It didn’t matter why he felt a sudden need to shelter her. She would only grow if pushed.
Getting up from the computer, he let out a long sigh. He knew what he had to do.
Leaving the studio, he walked down the short flight of stairs and then turned, going down the second flight to where the guest bedrooms were. As he walked to the end, he knew she hadn’t moved rooms because those doors were still open.
This last door was the one she’d slammed earlier.
For a moment, he paused, holding his hand curled in a fist in front of the door. Why the hell did he care so much? He found it somewhat…unsettling.
But he wasn’t going to let her go down in flames forever. Telling the truth might break this girl—but only then could she rise from the ashes, triumphant.
He held up his fist again to knock—and then turned, walking back down the hallway. Stopping again, he forced himself back to her door and, finally he knocked…and then questioned himself all over again.
Chapter 8
Raine knew this process probably wasn’t going to get any easier, but at least, having heard music this man had created, she was able to find more respect for him.
After he’d knocked on the door and asked her if she was ready, they’d gone back in the studio and he handed her a sheet of paper he’d printed. On it were just a few words: Write a lyric that is painfully honest. Just one line.
Painfully honest? She didn’t know that she could right now. After all, the charity concert had proved to her that the world didn’t want to hear the truth. They wanted her to keep doing what she’d always done.
“Look. We just started working together. You don’t like the shit I brought to the table? Fine. We can start from scratch. But—”
“Just one line, Raine. That’s all I’m asking. Look deep in your soul and pull it out. You know it’s in there.”
“So you’re a shrink now?”
This time, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he simply stayed seated in his spot, looking at her, waiting for a real answer. As the seconds ticked by, she tried to think of something else to say, something that might make him rethink his request…or even let her off the hook.
But as he sat there without a word, the silence grew loud.
And she was going to have to do it.
“Um…okay.” Picking up her notebook, she turned to the latest song she’d been working on, the one she hadn’t shared with Quentin.
But he touched the page and said, “Why don’t you do it from the heart? I’ll record it, so, if you like it, you can take it farther.”
Somehow, that made it worse. But she nodded as he flipped a few switches on the board and then he gave her one short nod, letting her know she could do it whenever.
Closing her eyes, she let herself go to the deepest, darkest places inside, connecting with emotions she tried to avoid most of the time. Fortunately, the daily rage she bathed in drowned out most of the other feelings…but therein lay the truth that Quentin wanted her to connect with.
First, she started to hum softly, trying to find a tune.
And then it sprang to life.
* * *
I trusted you because you promised me the world…
* * *
Why was her voice so shaky? But it didn’t matter. Now that she’d opened the hole to the well, the water was gushing out—and he was going to get a lot more than he’d bargained for.
* * *
But you wanted everything in return.
My soul, my heart, my bones, my art.
