AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hello,boys, my name is River West, and I’m your new band manager. Congratulations,” I say, cocking my head.
My heart pounds against my ribs. Pain encases my chest, tightening like rubber bands and constricting my air. Every ounce of oxygen stalls in my lungs until I blow out a calming breath, forcing myself to stay in the present—with them—the boys who broke my heart five years ago.
Who knew staring into the eyes of the four exes who screwed you over five years ago after they ran away would be so fucking nerve-wracking. I should despise them. Hate their fucking existence. I should want to see their careers spiral down a dark hole and hit rock bottom as I laugh maniacally at their demise.
Instead, with as much confidence as I can muster, I utter the fourteen words that will forever change our lives and throw us down a wicked path of devastating revelations and wreckage we may not come back from.
Varying degrees of emotions cross their pale faces, sending victorious goosebumps down my spine. Their utter fear empowers me to sweep my gaze around the room.
Callum blinks rapidly like a flickering mirage stands confidently in front of him. And he has yet to believe I’m actually here in person.
My eyes move with ease to Rad, who stares at me with those big, brown puppy dog eyes I used to get lost in for hours and hours on end. Quickly, though, he turns away to study the conference table, avoiding any more eye contact.
Kieran’s face twitches in disbelief, and his jaw pops open. A reddish tint takes over his flesh, starting on his neck, and slowly seeps color onto his cheeks. Sooner rather than later, I see an outburst in our future.
And Asher. My breath catches in my chest, stopping me cold. Never in my life did I think I’d see the day Asher Montgomery would freeze in place with horror lining his face.
An array of feelings slams through me. Fear. Sadness. Utter betrayal. Wide, unblinking eyes look up at me in horror, and disbelief pulls their muscles rigid in their chairs. One by one, the realization of what’s happening slams into their chests, and they’re nothing but frozen men with gazes glued to me—the star of the damn show.
Something deep inside me bubbles with excitement, yet the fear and utter devastation they left behind reside there, too. Reminding me of what happened when I ran to their doorstep with pregnancy tests in my back pocket, begging to see them. I vividly remember Gloria, Kieran’s sadistic mother, answering the door and throwing me a life-changing grenade of knowledge. Kieran, Rad, Callum, and Asher were gone—vanished into thin air without a goodbye or explanation. The most devastating part of it all was the way they left without a word, leaving our child and me in the dust with nothing more than a restraining order forbidding me from speaking with them.
And they knew. They acknowledged the existence of Lyric by having Gloria toss me a check, advising me to ‘get rid of it’ and stating they didn’t want her. They denied my daughter having fathers. Sure, she knows them by name and calls them daddy by choice, but she’ll never have the chance to know them in person unless they step up to the plate. But that’s only if I let them. They can hurt me all they want, but I’ll be fucked if I let them hurt her, too.
Somewhere in my mind, a little voice begs for revenge against the men who callously threw us away like yesterday’s stale bread. Like we had meant nothing to them—like I wasn’t someone important to them. Like I hadn’t had an instrumental impact on their ability to even enter the Battle of the Bands competition—let alone win it.
Oh, how the tables have turned in my favor. No longer am I the scared girl with a baby in her belly and vengeance on her mind. I’m a woman, a mother, and I’ll fucking get what I’m owed. Professionally, of course. I can’t simply destroy these men without consequence. This job, my daughter, and this entire record company are my life force that kept me going when I thought my world had fallen apart. I wouldn’t have made it this far without the loving support of my brothers, Seger and Zepp, and their family. They’ve taken me in and given me everything I’ve ever dreamed of and accepted me as one of their own.
These men are at the root of it all, and karma is quite the bitch when she wants to take back what is owed. Whispered Words will 100 percent get everything that’s coming to them—all in due time, of course. Whether by me or by the universe—Karma is on her way to lay claim.
“How about we get started?” I hum, letting the shocked silence embrace me in a warm hug and revel in their awkward expressions.
“What-what are you doing here?” Asher utters through his shocked expression, gripping his chair so hard, I swear he’d choke it if it were breathing. “Why are you here?” he mumbles again, shaking his head.
I’m the ghost of your fucked up past coming back to haunt you—is what I desperately want to say, but I bite my tongue. I’m a goddamn professional. I won’t let Whispered Words screw up my career. Besides, Zepp and Seger are watching my every move from behind the damn glass.
“So nice of you to ask, Mr. Montgomery,” I say as politely as I can and add, “I’m working.” Shrugging, I set the thick folder my brothers gave me on the conference table and spread their paperwork out for further examination.
Clearing my throat, I drag myself out of my thoughts and focus on the plans before me.
On the outside, I’m completely unaffected by their presence with the right kind of professional smile and squared shoulders. But on the inside, that’s a completely different story. I can act as tough as the next person. But a tornado unleashes my emotions, sending mixed signals throughout my trembling body.
“Working?” Kieran asks in a deep voice. “There’s no way,” he says in a cold tone, tinged with disbelief. “You can’t work here! What the fuck?” he growls, narrowing his eyes at me with suspicion.
“There is a way,” I retort with no emotion, thumbing through a few more pages, finally finding the numbers I should have been able to study yesterday. You know if my stupid brothers hadn’t sprung this on me ten minutes ago. Right, that reminds me. Murder is definitely still on the table. I wonder how my sister-in-law, Kaycee, will take the news when her twin husbands disappear off the face of the planet.
“Relax,” Rad says in a bored tone, forcing himself to stare at the phone clutched in his white-knuckled grip.
“You fucking relax, dickhead,” Kieran snaps. “This can’t be possible.”
“Believe it or not, but I’m standing right here,” I say, still staring at the messy, down-turned numbers lining the page with a crease forming in my brow.
Fuck. This is worse than I thought.
When my brothers, Zepp and Seger, hired me, I never imagined it would lead to this. I completed my college education, garnered a degree in music business, and set out to make waves within the company with my ideas. The Fixer. I’m the person West Records turns to when a band is on their last leg and needs intervention before they’re expelled from their contracts and kicked out on their asses. We give them a chance at redemption to show us they can still perform and bring in money again. Or else, they’re out.
Over the past three years, since I took on this position, I’ve seen countless bands. Some work hard and regain their contracts, going out to make a new name for themselves. Others, well, they snort coke out of groupies’ assholes and ruin their careers.Looking at you, Break.Idiots.
This time, though, it’s them—Whispered Words. The four men I tried my hardest to forget, which is hard when one of their mini-mes calls me mom. My heart jumps, pounding against my ribs in a rhythmic drumbeat. Lyric. My daughter. His child. My eyes glide across Kieran’s twisted-up face, reddened by boiling anger that’s simmering beneath the surface of his skin. His mismatched eyes, so similar to the little girl who holds my entire heart now, burn into me with hate so visceral a shiver runs down my spine.
