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“That’s not fair,” he demands as his chains move around on his exposed chest, all but demanding the attention I won’t give. “I lost everything.”
“AND I DIDN’T?” I throw back at him, hating how my traitorous body urges me to wrap my arms around him and hold him until all the pain is gone, but I don’t dare. He’s not mine anymore, and despite the way my soul so easily recognizes its other half right here in front of me, I focus on the hurt, more determined than ever to hate him.
“Woah, okay,” Lenny says as Dylan subtly moves between me and Ezra before taking my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Raleigh, I’m sorry. Why don’t you come inside, and we can talk everything through?”
“You’re kidding, right?” I say to the man who I should have known better than to trust. “You lied to me. You told me there was an opportunity here for me, one that could change everything for me, and you used Axel’s name to do it. So no, I’m not—”
“You did what?” Ezra demands, turning on Lenny.
“Get him out of here,” Lenny says to Rock before turning back to Ezra. “I’ll deal with you later. In the meantime, it’s in your best interest to sober up.”
Rock hesitantly steps into Ezra, grabbing his arm and pulling him away, but he fights it with every step, his broken gaze locked on mine, and the way he stares at me, it’s as though he’s looking at a ghost—someone he thought he was never going to see again.
Left with Dylan and Lenny, I focus my attention on them, not even knowing where to start, but damn it, I have a lot to say. “Just . . . hear us out,” Dylan says, cutting me off before I get a chance to let loose on them both. “Yes, lying to get you here was a shitty thing to do, and I take full responsibility for that. But Ezra . . . He’s drowning Rae.”
I shake my head. “He left me behind eight years ago and never looked back. He’s not my problem anymore.”
“Look, it doesn’t change the facts,” Lenny says. “Have as little or as much to do with Ezra as you’re comfortable with, it means nothing to me. I brought you here under the guise of a job in marketing for the boys’ upcoming tour, and when I told you that Axel believed in you to do this, I meant every word of it. He told me every chance he got that his little sister, Raleigh Stone, was going to work for me one day, and despite how this afternoon has played out, that offer still stands.”
“You told me this was for a new band,” I press.
“I know,” Lenny says, having the audacity to look ashamed of himself. “I had to get you here first. If I told you this was for Demon’s Curse, you never would have stepped onto that jet.”
“Exactly.”
Dylan creeps a little closer. “He needs you.”
“Don’t—”
“I’m sorry, Rae, but I have no choice,” Dylan says. “If there were another way, I’d do it, but everyone knows you’re his backbone. He’s so fucking lost, he doesn’t know how to pull himself out. He needs you, Rae. Just . . . Please, for mine, Rock’s, and Axel’s sake. Just consider it. We’re losing him, and while I know the two of you have gone to great lengths to avoid one another, I don’t think he can do this without you anymore. He’s slowly dying, and he doesn’t even see it.”
I shake my head. “I . . . I’m not his backbone,” I whisper, feeling the heaviness of his words. “I might have been once, but I’m not anymore.”
“You are, Rae. You always have been.”
My gaze falls away, but Dylan steps right into me, curling his strength around me and holding me the same way Axel used to. “We love you, Rae. You’re like a sister to us, and we don’t want to force you to do anything you’re not willing to do, but Ezra is also a brother to us, just like Axel was, and I can’t bear to see him like this anymore. Just tell me you’ll consider it.”
I swallow over the lump in my throat, and as Dylan releases me, I meet his haunted stare. “Is it really that bad?”
He nods, and I see the heaviness in his eyes. “It’s worse.”
“Okay,” I finally say. “I’ll think about it.”
13
Ezra
My hands drag down my face as I pace through my home studio. I expected a lot of things to come from today, but having Raleigh Stone walk through the door right as I snorted a line of coke sure as fuck wasn’t one of them. When I bought this house, I always dreamed she’d share it with me one day, but this wasn’t the homecoming I imagined.
“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING BRINGING HER HERE?” I demand as Dylan and Lenny stride back into the studio.
“You need her,” Dylan says. “Deny it all you fucking want, but you need her.”
“He’s right,” Lenny says. “It’s already been two months of rehearsals, and you’re not even close to pulling your shit together. She’s your fucking ace, Ezra, and you’d be a fool to send her packing.”
I shake my head, the anger welling up in me like a fucking tornado. “She shouldn’t be here. I never wanted her to see me like this.”
“Well, now she has, and it’s too fucking late to do anything about it,” Lenny says. “The ball’s in your court, Ezra, and your back is against the wall. From where I’m sitting, you have two options.”
