Page 28 of Songbird: Black Kite
Blowing out a breath, I finished my drink and turned to Charlie, giving him a nod, which he recognized immediately. Turning to the crowded bar, Charlie looked around for a few moments, then began moving decisively through the crowd. A few minutes later he returned with a gorgeous blonde chick, her eyes wide with shock when she realized who was sitting at the table.
“Oh em gee!” she squealed, and I tried not to cringe. “I can’t believe it’s really you.Black Kiteis, like, my absolute favorite band.”
“Bet she can’t name three songs,” Alex muttered, just low enough that I didn’t think she could hear.
“Yeah?” I asked instead, reaching out a hand for her to come closer. She did, sliding herself between my spread thighs like she belonged there. “Always nice to meet a fan, baby. Why don’t you get comfortable, and I’ll buy you a drink?”
The girl giggled, plopping her bony ass down on my leg as she practically vibrated with glee. I was grateful when Charlie waved over the server and my drink was refilled. It gave me something to do while the girl rattled on and on about what the fuck ever it was she was talking about. I hummed and nodded where I thought was appropriate, the whole time watching Lewis watch Tori as she got more and more angry. I could feel her rage from across the table, the dark look in her eyes telling me she was going to make me pay.
Bring it. I was done with her and done with this dance she insisted on doing. If Lewis wanted her, the door was wide open for him. I just hoped he knew what kind of viper he was inviting into his bed.
Because Tori’s bite was pure venom.
Chapter sixteen
Hawk
Present
“Twosongs?”Alexasked,his eyes wide. “How much time do we have? Because that’s a hell of an ask these days.” I frowned, and he shrugged unapologetically. “Sorry, man. But it’s true.Black Kitehasn’t written together in years. What the hell does Cornelius expect from us?”
“From me,” I said flatly, tapping my fingers on the dark wood of my dining room table. Harry had set the three of us up in here for dinner, saying that it had been too long since she’d cooked a decent meal for us all, and she wanted to do it right.
Judging by how much of it Gavin and Alex had consumed, I guessed it was appreciated.
“He’s expecting it from me. This is his way of getting revenge for the shit that went down with Tori.”
“That’s a fucking joke,” Gavin burst out, his usual quiet demeanor always falling away whenever Tori was brought up. “Not a single thing about that situation was your fault.”
As much as I wanted to agree with him, the fact of the matter was, I had started shit with Tori long before the band blew up over it. Our divorce was just the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. And as much as I was glad to be rid of her and her twisted ways, I had so many fuckin’ regrets about it.
About everything, really.
About falling for her lies. Sacrificing a friendship for the sake of my anger. Hurting Alex and Gavin in the process.
So many wrong choices, and no way to undo any of them.
Once again, a pair of haunting brown eyes flashed in my mind, and I swallowed hard against the memory of my biggest regret of all.
“It doesn’t matter if he thinks it’s my fault or not because, when all is said and done, he’s the one holding our final album hostage, and until we deliver two additional tracks, it will never get released and we’ll never be free of our goddamn contractual obligations.”
“So what do you want to do?” Alex asked, his eyes wary.
I knew what I didn’t want to do; I didn’t want to reach out to Lewis. Didn’t want to ask him to participate in the process in any way. I could write the lyrics, the guys could do their part, but we needed a bass line, and unfortunately, that role belonged to Lewis.
If I wanted these songs done and the album released, I needed to have him be a part of it.
“What Iwantto do is go down toCastor Records, reach across that ridiculously large desk, and drag Cornelius Castor across it by his stupid skinny tie. Tell him exactly what I think of him blackmailing us for our own intellectual property.”
Gavin nodded, his eyes narrowed, but Alex just stared at me, waiting.
“What I’mactuallygoing to do is sit down with my two best friends and write two killer songs. Once we have what we need, we will probably have to ask Lewis to add the bass. He should be able to do that, no problem, and we likely won’t even have to be in the same room when he does it. It’ll be easy.”
Even I didn’t believe my own words, but that didn’t stop the guys from nodding along. They’d stand by me, I knew, but I hated the thought of making them suffer any more than they already had for my bullshit.
After dinner was cleared, we shifted our little party to the living room, Alex and I casually strumming at our favorite acoustics while Gavin sat, long arms stretched across the back of the couch, bobbing his head to our pitiful plucking.
“You got any lyrics you’ve been keeping from us?” Alex asked, his fingers mindlessly moving through chord progressions.
