Page 46 of The Broken Keys

CALLUM/CASH

Now

Strobe Lights & Spooks In The Night

Threats you can recognize are easy. It’s the ones that hide behind a smokescreen that you should worry about.

“You’re pacing like a caged animal, man.” Cooper glances up from his bass where he’s been working out riffs in my living room. “What’s eating you?”

I stop mid-stride and realize I’ve been wearing a path in my hardwood floors for the past twenty minutes. “Something happened today at Livianna’s office building.”

“Good or bad?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem.” I drop into the chair across from him, running my hands through my hair. “We ran into Jaxon Crowne.”

Cooper’s fingers still on the strings. “Why was he there?”

“His office is across the hall from Livianna’s.”

“So what’s the problem?”

I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “I thanked him. Told him he was the man who made our reunion possible.”

“How? He funded Ur Boyz, which gave you the practice and knowledge that eventually led to everything else. But how does that add up to getting back with Livianna?”

I glance away, trying to decide whether to tell him that Jaxon Crowne is the one who invested in my label and helped me create Riot King Records.

How no one hasn’t figured it out yet is beyond me, but I don’t think the band cares where the success comes from. They just like making music and performing.

I ignore Cooper’s question and hit the issue head-on.

“Coop, it was the way he looked at her when I said it…” I stand again, unable to sit still. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, nice to see how things worked out.’ His face went stone cold, like I just punched him in the gut.”

Cooper sets his bass aside, giving me his full attention. “Maybe he was surprised to see you two together?”

“That’s what I thought at first. But then Livianna…” I trek to the window. “She went white as a sheet the second she saw him. Could barely look at either of us afterward. And when I mentioned how he helped me, she got this look about her.”

“What kind?”

“Fuck it. I’ll just tell you. It doesn’t make any difference as long as you keep it between us bandmates. I don’t want Leon knowing how I got out.”

“If it fucks Leon over, count me in. Lay it down.”

“Jaxon Crowne is the one who funded Riot King Records.”

Cooper laughs like he can’t believe he didn’t make the connection. “Always wondered where you came up with that kind of cash. It seems obvious now.”

“Yeah, right. Back to the issue. Livianna acted as if she couldn’t believe he backed me.” I lean against the windowsill. “And she’s been checking her phone all day since then. It’s like she’s waiting for someone to call.”

Cooper picks up his bass again and plucks the strings. “You think there’s something between them?”

“I don't know what to think. She knows him through her pops, and he mentored her for a while, but this was different.” I growl and rake my teeth over my lip. “This was personal.”

“How?”

“Like maybe thanking him for bringing me back to Livianna was the last thing he wanted to hear because he didn’t want us together at all.”

Cooper stops playing and looks me dead in the eyes. “Cash, you’re spiraling. You’re taking one weird encounter and building it into this whole story.”