Page 147 of These Wicked Hearts

The voices around the room grow louder, and Gage waits for them to stop before he continues. At the edge of the stage that man looks at Gage, something shifting in his eyes. He’s smiling politely but there’s this edge to it as he watches.

“You see,” he continues. “Making music has been a gift, but this gift has come with terrible strings.” That man’s face falters as Gage continues. “When I was twenty-one, I met Jim here, the senior executive and group manager for our band. You see, this industry will swallow you if you let it. And I did. I let it swallow me.”

Gage looks at Jim with a sickening smile, and Jim’s face is ashen as he stares back at Gage. I stand instantly.

“What are you doing?”

I ignore Knox and pull my arm away when he grabs my sleeve. I make my way up to the platform, pushing through the crowd to watch him.

“When I was twenty-one, Jim promised to make us famous. My friends and I were living on the streets. We were incredibly poor and hungry. I just wanted a chance. We played a lot of bars. We’d play on the streets. We’d play anywhere someone would listen.” He laughs softly. “We played even when no one was listening.” He turns his attention to Jim. “Then one day we met Jim.”

Gage turns his attention back to the crowd. I see phones out, recording him. His eyes pass over the crowd, but then they land on mine and linger. A tiny smile grows on his lips.

“When I was twenty-one, Jim assaulted me. He told me that if I wanted to be famous, all I had to do was sleep with him.”

Jim barks out a laugh. “Now hold on⁠—”

“He told me nobody would believe me. That it was just the cost of fame,” Gage says over him. “He told me that speaking up would destroy my career. My friends’ careers.” A camera flashes somewhere in the crowd. “And I thought he was right,” Gage says quietly. “For a while I stayed silent because I thought surviving meant pretending it wasn’t happening. As long as my friends were taken care of, I didn’t care what happened to me.

Jim steps toward him as two bodyguards step between them. “This is absurd⁠—”

“No,” Gage says, fury now cracking his smooth expression. “What’s absurd is how many people there must have been before me. What’s absurd is taking advantage of someone so young and desperate.”

Silence cuts through the room. My stomach is churning. Memories from the other morning hit me. Gage looked terrified.

“Holy shit.” I blink and see Knox beside me. “This is insane, Atlas.”

I focus back on Gage. I think back further, to that first night on the roof when I found him on the edge . . . holy shit. Oh, god. Was he going to⁠—

“You lying little⁠—”

Jim lunges for Gage.

“Don’t—” Knox whispers, but I’m already moving.

I reach the front of the stage, rage coating every inch of my movements. Jim stands rigidly beside Gage as the truth sinks in to the people around us. I storm onto the stage. Something inside me snaps. I cross to Jim in a few easy strides.

“Atlas—” Gage calls after me.

Jim turns and I punch him in the face. The crack echoes through the room. Gasps explode around us. Jim stumbles back, bumping into sound equipment. Pain shoots through my knuckles, but I don’t care. Worth it.

Security surges forward instantly, voices shouting over one another. I barely hear any of it. My blood’s roaring too loud in my ears. Jim clutches his bleeding nose and screams. “Are you fucking insane!?”

I lunge again, but two guards catch me. I try to break free from them, but I don’t want to hurt them. “You fucking touched him,” I shout, struggling to get out of their hold. “You put your filthy fucking hands on him!”

“He’s fucking lying.”

I lunge again, seething. The grip on my arms tightens. “No he’s not. He wouldn’t lie about that.”

Security pulls me back as the room descends into chaos. Reporters are shouting and people in the crowd are talking. Blood gushes down Jim’s face onto the pressed shirt he’s wearing.

I’m yanked back, but then I catch Gage who’s looking at me.

The man who broke my heart. The man whose heart has been breaking this entire time.

As I’m pulled away, I look at him. Gage’s eyes glisten under the bright spotlight. Despite everything, I reach for Gage’s hand and squeeze it in mine before I’m pulled away.

Just before I’m wrenched away, I feel him squeeze back.