Page 121 of Living on the Edge

He’s breathing hard, eyes burning into the back of Callum’s head.

“Hey, Jonny Gold!” The bald guy spots Jonny and calls out to him. He’s red-faced and sweaty, overweight, and completely plastered. He holds out his hand. “Rich Fowler fromRock Harder Magazine! Nice to finally meet you!”

I freeze and feel Mick tense beside me.

Jonny’s our best spokesperson, always ready for anything, and he smiles politely as he shakes the man’s hand.

“I’m waiting for a thank you,” Rich continues, pumping Jonny’s hand effusively.

“A thank you?” Jonny still has his polite face on, but there’s no doubt he’s teetering on the edge of saying something snide.

“For that article I fudged for you! Ryleigh’s just a kid, you know? Doesn’t know how to play the game, so when she sent in some milquetoast story about brotherhood and redemption...” He rolls his eyes. “I had plenty of sources for info, but once I got your bus driver on board to snoop for us, I got all the goods she wasn’t willing to give up—and look at you now, platinum-selling artists!” He grins proudly, like he wrote the songs or something, and I’m rooted in place.

My thoughts are a wild jumble of shock, guilt, frustration, and confusion.

The bus driver?

Ben? The bus driver who suddenly retired a few weeks ago?

He was a spy?

Not Ryleigh.

Ryleighdidn’t spill the beans.

Not even by accident.

Everything I thought I knew suddenly spirals out of control and I’m a little dizzy.

I’m also fucking furious.

Before I realize what I’m doing, I grab Rich by the shirt and practically lift him off the ground. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? You had someone spy on me to write about personal family information that has absolutely nothing to do with music or the band? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Hey, man, settle down!” Callum tries to intervene, but Mick is already there, putting his body between us.

“Come on!” Rich is still laughing. “This is the best thing that ever happened to Crimson Edge—I mean, look where you are now! You’d still be virtually unknown if not for me!”

I pull back my fist but Tate knows me too well and grabs my arm before I can let loose. Because I really want to hurt this guy right now.

“Not worth it,” he hisses. “Fuck him.”

I thrust Rich away from me shaking my head. “You seriously have no idea how much damage you caused. To my family. ToRyleigh…”

He rolls his eyes. “Ryleigh needs to grow up. She turned down the job offer we made her, which was pretty generous, and last I heard, she’s waiting tables somewhere. She threw away everything she worked for. She even shut down her little influencer channel.” He shakes his head. “Some people have no stones.”

“And some have no ethics,” I snap.

“Dude, slow your roll,” Callum says to me. “Good things happened because of Rich. I’ll let you in on a little secret—my management company is working with yours to have you open for us starting in January. We were going to announce it tonight but now you made me spill the beans.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” I turn to Sasha. “He’s kidding, right?”

“Nothing has been decided,” she says quickly before giving Callum an irritated look. “You know that, Callum. Negotiations are ongoing.”

“And you know that other than Nobody’s Fool, there’s no better tour for them than with us.” He smirks at her.

“Fuck you.” The words slip out, and I don’t even try to hide my irritation.

I have to get out of here.

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