Page 97 of Have To Be Mine

Thunder cracked overhead. And then the wind picked up. The fabric draping from the columns whipped violently, threatening to fly out to the sea. One of the lighting rigs swayed dangerously.

“Kill the power!” someone shouted.

The audio tech was frantically unplugging speakers, rushing them toward the equipment vans before they got fried. The perfect playlist we’d spent hours curating was never going to happen. The mics were useless in this. Everything was falling apart. The show was supposed to start in an hour. One hour.

Adrian jogged up, his hair already plastered to his head. “Dash, we need to make a call.”

“I know.”

“This isn’t safe. The lightning alone is bad. If any of this rigging comes down⁠—”

“I know.”

Elizabeth rushed over, Buck clutched to her chest while Mandy tried to shield them both with her jacket. “What would Bernadette do?” Mandy asked, raising her voice over the wind. “If she were here, what would she say about safety?”

I knew exactly what Bernadette would say. She’d shut this whole thing down without a second thought. Safety first, always. That was her entire job.

“We need to pack this up,” Adrian said, the CEO in him already making the call I couldn’t. “Get everyone inside, protect the equipment we can, and figure out a backup plan.”

“I booked for tonight only,” I said. “There is no backup plan.”

Briggs appeared from somewhere, water streaming down his face. He started barking orders at the crew, his lawyer brain immediately shifting into crisis management mode. “Everyone under cover! Now! Production assistants, start securing anything that can blow away! Models, get to the hotel!”

I watched them scatter, following Briggs’s commands. My brother was good at taking charge, making decisions under pressure. It was what he did.

But this was my show. My vision. My chance to prove I wasn’t the fuck-up everyone thought I was. No. No fucking way was I letting a little water from the sky obliterate everything I’d worked for. An idea started forming. It was crazy. Probably impossible. But it might work.

I needed to find Krista. She would know how to execute it. She could help me figure out how to make it happen. Or she’d tell me I was being an idiot. I understood what my family was saying, but I needed Krista to tell me she’d already run through all the scenarios and there weren’t any available solutions.

I turned and started scanning the chaos for her. She had to be here somewhere.

“Elizabeth,” I said to her, grabbing her attention. “Where’s Krista?”

She grimaced and suddenly looked very guilty. “Dash, I’m so sorry. She left.”

The words didn’t make sense. They did, but they didn’t. “What?”

“She left for the ferry about an hour ago.”

Of course she’d left. Of course she’d bailed the second things got complicated. I was pissed. I needed her and she fucking abandoned me. But beneath the hurt was regret for every word I had said in anger. For letting her walk away without fighting harder.

But I didn’t have time for any of that right now. I had a show to save.

I turned back to the set, rain streaming down my face, and made a decision. I was pushing forward. With or without her. With or without anyone’s help. This was my show, and I was going to make it happen.

“Adrian!” I shouted over the storm. “Get everyone back here! Tell them we’re not canceling!”

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Dash, be reasonable. That’s crazy.”

“I’m being completely unreasonable, and I don’t care!” I wiped water from my eyes. “This is happening. Tonight. I just need to figure out how.”

Briggs appeared beside Adrian, both of them staring at me with identical expressions of concern. Great. The responsible brothers were about to stage an intervention. The babysitter didn’t do the trick, so now they were going to bully me themselves.

“Listen to me,” I said before they could start. “I have an idea. It’s crazy, but it might work. I need everyone to trust me. Please.” I looked at both of them. “I know I’ve given you plenty of reasons not to trust me. I know my track record. But I’m asking you to trust me now. Just this once.”

They exchanged a look.

“You know the legal liability you’re putting on us,” Briggs said.