Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“Look, it doesn’t change the facts,” Lenny says. “Have as little or as much to do with Ezra as you’re comfortable with, it means nothing to me. I brought you here under the guise of a job in marketing for the boys’ upcoming tour, and when I told you that Axel believed in you to do this, I meant every word of it. He told me every chance he got that his little sister, Raleigh Stone, was going to work for me one day, and despite how this afternoon has played out, that offer still stands.”
“You told me this was for a new band,” I press.
“I know,” Lenny says, having the audacity to look ashamed of himself. “I had to get you here first. If I told you this was for Demon’s Curse, you never would have stepped onto that jet.”
“Exactly.”
Dylan creeps a little closer. “He needs you.”
“Don’t—”
“I’m sorry, Rae, but I have no choice,” Dylan says. “If there were another way, I’d do it, but everyone knows you’re his backbone. He’s so fucking lost, he doesn’t know how to pull himself out. He needs you, Rae. Just . . . Please, for mine, Rock’s, and Axel’s sake. Just consider it. We’re losing him, and while I know the two of you have gone to great lengths to avoid one another, I don’t think he can do this without you anymore. He’s slowly dying, and he doesn’t even see it.”
I shake my head. “I . . . I’m not his backbone,” I whisper, feeling the heaviness of his words. “I might have been once, but I’m not anymore.”
“You are, Rae. You always have been.”
My gaze falls away, but Dylan steps right into me, curling his strength around me and holding me the same way Axel used to. “We love you, Rae. You’re like a sister to us, and we don’t want to force you to do anything you’re not willing to do, but Ezra is also a brother to us, just like Axel was, and I can’t bear to see him like this anymore. Just tell me you’ll consider it.”
I swallow over the lump in my throat, and as Dylan releases me, I meet his haunted stare. “Is it really that bad?”
He nods, and I see the heaviness in his eyes. “It’s worse.”
“Okay,” I finally say. “I’ll think about it.”
13
Ezra
My hands drag down my face as I pace through my home studio. I expected a lot of things to come from today, but having Raleigh Stone walk through the door right as I snorted a line of coke sure as fuck wasn’t one of them. When I bought this house, I always dreamed she’d share it with me one day, but this wasn’t the homecoming I imagined.
“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING BRINGING HER HERE?” I demand as Dylan and Lenny stride back into the studio.
“You need her,” Dylan says. “Deny it all you fucking want, but you need her.”
“He’s right,” Lenny says. “It’s already been two months of rehearsals, and you’re not even close to pulling your shit together. She’s your fucking ace, Ezra, and you’d be a fool to send her packing.”
I shake my head, the anger welling up in me like a fucking tornado. “She shouldn’t be here. I never wanted her to see me like this.”
“Well, now she has, and it’s too fucking late to do anything about it,” Lenny says. “The ball’s in your court, Ezra, and your back is against the wall. From where I’m sitting, you have two options.”
“Oh please,” I scoff. “Share with the fucking class.”
“You can either continue going the way you’re going and pre-purchase the gravesite beside Axel’s, or you can step the fuck up, admit that you need her, and hope like hell that she’s willing to come on this tour with you. If she’s capable of settling at least one of those demons inside your head, then she might just be the reason you live through this tour.”
His words are like a shot straight through the chest, and as I glance across the studio to Rock, all he can do is nod in agreement. “You two really think this is a good idea?”
“We know it is,” Dylan says. “Remember back in the day when we were doing bullshit gigs in bars and clubs? Rae was always right there, and when you sang to her, the whole fucking room could feel the chemistry. You’re killing yourself by forcing this distance between the two of you. You need her to breathe, man, and it seems everyone but you can see it.”
I clench my jaw, my control quickly slipping. “She didn’t sign up for this.”
“But she did,” Rock says. “She always wanted this. She begged us to take her with us, and you said she needed to finish school first. She did it, Ezra. She went to college and did the work, and every step of it led her right back here. Making it in Demon’s Curse was always our dream, but it was hers too, and now we have this shot to bring her home. Besides, you know how good she is. We’ve worked with the very best this industry has to offer, and they’ve never compared to how it was with Rae. She’s our family, Ezra. No matter how hard that is for you, she belongs with us, just as Axel always wanted.”