Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“You’re really going to take the gig, huh?” I say to Jesse.
“I don’t have a choice, Ror. The band has a contract. And you know what? Dad would tell me to go.”
He’s right. Dad would tell him to go. And if I wanted to go? He’d tell me to go too.
“Jesse…”
He scoffs. “Really? You changed your mind again?”
“I think I need to do this,” I say. “It’s something I enjoy. Making music. I know I have that Christmas recital to plan, but planning doesn’t give me the euphoria that being onstage does. And right now, Jesse, I really want to feel that high.”
“I get it. Why do you think I’m going?”
“Because the band needs you. At least that’s what you said.”
“That was the truth. We’re under contract, but I’m also going because I need this as well.”
“Is there time to get my lodging?”
“We’ve got two rooms. I can check.”
“Well, if they can’t, would Cage, Jake, and Dragon mind staying in one room? You and I could share the other.”
“Yeah, we could.” Jesse grabs his phone and starts tapping. “I’ll check on everything. We may be able to get you your own room.”
“You know what? Don’t. You and I will just share a room. As long as there are two beds, we’ll be fine. I don’t want to add any more to the band’s expenses.”
“Fair enough. It’ll be easy enough to request a cot or rollaway bed so the guys don’t have to share one. They won’t mind because they all want you involved in the first place.”
“Do they really?”
“Of course, Rory.” He gives me a good-natured punch on my upper arm. “We’re a good band. We know that. But you? You make us better.”
I nod and smile. I’m going. Although I may end up without any students by the time I return at the rate I’ve been canceling their lessons.
But it’s like Jesse said. We need this.
And sometimes you have to see to your needs.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BROCK
I resist the urge to curl my hands into fists. I will never harm a woman. I’m not that guy. But right now that pledge is as tough as it’s ever been. Brittany Sheraton deserves to be pummeled.
“Who, then, are you protecting, Brittany?”
She backs away slowly. “I… I can’t. I can’t talk about this anymore.”
“You will talk about it.”
“You can’t make me.”
I have to physically stop myself from grabbing her arm. I will not turn into that guy, no matter how hard it is.
“How much do you know?” I demand.
“More than I want to,” she says.
“Is Pat related to the Steel family?”
“I can’t…”
“I can make sure you’re taken care of,” I tell her. “I can see that no one harms you.”
The words make me ache. This is a woman who has been harassing Rory and Callie. A woman who most likely injected them with something and then stood by and watched as Lamone took pictures of them in compromising positions.
I don’t want to give her the protection of my family, but if it can get information out of her, I will make that promise.
“How long has he known?” I ask.
“It was only a suspicion for a long time,” Brittany says.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
She sighs. “Since high school.”
“Did he poison Diana Steel on purpose?”
“You can’t prove any of that.”
“No, I can’t, and the statute of limitations has passed, so even if I could, it would be a dead end. But I want to know. If he suspected that he was related to the Steel family, why on earth would he try to harm us?”
I already know the answer to my question.
Jealousy, pure and simple. If he truly believed he was related to this family, he would have wanted all the benefits that came with the name. Diana had those benefits, and he was jealous of her. Can I even blame him for feeling that way?
I’ve never not known the benefits of being a Steel. I’ve never had to worry where my next meal was coming from, and I’ve never had to live paycheck to paycheck or wear hand-me-down clothes.
My family is far from elitist. We understand the value of a dollar and the value of a hard day’s work. My father taught me those values, and I will teach them to my children someday, as will my brother and all my cousins.
But there is one thing we don’t think about a lot.
How we must look to the others in town.
Especially now that I know that we actually do own the damned town, as was the rumor for years.
What if Lamone’s claim is valid? What if this Sabrina Smith, his grandmother, had a child with William Steel? I can easily put Callie on that. She has access to all the databases. She can trace Pat’s lineage, find birth certificates.
“Listen,” I say to Brittany. “I can’t ever forgive Pat for what he did to Rory and Callie. That’s beyond what I’m capable of. But I might be able to forgive you. If you level with me.”