Page 18 of My Rockstar Ex's Broken Vows

"Your brother's worried." Luke keeps his voice low. "And he should be."

"Ethan's always worried." But for once my strait-laced big brother's right. The contract I signed in Nashville was ironclad. Or desperate-kid-clad, anyway. "What did our lawyers say?"

"Same as what Ethan said last week. They're looking for precedent. Similar cases where predatory contracts got overturned." Luke rubs his jaw. "But Morrison knew what he was doing. Fifty percent of the Pinnacle deal or he owns everything you'll ever write. He's got you by the balls, right where he wants you."

The photographer waves for my attention. I try to focus, try to look mysterious or tortured or whatever will sell records. But my mind keeps circling back to that coffee shop. To Sienna's face when she realized who I was.

To all the letters I sent that she claims never arrived.

"Last shot." The camera clicks. "Perfect. Brooding rock star with a dark past. I love it.”

If they only knew.

"Car's waiting." Luke checks his watch. "Studio in twenty. We need to nail that bridge on track four."

But as we head for the elevator, my phone lights up with anotherInstagramnotification. Emma Chen just tagged a location.

PS 124 Yung Wing

The elevator doors slide shut. Through the smudged mirrored walls, I catch my reflection. I almost don’t recognize myself with my dark hair, dark clothes, and carefully cultivated edge. This is the image Pinnacle is building for me.

"Don't." Luke doesn't even look up from his phone.

"Don't what?"

"Don't try to find that school. Don't show up there. Don’t?—"

"I wasn’t. How can you see that? You have supersonic eyes."

"You were." Now he does look up. "Listen. Morrison's lawyers are circling. One wrong move and he'll come after everything. I’m not just talking the money, but creative control. Publishing rights. Your entire future catalog. Then you belong to him. And you saw how far that got you the last five-plus years."

"I know."

"Do you? Because right now you seem more focused on solving some mystery about unanswered letters and texts from half a decade ago."

He's right. The Morrison situation is a ticking bomb. I should be focusing on the album, on finding a way out of that contract. Not obsessing over why Sienna never wrote back. Not wondering why she's in New York instead of Charleston. Not…

My phone buzzes again. It’s anotherInstagrampost. I probably need to turn off notifications for whenever she posts, but I’m hoping to glean something to know how to talk to Sienna. If I could just talk to her for five minutes.

I click on the IG icon and a media-worthy photo of potstickers on a red and white patterned plate. The location is tagged: Golden Dragon Restaurant.

Lunch break dumplings with my favorite personreads the caption.

No Sienna. Still. Favorite person. There is a chance…

"You know," Luke says carefully, "Ethan mentioned something interesting the other night when we talked. I told him you're losing your shit over seeing Sienna. He said he tried to reach Sienna after you left Charleston, too, but never could get through. Maybe she wanted to remove herself completely from your life. Not trying to be a dick, I’m just saying."

My head snaps up. "What?"

"Car's waiting." Luke checks his watch. "Studio in twenty. We need to nail that bridge on track four."

I pocket my phone, but my mind's already mapping the quickest route to Chinatown. I've never wanted shrimp fried rice so badly in my life.

Electric Lady Studios

4:23 PM

The elevator doorsopen to the studio floor when Luke's phone rings. He puts it on speaker.

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