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Zac looked over his shoulder at her but jerked around in time to slam his hand against Bryan’s chest as he tried to get past. Bryan stepped back, his nostrils flaring and his fists clenched. Zac waited to see if he’d take a shot, but the guitarist took a deep breath and looked around Zac’s shoulder. “Cassie, baby, I have to get ready to go on stage, but I’ll come and see you afterward. We need to talk. I’m so fucking sorry. I never meant—”
Zac felt Cassie draw herself up at his back, a fine tremor running through the wrist he was still holding. “I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want you near me ever again.” Her voice cracked on the last word.
“You have to listen to me. It’s—”
Zac turned his back on Bryan and pulled Cassie a couple of steps down the hallway. He lowered his voice. “Go out to our bus. Tell security I sent you and you need to talk to Maggie, our driver. You’ve got your crew pass, so they’ll get her for you. Tell her what happened and that I said you could stay on the bus until we’ve finished with the after-party. It will give you some space to calm down, and this douchebag won’t be able to get to you. I’ll get Dan to cover for you tonight. Okay?”
Cassie swallowed, then gave him a grateful nod. He let go of her arm, and without another word, she spun on her heel and darted away from them.
He turned and stared Bryan down.
The man took a step back, running both hands through his curly blond hair. “What the fuck is your deal, dude? She’s my fiancée. I have a right to talk to her.”
Zac’s eyes flicked up to see Stella still leaning against the wall, her fingers playing with a pendant on a chain that hung between her breasts. When she noticed him watching her, she gave him a coy smile, dropping the necklace and trailing her fingers down her only partially laced corset to the waistband of her skintight jeans.
He kept his face expressionless, and obviously realizing he wasn’t in the mood for her shit, she dropped her smile and straightened from her languorous pose.
Zac returned his attention to Bryan. “I think you lost any rights when it comes to Cassie as soon as you stuck your dick in someone else.” He couldn’t have kept the contempt out of his voice if he’d tried, so he didn’t.
The muscles in Bryan’s arms and chest tightened. Zac hoped this time the asshole would lash out. The record label wouldn’t be happy at having to replace the opening act mid-tour, but Fractured was the moneymaker, not Blacklite. There were plenty of other up-and-coming bands that would be more than happy to step in and take their place. A strange sense of satisfaction pulsed through him at the thought of sending Bryan and Stella packing.
Unfortunately, the guitarist controlled himself. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Cassie and I… We’ve been together since we were teenagers. We love each other. This was just a… a… I don’t know.” He threw his hands up in the air. “A fucking misstep or something. We’ll talk it through. I’ll explain. She’ll forgive me.”
As devastated as Cassie had looked, Zac doubted it would be that easy. But he was well aware that people did stupid things in the name of love—staying together even when it tore them to pieces. For all he knew, the two of them would be back together tomorrow, though he hoped for her sake that wasn’t the case. Either way, it wasn’t any of his business what Cassie did.
He shook his head, not wanting to look at Bryan anymore. “Maybe. Maybe not. But the least you can do is give her some space. And I’d suggest you prepare to fucking grovel.”
Bryan narrowed his gaze. “She’ll forgive me,” he repeated before turning and stalking back to his dressing room.
Zac watched him go, his lip curling when Bryan stopped next to Stella, inclining his head toward her. She put her hand up to his chest, but Bryan shot a look over his shoulder at Zac, then turned back to her, shook his head, and disappeared into the dressing room.
Stella stared after him for a second, then cast a quick look at Zac before following Bryan in. The door slammed shut behind her.
Zac pulled his phone out and texted Dan, asking him to do double-duty during their show tonight. The man was experienced enough to make it work for one night. Then he continued down the hallway to Fractured’s dressing room.
When he went in, he found Connor, Tex, and Noah sitting at the table playing poker, several glasses of whiskey and bottles of beer scattered around them. It was their usual relaxed pre-show ritual. Lexie, Connor’s pretty, dark-haired wife and the band’s official photographer, was sitting on the couch behind them doing some work on her laptop—probably editing or uploading to the band’s social media.
Connor looked up. “Hey, man. What was going on out there? I would have come out to see what was up, but I’m in the middle of wiping the floor with these guys.”
“The hell you are,” Tex said in his smooth Southern accent.
Zac dropped onto a chair and grabbed an unopened beer, cracking the lid and taking a long swallow before answering. “Just the damn opening act being assholes.”
Connor snorted and looked back down at his cards. “Fucking amateurs. Do we need to do anything?”
“No. But Cassie’s going to be on our bus when we finish up tonight.”
The three men and Lexie all looked up and stared at him. Tex’s brows drew together, his expression turning dangerous. “Is she hurt?”
“Not physically,” Zac replied, the memory of Cassie’s tear-stained cheeks and wounded eyes making him frown. What kind of fucking asshole treated his fiancée, the woman he’d apparently been with since he was a teenager, like that? If you’re not prepared to fucking commit to someone, don’t put a fucking ring on their finger. It was as simple as that.
“What happened?” asked Lexie.
“She caught him screwing Stella in their dressing room. Ran straight into me while she was trying to get away.”
Lexie’s gray eyes widened, then filled with compassion. “Should I see if she’s okay?”
Zac shot her a smile. Lexie was one of the warmest, kindest women he knew. None of them had ever expected Connor to fall for someone. But he had, and at least he’d had the good sense to fall for Lexie.
