Page 152 of Songbird: Black Kite
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I headed for the fridge and grabbed a beer, taking myself out to the deck and settling down in one of the low outdoor couches, watching the waves roll against the sand while I tried to remind myself that things with Wren would take time and patience.
I had to be willing to give her both.
Half-way through the bottle, my phone rang, and I grimaced when I saw Mick’s name on the screen. He’d been hounding me for hours.
“Hey,” I answered, steeling myself for whatever it was he had to say. “What’s up?”
“You think you can be ready to move for tomorrow morning?”
That had me sitting up straighter. We’d been planning our eventual take down ofCastor Recordsfor a few weeks now, and things were moving quickly.
But tomorrow? That was way faster than I’d anticipated.
“Why so soon?”
“Because my source inside the label tells me that Victoria Castor is losing her fucking mind over the photos of you in Minnesota. She’s gone into full meltdown mode, and I don’t want to give her a chance to get out ahead of us.”
That made a lot of sense. Tori had worked long and hard to keep Wren and Cooper away from me. The fact that I’d discovered I had a kid was probably giving her a heart attack.
The only thing she couldn’t be sure of was if I knew what she’d done to hide Cooper from me.
And I hoped to fuck that kept her up at night.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked, downing the last of my beer and standing from the couch. Facing out to the ocean, I leaned my elbows on the railing, letting the sea breeze wash over me as I listened to Mick.
“I’m going to arrange a meeting with Cornelius Castor for tomorrow. It’s a fucking given that Victoria will also be there. You know she can’t resist a chance to flaunt her nepotism for everyone to see.” I snorted, but didn’t argue. Tori had been handed everything she ever wanted with little to no effort on her part, a fact that she was quite proud of. “It will be under the pretense of finalizing the track list for the last album, but once we’re there, things will escalate quickly.”
“What did you do, Mick?” His excited tone had me worried. “I thought you were supposed to be the level-headed one.”
“Trust me, Hawk. By this time tomorrow, you’ll be a free man.Castor Recordswill never again dictate your career.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Have I ever let you down?”
“No, Mickey. You haven’t.” Not one fuckin’ time, in fact, so I knew that when he said he had things under control, he meant it. “Just tell me where and when and I’ll be there.”
It was time to end this.
Once and for all.
Chapter eighty-five
Wren
Present
Icouldn’tsleep.Layingin the large, stupidly comfortable bed with sheets that were probably made from angel wings or something, I was more keyed up than I had ever been.
Everything was going well, and inmylife, that was usually a sign that my whole world was about to fall apart. Sabrina said that I was a walking self-fulfilling prophecy, that my own negative attitude tended to bring me negative consequences, and she may have had a point.
But that didn’t change the fact that my track record for good things was less than zero.
Sighing, I rolled over, bunching one of the luxurious pillows under my head so the cooler side was out.
Maybe Bri was right. Maybe I was constantly digging my own grave when it came to my own happiness. I just didn’t see how I could change my way of thinking. Good things rarely happened to me, and Hawk was a very good thing.
He had seemed so earnest back in Minnesota, pouring his heart out at my kitchen table, and I’d jumped in with both feet, wanting to take everything he offered.
