Page 85 of Ravaged For You

Nope.

“What the hell was that with the publicity guy?” I ask her in response. “The guy who’s Maddie’s boss? Winston what’s-his-name?”

“It’s something I’m not ready to divulge yet.”

“Does Chloe know about this guy?”

“No,” Mom replies. “Winston is from a distant time when I was a different woman, long before you and your sister came into my life. You do know I lived a life before you two entered it, don’t you?”

“I know now.”

Maddie’s returning from the bathroom. It’s a long walk from the other side of the restaurant to our table.

I take a sneak peek at her face. No tears this time. The thought that I might’ve said something that upset her forms an unfamiliar ache in my heart.

She hasn’t even made it back to the table when Mom leans over to whisper to me.

“She looks tough. She’s been through a lot. Axel, make sure you take good care of this girl. I like her too much to let anything bad happen to her.”

“Yep.”

“You promise? Maddie doesn’t know the rockstar life. She really doesn’t know what she’s getting into here. Don’t you dare fuck her around, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“I know you, Axel. You told me that you’ve always wanted to live that musician’s life. You wanted to get out of Crystal River. You said you wanted to experience the world as a rockstar. You even got a nickname in the press for your antics. You’ve always protested against relationships, so don’t you dare screw up this one. That girl is a good soul…”

Mom falls silent as Maddie reaches the table.

“Hello, guys. Sorry about that,” my fake girlfriend says. “What are you talking about?”

Oh, she is smart. She knows something’s up between Mom and me.

“Nothing,” I reply. I stand up. Mom watches me carefully. “Let’s go back home. The tour starts tomorrow. First stop’s Canada.”

37

MADDIE

“Now you see what my mother is like?” I ask Axel as he unlocks to door to his hotel suite. “Now you see why I was so worried about her meeting you and Astrid?”

The man chuckles as he collapses onto the couch, exhausted. We’ve been out all afternoon at the concert arena. Drake called Axel straight after we left the restaurant, summoning him to rehearse with the band all afternoon. I decided to come along. I sat up in the seats overlooking the stage, enjoying being a witness to this talented little band play to an empty arena. With only me in the audience, it felt like they were playing just for me.

A few days ago I didn’t know a word of their songs, now entire lyrics are floating annoyingly around my head.

You are everything, girl

Everything to me

“Lunch today was… interesting,” Axel says diplomatically, half-closing his eyes as he rests on the couch. Man, he really looks tired.

“Can you see now why I might be a bit insecure and unable to trust relationships?” I continue.

Axel just chuckles again. He leans his head back against a pillow. “You have absolutely nothing to be insecure about,” he replies in his deep, resonate voice.

I don’t know about that.

I take a seat opposite him with an enormous yawn. Seems like I’m tired too, and I’m not the one who’s been non-stop playing a bass guitar for the last few hours.