Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Be nice, Koda. Don’t cut anyone’s balls off tonight.”
He chuckles, voice low. “You know I love riddin’ this world of the scum that walks it, brother.”
“Indeed, I do. Times up. I need my beauty sleep.”
Koda chuckles. “Too late for that. Get home soon, we need you, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I grunt. “Later.”
I crush out my cigarette and head back inside my stringy, run-down hotel room. I should get on my bike and head back, forget the pretty girl with the broken brown eyes that has captivated me. But fuck if I can do that. Where her bus goes, my bike goes. I need to know more about her. I need to know what it is that makes her eyes look so fuckin’ pained.
Damn her.
Scarlett Belle.
I reach down, curling my hand around my dick. It’s hard. Fuck. I stroke once, then twice, and let my eyes close.
She better be fuckin’ worth it.
Something is tellin’ me she is.
-4-
SCARLETT
“I want her on tour with me and on the next album,” I say, arms crossed, trying to keep calm.
“We don’t have room for anyone else, Scarlett,” Susan grinds out. “You have exactly what you need. You don’t need anyone else on the team. We have an adequate and talented amount of people already.”
She’s not hearing me.
She never hears me.
She wants all this music. They all do. This perfect persona. The perfect country music star. The perfect songs. They expect all this out of me, yet none of them are willing to give me one single thing I need to make that happen. They want magic at their very fingertips without even having to wave a wand. I need Amalie on my team, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get her there, even if it makes them incredibly unhappy.
“I want her on, Susan. I don’t ask for anything. Not a single thing. I do everything you tell me to do. There isn’t long left on my tour, and then we’ll be returning home to make another album. I don’t see how she’s going to interfere with any of that.”
“She’s deaf, Scarlett.”
That makes me irrationally angry. Why are people so quick to jump to conclusions? So quick to assume that because someone is a little different to the rest of us, that they’re not able to do and achieve the same things. I’m rarely disappointed in Susan, but right now, I am. Deeply, deeply disappointed.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” I say softly, making sure she can see the disgust over those words in my eyes.
“Listen, Scarlett, I understand you’re feeling lost right now. We can all see it. But this is your career. We can’t put anything in the way of that. I don’t feel like this girl will enhance anything. In fact, if I’m being truthful, I think she’ll be nothing but a distraction.”
“I need this,” I urge. “Susan, I don’t ask for a single damned thing. I need this. You want me to stay at my best, you’ll let me have it. I won’t stop until you do. In the end, it really isn’t your choice.”
Her face goes a little red. “I’ve sacrificed a lot for your career and you, Scarlett. Now is not the time to throw down with me. You will not win.”
Now I’m seeing red. Nobody around here takes me seriously, and I’m tired of it. So fucking sick of having a voice that simply is not heard.
“I respect you,” I say carefully. “I don’t ever go against anything you say. But in this, I will. I want her on my team. I want her playing in my next album. I need her. I wasn’t asking for permission.”
Susan is going to pop a top, I can see it in the way her eyes flare and her face gets red. I’m fairly certain she’s holding her breath. I need fresh air and to get out of this damned place with all these controlling people.
“I’m going out for a bit. It’s late. I need space.”
“Scarlett!” Susan barks. “You’re not to go out on your own.”
I keep walking.
I shouldn’t, I hate myself for it. I don’t like upsetting people.
But I honestly don’t know how much more they expect me to take.
I walk outside of the hotel and onto the sidewalk. I’m wearing a hat that covers most of my face. If I keep my head down, nobody will recognize me, not at this time of the night. I need to take a walk, clear my head, figure out the right way to do this that isn’t going to cause World War III to begin. I move down the sidewalk, focusing on the way the gravel crunches beneath my shoes.
Music can be heard from a few blocks down, coming from a bar, I’d guess. I gravitate closer to the sound, listening as a funky R’n’B song comes on the loud speakers. Laughter trails out, and as the place comes into sight, I smile. These people, dancing, laughing, drinking, doing whatever the hell they want, look happy. Not one of them isn’t smiling or bright.