Page 53 of The Rocker

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

pen

I triedto swallow the lump in my throat, but the pressure only increased. Any minute now, I wouldn’t be able to breathe.

Was my world about to come crumbling down around me?

Cross walked into my office at my condo and then promptly stopped. “Shit, Pen, are you pregnant?”

My head whipped up. “What? No,” I laughed bitterly. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Because you look sick.”

Did I? I wouldn’t doubt it after the message I just received. I couldn’t let Cristiano see me looking any worse for wear. We’d been back for all of one day when I was summoned, although I was supposed to have a week off before we decided what was next for Crimson Heat.

Walker took a step into the room and then another before he was right by my side. Kneeling down beside me, he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Cristiano,” was all I managed to say. I handed my phone to Walker and let him see the message I received only twenty minutes ago. I’d been frozen until Walker appeared.

“What do you think it’s about?”

“I don’t know. He’s never been to my house, and for him to demand to see me here… it can’t be good.” My hands shook as I asked. “Do you think he knows?”

“Maybe, but it will be okay. I promise.”

“I hope you’re right. What’s Cross doing here? Maybe the two of you should leave before Cristiano gets here,” I rambled nervously.

“I’m not leaving you here to deal with all of this by yourself if it’s what we think it is. I pursued you, and I wouldn’t leave you alone.”

“I am perfectly capable of handling myself. I didn’t have to give in to you.” I wilted against his strong frame.

“I beg to differ,” he smirked cockily at me. “I’m pretty hard to resist.”

“And when you talk like that, I wonder how I ever gave you the time of day.” I rolled my eyes at him while also smiling at him. The happiness drained from me the second my phone went off, letting me know someone was downstairs.

Walker gripped my hands. “Alright, let’s take a deep breath, and everything will be fine.”

“I’ll answer the door while you get yourself together.” Cross backed out of the room. I hadn’t noticed when he walked into the room. “You might want to put on your jewelry before he gets up here.”

I shuffled out of the room and into my bedroom, where I put on my watch, earrings, and rings along with a swipe of lip gloss. I wanted to look as put together as possible. There was no way I was going to let Cristiano see he’d unnerved me by his dropping by spur-of-the-moment.

“Why am I not surprised you two are here?” I heard Cristiano sneer from the other room. I walked into the room to see Cristiano circling Cross and Walker. “Is she doing the both of you or the whole band?”

“You son of a bitch.” Walker cocked back his fist and lunged for Cristiano. I couldn’t let him hit Cristiano. If he did, Walker’s career would be over, and I wouldn’t let that happen over a few words out of Cristiano’s mouth.

Grabbing onto his arm, he swung with the power of a freight train. The punch missed my boss, but the momentum kept going, throwing me into the coffee table. My side hit, and I knew I’d have a nasty bruise, but I wasn’t going to show that I was in pain. Not with Cristiano looking down at me with distaste.

“Fuck, Pen,” Walker shouted, running to me. He picked me up in his arms and sat us down on the couch with me on his lap as he ran his hands over my body.

“You can put me down. I’m fine. I just hit my side.” I jerked as his hand found a tender spot.

“You’re not fine. God, I’m so sorry. I wanted to be here to protect you, and all I’ve done is hurt you myself.”

“I’ll be fine.” I pushed his hands away and sat next to him on the couch. “Why are you here, Cristiano?” I wanted to get down to business and get this over with.

“Because I wanted to see all of this in person. I didn’t believe it when I heard you were stupid enough to be sleeping with one of your clients. Do you know how bad this will make Titan Records look? For fuck’s sake, Pen, you could be his mother.” The way he looked at me with pure disgust made my stomach roil.

At the same time, both Walker and Cross started to go for Cristiano. “Don’t,” I yelled, moving to get between them and my ugly boss.

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