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Seger scowls. “You've got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Chill. We're on it. We’re trying to catch whoever thought it was smart to finish what those idiots started. I'm surprised Grumpy hasn't said anything about it.” She raises a brow when Zepp and Seger freeze, shaking their heads.
“Getting that asshole to tell us anything about his job is like pulling his damn teeth. The only person he'll tell is Kaycee,” Seger says with a scowl. “Fucking prick. You'd think after all these years of living under the same roof, he'd trust us more.”
Olivia snorts. “I'm his partner at the office, and he barely trusts me. Your girl has him by the balls.”
“She has all of us,” Zeppelin murmurs.
Through small talk, I learned that they were married to the same woman—Kaycee. And they had been happily for many years now. But it also included their best friend Chase and another guy named Carter—who works with Olivia. Aka Grumpy.
Jericho's hand clasps mine under the table when we all come to a finish with our meals, and the hired staff clears the table for us.
My leg bounces and I’m nibbling the corner of my nail when Zeppelin reaches under the table and sets a manila envelope down in between us, tapping it a few times.
“When our father died and his lawyer contacted us about the inheritances, we were pretty stunned. The will stated it was our responsibility to hand deliver them to all the West children he knew of. It’s been a task getting in touch with everyone. You were the only one we haven’t met face to face.” Zeppelin offers me a soft smile, sliding the papers toward me.
“Yeah. Our other sister River was the last one we found. She was somewhere in Illinois, slowly rotting away. I think we got to her right on time. She was about to burst with a baby.” Seger shakes his head and twists his face.
“She wanted to come with us tonight to meet you. She’s been working at our record company for a few years now and just couldn’t pull herself away.”
“She works her fucking tail off,” Seger adds.
“Indeed she does,” Zeppelin says with a nod. “We’ll all have to get together sometime soon and have a nice lunch.”
“That would be nice. What does River do at your record company?” I ask, desperate to learn about all my siblings. I feel like I’ve lost so much time being kept in the dark about the money owed to me. My mom robbed me of the time with them, too.
I have family. Real-life fucking family. And I want to know each and every one of them.
"She's our fixer," Zeppelin says with pride.
"Your fixer?" I ask, tilting my head.
"Ah, yeah. Riv takes on these bands who are on their last leg with us. Some of them are having issues making music. Some have issues with substances, and she takes them under her wing to help them get into treatment and start making good music again…"
"Or, they're fucking gone," Seger says, shaking his head.
"Why do you put the extra money into them?" Arrow asks, biting into his last piece of steak with zest. "Shouldn't you just can their asses?" Arrow makes a show of wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand, and when he catches me staring at his antics, he winks.
"Financially, it would be responsible to send them on their way. But we like to believe second chances are just a missed opportunity for improvement," Zepp says, taking a small sip of wine.
"Exactly! Second chances are a fucking opportunity to seize the damn moment and take life by the balls," Seger chimes in, shoving the rest of his steak into his mouth.
"You guys are in charge of Whispered Words, aren't you?" I ask, leaning forward.
I haven't been able to listen to them in a while. Not since I got here. Jericho took my phone and all my music on it. And for some odd reason, I haven't had the need to listen or take my pills. The nightmares are still there, but they're not hounding me as much.
Seger wipes his mouth while nodding. “Yeah. They're under our label."
"They're amazing," I say, leaning my head on my palm. "Any new albums coming soon?"
Seger snorts. "Them? They're falling the fuck apart," he grunts.
Zeppelin gives me a tight smile when my face falls. "Whispered Words is coming to a point in their career where they aren't producing or writing music anymore. They've stalled."
"They're a goddamn mess," Seger mumbles, taking another bite. “They fucking hate each other’s guts.”
Well, that sucks. I love their music so much. Keiran has such soul when he sings that it puts me straight to sleep. It breaks my heart to know my favorite band is circling the drain.
