dangerous. However, Forge wouldn’t let the idea go. He pestered Jetta until she finally gave in. Looking back, she couldn’t place all of the blame on Forge. She wanted so desperately to be free of Gray that she’d gone along with the harebrained scheme in the slim hope that maybe Forge could pull it off. Now she was having second thoughts. She and Forge should have left well enough alone instead of trying to figure out a way to bring their relationship out in the open.
“I should’ve never let Forge go through with this,” she said aloud. A week ago, Forge’s closest friend Rafe told him that Gray found out that Forge and Jetta were secretly involved.
“He plans to go after you,” Rafe said. He suggested that Forge end his relationship with Jetta before things got ugly. “If this were just about you and Jetta, then it would be different. However, this involves the twins—Bridger and Cannon.”
Forge had no intention of “tucking his tail and running,” as he put it. His expression fierce, Forge told Jetta that it was time for her to break out of her invisible prison. “I can’t stand the thought of you and the boys being at the mercy of that narcissistic madman,” he’d fumed.
After talking to Rafe, Forge put his plan into action. He went to Gray and told him face-to-face that he was in love with Jetta and had no intention of giving her up. Gray nearly came unglued. He threatened to kill Forge on the spot. In a calm manner, Forge proceeded to make Gray a deal that he couldn’t refuse.
A year earlier, Gray had traveled to the Swiss Alps. He base-jumped off the side of a mountain, wearing only a wingsuit. His goal was to fly through a seven-foot-wide crevice in a nearby rock formation that stood at a lower elevation than the point from which he jumped. Gray ended up hitting the rocks and crashing rather than making it through the crevice. The jump was filmed live, and there was lots of hype surrounding it with several sponsors. Gray played off the crash like it was no big deal, but Jetta sensed that he was humiliated. He broke his collarbone and both ankles and gashed his thigh so deep and wide that he had to get skin grafts.
Fast forward to a week ago. Forge would attempt the same stunt. If he were successful, then Gray would relinquish his hold on Jetta, meaning that he and Jetta could bring their relationship out in the open with zero retaliation from Gray. If Forge couldn’t do the stunt, then he agreed to walk away from Jetta.
Forge assured Jetta that he could do the stunt. Jetta argued that even if Forge survived and managed by some miracle to go through the crevice, that Gray wouldn’t keep his word. However, Forge felt like it was worth a shot. “We have to at least try,” he argued. His eyes burning with intensity, he vowed, “I won’t give you up for anyone or anything. The only other option we have is to take the boys and run.”
The idea of living on the run didn’t sit well with Jetta. She couldn’t stand the thought of putting her boys in danger. They were only four years old. She wanted them to live normal lives—to grow up in a neighborhood where they could go to school, have friends, and play sports. Also, she couldn’t fathom the thought of not having regular contact with her parents. Furthermore, the twins needed their grandparents.
Now, with Forge’s stunt looming over her, Jetta wondered if they should’ve gone with the option of running. The thought of Forge dying or getting injured filled her with dread. She spoke the words that ran through her mind on a continual basis. “If only I’d never gotten involved with Gray.” She looked at her parents and voiced what they were both thinking. “You tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen.” She’d been too taken in by Gray’s wealth, charm, and striking good looks to listen to reason. With his startling ice-blue eyes, dark blond hair, and sculpted features, Gray bore a startling resemblance to the late actor Paul Walker.
Jetta had met Gray when working as a server in a restaurant. She’d been attending college to become a teacher like her mom, who taught third grade. Teaching ran in the family. Her dad taught high school science. Her parents were good, solid people. They came from an ordered world of schedules, planned time off from work, and rules with a clear distinction between right and wrong.
Jetta regretted all the turmoil her marriage to Grayson Wolfe had caused. When she first met Gray, she’d been enamored with the excitement of his life. He was playful, adventurous, and sophisticated with effusive charm. Life with Gray had been a constant thrill ride—or so she thought. All too soon, she discovered the dark side of his personality.
Sadly, Jetta never finished college. She got married to Gray in the hope that she would live happily-ever-after. Now, she was a prisoner in her exclusive picture-perfect home, which Gray had allowed her to keep during the divorce. The only good thing that had come from her marriage was her two rambunctious boys.
Mom pressed her lips together in resolve. “You need to quit beating yourself up about Gray. What’s done is done.” She reached for Jetta’s hand and squeezed it. “All we can do at this point is pray that Forge will be okay.”
“That’s right,” Dad agreed. “The Lord favors a righteous cause. Forge is doing this out of his love for you and the boys. I, for one, believe that he’ll come through this. You will too, and you’ll be stronger for it.”
Jetta’s heart squeezed to the size of a lemon. She couldn’t take another minute of the uncertainty. “I’ve got to stop him from doing this.” Her heart pumping a mile a minute, she retrieved her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. It would be torture to live apart from Forge, but at least he would live. She couldn’t let him go through with this madness.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Dad asked. “Forge needs to be on his game. The last thing he needs is for you to distract him.”
“I’m not going to distract him,” she grumbled. “I’m going to talk him out of doing the stunt.”
“Jetta,” Dad began, but she ignored him. Instead, she punched the phone buttons to make a videocall. She held her breath, hoping with all her heart that Forge would answer. A few seconds later, he popped up on the screen. A boyish smile curved his lips, showcasing his dazzling teeth. “Hiya, beautiful,” he quipped with a warm note of affection. “Good morning to you. What time is it there?”
“A little after seven.” She did a quick mental calculation. “It’s one o’clock p.m. there. Is that right?”
“Yep, sure is.”
The stunt was scheduled for two p.m. Swiss time. Forge’s hair was blowing, and there was wind noise in the background. The outline of craggy mountains was visible behind him. She caught sight of a member of Forge’s film crew. Gray was also there. He wanted a front-row seat to the action.
“How ya doing?” Forge frowned. “Have you been crying? Is everything okay?”
“No,” she croaked. “Everything’s not okay. You can’t go through with the stunt.”
“Of course I can. Everything’s set up.”
“No,” she blurted. “I don’t want to lose you.” Tears burned her eyes. “I can’t let you do this.”
His expression grew tender. “Hold on a sec. Guys, give me a couple of minutes,” he said to his crew. He walked several paces to what looked to be a more private spot. “Babe,” he began, his tone low and urgent. “I’ve got this. You don’t need to worry.”
“Of course I worry. This is madness,” she hissed. “Even if you survive the jump, we have no guarantee that Gray will hold up his end of the bargain.”
Forge’s jaw hardened. “I’ve been thinking about that. Your dad and I came up with a plan.”
She jerked, glaring at Dad, who wore a sheepish expression. “What sort of plan?” she demanded.
“As far as Gray is concerned, your parents are set to take the boys to Disney World.”
She bunched her brows. “What do you mean as far as Gray is concerned?” She didn’t appreciate Forge and Dad concocting some plan behind her back. “They’re supposed to leave tomorrow.” School had just gotten out for the summer. Mom and Dad were taking the twins to Disney World for a week.
Forge kept his voice low. “I’m cautiously optimistic that Gray will keep his word. He said as much this morning.”
“Don’t trust a word he says,” she warned.
He grunted. “Don’t worry. I’ve got his number.”
A new thought entered her mind. “You don’t think that Gray would do anything to sabotage the stunt, do you?” Fear twisted her insides. Was that why Gray had insisted on going to the location?
“My team is on hyper-alert. Rafe’s here, and he has my back … as usual.”
“Make sure Rafe watches Gray like a hawk. The first hurdle is you getting through the stunt alive and uninjured,” she spouted.
“I’ll be fine,” he assured her with a cavalier grin. “This is a walk in the park.”
“Sure it is,” she muttered. “I know the rest of that story. Everything is great until it isn’t.”
“The stunt will go fine,” he said firmly. “As for Gray keeping his word … like I said, I’m cautiously optimistic. However, just in case, I’ve worked it out for your parents to take the twins someplace safe.”
Her stomach dropped. “Where?” she demanded.
Forge gave her a meaningful look. “I can’t exactly say right now, considering where I am and who I’m with, if you get my drift. Get Scott and Megan to tell you.”
Half the time, Forge called her parents by their first names like they were the best of friends. From the minute Forge met her parents, they hit it off. Jetta shouldn’t have been surprised that he worked out an arrangement with them. Still, it would have been nice for them to clue her in.
Her brain worked to assemble the pieces. “So if you make it through the stunt …”
“When I make it through the stunt,” he corrected.
She shook her head impatiently as she pressed on. “Afterwards, we’ll hope that Gray keeps his word. If he doesn’t, then what?”
His expression grew grim. “We go off the grid for a while until we can figure things out.”
Jetta felt like someone was taking a chisel to her head and splitting it down the center. Her words rushed out with a vengeance. “I told you that I don’t want that kind of life for the boys.”
“I know,” Forge said evenly. “It’ll only be temporary. They’re young enough that they won’t even realize what’s happening. Rafe has connections to someone who can help us.”
Rafe, Forge’s righthand man and best friend, was a retired Navy SEAL. Jetta figured that his connections were related to his service in the military. She couldn’t imagine what type of person it would take to go up against Gray and his father. Had Forge underestimated his opponent?
Her mind began to spin. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this before you left?” Hurt battered her insides. “I thought we agreed that there would never be any secrets between us.” What she needed more than anything was honesty. Forge knew the turmoil that Gray had put her through. He knew how important it was to be straight with her at all times.
“I know, babe. I would have told you everything, but I know how hard this is for you. I’m only trying to protect you.”
She squared her jaw, her words coming out in hard thrusts. “I’m a big girl and don’t need protecting.”
Instead of being quelled or angered by her outburst, a tender smile broke over his rugged face. “I love you, babe. Everything’s gonna be okay. I promise.” Forge had a quicksilver quality about him. His fearless demeanor suggested that he was impervious to the adversity that came to normal people from the sheer act of living in this world. Just because Forge believed he was invincible didn’t mean that he actually was. Jetta didn’t even want to imagine a world without Forge Chasing. He had to survive the stunt. That was the only scenario her brain could compute.
“Will it do any good for me to try and talk you out of this insanity?” Forge was so dang stubborn. She loved that about him, and it drove her crazy. She’d tried hard to keep Forge at bay when they first met, knowing all the trouble that would follow if the two of them got involved. However, Forge was determined to win her heart at all costs. He had, but would his foolhardiness cost him his life?
He chuckled. “Nope, it’s a done deal.”
She tightened her hold on the phone. “Come back to me.” Her voice caught. “Please.”
“I will,” he stated with all the confidence in the world.
Oh, how she wished she could believe him. Jetta heard someone call his name. He glanced in the direction of the voice and then back at the screen. “Gotta go. Wish me luck.”
Her heart lurched. Would this be the last time she saw Forge? She committed his handsome face to memory. “Good luck.” Her words got choked. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll be home tomorrow,” he promised.
She nodded as she ended the call, hot tears slipping down her cheeks.
“He’ll be okay,” Mom assured her.
Jetta glared at her parents. “So you’re not going to Disney World? Where are you taking the boys?”
“To Wilmington, North Carolina,” Dad answered.
She made a face. “Why there?”
“It’s not far from Honeysuckle Island,” Dad explained. “Forge has connections there. We’ll stay there until we get word that all is well.”
“You should’ve told me,” she muttered.
“I know,” Dad agreed. “But like Forge said, this is tough for you. We felt like it would be better for you to digest one piece at a time.”
“You can’t keep living like this,” Mom uttered. Her voice quivered with outrage. “Gray is a sick, twisted man. I hate him for all the heartache he has caused you. No parent should have to stand by and watch the light in their child’s eyes slowly go dim. It wasn’t until Forge entered your life that your dad and I felt like we’d gotten our daughter back. Forge is trying the only way he knows how to fight for you and the boys. You need to let him.”
Jetta put her phone down on the table and sat back in her seat. She rubbed her hand over her forehead. “I know Forge is trying his best. It’s just that there are so many ways this can go wrong. So many ways,” she muttered.
Mom pinned her with a look that said pull yourself together. “Let’s just get through the next hour, okay?”
“Okay,” Jetta agreed.
A stilted silence descended over the room before Dad cleared his throat. “Can you send me the link for the YouTube live event?”
“Sure,” Jetta said tonelessly as she reached for her phone.
Mom scooted back her chair and stood. She tugged on the tie of her robe, tightening it around her. “I’m gonna check on the boys. It’s awfully quiet in the den.” Her voice had a stilted cheerfulness, like she was trying to restore a sense of normalcy to the situation.
Dad picked up his paper and began leafing through it again. Jetta wondered how he could be so calm right now. Was he so certain that Forge would make it through the stunt unscathed? If only she could be as confident. Her thoughts spiraled right back into the black hole of her worst fears. Did she dare watch the stunt? She wondered if she could stand it. And yet, how could she not watch it? She had to! She had to know that Forge was okay. A prayer ran through her mind. Please, help Forge be okay. Please help us navigate our way through this murky mess.
