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Ty scowls at me but finally backs off.
Stan shakes his head, crosses his arms over his massive chest, then looks at me. “I’m going to ignore what you’ve just said, Lo. I know you’re upset and don’t mean any of it.”
He lets his arms drop to his side and gets this fake-sad look on his face. “Look, I get it. Hell, I lost my wife a few years ago over this job. She didn’t like all the hours I had to put in for this job, and I couldn’t live with all her bitching. I’m sure if you can talk to your baby-momma, you can explain what it means to be a part of your unique life.”
“Yeah — not gonna happen. There are plenty of people in the spotlight who refuse to allow their families to be brought into that light. You can count me as one of those types of celebrities. So, again just so we are all clear on this. Either my family is out of the media by tonight, or I’m out of the label.”
Ty’s eyes go wide. “Now, just wait a minute, Lo. You have responsibilities to the label who has supported you all these years. You can’t just flush all that down the toilet just for some bitch.”
My blood boils and my hands clutch into fists.
“First of all, the label hasn’t supported me. I’ve been carrying all of your asses on my shoulders. I’m done! Second of all… “I step right up to Ty and get in his space. “If you ever call Lucy a bitch again, I will hurt you. That is a promise, you stupid fuck!”
Two sets of hands hold me back, as Ty cringes and goes for the door. “I’ll leave you guys to talk to him.” Running out of the room like a pussy, he slams the door behind him.
Stan tries to be the voice of reason, as they both let me go. “Lo, please be reasonable. You can be huge, make even more money. Think about it. Just selling all those tickets and not having to split the earnings with the other guys. How can you not want that? Don’t throw it all away when you have a family who needs you.”
“My family is none of your fucking business. Haven’t I made myself clear enough?”
“We got off on the wrong foot here, Lo.” Jerry takes a seat at the little table, and I notice a packet as he picks it up. “We have already set up interviews for you to help launch your solo career. We’re changing your entire profile, Lo. For one, you will become Apollo and take on the role of family man. We are rebranding you, Lo. We all thought you would be happy about this.”
“Happy? How can I be happy when you are fucking up my life left and right? And I’m sure my bandmates won’t be happy either when they’re given the news that you want me to leave the band. What are they supposed to do then?”
Jerry and Stan start to talk at the same time, but I just hold up my hand.
“Don’t bother. All you need to know is that you have to get those videos and pictures of my family down by tonight or my lawyers will have a field day. And regardless, I’m not going solo. I’ll either stay with the band and once this contract is up in a few months, I’m done with this label or, if you don’t do your jobs and protect my family from the media, tomorrow, I’m coming after the clothes on your bodies. And I won’t stop until I ruin each and every one of you personally.”
20
Lucy
Using a couple of Apollo’s hoodies and some sunglasses, we are able to sneak out of the hotel and go back to my apartment.
As soon as we’re inside, I lock the door.
“Make yourself at home, Lani. I’m just going to put her in bed.”
Poor Aurora is exhausted and fell asleep on the ride here.
When I get back to the living room, I sit on my couch and scroll through my phone, finding more videos of us.
Apollo is with us in every video, but he seems unaware that anyone is taking the videos.
“Do you think this was something his label asked him to do? Or was he just as clueless as me? I mean, if he knew, I would have told me, right?”
Lani scooches over to sit right beside me and puts her arm over my shoulder. “That man loves you. I may have had my doubts at first, but he has done all you asked him to do. And he has stuck around. Besides, he told you how his label treats him. Do you really think he’d do something like this to you or Aurora?”
“You’re right. But what if this is something I can’t live with? Especially with all the lies being told about me. All the hate being thrown my way. How long until it affects my daughter too?”
I can’t let that happen. My daughter needs to be protected, not shoved under the media attention like cannon fodder.
I shake my head as she grabs my hand. “He’s one thing. I can understand that being in the spotlight is part of his stage persona. That’s okay with me. But our private life should be just that. Private.”
Tears start streaming down my face.
“I don’t know what to do now. How can we move on from this? Can we even be together when my daughter is getting this exposed? She is still too young and doesn’t notice it yet, but if we go on, soon she’ll get some backlash too. And it might be just as nasty as mine.”
“It’s okay, Luce. Things will work themselves out. You and Apollo should both sit down and have an open conversation about all of this. It will do you both good to know each other’s fears and expectations for what’s to come.”
