“Good.” I rub the furrow in between her eyebrows. “That settles it. You’re stuck with me.”
My heart aches in my chest. Lily is gazing up at me like I’m the key to solving all her problems. I’m afraid I won’t be able to carry it all.
“How do I not let it get to me?” she whispers, her voice breaking.
There is never a correct solution for this because nothing could ever take away the pain of being exploited.
“My biggest advice is to delete social media and don’t search up your name, no matter how tempted you are.”
“What about the paparazzi?”
I cup her face, my thumb brushing the apple of her cheek. “I’m still trying to figure that one out.”
TWENTY-FOUR
ELIJAH
Our album hit number one on the Billboard today.
Number fucking one.
Not sure if this feels so good because my siblings and I accomplished it together with our new team or because it feels like payback to our old management, who are just getting angrier and angrier.
Justin, our old agent, went on a morning television show yesterday. Guess what he talked about.
Us.
I’m not one to get mad when someone runs their mouth about my personality because I know who I am. Yet the shit he was saying went too far.
How we didn’t write any of our music, how we lip-synched and used auto-tune, and—my favorite—how we made up fake backstories to enrich songs. That one was a blade to the chest.
Our fans are demanding we speak about these allegations. Some are defending us, and others are heartbroken. Fay is starting to lean more on addressing these rumors while my siblings and I are still hesitant.
We know our old team like the back of our hands. They’re only doing this for two things—revenge and money. Giving into the allegations and speaking on it will bring them more attention, and that equals money. The greatest revenge for us is being happy. All the ruckus they’re causing just proves they hate that.
Triple Threat and Leonidas stand above me, where I hunch over my laptop in the lounge of the tour bus I share with my brother and Lily. All the girls are playing with Stella in Leonidas’s bedroom. The distant sound of Stella’s little squeals, filled with happiness, behind the door makes me want to barge in and be with them instead.
But I’m stuck out here, trying to figure out a plan.
“I understand you guys don’t want to say anything yet, but if this goes on any longer, they could tarnish your image. Isn’t that important to you?” Rowan stresses, looking at each of us in distress.
“Of course it is, man,” Leonidas groans, plopping down in the booth. “But at the end of the day, it’s their word against ours.”
“Who do you think your fans are going to believe more? You or the old management team they never cared about?” Axel raises a brow.
“People like to believe the worst.” I shrug, being the Debbie Downer.
“You have proof,” Axel argues back, getting in my face.
Scrunching my face at the suddenly close proximity, I push him away in the chest. “Personal space. Ever heard of it?” I say jokingly, noticing his scowl.
“Besties don’t give each other personal space.”
He’s got me there. We high-five like five-year-olds.
“You guys are children—you know that?” Rowan snaps, directing our attention back to him.
“I’ve done things no child would ever do.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
