AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The crowd laughs again, probably assuming this is scripted. They’ll never understand. What they see is what they get with these guys.
“Anyway,” Ryder continues, shoving Maddox away. “We knew we needed people to run this shit, and we…” he coughs obnoxiously as he says, “Maddox—finally stopped putting it off.”
“Let me go,” an ear-piercing shriek interrupts Ryder.
Everyone turns, and my jaw drops when I see Krista being taken away in handcuffs. The woman is literally making a spectacle as she kicks at the officers and screams at the top of her lungs. “Do you know who I am? Maxwell!”
Davis breaks through the crowd, his dark eyes wide and face red as he chases after them. When he tries to pass us, Liam grabs his arm. “You might want to listen to this before you drop money for her bond.” I watch with shock as he sticks a USB into the man’s suit pocket and pats it. “It will probably be a hefty one.”
Henry subtly sticks his fist out when the man continues following them, albeit more hesitantly now, and Liam bumps it with his, then wraps his arm back around me. “What was that?” I ask, but all I get is a nod back toward the stage.
“Never a dull moment in our lives,” Maddox says with a smug smirk, nodding toward Liam. “Anyway, everyone, welcome your new team… Or some of them, anyway. Your new executive VP of marketing, Thaddeus Reynolds.”
My head snaps to Liam. “Did you do that?” He doesn’t respond. Again. But I know it had to be him. He knows, after our fake wedding went to shit, Thad’s dad made good on his word, but the only explanation for how he would suddenly appear at Sin Records is Liam.
“Our new public relations managers, Callista and Olivia Masters, and no, it’s not nepotism if they’re the best.” Everyone laughs. “And anyone who knows us—”
“You,” Dane coughs in his hand.
“What the fuck? Is it gang up on Maddox Day? Fine. Anyone who knows me knows I only want the best. Which brings me to our new Chief Legal Officer, Jonathan Rivers. And finally, as much as I argued we didn’t need one, our new CEO, Graham Davis.”
Oh shit.
“But none of that is why we’re here. This is a fucking party, and it’s not complete without music. And since this party is celebrating the release of Tiger Lily who better to entertain us than the singer-songwriter herself. So get your ass up here and wow us, Lily.”
I’m picking my jaw up off the ground. Again.
Four guys replace the five on the stage, settling behind instruments. “Come on, girl,” Dylan says into the microphone. “This is your show, not ours.”
Liam looks at me with a grin. “Go show them what you got.”
****
Sweat drips down my face, ruining my makeup, but I couldn’t grin wider if I tried as the members of Jacob’s Ladder hit the last note, then step away from their instruments. I thank Dylan, Wyatt, Corey, and Knox as they exit the stage, but my eyes are on the man sitting on the stool next to me, accepting the guitar from Maddox with a smile.
His eyes meet mine, and I think my heart stops. He hasn’t played for anyone but me in years. This is still for me, but it’s with an audience. And one person standing in front of the makeshift stage looks like she might burst into tears as she covers her mouth, watching her dad adjust the guitar.
Wait until she realizes he’s going to sing too.
The lights go down on this sixty-floor skyscraper. Voices become hushed. You can hear a pin drop. Goosebumps skate across my flesh, and my heart hammers in my chest.
Then his fingers dance across the strings with such delicate precision it takes my breath away.
I get so caught up in the beautiful music he wrote for my song I almost miss my cue.
The words pour from my soul.
This song isn’t from my lost days. It’s not angry or sad, and it’s also not about the great sex we have.
It was written from my heart to his.
Enduring, fighting down on your knees
Baby, you are the wonderwall
Yes, I know what he’s been saying all this time with that song, but he needed to see the truth. He never needed to be saved. It was me who needed to be rescued.
When the song is over, I glance over my captivated audience, holding my breath. My eyes find my brother, who stands with Josephine, our parents, our stepmom, and two half-brothers, all sharing proud grins. Not far from them are his friends—my friends, too, I realize—who all give me nods of approval.
