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Jaxon laughs, striding toward the door. “Since always, fucktard!”
“Count me out.” I push my hair back out of my face. “I’m gonna head home and work on that second verse of ‘Flight Town.’ There’s still something missing and I just can’t seem to put my finger on it. I’ll happily celebrate on my own with a bottle of Johnny Walker’s finest. ”
I’m met with a chorus of whining and complaints, but thankfully Nick chooses that exact moment to walk back into the studio again. He slams the sound booth door closed so hard and fast behind him that it practically snaps clean off the hinges.
We all turn to look at him.
What the fuck?
His eyes are no longer filled with excitement or anticipation of the upcoming tour. Instead they’re menacing, and his dark brows descend like the threatening storm clouds outside. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so pissed off before.
He’s staring straight at me with an ice-cold gaze.
Shit.
What have I done this time?
I mentally run through the checklist of no-no’s he’s put in place for us lately. I haven’t bad-mouthed the press. I haven’t ripped into any journalists. I haven’t slept with any groupies. No drunken altercations. No unplanned pregnancies–because apparently that one wasn’t obvious enough not to have put in writing–thank you very much, Kael. No gambling debts. No naked bathroom selfies. No drugs. No swearing on live television. No fighting. No brawls. No jail time.
“We need to talk,” he says.
Oh yeah, he’s really pissed off about something. He glares back at me for a few more seconds, making the deep lines between his brows intensify to the point where it looks like his head’s about to explode.
“That was Delaney on the phone.” The bitter tone quickly morphs into real and threatening anger.
Damon Delaney, the label’s attorney. This can’t be good news.
“He received an email this morning from a lawyer in Brooklyn. An accusation has been made against you.”
It takes a moment for the word to register.
Accusation?
The sound echoes around my head, settling over me like a dark cloud, the implications foggy and uncertain. I look across at the guys. They’re all frozen in place, watching on in stunned silence, and that silence is suddenly so thick and heavy within the walls of the studio that it’s practically suffocating.
“Accusing me of what?” I ask.
“The details aren’t entirely clear just yet, but it seems a young lady is accusing you of plagiarism. Copyright. She’s claiming that certain lyrics from Cold Neptune’s last album carry a striking resemblance to a song she wrote four years ago and she wants acknowledgment of any wrongdoing on your part.”
My head jerks back with shock.What the actual hell?
I blink.
Just once.
It’s a really long, slow drawn-out blink, and that blink consumes my emotions for the split second it takes for me not to lose my shit completely.
“You can’t be serious?” I mutter, slightly breathless. “What song? What damn song are we talking about?”
Nick scratches his fingers over his short beard, exhaling slowly before he speaks. He seems to have aged ten years since he walked back into the room.
“Three Two One,” he says quietly.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I bellow. I push off the couch so hard that it slides back and the entire room shakes. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Delaney’s handling things,” says Nick, hands planted firmly on the edge of the table. “We’ll throw some money at her and make it go away. There’s no case been filed as yet, it’s just an accusation, nothing more. And these sorts of things are usually settled out of court well before they are presented in front of a judge. Due to the expense of litigation costs and –”
“Screw litigation!” I yell, slamming my fist down hard against the glass. Anger bubbles up inside me, invading every cell in my entire body until it feels like I’m about to shatter. “I didn’t steal shit from no one. There was no plagiarism, so there will be no litigation. You know what that song’s about, Nick.” I spin around and look straight at Quinn. “Youknow what that song is about. You were there. You know what went down that day. How could I possibly have stolen the lyrics from anyone else? That song is based on real-life events that happened almost twenty fucking years ago!”
