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An image flits across my mind—a whole stadium full of people, of light, with electric guitar strings rioting in the air and my voice cascading over it all.
Focus, I warn myself.
Before I know it, it’s the last chorus. I’m hardly even conscious anymore. It’s the strangest feeling in the world. A few people even start singing along to the lyrics, a medley of voices rising into the air.
I stare at Liam, my heart soaring, his smile matching the joy that flurries through me.
“He took all the blame. He drove me insane. But again and again, he pretends he can be tamed. So I cried and I raged and he broke off my chains. Oh, oh baby, I soak all my pain in hope and champagne. Oh, yessss. I soak all my pain in hope and champagne.”
I feel like bursting into tears when the last acoustic string is plucked.
I stand there, frozen in the spotlight, wondering if I’m imagining the sea of light that shines back at me.
Everything is silent for a moment, and then Liam steps forward and brings his huge hands together, clapping like thunder. Less than a second later, the whole place erupts into a cacophony of clapping and cheering and whistling.
I stare down over it all, tears streaking down my cheeks.
“Thank you,” I murmur into the microphone. “Thank you all so much.”
I turn and walk off stage. I can’t hear the sound of my shoes anymore over the clapping noises. I walk backstage, letting out a shivering breath, leaning against the wall as I struggle to believe that all the noise coming from the club is for me.
“Miss Fitzgerald,” a man says, approaching.
He’s wearing a black T-shirt and he holds a clipboard. He’s got a headset on. I think I remember him from before. He’s one of the sound guys.
“Yes?” I murmur.
“Mr. Larson would like you to follow me, please,” he says.
The hair pricks on the back of my neck. Is this one of Quinn’s men?
I’ve got no desire to fall back into all that messiness.
“He said to tell you he wants to build a second set of lights, just for you this time,” the man says. “He said you’d know what that meant.”
I giggle and a smile spreads across my face. He’s talking about the light show at the lodge. That was so recent, and yet it feels like a century ago. I feel like a different woman.
“Okay,” I tell him. “Lead the way.”
The man leads me down the hallway and then up a flight of stairs. The main act is on the stage now. They play fast-paced music, perfect for dancing, and the bang-bang-bang of it reverberates through the whole club. The man opens a door for me at the end of a long corridor, waving a hand inside.
I peer past him, my heartbeat picking up speed again.
It’s pitch-black in there.
I can’t see a thing. There’s a sweet scent in there, like summer, like nature.
“Liam?” I call.
“Come in, Lola,” he says from within the darkness. “Well—only if you trust me.”
I step forward immediately, swallowed by the darkness. The door closes behind me and I’m left standing in this new lightless place.
The room feels smallish, the air cool and wide. I can hear Liam breathing across from me, maybe ten or twenty feet away.
“What is this?” I ask.
“It’s us,” he says passionately. “It’s what brought us together. It’s love, Lola.”
Love.
The word thunders into me.
As if triggered by his words, soft red light starts to shine from all over the room. I can’t see where the light is coming from. It’s like it comes from nowhere and everywhere, flooding the room until everything is tinged Valentine’s red.
There must be hundreds of rose petals, thousands. They’re scattered everywhere, all over the floor, hanging from the walls by red string. There are so many rose petals, they become the floor, the wallpaper, the everything. They spill all over the table beside which Liam stands.
He’s changed into a Valentine’s-red tux jacket, a rose sticking out from his suit pocket. His eyes gleam in the red lowlight, his smirk dancing.
“I love you, Lola,” he growls, stalking toward me, his shoes silent on the bed of rose petals. “I love you more than I ever thought a man like me could love. I love you as if I’ve known you my whole life. I feel like I have known you my whole life. I love you. And I’m so proud of you.”
“I love you,” I gasp, collapsing against him when he reaches me. I wrap my arms around him and squeeze on tightly. “I didn’t know if you felt the same. I mean, everything has moved so fast, and … And I’m rambling. I love you. I love you, Liam.”
My voice breaks and a sob of pure joy cracks in my throat.
“My Lola,” he whispers, leaning down to bring his face closer to mine. His warm breath caressing me. “I loved you the moment I saw you on the runway. And I should’ve done this then.”
