Page 142 of The Twisted Beats

“We do, though. He’s the one with the connections. He knows the producers. My ma keeps saying there’s something bigger to worry about. If we cut ties with him, there’s no doubt he’ll take us out of the game forever.”

“Fuck, bro. This is a shit situation.” Bren stalks over to the casual dining room table, pulls out a chair, and sits. “Now what?”

“That’s another one of my questions.” I find a seat next tohim with my limbs numb and cold. “We need him, but I wanna kill him.”

“Yeah, I see the dilemma.” He rests his head back in his clasped hands and stares at the ceiling. “Livianna can’t be near him.”

“I know.” My insides twist. “I just don’t know how that works when she’s my girlfriend and he’s my uncle and manager.”

Bren shakes his head and gazes my way. “She’ll never tour with us if he’s around.”

“Yeah, we agree, Guns.” I growl and finish my beer. “There’s a way out of this. I just can’t see it yet.”

“Right. We’ll figure it out together.”

There’s a moment of silence as we try to break away from the web we seem to have gotten stuck in. We’re not gonna figure it out tonight.

“It’s your turn, Guns. Tell me about Livianna.”

“What about me?” Her question steals our attention.

I turn my head to see her taking the last step down from the staircase.

Bren faces her way. “Cash was just asking if he should be worried about you…cutting on yourself.”

“Oh.” She drags her feet as she shuffles to the minibar where they keep the alcohol. “I don’t think you need to be concerned with that. I haven’t even considered it.”

Yeah, because you’re high out of your mind.

She crouches down and disappears behind the enormous kitchen island. “I don’t feel like having a beer. What would you suggest?”

“How about water?” I push my chair back, causing it to grind against the floor. “You shouldn’t mix alcohol with painkillers.”

“Nor should I smoke weed or do blow.” She stands with a bottle of sparkling wine in her hands and an emptiness in herblue eyes. “I shouldn’t be having sex or be required to work, but here I am doing it all.”

I bear down on my molars and close my eyes.Count to ten and remember she’s dealing with a lot.

Bren pats my shoulder. I face him and he gives me a sympathetic shrug. It does nothing to calm my irritation. My brain goes right back to why we’re here. My shithead uncle.

Bren gets up and stands next to Livianna. “You know, Cash is dealing with this, too.”

“I never said he wasn’t.” She jams a wine opener into the cork of the bottle. “What’s the big deal? There wasn’t even a full twenty-four hours before it was gone.”

“The big deal is there was a baby.” I rise to my feet, wanting to shake her until she faces her pain.

I know it’s in there. She’s too sensitive to be this apathetic about something so important.

My heart aches. “And it was alive for a lot longer than twenty-four hours.”

“I realize that, Callum.” She pops the cork, pours herself some wine, and gazes over at me. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Guys, let’s just get some food together and…” Bren drops his head. “Fuck if I know how to deal with this.”

Livianna runs her palm over his back. “We just get through it. That’s what they’ve always taught us, right?”

Bren lifts his eyes to hers. “Yeah, Livianna, but I think they mean the shit we deal with regarding our careers, not this.”

“Maybe, but it still has merit.” She gulps a massive drink of her wine, licking her lips after she swallows. “This is yummy.”