Chapter 23
Daisy
“Ronnie’s here?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to worry you before the concert, but all the issues we had this morning were coming from some guy they call Vulture who was here working to sabotage the concert tonight on Ronnie’s orders.
He confessed he’d already sent the coordinates to him, so I had security all watching for him.
He got in easier than he should have, but once spotted in the crowd, he was discreetly escorted away. ”
I couldn’t believe what Cruz was telling me. He’d known about this all day?
“We’re holding him, ma’am. Just awaiting your orders on what to do with him,” one of the two men that had been standing guard stage-side said.
My head was swimming.
I was going to be in so much trouble for this.
“Where is he now?”
“Being held in a back room in the clubhouse,” he told me.
“Okay. I guess take me to him.”
“Are you sure?” Cruz asked.
“He’s my manager, Cruz. I can’t just ignore this. I have a concert in two days in Cheyenne. I’m going to see him eventually. Might as well just face it head on.”
“Okay.”
The hardest part about hearing this now was the feeling of betrayal I was struggling with.
How could Cruz keep me in the dark about this?
Why wouldn’t he just tell me? I was furious with him, yet there were a lot of people still waiting to meet me and have autographs signed and I was going to have to put on a happy face and do all the things on the way to facing Ronnie.
I’d been so happy on that stage. It’d felt more like the early days of my career when I was still very connected to my audiences, not just putting on a show.
At one point people had even rushed the stage, but they kept a certain boundary while still being closer to me.
The energy that gave me was indescribable.
It was the sort of high I missed when performing now.
My latest concert had fifteen feet from the stage to a fence erected around it. No one was allowed to even get close to the stage thanks to that buffer. And my performances were all scripted. I would never have been permitted to sing a song of my own during a concert like that.
I’d forgotten what it felt like to truly connect with my audience. And now, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back to what I was expected to do. Couldn’t there be a happy medium between the two?
Ronnie and I were going to have to have some serious discussions about all of this.
But for now, as Sydney ran over to hug me, I pushed all those thoughts aside.
“You were so great!” she gushed.
“Thank you. And thanks for putting all this together.”
“I did help, too,” Lily said.
I hugged her next, wondering who I even was anymore.
Kelsey stepped in and ripped me from Lily. “She gets to see you more than I do. That was amazing, Daisy. And that first song. Wow! I had tears in my eyes. It’s fabulous. I can’t wait to add it to my playlist.”
I shrugged. “We’ll see if it makes it to that point. I haven’t written a song that actually made it to the recording studio in a long time. So I won’t be holding my breath, but I’m glad you all got to hear it.”
“Um, girl, there were multiple people who streamed that new song. You might want to check your socials when you get home tonight because it is already going viral. Everyone is loving it,” Lily said.
“What?” I screeched, grabbing her phone to see for myself.
I watched as the counter of likes kept ticking up higher and higher right before my eyes.
All I could think about was how pissed Ronnie was going to be for it.
“Relax, everyone loves it. And Cruise on Home? That wouldn’t happen to be a little play on words, now would it?” Lily teased.
Of course it had been, because it wasn’t a place I thought of as home, it was him.
They all had things they asked me to autograph, and I took selfies with everyone. The band joined in and managed to get in a lot of the pics too.
Instead of being immediately escorted away, Cruz and I, along with the two men who had guarded the stage, pushed through the crowd stopping every few seconds for another pic or a quick autograph.
About halfway through I realized I wasn’t even scared. I was actually enjoying this. And in some weird way, it felt like I belonged here. I knew I had a Pack back home, but I felt more connected to Collier Pack than I ever had Virginia Pack.
And for a moment, I forgot all about Ronnie.
That didn’t last long though, because once I got through the line awaiting pictures and autographs, it was time to face reality.
“Are you sure?” Cruz asked me.
I appreciated him trying to protect me from this, but it was my life and my livelihood. There was no shielding me from it.
Ronnie was going to be pissed. I was braced for that. But I wasn’t braced for the sugary sweet smile on his face as I walked in. It was off-putting, right up until Cruz walked into the room behind me and stepped right into my personal space with his hand on my hip.
It dawned on me that he was claiming me. He wanted Ronnie to know that I was his now.
That was something I was going to have to put on the side burner to digest later.
Sheer anger seethed through my manager and despite his guards from Westin Force still present, he didn’t even attempt to hide it, for once. Normally in the presence of company he at least tries to behave.
“Hello Ronnie.”
Cruz’s hand on my hip was keeping me grounded and calming me more than I otherwise would have been. With him by my side I felt almost invincible, like Ronnie couldn’t hurt me anymore, because I knew Cruz would never allow it.
“Daisy.” There was an uncomfortable silence setting in, and just when I didn’t think I could take it anymore, he spoke again.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?
Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through?
The entire world thought you were kidnapped, or worse, dead on the side of the road somewhere.
How did you even find this place? This is not how I taught you to behave, young lady. ”
All confidence fled from me as I began to cower.
“Perhaps you need your eyes checked, old man. She’s not a young lady. She’s a very independent woman who deserves to be spoken to with respect,” Cruz spat out.
No one had ever come to my rescue or stood up to Ronnie on my behalf like that before, not even my parents.
“I don’t recall addressing you. Despite whatever unfounded claim you think you have on her, this is none of your business,” Ronnie calmly told him, but his voice was laced with venom even when he turned back to focus on me.
“You’ve disappointed me, Daisy. But don’t worry.
This will never happen again. I promise you that. ”
“But . . .”
He cut me off with the flick of his wrist and a glare of pure hellfire.
“Seeing as how your band went behind my back to put on this ridiculous little show of yours, they can all expect to be fired. You are the star, so replacing you would be much more difficult, but they are entirely replaceable.”
My blood was boiling.
The old Daisy would have nodded in obedience, but not now.
“You will do no such thing.” I told him.
He jolted in surprise.
“Excuse me? You dare talk to me like that? I made you, Daisy. Without me you’d be nothing,” he reminded me.
He knew every one of my triggers and how to control me. He knew exactly what to say and what to do to hurt me the most.
But not this time.
I’d changed here in Collier, and I wasn’t willing to go back to my old ways.
I would not be his victim any longer.
“You’re wrong. I’m stronger than you think, and I don’t need you to control me any longer.”
He laughed in my face.
“You truly believe you can do any of this without me?”
“I just did.”
“What? Some little carnival show? I put you in front of millions. This is nothing. It’s beneath you. You’ve disgraced your name and image even doing it.” He spat, his voice laced with venom.
Cruz handed me his phone, and I looked down to see myself singing on stage.
2.3 million views in only a few hours.
I grinned proudly.
“Thanks to social media, I can reach millions too—without you.”
He blanched and grabbed the phone. Turning up the volume, he listened to the song.
“What the hell is this?” he yelled. “I definitely didn’t approve this shit. It’s going to take a lot of unnecessary time to clean up this mess you’ve made.”
“Perhaps you should take a look at the responses. Everyone is loving her new song. You aren’t going to be able to bury it. It’s out there now. And it’s wonderful,” Cruz said, squeezing my side.
I leaned into him and mouthed, “Thanks.”
“And you are not firing my band. They are the best I’ve ever played with, and I will not accept a new one.”
The door opened and Thomas Collier and Kyle Westin walked in. I hadn’t met Kyle before, but several had pointed him out to me throughout the day.
Ronnie didn’t even glance in their direction as he continued spewing his venom.
“You have no say in these things. It’s all in your contract.”
The look of satisfaction on his face made me sick to my stomach. I knew I had never signed a contract with him, but my parents had on my behalf when they gave him guardianship over me at the age of twelve. I had no idea what that meant for me now.
Thomas took a very intimidating step forward, but Ronnie didn’t even notice. It didn’t matter because he was addressing me directly.
“We’ll obtain a copy and send it to my sister to look over,” he assured me.
“If there’s a loophole, she’ll find it. Lizzy is the best there is. She handles all our personal and business contracts for both Collier and Westin Packs,” Kyle added.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Ronnie asked.
My skin prickled as the room filled with Alpha power. It wasn’t coming off just one Alpha either, but both of them.
Ronnie’s eyes widened in shock, and I could see his body shaking as his head began to tilt to one side involuntarily.
“I already have a call in to your Alpha back in Virginia. I have a feeling he’ll be very interested in how you’ve been mistreating Daisy.”