“You’re not going anywhere,” Bonnie said as if she’d read my mind.
I glared at her, but she turned to the guys and nodded in their direction.
“Liam is going to get it together and sing right,” she said as her gaze snapped back to me. It was like I was her unruly child who needed a good spanking to get back in line. “We’re going to sing correctly, right, Liam?” she asked raising her eyebrows.
I could hear the don’t test me in her voice, and part of me wanted to poke the bear. My entire body went numb the moment I’d walked away from Sabrina, and I was desperate to feel something. Anything.
But I stopped myself. I was a grown man. I needed to stop wallowing and get my head in the game.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a defiant salute.
I could tell that Bonnie wanted to reprimand me again, but she set her jaw, nodded, and then waved to the band to start.
I didn’t give the rest of rehearsal my all—but I gave it good enough.
As soon as Bonnie called it quits, I replaced my microphone on its stand and made my way offstage. I wasn’t interested in waiting around for Bonnie’s debrief. I wanted to get the hell out of here and away from my life.
I slammed the dressing room door closed and collapsed on the couch. I stretched out with my feet resting on one armrest and my head on the other. I covered my face with my arm and took in deep breaths. I needed to get a grip.
My life sucked.
I felt like I was suffocating. This wasn’t the life I wanted. The two good things that made it worth living were gone, and I was left alone. Again.
With all her talk about wanting to be a family and letting me back into Ana’s life, Katie was out of the picture as soon as Sabrina was. I’d always suspected that her sudden appearance had been out of jealousy. Especially when she showed up right after the tabloids got ahold of Sabrina. I guess I never expected her to stoop so low as to use our daughter to get what she wanted.
I’d been wrong.
Her sudden disappearance also had a lot to do with me telling her I was broke. I had enough money scraped together to appease Frankie, but I wasn’t sure when my assets were going to be released so I could pay the two million she owed him.
She didn’t care that he was threatening our family—and Sabrina—she told me to figure it out. That was what I was good at. I’d stood there, dumbfounded. This woman had gotten me into this mess, and she had no intention of helping me to get out of it. I was supposed to fix this problem that she created with the problems that she created.
If it wasn’t for Ana, I’d have thrown that woman out of my life a long time ago.
But I couldn’t do that, even though I was right back where I’d been before she’d swept back into my life. No relationship with my daughter and no glimmer of hope that one could exist someday.
I’d gone from having people in my life, to having no one.
It sucked.
A firm knock on the door had me dropping my arm and glancing in its direction. I frowned, wondering who was on the other side. I’d heard Bonnie’s knock enough in my life to know it wasn’t hers. There was a strict “no bothering the talent” rule in show business, so I knew it wasn’t someone from the arena.
For a delusional moment, I allowed myself to think that it could be Sabrina coming back, but I shut that thought down as soon as it started to percolate. Sabrina was back in Harmony with Samuel, living her best life. I hoped she was safe and happy.
That was all I cared about.
The knock came again, so I folded my arms and flipped to my side so I was now facing the back of the couch.
“Go away,” I shouted from over my shoulder.
The knock came again.
I sighed and closed my eyes. If this was to be a battle of wills, I was going to win out. Whomever was on the other side of the door could stuff it. The only person I wanted to talk to was the one person who would never come.
I’d made sure of it.
I heard the door open. “Liam?”
I paused as confusion washed over me. That sounded like Sawyer. I peeked with one eye and confirmed my assumption. I debated whether or not I was going to turn around. Never mind the fact that he was in my dressing room when I’d explicitly told him to go away. He was here, and it looked as if he wanted to talk to me.
