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“I knew him in college, actually. Not well. His wife…or former wife, I don’t know if they’re still married, was my sorority sister. I called her for help.”
“Nice, Julia.” He grinned at her. “Maybe we’ll have one thing settled.”
“Maybe. And with that in mind, I should go check on Sierra. Maybe if she has a ray of hope about those pictures never getting out, she’ll feel better.”
“Right,” he said, disappointment crossing his features.
“I’m not dismissing you for her. But I do need to check on her. She’s really upset.”
“I get it,” he said as they both rose. “I’m going to head to bed. See you in the morning?”
“Yep. Good night.” She offered him a smile before he pulled her into a hug, then left for his room.
She blew out a long breath, allowing her brain to switch gears from one crisis to the next. She summoned the energy to leave her room and navigate the opulent halls to Sierra’s.
A quiet knock didn’t garner any results, but she doubted it would over the music blasting inside. She pounded again, this time louder. “Sierra!”
With a shake of her head, she tried the knob, finding the door unlocked. She inched it open, peering through the crack before she let it swing wider. “Sierra?”
The woman paraded out of her bathroom in a sequin minidress with sky-high heels. The amount of makeup she wore made it obvious she planned to head out. “Are you going out?”
“Yep,” she said as she wobbled on her heels for a second before she righted herself and crossed to the nightstand.
Julia arched an eyebrow as Sierra lifted a bottle of champagne to her lips and chugged from it. “How much of that have you had to drink?”
Sierra steadied the bottle and lifted it in the air. “Most of it.”
A giggle escaped her before she polished it off and tossed the empty bottle on the bed. “All of it.”
“I hope James is driving you to wherever you’re going, which I don’t think is a good idea.”
“Nope, sorry, Step-mommy. James and I broke up.”
“What?” Julia asked.
“Yep. We’re done. I’m going out to find someone new.”
“What happened?”
“I happened,” Sierra said, suddenly less amused than she had been a moment earlier.
Sierra's hand trembled as she fixed a smudge of lipstick, revealing the turmoil roiling inside her. The emotion in her eyes wasn't a result of champagne; it was a torrent of pain.
She was drinking herself into oblivion to cover it. Julia had no doubt whatever happened between Sierra and James had been Sierra’s own doing. She was taking a blowtorch to her life after the upsetting news.
“Sierra…maybe we should sit down and talk,” Julia tried, keeping her voice soft as she gently laid a hand on her stepdaughter’s arm.
Sierra glanced down at it before she shook her off, glaring at her. “About what?”
“What happened. How you feel about it.”
“I don’t feel anything thanks to that bottle of Dom…and a few other things.”
“Sierra! Did you take something?”
“Just something to take the edge off, okay? I want to have a good time. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m heading out.” Sierra stomped her way past Julia into the hall.
Julia raced after her, trying to keep up. “I do mind. You’ve been drinking. And you mixed it with something else. You could get seriously hurt if you get behind the wheel of a car. Or hurt someone else.”
