“Are you talking about the song I recorded with Tanya?”
“I don’t know her name, but sure.”
“You’ve been listening to my music again?”
“What do you mean ‘again’?”
“Zara mentioned that you never listen to our stuff anymore.”
Ah. I hadn’t even realised my daughter noticed that. She was far more perceptive than the average eight-year-old, it seemed.
I winced. “No, I still don’t listen to it. I can’t …” I trailed off before sucking in a sharp breath. “I saw a clip on your Instagram, but I had it on mute. I only checked because you hadn’t sent me any updates on the catfish, and I thought maybe you might’ve posted something online for your fans.”
“We were going to post a video, but Dad told me to hold back on it for now. He’s working on some other tactic to lure them out, but he won’t fill any of us in on what he’s plotting yet.”
“Oh,” I said, frowning as I stared at the floor and swallowed thickly. “Well, your dad is a genius, so maybe it’s a good idea to let him take the lead on it. What about Alison, though? She might confront the catfish now that she knows they’re a fake.”
“Aunt Lille convinced her not to do anything yet. She’s made up a family emergency, so as far as the catfish knows, that’s the reason she won’t be online for the next few weeks. Keep them off the scent.”
“Right, that’s smart.”
Jace took a step forward. “You could’ve just called me, you know. You can call me anytime, and I’ll be happy to tell you everything that’s going on.”
The gentle cadence of his voice had me bristling. I felt far too vulnerable and exposed. “Okay, well, I’ll do that, then.”
My gaze flicked up just in time to see the soft look in his eyes as he gazed down at me. “I can’t believe you don’t know who Tanya is. She’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world right now. Her album is literally number one in a bunch of countries.”
“You know I don’t follow popular culture,” I said defensively. “It’s always evaded me.”
“Tanya’s also famously a lesbian,” he went on, arching an eyebrow and seeming to savour telling me this particular piece of information. “So, whatever you think you saw in the video is definitelynothappening.”
My cheeks heated as shame flooded me. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself say all that stuff because now I looked like a complete fool. The blonde singer was a lesbian, and yet my overactive imagination had read all this non-existent chemistry between her and Jace. I needed to stay off his social media from now on because I obviously couldn’t be trusted to keep a straight head where he was concerned.
“Right, well …” I trailed off, and his hazel eyes practically glittered as he took me in. “I’m going to get Zara,” I continued at last, turning on my heel and leaving before he could say anything more.
7.
Jace
Unbidden, my gaze trailed after Shannon as she left the room. A smile pulled at my lips. Despite how fucked up the situation was, she’d just revealed that she wasn’t as indifferent towards me as she’d like me to believe. It added a tiny percentage to the already pathetically slim chance of me ever winning her back.
This past year, my bandmates had all tried encouraging me to see new people, but it just didn’t feel right. I only wanted Shannon, and it wouldn’t be fair to start something I had no real intention of investing in.
Remembering that noise her phone made caused a sharp stab of jealousy in my chest. It was a sound I’d often heard coming from Angus and Elias’ phones when they were looking for hook ups. Shannon was clearly dipping her toes in the dating pool. If what I’d overheard her telling her friend, Margie, was true, then it was early days. Still, even the idea of her talking to other men made me feel like my world was spinning out of control.
I moved into the hallway and heard Shannon chatting casually with my parents in the dining room. I stepped inside and gave Zara a hug and a kiss, telling her I’d see her in the morning. As I left, my gaze collided with Shannon’s. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but I was just glad I got to be around her. That she was letting me back into her life a little despite the drama I was already bringing with this whole catfish thing.
But my dad said he was handling it, and I trusted him, so I tried putting it all to the back of my mind.
The following morning, I parked outside Shannon’s house in the usual spot, with Dixon pulling in just behind me. I noticedmovement near her front door and spotted a short, dark-haired woman was standing there, gesticulating wildly with her hands. Shannon stood before her, arms folded and her expression flat. It was the look she got when she had to deal with aggravating people. She gave nothing away, no hurt, no vulnerability, just a blank slate of indifference as the woman began raising her voice.
Oh, hell fucking no.
I was out of the car and stalking towards Shannon, reaching her within seconds as I stepped past the angry woman and blocked Shannon from her view immediately.
“Lady, you’d better back the hell up right now, or we’ll have a problem.”
The woman’s gaze travelled up, up, up before finally reaching my face. Her expression— which had been distorted with annoyance—suddenly paled as she took me in. I knew what she was seeing—a tall, tattooed hooligan with a lip piercing in a black hoodie and black jeans. Whatever her issue was with Shannon, she was clearly much braver spouting her shit at my five-foot-six ex-wife than she was facing me. To my left, Dixon emerged from his car, also dressed in black. The Texan was the same height as me but much broader. He also had a grizzled, hard-as-nails demeanour that very few people wanted to mess with.
