“Good. I can assure you that Mr. Morris wouldn’t match that much upfront.”

My head snapped up.

“Don’t look so surprised. I know all about what Morris has been up to.” Mary tapped her fingers against her folded arm. “I think it was very shortsighted of him to try to lure Warren and Bryan out of Tempest.”

“What do you mean?” My eyes narrowed in confusion. “I was under the impression that Morris’ offer included all the guys.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Zenith’s deal was very personnel specific. Morris is an unrepentant disassembler. He likes to take things apart and put them back together in a way he thinks is best.”

I put my hands over my churning stomach as the reality of it sank in. War had been planning to sell out the rest of the group. Just like he’d done to me in Seattle. This was what Bryan had wanted me to know. I wished he had just told me himself.

It was obvious why War had kept this bit of damning information from me. It was a real manipulative move on his part, an obvious attempt to tie me to him, proposing to me the same night he’d just brokered that sleazy backroom deal with Morris, Did he honestly think I would overlook the betrayal of my brother or King and Sager just because he put a ring on my finger?

Bryan was right. War had changed. And if he thought I would turn a blind eye to all this, well he didn’t know me any better than I knew him.

“I put an end to it,” Mary continued oblivious to the fact that my world had just been turned upside down. “Morris has assured me he’s withdrawing his offer.” She sat on the couch again and leaned forward. “But back to you. I know what Zenith has offered you is high, but I know you’re smart enough to see through all those dollar signs. His offer is back end loaded and full of stipulations. Basically, if you don’t meet them you get nothing. The most likely scenario is that you end up owing Zenith money.”

“Read this over.” She handed me a piece of paper. “My offer is very simple.” She slid a check across the table toward me. “A thirty thousand dollar advance on a three year exclusive contract with Black Cat. Do things our way, Lace, and I think there’s a good chance that you’ll be a star.”

I picked up the check and stared at it. Mary’s signature was a wide sprawl on both it and the contract. She was right about the Zenith deal. It was pages long and full of tons of legal mumbo jumbo. My vision tunneled in on this moment. There really wasn’t a choice. My mind was still reeling from what I’d just found out about War, but I was sure of this decision. I needed to do this. It was a chance for me to finally turn my life around.

I picked up the pen and signed.

The rest of our meeting passed in a blur. Mary shook my clammy hand. Beth came back in and congratulated me and before I knew it, I was on my way back down the hall, in the elevator to my floor, and in front of the door to my room.

I inserted the key card and went inside, grateful that the room was empty. I didn’t feel up to a confrontation with War at the moment. I leaned back against the door. The air conditioning felt too cold against my feverish skin. I recognized what was going on now. It wasn’t Bryan or Mary. It wasn’t the flu. I was having withdrawal symptoms from the heroin. I’d had bouts like this before when I’d tried to quit, but never quite this bad.

I just needed one more little dose to get me over this hump.

Just enough to get me through today.

After that I was done for real.

I opened the safe and pulled out the small satchel. My hands were shaking so violently, I almost dropped the bag. I stumbled to the bed, sat down on the edge, flicked on the lamp, and unzipped the bag.

24

Back down in the lobby, I stuck out like a bad ink stain in my black jeans, shirt, and boots on the corner edge of a grey suede sectional. A modern sphere mobile spun lazily over my head while I tapped my fingers impatiently against my leg.

Where was she?

She should have been down here twenty minutes ago. I ran my hands across my face and up through my hair. The light sweet scent of vanilla still lingered on them. I wanted her soft curves back in those hands. I wanted my mouth on hers. I wanted to hear that low sound of arousal she made whenever our tongues touched.

I wanted her. Now.

I shifted, gaze flicking to War at the other end of the sectional where he sat talking to Dizzy.

Everything was so fucked up. War was the wrong guy for her. I could finally see that. Sure, I’d once made a promise to him, but this wasn’t high school anymore. And I never promised that I would stand idly by while he let her spin out of control. I had to get Lace to acknowledge what was between us. I was her first and dammit to hell I was going to see to it that I was her last.

“Where is she, man?” I threw up a hand. “Did she text you? It’s not like her to be late.”

“I dunno.” War shrugged, glanced down at his phone, and then looked over as King and Sager burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“King’s response to this cop who was hassling him when we were at that truck stop in Richmond,” Sager replied with a smirk. “I recorded it and put it on our YouTube channel. Come over. You guys need to see this.”

War, Dizzy, and I moved over to the chairs where Sager and King were sprawled. We leaned in over the laptop and King scrolled up the volume.

“You been smoking some marijuana?” The cop on the screen asked in a condescending tone.

“Not yet,” King replied with his usual sassy grin.

The cop’s brows rose. “I’m just checking. I don’t know if you knew, but a lot of drug deals go down around here.”

“Really?” King bowed up. “I get my drugs somewhere else.” He folded his arms over his thick chest and stared down at the much shorter uniformed man. “Is this because I’m Hispanic? If you don’t mind, officer, could I have your badge number?”

I watched the cop and King but I zoned out on their conversation as my ears picked up the unmistakable sound of my own raised voice in the background. “I’ll never forget prom and how it was between us.”

Fucking shit.

I glanced nervously at War. Oh yeah, he heard it too. His eyes slid to me, and then back to Sager. “Play that part again, Sager.” He frowned. “And turn it up.”

“War,” I started.

“Just shut the fuck up!” War growled.

My muscles locked tight as the tape replayed. With the volume up, you could hear pretty much the whole incriminating thing. There was a long moment of stunned silence when the clip finished. No one moved and no one spoke. Even the lobby noise seemed to fade away as War and I stared each other down. I felt the dynamic between us shift forever.

“You lying asshole!” War finally shouted his face a furious mask. “How long you been fucking my woman behind my back?”

“It’s not like that…” But I never got the chance to complete that thought. Without warning, War’s fist flashed out and connected with my jaw.

I took a step back, gingerly touching a thumb to the blood on my lip. My gaze narrowed. “I’ll give you that one, but let’s take this somewhere else. I don’t want to talk about this out here.”

“I don’t care what you want.” My guts wrenched. “I trusted you, Bryan. Like a brother.” He shook his head. “Can’t believe you’d do this to me.”

“I love her, man.”

“Don’t we all.” His lips twisted. He turned to Dizzy. “You know about this?”

Dizzy nodded uncomfortably.

“Listen.” I pulled in a calming breath through my nose. Time to get this out. “It was only that one time in high school.” My brows pulled together as my eyes met his. “But I’ve wanted there to be more between us, and you need to know I’ve asked her to choose.” I didn’t tell War that if she chose him that I wasn’t going to quit trying. And I guess that’s what it all came down to. War and me, our friendship, having each other’s backs, that shit always came first with him. Everything and everyone else was a distant second. The Morris deal was proof of that. He didn’t see the conflict I had because there wasn’t one for him. If he were in my place, I knew in my gut that he wouldn’t have any problem walking away from her.

For me it was never that simple.

War’s jaw tightened. “You guys covering for Bullet, too?” His eyes sliced into me before cutting to Sager and King.

“Leave us out of it,” King fired back.

“That’s his plan,” I bit out. “As long as we’re clearing the air, let’s get everything out in the open.” I threw up my hands. “War’s taking an exclusive deal from Zenith. He’s breaking up the band.”

“What the fuck, asshole?” That from King, our large angry Latino drummer’s eyes were flared.

“You’re so full of shit.” I held War’s gaze and gave it to him, the destructive truth pouring out of me like pus from an infected wound. “Acting all self-righteous. Giving us that tired worn out old speech about the band being a priority. None of us are a priority to you, Warren. Not Lace, not me, not the guys. To you we’re all replaceable.”

Suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood up again. It wasn’t that watched feeling I’d had with Lace earlier. It was more like an icy chill, like cold fingertips running up my spine. I glanced over my shoulder. A couple of paramedics jogged past toward the elevators rolling a stretcher between them.

I turned back to the unfolding scene. Dizzy’s light brown eyes were narrowed with accusation.

“You’re the one who’s replaceable,” King warned, looming over War, Sager at his side. “Pinche guero culero.”

The chill I’d just had suddenly morphed into a horrible premonition the moment I heard Dizzy’s cell phone buzz.