Page 8 of Dark Notes

Erik walks through the door, and I go behind him and shut it behind me. I wave him to the living room, which has three enormous white sofas, with a large dark coffee table in front of them with a bottle of vodka, and two glasses, sitting on top.

“Help yourself.”

He takes a seat and pours himself a glass of vodka. I’m surprised the jackass doesn’t ask for orange juice rather than drinking it straight, but I would’ve told him to fuck himself, anyway.

I take a seat across from him. “Tell me about your goals. Are you comfortable where you are? Or do you want more?”

Of course, I knew the answer before I asked the question, but I needed him to say it, anyway, more for himself than me.

“I want more. If I’m honest, I want what you have.”

I smirk at him, because isn’t that interesting? He wants what I have, and I want what he has, which is why I’m willing to make a deal with the devil, because if I don’t keep her physically close to me, I’ll never fucking see her again.

“I’d like to offer you the opening gig for the rest of the US tour, and if all goes well, maybe the European tour too.”

He arches an eyebrow in surprise. “You hate me. You punched me in the face. Why would you help me?”

Maybe he’s slightly smarter than I thought he was.

“I punched you because you hit a woman. Your goddamn girlfriend.”

Erik hangs his head down like he might be ashamed. “You don’t know her. She’s a bitch, and she deserved it.”

This is why he was worried about violence, because instantly, I want to kick the shit out of him, but I keep my eye on the prize.

“That brings us to stipulation one.”

He stares at me, waiting for me to tell him more. I really fucking hate that I have to do this. There is no part of me that wants to give this asshole anything, but it’s a means to an end. Should I want her bad enough to give him everything he wants? No. He doesn’t fucking deserve a goddamn thing. Yet, here we are.

“You will never raise a hand to her again.”

Taking a gulp of his drink, he sets it on the table before holding his hands up in surrender. “You have my word.”

“I believe in honesty, Erik, so I’m going to tell you the truth.”

He nods like it’s what he wants, but I assure you he does not.

“I can help you skyrocket your career. I have all the connections you need, but you were right to question my motives. I’m going to steal your girl.”

Erik chuckles. “No, you won’t. Impossible.”

I shrug my shoulders, because what he thinks is of no consequence to me. “You’ve been warned. I’ll help you if she comes on tour with you, but if she doesn’t, our arrangement is off.”

He nods slowly in agreement. “You said stipulation one?”

I grin. “I’ll fucking own you, asshole. Step out of line and I’ll ruin you. Hit her again and I’ll kill you myself. I don’t want to see you unless I request your presence, so you keep your distance from me. Same with the rest of the dildos. You can sit back and watch while I take your girl.”

He finishes his drink and sets the empty glass back on the table.

“I’m fine with everything, but you’ll never steal her away. So if that’s the goal and the reason you’re doing this, you’ll lose. She’s far more fucked up than you realize. You don’t want her.”

That’s where he is wrong. I fucking want her in the worst goddamn way. It’s like meeting her briefly changed my world. Everything looks different. I’ve tried to make sense of it and I can’t. Some of our groupies travel wherever we go. Many come out when we are local to them, so the majority I’ve seen before. None of them did a damn thing for me tonight. Not even the twins, Amber and Ashley. All I can think about is making her shiver again. And hearing the way she sounds when she comes.

“We have an agreement then?”

He laughs. “Sure, but I meant what I said.”

I nod, not really in agreement, but to shut him up. “I’ll text you an interview time. Just you. Nobody else. You go alone.”

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