A Beautiful Star (Beautiful Series, Book 5) Read online

  A BEAUTIFUL STAR

  Beautiful Series Book Five

  by Lilliana Anderson

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright 2014, Lilliana Anderson

  All rights reserved

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without the prior written permission of the author of this book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental. Any actual places, products or events mentioned are used in a purely fictitious manner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various places/products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission and is by no way sponsored by the trademark owners.

  CONTENTS

  Synopsis

  Foreward

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Books by Lilliana Anderson

  About the Author

  Connect with Lilliana

  SYNOPSIS

  ***CONTENT WARNING*** New Adult Romance for ages 18+ due to sex scenes and adult situations.

  BEAUTIFUL SERIES, BOOK FIVE - MAY BE READ ON ITS OWN OR AS A PART OF THE SERIES.

  When Jonathan decided to help Lisa, he was trying to atone in some way for his past sins. He certainly wasn't expecting to be pulled into a night full of hiding out from the press with a journalist called Sandra Haegen, and almost being choked to death by a rockstar in love with his ex.

  When Sandra decided to help Lisa by feeding Perry, she was just trying to be a good person. She also wasn't expecting to spend the night hiding from the press. Even more so, she wasn't expecting to spend the night with one of Australia's hottest young actors, Jonathan Masters. She also wasn't expecting to save his life.

  And that's just the beginning.

  From there, these two must find a way live with the past and look to the future - no matter what the personal cost.

  **Beautiful Series Reading Order (includes The Beauty in Between)**

  A Beautiful Struggle (book 1)

  (Too Close)

  A Beautiful Forever (book 2)

  (Commitment)

  (Phoenix)

  A Beautiful Melody (book 3)

  A Beautiful Rock (book 4)

  (Devotion) June 2014

  A Beautiful Star (book 5)

  Foreward

  Jonathan and Sandra have been on my mind since I introduced them in A Beautiful Rock earlier this year. And despite having other stories to complete between then and now, I could always hear them whispering to me in the back of my mind. So, I was very glad when it was time for me to begin writing out their story.

  Early readers have been saying that they beat out Paige and Elliot as their all-time favourite Beautiful Series characters, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. For me though, they are certainly very close and I find myself a little saddened that I’ve finished working on their story. Lucky for you though, their story is just beginning.

  Enjoy.

  Acknowledgements

  AS ALWAYS, there are people to be thanked! Many sets of eyes go in to the creation of each of my books and I am very grateful to every person who takes time out of their lives to help me.

  Thank you to my beta readers for working so hard for me. Marion of Making Manuscripts, I thank you for your detailed guidance during the first draft. Tammie, Mary, Billie, Lindsey, Kristine, and Kassandra. Thank you all so much. I know I say this a lot, but your input really is invaluable to me and it helps keep me smiling in this writing game. Thank you! Thank you! I love you all!

  Thank you to my editor, Maria Johnson, for trawling through my manuscript for errors and always working me into her schedule. She gives up a lot of time to give me feedback and help make some of my addled sentences make sense!

  Thank you to my special ladies who are my constant support, Cj Duggan, Frankie Rose, Jessica Roscoe/Lili Saint Germain, and Callie Hart. You have been listening to my constant doubt and pushing me forward throughout the whole writing process. I don’t know what I’d do without you all in my life!

  To every blogger who has an ARC or has signed up to post my cover reveal or release day blitz – I thank you too. You are the first step to announcing our work to the world. Love your work xoxox

  Also, a big thank you to my husband for putting up with my bitching and moaning and his unending support, his plot help, and his encouragement.

  Thank you to my street team . We are tiny. But we make a difference.

  I’d also like to thank the wonderful team at Apple and Smashwords, who set up all of my preorders and trust me to upload my books on time – I truly appreciate your support!

  Thank you to my kids for being so patient while I stare at a computer screen and finish typing out a thought. I love that you all come and sit in my office quietly, just to spend a bit of extra time with mummy!

  And of course – thank you to all of my readers. Without you, I would be writing to the crickets.

  Mwah! xoxox

  Chapter 1

  Two years ago…

  “And then, he nearly dropped his guitar!” Naomi laughs, telling me about a gig their band Matiari played where Theo, her fiancé and band mate, was unfortunate enough to have his guitar strap snap in the middle of a song.

  “Funny for those watching,” he adds, his arm draped casually about her shoulders. They stand in front of me at The Basement in Sydney, where we’ve all just watched Australia’s most recent international sensation, Belle Adams, perform an invite-only concert for the launch of her latest album. I’m here in a work capacity, because I’m a journalist for Voyeur Magazine, and everyone else here, either has something to do with the music industry or knows someone who could get them an invitation.

  “Did someone film it and put it up on YouTube?” I ask, watching as he nods.

  “Of course, and a video of me scrambling not to drop my guitar has more hits than most of our other videos do.”

  “Blooper videos always do,” I comment with a smile, turning my head as I see my best friend, and plus-one for the evening, Lisa, walking quickly toward me. She has a look on her face that tells me she may have just broken something really expensive.

  “We need to go,” she hisses, and I quickly apologise to the couple I was talking to and follow behind her as another man calls out, “Aw, come on Leisil. Don’t be like that. I’d know you anywhere. Remember that huge Christmas pool party at my mother’s beach house when we were around sixteen?”

  Glancing back at the man her eyes go wide, and she grabs my hand, rushing me through the door and back into main stage area toward the exit.

  “Who’s Leisil?” I ask as I practically run along behind her to keep up.

  “She’s no one. Let’s just go,” she insis
ts, turning her head to speak to me over her shoulder. She isn’t watching where she’s going in the crowded room, and she lands smack up against a wall of chest–a very famous and incredibly attractive wall of chest, called Jonathan Masters.

  “I’m so sorry,” she says, not even looking as she turns around and continues to try and walk past him. But he blocks her path, taking a hold of her upper arms as he frowns down at her.

  I gulp, wondering if he’s the type to press charges or laugh this off, as she drops my hand and looks up at him. Then recognition sets in and her face falls.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks, a familiarity in his voice as if he actually knows her. He’s still holding her arms and he draws her closer like he’s trying to get a good look at her. He seems surprised by her presence.

  What the hell? I wonder as she begins to fight him and slap his arms away.

  “You get your hands off me,” she yells, shaking him off and stepping back, almost landing her heel on my toe. I jump away in time, but keep my eyes glued to the scene as it unfolds in front of me.

  “Leisil, calm down. I just want to talk. I haven’t seen you for years,” Jonathan argues, and slowly something about this situation becomes familiar. But it can’t be. This is Lisa, this isn’t Leisil...

  “Lisa,” I start. “What’s going on? Why is Jonathan Masters calling you Leisil?” I ask slowly, wanting to be completely sure that this is actually happening.

  "Because that's her fucking name,” Jonathan retorts, causing me to flinch a little at his tone as I notice that there is now quite a large group of people watching what’s going on. At the same time, we’re all realising that Lisa Russell, meek and mild advertising manager for Voyeur Magazine is actually, Liesil Marx, disgraced daughter of rock legend Jimmy Marx and ex-fiancée of Jonathan Masters, the man standing right in front of her. She disappeared from the public eye after their chaotic break-up and hasn’t been seen since, well, not until today anyway.

  Holy shit.

  Lisa’s face contorts in her distress and she pushes past Jonathan and everyone else in her way, and I try to follow, wanting to help her while also wanting answers myself. The last thing I see is her pause as she locks eyes with Marcus Bailey, rock star, and current confusion in her life. Then she breaks into run and sprints out the door.

  Holy shit. Things just got so much worse.

  Chapter 2

  Marcus Bailey. He’s a man whose presence requires a bit of explaining. Australia is a relatively small country. So our entertainment industry is incredibly small, and everyone seems to know everyone or they’re at least linked somehow.

  Marcus was once a member of the band, Matiari with his brother Theo and Naomi, who I was talking to before. They were all on tour together and were set to take off for the big time, but instead of riding the road to success together, Marcus and Theo had a falling out over Naomi. This came to a head live on stage with Marcus singing a rendition of a song called ‘Weighted’ that is about love turned into hate, and is best known for its line ‘cause you’re a bitch to be around’.

  He sung it, live on stage, to a mortified Naomi and publicly quit the band. Of course, his outburst went viral, and as a result, he became a huge solo artist and Matiari continued to enjoy its own success as an indie folk band.

  This all happened when I started out as my career as a reporter. I got a job working for MTV and my first big assignment was handed to me. I was given the opportunity to interview Marcus Bailey before he set off on his very first world tour.

  Needless to say, I was dazzled by him, and being young, inexperienced and little silly, I fell into bed with him and spent the weekend there, believing him when he told me how different and special I was. When I didn’t hear from him again, I was crushed. Not because he didn’t call, but because I felt like a fool, and I was angry with myself for behaving like a groupie when I should have know better.

  Fast-forward to a year later, I’ve left MTV and I have a great position at the popular Voyeur magazine in their music department. I get exclusive interviews with popular bands and artists as well as a lot of free concert tickets in the hope I’ll review their show and be the reason a new band gets noticed. It’s a fantastic job, and it’s where I met my best friend, Lisa, who was working in their advertising department when I started.

  Now, this is where things get a little messy. I was assigned Marcus Bailey as an interview subject a couple of months ago, and not wanting to lose my by-line because I was embarrassed to see him again, I asked Lisa to go and interview him for me.

  He became interested in her, which in turn caused an embarrassing amount of jealously to flare up in me.

  Bringing her to The Basement tonight was my way of saying sorry to her for acting like a spoiled twat. She didn’t even want to come out, but I forced her and now…now all I’ve done is force her into a situation that exposed who she really is.

  Lisa, is Leisil Marx. Holy shit, I had no idea.

  “Get out of my way or I’ll kick you in the fucking balls!” I yell at the guy who is moving to stop me from chasing after Lisa as she flees through the front door and out to the street.

  The guy stops and raises his hands in surrender, and I bolt after her as fast as I can through the crowd and in my heels, but when I get to the street and look both ways, she’s nowhere in sight.

  “Shit,” I hiss, running my hands through my blonde hair in exasperation as I pull out my phone to try and call her.

  “Where is she?” Jonathan Masters demands, as he bursts out of the busy club and appears at my side, also searching the street for her.

  “She’s gone. You chased her away,” I state, glaring at him before I walk away and press my phone up against my ear to call her.

  “Listen, I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you in there. I was just surprised to see her again.”

  “It’s none of my business,” I respond, dropping my phone into my bag when I get no answer.

  He presses his lips together, smiling slightly as his eyes drift over me like he’s actually seeing me this time. “Still,” he says quietly, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets as he nods towards me. “I shouldn’t have been so rude. Not to someone as lovely as you.”

  Letting out a burst of laughter, I roll my eyes, noticing a couple of women approaching us who have obviously realised who he is. As he turns his attention toward them, I take the opportunity to leave, feeling thankful that it isn’t my job to interview movie stars. I’m not particularly keen on ever meeting Jonathan Masters again.

  Chapter 3

  The next day, I’m still reeling over the fact that Lisa is Leisil Marx, but at least I know she’s ok now. She called me briefly to promise she’d explain everything later and to ask for my help to look after her dog, Perry, because the paparazzi had caught wind of her story and were chasing her all over town.

  When I arrived at her house, they were camped out front, asking me if I knew where she was as I rushed inside and locked myself in. I didn’t trust any of them not to break into her house for story fodder if I left, so I slept on the couch and kept Perry company. I was hoping that eventually they’d go away so I could call Lisa and let her know the coast was clear.

  “Thank god she has high fences,” I muse to myself as I stand at the back door, throwing a ball to entertain the dog. But, it’s then that I hear a ruckus from out the front of yelling and clicking before I hear the front door slam and voices coming from inside the house.

  “Ok. So I guess they were hiding,” a male voice says.

  “Thank you…again. Seems like you’re my rescuer today,” I hear from Lisa. I breathe a sigh of relief, glad that it’s her and not someone else, because Perry is the worst guard dog in the world, and I don’t know what I’d do.

  I make my way to the front of the house as the male speaks again. “If I’d been a better person in the beginning, I wouldn’t need to save you now. Consider it all a long overdue gesture. “

  “Lisa, is that you?” I call out to le
t my presence be known.

  “Sandra?” she asks.

  “Yeah,” I say as I step into view. “The press were everywhere when I got here, and I couldn’t get out with Perry so I just stayed. He’s in the backyard…” I pause as my eyes take in whom she’s with. Jonathan Masters. Great. My first impression of him was not good at all. He was snappy with me, and he was swearing at me. So I’m not very fond of him. But, knowing the attention span of male celebrities, I doubt he even remembers who I am. So I decide to behave as though I’ve never seen him before.

  “You…you’re… oh wow,” I say, feeling proud of my own acting abilities. “It’s really nice to meet you in person.” I walk toward him and extend my hand, shaking his in greeting while completely ignoring his response and leaning toward Lisa to speak. “You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”

  She nods and then introduces me to Jonathan who is looking at me quizzically–perhaps he does have a memory longer than a goldfish…

  “This is Sandra. She’s a reporter, so be careful what you say,” Lisa says with a wink for my benefit, which causes me to roll my eyes. We both know I’d never write up anything to do with gossip. It’s just not what I do.

  Jonathan laughs. “Are you serious? You’re running from reporters and there’s one staying in your house. I hope the irony isn’t lost on you here.”

  “No it’s not. But Sandra is my best friend. She’s not here to write a story.”

  “Whories over stories,” I say, tapping my fist to my heart before giving the peace sign with my fingers as I nod, causing Lisa to relax and laugh a little.

  “Since when is that a saying?”

  “Since just now. Ho’s before Bro’s didn’t fit, so I made one up. I think it might catch on,” I tell her as a matter-of-fact.