Page 5 of Just Trouble

He’s talking about fan-girls. He has to be. Ever since he confessed in an interview that he loves women and lingerie, the stage has been knee-deep in bras and panties by the end of every performance. The finale of the show is always Luke wading through the offerings to invite one female fan onto the stage. She always squeals. He always drops to one knee and sings that ballad to her, the one that made them a fortune, the one that strikes at the heart and fills your thoughts with promises of forever. It’s a great way to end a concert. Brings down the house every time.

And when that woman follows Luke off-stage, it’s no mystery what happens next.

I am not the only person who has ever fantasized about what it would be like to be that fan.

I can’t be.

I realize a bit late that he’s watching me. When I straighten, startled, he resumes. “I didn’t believe that I had anything in common with Patrick, but my friend said I needed to have more balance. I needed to take responsibility for what I’ve done, intentionally or not, and I needed to do my part to make the world a better place. He told me that I had to identify the prime mover, the incident that tipped the first domino, then fix it.”

“And that’s why you’ve come back to Empire?”

“No, I laughed at him. I thought he was crazy.” Luke’s expression hardens and he looks bleak. “And then he died,” he adds quietly, a break in his voice.

I stare at him in shock.

He clears his throat, then resumes, speaking more quickly. “And it was my fault. Then the band fell into chaos and broke up, and that was my fault. Then we lost a bunch of sponsorships.” He jabs a thumb into his chest, anger now making his eyes vividly blue. “Myfault. The dominos kept falling. I knew that everything would keep going to hell unless I took his advice andfixedit.” He winces and runs a hand through his hair. “The problem was that I couldn’t figure out how to make a change, much less where to start.” He fixes me with a look. “Don’t laugh but I think my friend got impatient with Fate and took on the job himself.”

I nod, knowing he’s talking about Taylor but keeping my questions to myself for the moment. I’ll ask when he’s finished his confession.

“I ended up at this restaurant in Toronto. A friend recommended it, said the food was awesome but the neighbourhood stunk. Right on both counts. I would never have found that place on my own, but it was amazing. The incredible part, though, was that Sylvia Kincaid was working there.”

“Sylvia Kincaid? The same Sylvia who was supposed to marry your brother Mike?”

“The very same. And he’s my half-brother.”

Right. I nod at the distinction.

Sweet, pretty, spunky Sylvia. I wonder how she’s doing. At the end of high school, Sylvia just got on the bus and left town. Even though her grandmother still lives here, I haven’t caught a glimpse of her since.

Why not? Why did she leave? I always assumed she just wanted to get away, but Luke’s attitude makes me wonder if there’s more—and if he knows the story.

“I haven’t seen her since high school,” I say.

“Me neither. But that didn’t stop her. She marched up and dumped a pitcher of ice water into my lap.”

I have to fight my smile as I see the point of his story. “Because of your dickness at some previous point in time.”

He points at me in triumph. “Exactly.”

“We return to the topic at hand. Always liked Sylvia.”

He nods ruefully, unoffended. “And I treated her badly. It really didn’t have much to do with her, which is the worst part of it.”

I fold my arms across my chest. “What exactly did you do to Sylvia?”

“I seduced her, of course. It’s what I used to do with every female in my proximity. I’m surprised you don’t remember that, Daph.”

I do. He never tried to get it on with me, though. I don’t say it.

Used to.

“I didn’t think you’d stopped,” I say instead.

“I have, actually, but that’s recent and irrelevant to our discussion.”

I think it’s very relevant, but take a warning from his hard glare. That subject is closed, at least for the moment. “But Sylvia was engaged to Mike then.”

“Yes. And stopped being so because of me. I’m not proud of what I did, and I won’t blame Mike for being a contributing variable to my choice. I should have known better. I should havebeenbetter, but I wasn’t. And that means I need to fix this.”

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