AllFreeNovel
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He’d assumed the sprawling mansion would become their home in the next few weeks. While in Italy, he’d arranged to have the place cleaned, the pool treated and ready for skinny-dipping. He’d stocked the pantry with their favorite bonbons. He’d pictured the moment he opened the front door, and Harper—being Harper—would give him shit for living in such a hoity-toity house with every fancy-pants convenience before wrapping her arms around his neck, twisting her lips into a sexy smirk, then demanding he screw her brains out on every flat surface.
If that wasn’t one hell of a dream scenario, then he didn’t know what was.
But none of that had transpired, and here he sat, alone in a dusty garage.
He cringed as he plucked at the strings like his fingers were covered in peanut butter.
“That sounds like absolute shit.”
He startled, then peered at the doorway and nearly fell off the stack of crates. “Mitzi?”
“You’re lucky it’s me and not the crap music police,” the woman fired back, but her sarcastic tone couldn’t hide the concern in her gaze.
“How’s the tooth? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” he said, coming to his feet.
She waved him off. “I’ve got enough ibuprofen in me to lose a toe and not know it. I’ve rested long enough. We need to talk, LB. I’ve been looking for your ass for the last seventy-two hours. I was just at your house. Why haven’t you responded to my emails, texts, and calls? I came up here as a last resort.”
He looked away. “Me too.”
She leaned against the door frame. “You’re ignoring the world, is that it?”
He toyed with the guitar’s C string, then fiddled with the tuning pegs. “I left my phone in the rain, and the water damaged it.”
“You didn’t think to get another one?”
He stopped tormenting the guitar. “I’ve been trying to limit my thinking.”
“I figured as much,” she murmured.
“What does that mean, Mitz?”
She cocked her head to the side. “You don’t know, do you?”
Ice crackled down his spine.
Had something happened?
In his wallowing and self-loathing, his judgment had blurred, and he’d neglected his responsibilities. Aria was with Tomás and Bess, but he’d taken custody of the kid. He couldn’t disappear like an indulgent pop prick anymore. Not to mention, he was still married. What kind of douche nozzle put his needs above his wife’s happiness?
Oh, that’s right, he was that type of douche nozzle.
“What’s going on, Mitzi? Is it Aria?”
“Aria’s fine. I spoke with Tomás yesterday.” His manager pursed her lips. “It’s Harper.”
A knot formed in his belly. “Is she okay?” he rasped, his voice a scrape of a sound.
Mitzi dusted off a folding chair and took a seat. “That depends on how you defineokay. She’s all over the internet. The day before the two of you were set to head back to Denver, she showed up at an airport in northern Italy. From the looks of the pictures and videos splashed online, she was identified the minute she walked in. Word is, the Italian press and paparazzi were already camped out waiting to get shots of the two of you leaving the next day.” Mitzi pulled her cell from her tote and handed it to him. “The press loves a lovers’ quarrel. When Harper showed up by herself, looking distraught, they pounced on her. She put up a strong front. That gal has one hell of an iron resolve, but you know how the press can be. They hounded her. She ended up locking herself in a bathroom stall until her flight to Denver boarded. But they followed her into the ladies’ room. There are pictures of her feet from where the photographers got down on the floor to get a shot.”
He’d known that kind of hysteria, but he hadn’t experienced it alone. He’d been with Trey and Leighton.
“Dammit,” he whispered. He scrolled through the pictures, and the screws on the vice clamped around his heart tightened. It killed him to see her like this. He handed Mitzi her phone. “Italy was supposed to be a game-changing trip for us.”
His manager’s expression softened. “The game changed, kid, but it doesn’t look like it changed in your favor. What happened?”
“This happened,” he answered and picked up the contract. “It’s the contract for—”
“—the new music under Luxe Media and Entertainment. I know,” she said, interrupting him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t handle that for you.”
