The three of them squawk, snorting at their own joke. A pang of envy pierces my chest. While I’ve been away, the bond between them has grown strong.
I’m just not sure now where I fit in.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
JAYDEN
I pace the plush polished floor of Richard Lambert’s office at Diamond Records. When I was summoned by the CEO, I wasn’t stupid enough to think it was because he missed me while I’ve been on tour.
‘Jayden, I hate to say it, but you’re attracting a lot of attention and none of it positive.’ His thin pale lips wrap around a three-hundred-dollar cigar before sucking deeply.
My gaze casts over the bustling, circus-like city below. ‘Believe me, I know.’
Richard blows out a long, slow breath before stubbing out the remainder of the cigar in a crystal ashtray on his humongous desk. ‘I’ve always had a soft spot for you and your brother, you know that.’
‘I do, sir. And we both appreciate what you’ve done for us over the years.’ If Richard hadn’t dragged us out of the gutter, god only knows where we’d be now. One of his scouts saw Ryan and insisted Richard take him on, and me, in the process.
‘You know we prize our reputation here at Diamond Records above everything. Without our reputation, we’re nothing. That’s why we only sign the best and we expect their people to keep them on the straight and narrow and out of the headlines for the wrong reasons. But now we’ve got a cowgirl virgin turned porn star and a Disney drug addict. That’s before we even get to your family situation.’
I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes as I attempt to summon something, anything, to make this better.
The truth is, there isn’t anything. I’ve been back in LA for three days and I’m no closer to finding out who’s responsible for this apparent vendetta against me.
Thankfully, Mia’s back to full health and has been cleared of all charges. A CCTV tape showed two men breaking and entering her apartment with suspicious looking packages. But if Diamond Records drops her, no one else on this earth is going to take the risk of signing her.
Meanwhile, Gareth pulled off Naomi’s PR stunt seamlessly, and her team has offered access to the media of her recently announced wedding to turn the focus of her story around.
And Ryan and I are still navigating our way around the drama our father’s caused, but at least we persuaded him to release a statement from prison, clarifying that we knew nothing about the car crash that killed Chloe’s parents.
‘The tragic thing is none of it is true. Mia and Naomi were framed.’
‘Both of them?’ Richard arches a wild, bushy eyebrow.
‘Come on, they’re great artists. You’ve seen how talented they are.’
‘They’re a liability to the company. It kills me to say it, but you’re on your final warning, Jayden. If I so much as hear a whisper of another scandal surrounding you, or any of the artists you represent, I’ll have no choice but to drop them.’ He pours himself a scotch from a decanter on his desk and sniffs it before adding, ‘And you.’
‘It won’t happen again.’ I nod before excusing myself, hating that once again, I just made a promise that I might not be able to keep.
With my phone pressed to my ear, I sling a few outfits into my Samsonite suitcase.
I’m not due in Ireland until next week, but I’m gate-crashing Victoria Sexton’s eighteenth birthday party, purely because I can’t sleep straight for thinking about Chloe. Apart from the scandal circling both our families, I have a feeling she might need a bit of moral support returning to the home she’s avoided for years.
Our usual flirty phone calls have been subdued. She’s distant. I don’t know if it’s being there or if she’s mentally withdrawing from me because our secret arrangement’s approaching its inevitable end.
Either way, I don’t like it. I didn’t mean to get involved. I’m not supposed to care.
How am I supposed to save both Lula and Chloe?
The pile of untouched documents sitting on my bedside locker glares at me.
‘Are you there?’ Declan’s voice resounds through the receiver.
‘Yes.’ Physically I am, anyway. Mentally, I’m all over the shop. Lula is due back from Mexico today. Another reason I wanted to hop on the first flight to Ireland. I can’t face her right now. It’s not her fault that the promises I made to her to keep her in this country are jeopardising my one true shot at happiness. I’m so relieved I found her, but I’m not sure I can pretend it’s not costing me something I never even believed in until I got to know Chloe, anyway.
‘I have a few more questions for you.’ Declan drags me back into the moment. ‘I’m aware of each and every threat to Ryan over the previous ten years, but has anyone ever threatened you specifically before?’
It’s an obvious question, one I’ve asked myself a hundred times over the past week.
