“You know you could skip the conference and do an interview with—”
“I know. I just don’t want to.”
“Okay! I’ll take this to the label and see what they say.” Marissa sighed. “There’s also the tiny problem with the rest of your contract.”
Luca frowned. “Get me into that boardroom. I’ll handle it.” There was a certain tone in his voice I hadn’t expected. “And tell our so-called manager that he’s fired.”
Marissa gasped. “W-What?”
“Who do you think told me that going to a doctor would be a waste of time while on tour? Who tried to talk me out of it every time? Whowasn’t even there?”
Ouch. I hadn’t known that.
“Jesus Christ,” Marissa breathed. “I knew he was a hands-off kind of manager but—”
“There’s a reason I don’t ever talk about him or communicate with him if I don’t have to. He started to lose interest in Kaiju when he found those girls to form Sakura Spirit with.”
Ah. Sakura Spirit was this weird kind of American music industry goes KPop with Japanese American singers. So American JPop? Either way, it wasn’t my genre. Kaiju’s oftentimes gritty rock had been it for me since I first heard them more than five years ago.
“Okay. I’ll… I’ll do that. But you might want to, I don’t know, change your number or something.”
Luca was still vibrating with anger on my lap, so I cleared my throat. “We can handle that, easy.”
“Good. I’ll get back to you as soon as I have something.”
“If I don’t answer, I don’t have my phone, so email me or if it’s urgent, call Rian. He’ll send you my new number too,” Luca said tiredly.
“Can you try to contact Q and Mila at some point?” she asked gently. “Just try. I know they’re both waiting for you on this.”
“Yeah. I’ll… I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask, Luca.” She sighed, then sounded a bit choked up again when she added, “I’m just so fucking glad you’re alive.”
Luca let out an equally emotional sounding chuckle. “Me, too.”
I piped up with, “Me three.”
After more chuckles, Marissa sighed again. “Talk to you later.”
“Bye.” Luca ended the call and put the phone on the windowsill. Then he snuggled closer to me again and let go of all the tension.
“Is it difficult being the front man of a band like Kaiju? In general and in this situation?” I asked quietly, gently massaging his scalp with my fingertips because there was no hair to run my fingers through.
He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, almost like a cat pushing its head into being scratched.
“It wasn’t hard really… just…. It bothered me when journalists and some fans saw Kaiju and Luca as one and the same, you know? I was nothing without the others. We were friends who had a band and then hit it big.” He sighed, and I watched as his insanely long lashes fanned on his pale skin. “But right now? I don’t even want to think about it all. I’m not ready. I’ll fuck those label assholes up if they try to give us trouble, though.”
I chuckled, and he finally opened his eyes to look at me. “What?” I smiled.
“This caretaking mode looks good on you, Max,” he whispered, eyes filling with something new. Something…more.
My heart began to gallop, and then the moment was broken by Cindy who scratched the door to be let in.
Luca chuckled and smoothly got off my lap, leaving me conflicted and… and looking at his body as he practically floated to the door to open it for Her Highness.
I was in trouble. But I wasn’t sure where we stood and what… what could be.
I really needed to talk to my brother about this and hopefully soon.
