Page 243 of Fame & Chaos

“I can’t.”

“You have to.”

“I have to get to Indi.”

“No.” I stop pacing and stare at him. “If you leave Germany now and Sasha goes to the police, it’ll look like you’re running.”

“I don’t fucking care!”

“You will if the authorities decide to charge you.”

I close my eyes and drag a hand through my hair, trying to force my thoughts into some kind of order, but everything keeps circling back to Indi. “Dad, she’ll leave.”

“I know.”

“You know exactly what she’s like.”

“I do.”

“And if I get back in two weeks, she will be gone.”

Dad sighs. “Maybe. But if you leave now and this blows up, you could lose far more than your relationship.”

I laugh bitterly. “I don’t give a shit about my career.”

“This isn’t about your career, son. His voice softens. “This is about your future.”

The fight drains out of me all at once, and I lower myself onto the edge of his bed, dropping my head into my hands, feeling every ounce of exhaustion crash over me now that the adrenaline has finally started to fade. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

Dad sits beside me, resting his forearms on his knees. “Right now? You stay here.” I don’t answer. “You think clearly, you wait to see whether Sasha reports this, and you let me deal with the rest.”

My laugh is humorless. “While Indi sits in London thinking I’ve betrayed her.”

“I know.”

“She’ll hate me.”

“I don’t think she could ever hate you, Caleb.”

“She won’t need to.” I stare blankly at the carpet. “Walking away will hurt just as much.”

Silence settles between us.

The reality of everything I’ve done begins pressing down on me all at once.

Sasha.

The police.

The media.

The tour.

The band.

My family.

If this gets out, it won’t just destroy me. It will drag everyone else down with me.