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Chapter 11 - Maddox
The rest of the band and I seemed to have an unspoken agreement to behave ourselves. We didn’t say anything controversial on The Morning Show, and we played our set the way we used to play together. Just beyond the studio lights, I could see Lacie’s blonde hair. Having her there made me feel good. It made me want to do well on the show. I guess I just wanted her to be proud of me.
Carter and Garrett seemed to agree. Garrett especially seemed different. He was usually our boisterous lead singer, always saying and doing things to get himself in trouble. But this morning, talking to Mark and Michelle, the hosts on The Morning Show, he seemed almost normal. We plugged our new album and said all the things we were supposed to say.
Like the flick of a switch, something had changed. The self-destructive path that we’d all agreed on for six months had shifted.
We were driven from one interview to the next. All day long, we promoted our album, played songs for various news outlets, TV shows and radio stations, until finally we ended up on a late-night show.
“I didn’t know these were filmed so early,” I said as Lacie dabbed my face with some skin-colored cream. She made a noise of agreement.
“Doesn’t seem like such a late show, hey?” She said absent-mindedly.
My hands drifted up her thighs and I saw her shiver. She took a deep breath, speaking in a low voice so Garrett and Carter couldn’t hear.
“You’ve behaved yourself so well today,” she grinned, working intently and not meeting my eye. “Just keep it going for a little bit longer.”
“What if I don’t want to behave myself?” I growled, and Lacie shivered against me. She looked at me, her eyes shining bright.
“You’re insatiable.”
“Only when you’re around.”
Her lips parted, and she put down the brush she was using. She glanced around the dressing room at my bandmates and was about to say something when my phone rang. I looked down and saw my lawyer’s number flash on the screen. I sighed.
“I have to take this,” I said. Lacie nodded and stepped back so I could get up. I slipped out the door and around the corner.
“Hey, Hillary,” I said with a sigh.
My lawyer chuckled. “You don’t seem happy to hear from me.”
“I haven’t found a wife yet, if that’s what you’re wondering,” I said, and as the words left my mouth, a terrifying and bewildering thought entered my head. I hadn’t found a wife, but I had found a woman like no other. Could Lacie…? I shook my head, trying to listen to my lawyer.
“Well, you’d better get a move on. Your sister Maggie is petitioning to have the entire will thrown out. You’ll get nothing if you don’t get married within the next couple weeks.”
“I told you, I don’t want any of it. Let Maggie keep it.”
Hillary sighed. “Maddox, listen to me. I’ve drafted a prenuptial contract that gives your bride-to-be a hundred thousand dollars. Your parents were worth billions. It wouldn’t be right to give it all to Maggie. Your personal worth is in the millions, sure, but it’s only a tenth of what your parents had.”
“I know how much I’m worth,” I spat.
Hillary’s voice softened. “I was your parents’ friend as well as their lawyer. If you give up on this, you’re giving up on them.”
Something broke in my chest. My parents had died suddenly, before I could try to mend the distance between us. I’d always thought they saw nothing in me. But if they had written me into their will, even with this stupid marriage clause, maybe they did care?
Hillary sighed. “Maddox, I know this is hard. I know you loved your parents even though you had a complicated relationship. They just wanted to see you happy.”
“And marrying someone I don’t know just so I can get some money… that is supposed to make me happy?”
“Well, if it doesn’t, you can see it as a ‘fuck you’ to your parents and your sister. Maybe that will resonate with you more than thinking that they cared.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You know, Hillary. It does resonate with me. My whole life is a big ‘fuck you’ to everyone who thought I’d fail.”
“Good. So marry some lucky girl and make yourself a billionaire.”
I looked up as Lacie came out of the dressing room. She nodded to the bathroom door across from me as if to explain why she was there.
“Hey, Hillary. I gotta go,” I said. She said something but I didn’t hear it. I hung up the phone and intercepted Lacie as she walked.
