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“You’re excited?”
“Why are you so miffed every time I’m happy instead of miserable?”
“Sorry.” I meant it, genuinely. “I’m glad you’re happy, of course. And it does make me feel better about things. I guess I wish I could feel more like you about everything. It’s just feeling like one thing after another at the moment. Since that book with Apollo went viral, everything from there had just... spiraled.”
“Do you regret it?”
I thought of him referring to the ‘curse’ of knowing him. I didn’t know how to get it through his thick head that I didn’t think of him as a curse at all. Even when he’d dumped me and dropped me from the tour. I’d been pissed at him, sure. But I didn’t think he wascursed.
I stroked my hand down his cheekbone, his sharp jawline where the stubble grated pleasantly against the back of my hand. “No. I don’t regret any of it. Because it brought us back together. How could I?”
“Exactly my feeling.” Sylvester smiled with relief, then a little mischief crept into it. “I’d have you write all manner of books filled with lies and slander about me if it meant you got to stay here in my arms like this.”
I smirked. “I could do without the lies and slander, personally.”
“Oh good. I did mean it, but I was kind of hoping we could do without the slander.”
Needleheadand Felix agreed to accompany us to the mountains. All of them, I think, were glad to be getting out of the city. For an extrovert, Sylvester had sure surrounded himself with a bunch of introverts. I guess that’s what you got for being anartiste.
I hung out at Sylvester’s apartment while he and Felix packed. My own apartment had been ransacked, but Sylvester had sent a team of his security staff to go and pick up some things for me.
When they arrived, I ran to meet them at the door, scouring the bags and boxes they were carrying for the one thing I really cared about. I breathed a sigh of relief when the last guy into the hallway rounded the corridor holding my most prized object.
“My guitar!” I held my hands out for it like I was holding my arms out for a baby or puppy.
Behind me in the apartment, Sylvester chuckled in amusement, and helped his security team put down the boxes. “People are gonna think you’ve moved in with me.”
I strummed happily at the strings of my guitar, pleased it had been undamaged in the ransacking. “Except we’ll be hidden deep inside the mountains. Maybe we’ll disappear forever, like Priscilla Lamb.”
Sylvester pulled a face. “No thanks. Imagine being locked up with only Apollo for company for over three decades. I’m surprised she isn’tmoreinsane.”
We didn’t know exactly what Priscilla had been doing all this time, but it did seem like she must have kept herself pretty hidden since no one had seen or heard anything from her since she had disappeared.
Felix padded into the living room. “C’mon, guys. Go and get some rest. If we’re getting up in the middle of the night, we’ve still got time to get a few hours of sleep in.”
Sylvester nodded and held out his hand for me to take. He led me into my bedroom, where he’d brought the boxes of my clothing that they’d retrieved. I sorted through them for some kind of nightgown while Sylvester entirely disrobed beside me. Seeing him naked still did things to my innards that I couldn’t explain nor control. I must have looked for too long because Sylvester wagged his finger mischievously. “Now, now. Don’t be looking at me like that. We’ve been told we absolutely, absolutely must get some rest. And we wouldn’t want to upset Felix now, would we?”
I gave up looking for clothing to wear and launched myself at him across the room, pulling him onto the bed. He wriggled in my grasp like a fish out of water, even though he could definitely overpower me if he wanted to. Eventually, though, we were sensible enough to switch the lights out and get some sleep. I slept peacefully for a few hours in Sylvester’s warm, safe embrace until our alarms went off. We promptly got up, grabbed our bags, and went outside to take a car to our next location.
All of us gathered, in the dead of night, at Jude’s house in the suburbs. He had the biggest garden, and his daughter Olivia was apparently excited to see a helicopter, since she’d heard so much about them from Uncle Sylvester. The helicopter was already waiting when we arrived, and the whole family came out, adorably in their pajamas, to wave us off.
I watched Sylvester greet Olivia and take her on a quick tour of the helicopter. He had such an ease with kids. He had such an ease with everyone, I supposed. Watching him make Olivia laugh, I could see he’d make a really good dad, if he decided he wanted to coparent this kid inside me. I wished I had the same faith in me as a mother.
Jude fixed me with a firm look before I boarded. “You stop him from doing anything ridiculous, won’t you?”
I smirked. “I mean, we’re flying in a helicopter to hide out in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But if anything more ridiculous than that crops up, I’ll let you know.”
Jude smiled. “You look after yourself too, Luna. I look forward to getting to know you better after all this drama is over.”
Besides him, his wife nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! And we’re looking forward to hearing you play at the concert. We’ll be watching remotely if Sylvester keeps his promise and sets up a little viewing camera for us.”
Despite the Brock brothers’ wealth and status and privilege, I could tell that the four of them meant a lot to each other. It was nice to see. All I’d known about the three of them – Forest, Jude, Winston – before was what Apollo had told me, and what they’d categorically said was almost entirely lies.
All of us – Winston’s family,Needlehead, the twin brothers, and me – bundled into the helicopter and waited in anticipation. I don’t think any of us, minus Sylvester, had ever spent any time at length in a helicopter.
Winston shook his head at Sylvester, buckling Max, who was vibrating with excitement, into the seat between him and his wife, Monica. “I can’t believe you’ve talked us all into using your damn helicopter again, Sylvester. Any excuse.”
“Well, it’s too late to back out now! Everyone ready?”
