Page 136 of Songbird: Black Kite
Since my Bird.
Shaking off the melancholy that always rose up when I thought of my mystery girl, I stared back at Tori, wanting to make sure I drove my point home.
“I’ll go the rest of my life if that’s what it takes, and there is not a single thing you or your father can do that would make me change my mind.”
If looks could kill, then I’d have been dead on the floor. Licking her lips, Tori ran her hands through her hair to straighten the mess her tantrum had created. The mascara she’d put on was smeared under one eye, and if she’d been wearing lipstick, it was long gone. Everything about her was a mess, inside and out, and not for the first time, I felt the stirring of pity for her.
Victoria Castor had been raised to believe that money could buy her anything, and she was getting a hard lesson in the fact that that was far from the truth.
“I’m telling Daddy,” she whispered, all her earlier bravado gone. “I’ll tell him you hit me. That you cheated on me, and then when I confronted you about it, you hit me. He’ll believe me. You know he will.”
Any pity I felt for her died a quick death at her words.
“Yourdaddyisn’t going to do a goddamn thing, Tori, because I am just one fuckin’ bad day away from walking away from him and his goddamn label for good. Let him find himself another band to pimp out for money.”
“What?” she gasped, her hand coming to her throat in a panic. “You can’t! Hawk, no, please.Black Kitecan’t leaveCastor Records. Daddy would never recover. Not when he’s—”
Her hand flew from her throat to her mouth, eyes going wide as she stopped herself from saying whatever it was she was about to say.
“When he’s what, Tori?” I asked, slowly standing from the chair. But she just shook her head, backing out of the room slowly, her eyes on me like she was afraid. “What would he never recover from? Tori!”
When I barked out her name that seemed to break whatever spell she’d been under and she turned and fled the room, and I was hot on her heels, not willing to let this go.
Her drunk ass didn’t make it far, however, as she tripped over her own feet and stumbled into the wall with a soft cry. When I stopped beside her, she sagged, all the fight leaving her as she slid slowly down the wall. I could see that she was so far gone, drunker than I could ever remember her being, as she collapsed onto her butt, tears pulling her makeup even farther down her cheeks.
Crouching down before her, I lifted her chin with my finger, forcing her to meet my eyes.
“Tori,” I started, but she only cried harder.
“Why couldn’t you justloveme?” she sobbed, her chest heaving with every breath. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to love me. Would it have really been that bad?”
I wanted to say something reassuring, something about how there was someone else out there for her, but I was just so filled with rage at the shit she and her dad had put me through for all these years that I just couldn’t muster a single ounce of sympathy, no matter how pathetic she looked as she wailed on the floor.
“Tell me what the hell is going on, Tori. Why can’tBlack KiteleaveCastor Records?” I knew we were contracted for four albums, but the fourth was almost finished; there was nothing else tying us to them besides this sham of a marriage.
Was there?
Swallowing hard, Tori took a shuddering breath before she closed her eyes, steeling herself for whatever it was that she was about to tell me.
“Daddy’s in trouble,” she whispered, as though her father might be nearby and overhear her spilling all his secrets. “The money, all the assets, it’s all a lie.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snapped, softening my tone when she flinched back. “Tori, what does that mean?”
Leaning her head back against the wall, Tori sighed, the alcohol in her system combining with the emotional exhaustion she must have been feeling, causing her words to be even more slurred than when she’d first accosted me tonight. I was losing her; if she didn’t answer me quick, she’d pass out, and I’d never get my answers.
“Victoria.” Opening her eyes, she smiled at me, and it was the most soft and honest expression I’d ever seen on her face. “Tell me what’s going on atCastor Records. Please.”
“It’s in the sales reports,” she muttered, her head rolling on her neck. “The shareholders think there are record profits, but it’s all a lie. The earnings are not there because Daddy took it.” She sighed, a small crease developing between her perfectly manicured eyebrows. “He took it all, and now there’s nothing left for me.”
With that, she slumped over, her body curling up like a child as she settled into a deep alcohol-induced sleep.
Sitting back on my ass, I stared at her, stunned. If what she had just told me was even remotely true, then not only wasCastor Recordsin a whole fuckload of trouble, but so was Cornelius himself.
And that informationfinallygave me something I could use.
Chapter seventy-eight
Hawk
