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27
PIPER
Because I couldn’t use my voice, returning to the tour was optional for me until I was cleared by a doctor. But after the incredible night of lovemaking with Cannon, the idea of him going back without me wasn’t a possibility I was willing to entertain. Especially after admitting to myself that I was in love with him.
My staying behind didn’t seem like an option for Cannon either, because he was up and had both our carry-on cases packed by the time I dared to crack an eye open the next morning. With Petrova out of the picture, Emmie’s jet was the one waiting for us when we arrived at the airport to fly to the city where our tour was currently stopped.
The entire flight, I stayed cuddled against Cannon as we flipped through the feeds on social media as well as all the entertainment and national news. Petrova seemed to lose another artist every hour, all of them signing with ASM Records. People worldwide were so supportive that they were begging to buy into Emmie and Shane’s company.
Musicians, producers, moguls in every branch of the business world, along with the general public, all wanted to be a part of Ember Armstrong’s latest venture. But she wasn’t willing to hand over any control by selling shares. At least not yet. Maybe not ever.
While everyone was falling all over themselves to support ASM Records, Petrova was fighting to keep his record company afloat—and to stay out of jail. The revelation that he’d kept Laurence’s past interactions with another artist quiet had brought forth other victims, all of whom Petrova had swept under the rug, paying off everyone to keep their mouths shut, and using threats of both ruination and/or violence when money didn’t achieve the desired effect.
Not only was Laurence’s past being investigated, Petrova himself was now under a microscope. The media were all labeling the billionaire record executive Weinstein 2.0, with many older female artists coming forward with horror stories. An itty-bitty part of me almost—almost—felt sorry for Petrova because, with each new allegation, Aunt Emmie’s fire only spiked higher and higher.
We got back to the tour buses with a few hours to spare before that night’s concert was due to start. After dropping off both our cases on my bus, we went into the venue so Cannon could go through the sound check with the roadies. The local band that had been chosen to fill in for me at this particular stop on the tour was already there and excited to prove themselves.
They weren’t so much a band as a husband-and-wife duo that I was introduced to. The two of them had been together since college and had a great vibe from what I could see of their warm-up performance with Hymn and Charlie. Nyx, the wife, had dyed jet-black hair that fell in soft waves to the small of her back. With her mile-long legs and barely there breasts, she could have passed for Kendall Jenner, but her voice was what set her apart from her doppelgänger. Her husband was Stone, and at first, I thought that was just his stage persona, but they both went by their given names.
Stone was an inch or two shorter than his wife, but his personality made up for his lack of height. The guy should have already had a record deal, but to him and Nyx, this was more of a hobby. They preferred their simple life working at their family-owned restaurant and spending time with their four kids, ranging from thirteen down to a two-year-old. Their eldest was the one who had sent Emmie a video of his parents singing along to an older Demon’s Wings song in the car on their last family vacation, after seeing the ads for local bands to fill in for me.
“Pipes,” Cannon called when he saw that I was still standing onstage getting to know Nyx and Stone. “You need to be resting, sugar.”
I waved him off and turned back to the couple. Moments later, my feet were in the air, and Cannon was tossing me over his shoulder. “I told you not to be talking. Your throat and voice aren’t going to heal if you keep using them.”
“She barely said a word,” Hymn tried to assure him.
“One word is too many,” he called over his shoulder. “She’s going back to the bus.”
Making a face at the couple who was watching us with amusement, I waved and allowed him to carry me back to the buses. If I didn’t know he was just trying to take care of me, I would have been pissed. But I knew he loved me and only wanted me to heal as quickly as possible. It was actually kind of sweet and I would never admit it to him, but I liked him being all growly and overprotective.
It was sexy as hell, and I was hoping we could spend the time until he had to go onstage doing things that wouldn’t require either of us to speak for a few hours.
Cannon was nearly at his sister’s bus when he suddenly stopped. I heard him gulp even as he tightened his arm around my legs. Frowning, I turned my head and pushed my hair out of my face, curious what had caused such a reaction in my normally fearless boyfriend.
The pissed-off rocker standing a few feet away looked like a raging bull about to charge at a matador.
“Hi, Dad,” I rasped.
“Pipes,” Cannon warned me to stop talking, and I pressed my lips together in an attempt to do just that.
“Put my daughter down,” Liam Bryant ordered, closing the distance between us. “Now.”
Muttering something under his breath, Cannon carefully placed me on my feet, but he wrapped an arm around my waist, keeping me close. “Dad—”
“Piper.” Cannon cut me off. “Stop talking.”
“Don’t speak to her like that, asshole,” Dad snarled, taking another step into our space. When he did, his eyes went to me and zeroed in on my neck. There was no way not to notice the bruising. Even with my olive complexion, the discoloration was hideously black and blue. “For years, I put the way you treated Piper down to just kids being kids. Then you seemed to have pulled your head out of your ass a few years back, and we thought you were growing up. Turning into a man rather than staying a spoiled little boy who thought the world owed you something. But this?”
He gestured to my neck with a hand that shook, his nostrils flaring in a way I’d never witnessed firsthand before, and I realized he must not have heard the full story. No doubt, he’d gotten on a plane full of anger and hadn’t looked at any social media the entire flight from Australia.
“Dad,” I tried to cut in. “He didn’t—”
“Pipes,” Cannon growled. “Rest your voice. Let your dad have his say.”
“You’re fucking right I’m going to have my say!” Dad roared. “You put your hands on my little girl. She can barely talk from the damage you’ve done. And this time, you don’t have the excuse of being drunk when you hurt someone.”
Cannon’s entire body turned to stone against me, his fingers squeezing my side as his breathing became labored.
“What you did to Violet—”
“Stop!” Cannon yelled. “What happened with Vi has nothing to do with now.”
“Nothing?” Dad laughed dryly. “I saw the bruises, you little shit. I know how many stitches it took to seal the tear inside her mouth. But I’ve been in your shoes. Stoned out of my head to the point that I didn’t know what I was doing. When Ax sent you to military school, I hoped it would be the kick in the ass you needed to turn your life around.”
Cannon began to shake. “I’m a different person now.”
“Don’t lie to yourself, boy. The proof that you’re that same piece-of-shit kid is right there in vivid color on my little girl’s neck.”
I was too dazed from what I was hearing to step in and stop them from arguing. All I could do was stare up at Cannon, pieces to a puzzle I hadn’t realized were missing falling into place. The real reason he’d been sent away. A memory of Violet having purple bruises around her swollen mouth, making her look like a little girl who had been playing with her mother’s lipstick. Violet had never explained what had happened to her mouth, and she’d seemed so unlike herself at the time that I hadn’t pressed for answers.
Had Cannon really done that to her? Had he actually hurt her?
“Uncle Liam!”
Shaw’s voice cut through the air, but I couldn’t look away from her brother as she stomped up to our small group.
“Stay out of this, Shaw,” Dad told her in a hard voice.
“I will not! You obviously don’t know what’s been going on. If you look at any news site, you’ll learn the truth. Cannon didn’t hurt Piper. It was that fucking producer of Petrova’s.”
“You can’t protect your brother this time, Shaw—” Dad started, but she cut him off.
“Cannon broke that bastard’s jaw to avenge her,” she shouted. “He was arrested for attacking that perv, not for hurting Piper.”
She shoved her phone in his face, but I still couldn’t drag my gaze from Cannon. He looked down at me with pleading eyes that looked stark in a face that had lost all color. I could see the truth in those blue depths. He really had done that to Violet. Why, I had no idea, but that he’d done it in the first place had me taking an unconscious step back from him.
“Pipes,” he choked out, sounding like he was the one with the damaged throat.
The pain in his tone mixed with the shame in his eyes gave me pause, but all I could think about was Violet and those bruises. I’d overheard my parents saying she’d needed four stitches to close the wound on the inside of her mouth. I couldn’t picture how she’d gotten hurt like that at first, but then it hit me.
He’d kissed her. Violently.
Nausea churned in my stomach, and even as Dad was stuttering while Shaw gave him hell, I turned and ran back to my bus. Cannon yelled after me, but I didn’t stop until I was inside with the door shut and the manual lock engaged. Breathing hard, I tried to catch my breath, but I couldn’t.
A fist pounded on the door I was leaning back against. “Piper, please,” Cannon called. “Let me explain. Give me five minutes. I’m begging you.”
Shaking my head, I slid down the door and pulled my legs to my chest. I couldn’t make sense of it. The Cannon of the past was merging with the Cannon of the present, and it was turning the love I’d allowed myself to feel for him into something ugly.
Had I let myself be so blinded to everything but the pull I’d always felt for him that I’d forgotten the monster he’d once been?
