Page 21 of Breakaway
"Jeremy, though." I get us back on topic.
If Brandr has questions about my powers, I'll be more than happy to answer them later. I enjoy showing off every once in a while. My shadows like that idea a lot, especially if Reese is there to watch. They want her to know that she's managed to snare the soul of a powerful male, and no amount of telling them that she has no idea about any of that has them thinking any less about how she'll be interested in us once she knows how powerful we are.
"No idea why he came by," Brandr shrugs. "We messaged Marr, and he talked to Mauve about it. A report was sent toReese, but she's been dealing with so much today, I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't seen it yet."
"She hasn't," I answer. She hadn't picked up her comm all day. It's something she avoids, probably not wanting to deal with the countless things being said about her all the time.
"As far as our protocols go, he didn't do anything wrong, and he's technically one of the approved people, but…" Brandr lets his voice trail off, one beefy hand rubbing the back of his head as he looks down the hall to where Reese is sleeping. "I know humans aren't Lokans, but the dynamic there didn't fit a healthy relationship."
"No, and based on the info you have about him, I'm willing to bet he was just here for more money," I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'll speak to Reese about him, and then schedule a time for them to meet. If he tries to get into the apartment again, let me know. If we're here, my shadows will alert me, but if we're not, I want to be made aware as soon as it happens."
"You got it," Brandr says, giving me a faux salute and smirking as he does it. His expression hardens as a thought flicks into his mind, one he's had a few times today, based on how it festers in his mind long enough for my shadows to hear it, pluck it, and show it to me.
Fucker probably had something to do with Reese's information being leaked.
A curdle of dread forms in my stomach. I hope for Reese's sake and the safety of her brother that Brandr's thought is just an uneasy feeling after a bad first encounter with the man. There's no proof to support his thoughts, and he has no basis for his suspicions, which is why he hasn't shared them with anyone else, added them to any reports, or even alerted Marr. If anything, it could be that he dislikes Jeremy because he came across as entitled, and the thought is just one of those things that flits into one's mind without meaning to.
Still, something heavy weighs down on me as I sit with the thought of someone close to Reese being the one who has turned her life into such disarray. No, I need to not worry about that until I can speak to Reese about him and then get close enough to him that I can root around in his head and see if he's ever had any nefarious plans when it comes to his sister's stardom.
For now, the best thing for me to do is go over the stupid questionnaire Mauve sent me earlier. It has all the information Reese and I should know about one another if we've been dating for any length of time. I plop down on the couch, pulling my comm out of my pocket.
"Want to help me with this?" I ask Brandr. He takes my comm from me, one of his brows quirking as he reads over the first question.
He opens his mouth, closes it, gives me an 'are you sure' look before shaking his head. "How did Reese get the scar on her shin?"
Falling through an old storm shelter door!My shadows all scream at me, overlapping with one another as they get the answer from Brandr.
"You can't look at the answer until I answer or my shadows cheat," I tell him, frowning harshly as I swat at my shadows, who are all dancing around acting like they're winning this game when they're just filthy cheaters.
"Is this really necessary?" Brandr asks. His thoughts continue to ask if it's more important than figuring out who did this to Reese.
"Yes, we have an interview next week, and apparently I need to know all of this," I tell him, sighing. "And I'll deal with her brother when I can get him over here."
Brandr's cheeks go bright pink underneath his beard, his head ducking in an understanding now that tells me heappreciates me taking his concerns seriously, even if he hasn't voiced them to anyone.
"Where did Empress have her first show?" Brandr asks, and much to my shadows' dismay, he remembers not to look at the answer until I give one.
CHAPTER 9
REESE
Breaking News! Empress and her new beau. Ten things to know about the pop star's secret lover and why she kept him hidden.
My family is going to be the death of me.
You'd think with everything that's happening with my whole identity being leaked, my sense of privacy being stripped away, and dealing with a whole break-in of my apartment, my family might pause their whining for a single day. And I guess they did, since I haven't heard from them since the news broke about my identity being leaked. But then their monthly allowance didn't hit their account when it should've, and all of a sudden, they remember I exist.
It's not the first time the payments to them have been delayed, and even though it's never once been a problem on my side, they get all up in arms about how I'm cutting them off and abandoning my family now that I've made it big. For some reason, they never think to call their bank to see if there's an issue with their accounts or not.
A few years ago, I thought of lowering the amount I was giving them because my brother still hadn't found a job, and myparents were talking about buying a boat when they'd just called me begging for money because they weren't going to be able to make the mortgage payment. Even suggesting a change in the money I sent each month was met with a lot of tears and a bit of calling me a terrible daughter. I haven't brought it up again since, and I'm already stressing over the conversation I need to have with them soon, since I'm planning on retiring and leaving Earth.
"Tell those money-hungry cretins that it's a problem on their end," Mauve says from where she's sitting in a makeup chair beside me while Chelsea is finishing up my face. "I had the accountant send out their payments the same time I do every month."
"I told them that," I attempt to say, but since my lips are being done, it doesn't sound remotely like anything intelligible at all. Thankfully, Mauve and I have been doing this for long enough that she knows how to interpret weird sounds meant as words since she's always trying to talk to me while Chelsea is doing my makeup.
"Then stop worrying about them. They couldn't be bothered to worry about you when the news broke, so why are you worried about them now?"
I glare at her from the corner of my eyes, but she's not looking at me. She knows how I feel about what she's saying, though. I don't have the best relationship with my family, but they're family. I have the money to help them out, so I do. Would it be nice if they cared even a little bit? Yeah, that would be great. But even when we were younger, Jeremy was always the one my parents believed in the most. That belief has done a lot of good, considering he doesn't work, doesn't help out around the house, and has no plans of moving out or finding a job anytime soon. Not that it bothers my parents. And I try really hard not to let it bother me, even though if it were me at home, I wouldn'tbe getting three meals made for me while I sit around doing nothing all day.
