Chapter Seventeen #2
A long pause. Then his jaw clenches, his head dipping with reluctant finality. “Yes.”
One word.
One betrayal too many.
And it detonates inside me like a fucking grenade.
I let out a groan of frustration, my chest heaving as I shove past my father, the brush of my shoulder against his a warning.
A threat. A line drawn in the foundations of everything we’ve built.
I storm down the hallway toward the studio, fury coursing through me, just waiting for a spark.
My fists are already balled, nails digging into my palms, jaw locked so tight my molars might shatter.
Sweat beads along my brow, a single drop racing down my temple as if it’s trying to outrun the explosion brewing under my skin.
Every nerve is on fire.
Every thought is screaming.
Only one thing is racing through my mind.
Dax.
His name pounds in my head like relentless thunder. The echo of betrayal is so loud it drowns out reason.
He knew how I felt about Lyric.
He knew what she meant to me.
And yet, he still handed her over like bait.
My shoes hammer the hallway, each step harder than the last. Rage surges with every heartbeat, wild and unrelenting. I see nothing but red, and in the center of it—him.
Dax.
My oldest friend, my brother in everything but blood.
The man who lit the goddamn match.
And he’s about to find out just how much damage that fire can do.
I slam through the double doors like a hurricane, palms crashing against the metal as they swing wide.
The second I step into the studio, I spot Dax, laughing, relaxed, fucking thriving.
He’s perched on a stool like he hasn’t betrayed the only person who ever had his back.
Some bright-eyed girl drapes herself against him, practically drooling, while he twirls her hair around his fingers like she’s a toy he’s already claimed.
Her gaze clings to him, all soft smiles and blind adoration.
But all I see is red.
My shoes strike the hardwood floor, each step heavier than the last, each one fueled by rage that’s been boiling under my skin since the moment I walked away from Lyric. He doesn’t even notice me until it’s too late.
I don’t slow.
I don’t speak.
I haul my arm back and launch forward, driving both hands into his chest with enough force to send him flying off his stool. He hits the hardwood floor with a loud thud, skidding several feet like the spineless fucking piece of shit he is.
The girl shrieks, scrambling to the corner, but I barely register her.
This isn’t about her.
It’s about him.
Dax blinks up at me, completely stunned. “What the fuck, Chase?”
But I’m already on him. I drop low, my fist cocked, my jaw clenched so tight it aches, and then I drive my knuckles straight into his smug jaw. His head jerks to the side as he crashes back, groaning, dazed.
But I’m not done.
Not even close.
I grab the front of his shirt, yanking him back up like he’s nothing, and slam another punch straight into his face. My fist splits, the impact rattling my bones, but it still doesn’t satisfy the fury roiling in my gut.
It’s not enough.
None of this is enough.
I rear back again, ready to deliver another blow, maybe the one that finally erases the betrayal from my chest, but arms wrap around mine, hauling me backward.
I thrash in their grip, breathing like a man possessed.
Dad and Little Mickey are dragging me off, but even they’re struggling to hold me as I thrash to get back to Dax and finish the asshole off.
“Get the hell off me!” I growl, shaking them loose.
I start back toward Dax, but Little Mickey shoves his hand to my chest, stopping me. “Enough, Chase. Enough!”
Huffing, I shrug out of his grip, staggering away, trying to breathe through the storm that is raging uncontrollably inside me. My fists are bloodied, my heart racing, but the pain in my knuckles is nothing compared to the burn in my chest.
Across the room, Dax groans as he sits up, clutching his bruised face, his lip already swelling, but I don’t feel the slightest bit sorry.
He gave my girl to the wolves. Willingly.
He sold me out as if I were a prop in a performance he didn’t mind lighting on fire.
And now the asshole’s paying for it.
“Jesus, CJ!” Dad calls out while walking over to Dax, who’s still sitting on the hardwood floor. He bends down, checking over the traitor’s face.
“You told him?” Dax questions my father, spitting out a line of blood.
I turn, glaring at Dax. “You… told… him! You told Dad about Lyri? I trusted you to keep that shit to yourself.”
Dax slowly stands from the floor, straightening out his leather jacket. “We’re in the music industry, Chase, we’re supposed to find talent, and she has it in spades. If we don’t snap her up, someone else will. It’s only a matter of time.”
I groan in frustration. “No, it’s not. Lyric doesn’t want that life!
” I yell. “And you would know that if you’d been listening to me at all.
I confide in you, Dax, because that’s what best friends do.
You used this information against me. To what?
To gain a fucking client?” I shake my head.
“I don’t even know who the hell you are. ”
Dax cracks his jaw from side to side as if to relieve some tension. “I market your talent. Lyric is marketable. I saw exactly what you saw the moment you first laid eyes on her, the first moment you heard her sing—”
“You can’t force someone into this life if they don’t want it, Dax,” I interrupt him quickly.
“You can if she’ll do it for you, Chase. She loves you, right?” Dad asks.
I glare at my father. “I’m not doing that. I won’t force her. Not for you, not for any of you. I’ve done more than enough for you, Dad.”
Dad’s eyes drop to the floor in understanding. I gave up a considerable chunk of my life for that man. I shouldn’t keep bringing it up or rub it in his face every chance I get, but the debt is massive, and sometimes he needs to be reminded.
He exhales, running his hand over his large head of hair. “I know. And you know I will always be grateful for what you did for me, for this company, for our family, Chase. But there comes a point when you need to step up as EVP and bring talent to the table when you see it.”
“Not if the talent doesn’t want to be brought in. There’s no point having a vocalist on our books who refuses to sing. What in the hell is the point of that?”
Dad’s eyes widen. “You think she’ll refuse?”
I dip my head. “I don’t think, I damn well know. And you would have known if you’d have asked me.”
“She sang last night,” Dax rebuts.
“And did you not hear her choice of song, Dax? She was saying goodbye to her past and letting go of everything. She doesn’t want to be a singer. That was her last song.”
“People’s minds can be changed when a dollar amount is flashed in front of their—”
“Lyri isn’t like that. Fuck, man, why do you think so little of her?” I argue.
Dax rubs his jaw. “I don’t think little of her. I think she’s whipped you, and you’re changing because of it.”
I raise my brow. “Is that such a bad thing?”
“Only you can decide if you wanna keep your balls or not. Way I see it, you’re too emotionally involved.”
That makes no damn sense. “Dax, she is…” I take a deep, steadying breath. “No, was… my girlfriend. I’m supposed to be emotionally involved.”
“Whatever, bro. I’m done with this conversation.” He rubs his jaw again and storms out of the music studio.
I turn to Dad, scoffing out a laugh. “He acts like he’s done nothing wrong.”
Dad faces me, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“Look at it through Dax’s eyes. His best friend, with whom he spends all his time, suddenly gets a girl.
You become distracted and spend more time with the girl than with him.
Then Dax finds out said girlfriend could do wonders for the place where you both strive for this company, and you won’t have a bar of it.
He’s only going to feel like you’re choosing her over him, yet again.
” He shrugs. “He misses you, CJ, that’s all.
Dax is many things… arrogant, pig-headed, childish, for sure, but the one thing he has always done is stick by your side. You’d do well to remember that.”
I think of the worst time in my life. The time I was locked away from everyone I loved.
Dax was the only one who made an effort to ensure I was taken care of.
He stood by me through thick and thin, even when everyone around us thought I was nothing more than worthless scum.
Those were rough times, especially in the early days.
Being in jail was never easy.
Being in jail for a crime you didn’t commit was even harder.
I’m a convicted felon.
I went to jail for five years.
I was fined ten thousand dollars.
My life was on hold for so long, I almost forgot what coming back to reality was like.
That’s why Dax was my savior while I was in there.
Not because he was in jail with me, but because Dax would visit me nearly every day and keep me up to date with everything, including the family, the company, and the outside world.
He made me feel like life was worth living.
As each year progressed, I grew stronger and stronger, and by the time Rip—the guy with the goat —was behind bars and became my cellmate, not my roommate, I was practically his life coach.
Not in the real sense, but Dax had given me enough strength in my first year to give Rip the strength for his three.
Rip left just before me—he was in for beating a guy a little too much.
The douche deserved it. The fact still remains that Dax has been, and always is, there for me, and maybe with my mind so focused on Lyric, I’ve forgotten that fact.
“I might be hurting, but I needed a reminder of that, Dad.”
“Sometimes we’re blind to see what’s right in front of us.”
I know he isn’t just talking about Dax—he’s talking about Lyric too, still holding out hope for her music career. But that’s never going to happen. Not while I’m around.
I turn away, my chest tight, and head off to find Dax.
I owe him an apology.
I’ve been one hell of a fucked-up friend, and I need to make it right.