Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carlene woke to the soft rhythm of the ocean and sunlight filtering through the blinds. For a long moment, she lay still, listening to the quiet. The room smelled faintly of coffee and cedar, and the warmth against her back reminded her she wasn’t alone.
Jami’s arm rested loosely around her waist, his steady breath brushing the back of her neck.
She closed her eyes and enjoyed this moment of peace and tranquility with Jami.
They'd changed their relationship last night, and she wasn't unhappy about it, but it made her doubt more this morning.
She doubted her ability to think clearly about the situation with the label and the sabotage.
It all became personal last night. Though if she were honest, it had been personal for a while now, they both finally acted on their feelings.
Last night had been more than she’d expected. More than she’d allowed herself to want. She’d told herself it would be one night, a moment between chaos and clarity, but lying there, she wasn’t sure she believed it anymore.
Carefully, she slipped from the bed and pulled on one of his shirts that hung from the chair. It smelled like him, a mix of soap and salt air. She padded quietly to the kitchen, poured herself coffee, and set her laptop on the counter.
Reality waited, as it always did.
She opened her files and checked the backup logs from the night before. The drives were secure, but her mirrored server had gone offline sometime after midnight. Frowning, she traced the network trail. The data wasn’t missing; someone had tried to access it remotely, but failed.
Her chest tightened. They were still watching her.
“Morning,” Jami said, his voice rough with sleep. He leaned against the doorway, barefoot, wearing only a pair of jeans. The sight of him made her pulse jump again.
“Morning,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He poured himself a cup of coffee and joined her at the counter. “You're working. Again.”
“I needed to check the backups.”
“Everything okay?”
She hesitated. “Someone tried to get into my system last night. They didn’t succeed, but it means they’re still looking.”
He took a sip of coffee, his brow furrowing. “You think it’s the label?”
“I’d bet my career on it.”
He set his cup down. “Then we stay ahead of them. Whatever proof you have, we move it off the grid.”
She looked at him, surprised. “You sound like you’ve done this before.”
He smiled faintly. “Music life teaches you a few things about keeping secrets safe.”
Carlene sat back, letting the warmth of the mug seep into her hands. “They’ll come harder now. Vivian wasn’t just making threats. She was warning me.”
Jami studied her face. “What did she say exactly?”
“That I was valuable. That the label wants loyalty. Which really means silence.” She gave a small laugh. “They still think they can buy people like they buy ads.”
His eyes softened. “They can’t buy you.”
“No,” she whispered. “But they can make me disappear from this business if they want to.”
“Not if I’m standing next to you.”
Her gaze met his. The sincerity there caught her off guard. “You really mean that.”
“Yeah,” he said simply. “I do.”
She smiled faintly. “You’re going to ruin my reputation for being heartless.”
“I’ll take that risk.”
For a moment, silence filled the space between them, easy and comfortable. Then her computer pinged, and the screen flashed with a new notification. She leaned forward and froze.
“What is it?” Jami asked.
“An anonymous message. Same encrypted format as before.” She clicked to open it.
The text was brief:
Check the social feeds before noon. You’ll see who’s really in control.
Her stomach dropped. She grabbed her phone, opened the band’s main page, and felt her heart stutter.
The top post wasn’t from her scheduled queue. It was a slick, high-production teaser featuring clips from the livestream, but spliced with new footage she hadn’t approved. It made it look like Jami had walked out on his label in protest, and the tagline below read, Hart’s Rebellion Begins.
Jami leaned over her shoulder. “What the hell is that?”
“They’re spinning a story,” she said, her voice tight. “They’re turning you into the villain. Or the martyr. Maybe both.”
He swore quietly. “This is their play. They’re using the chaos again.”
Carlene closed her laptop and straightened, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. “We need to get ahead of this before the label owns the narrative completely. If they release a statement first, they’ll make it sound like you’re unstable, or that I manipulated you.”
Jami’s jaw hardened. “Then we release one first.”
She looked at him, measuring his resolve. “That means putting everything on record, including what Vivian told me.”
“Then we tell the truth.”
Her breath caught. “Jami, if we do that, they’ll come after both of us.”
He stepped closer. “They already have.”
She searched his eyes for hesitation and found none. “You’d risk your career for this?”
He reached out, cupping her face gently. “It’s not just my career anymore.”
The words hung between them, warm and dangerous.
"What about the band?"
"I'll call them and have them here in an hour. We can ask them what they think."
She swallowed hard, her throat tight. “All right,” she whispered. “Let's talk to the others, then we fight back. Together.”
Jami’s lips curved in a slow, determined smile. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
He kissed her, brief but full of promise. When they pulled apart, she could still feel his heartbeat against hers, steady and sure.
He stepped back and pulled his phone from his back pocket, and she continued to check the socials to see just how far the label had gone.
Ideas flew through her brain about how to repair the damage.
But she needed to see where the rest of the band stood first. It was their career on the line, too.
This was their first studio album, just a week before their first big tour.
The possibility of it all crashing down on them now could tear them apart.
She showered in Jami's beautiful, remodeled bathroom.
The job Quinn had done on this remodel was worthy of a magazine spread.
Maybe she'd talk Jami into that one day to show the personal side of him and how he lived.
He was more down-to-earth than many of the executives she worked for.
The world should know this is the Jami that his own record label is trying to smear.
She'd seen dirty corporate workings behind the scenes before, but this time it pissed her off.
She donned yesterday's clothes, grateful that Jami had been careful and laid them on the dresser to keep the wrinkles at bay. She didn't have enough time to run to the hotel before everyone arrived, so these clothes would have to do.
When she entered the kitchen, he slid a plate across the counter with a sunny-side-up egg and two pieces of bacon on it. "We need to eat."
She smiled at the plate, then looked into his eyes. "Thank you."
He leaned across the counter and kissed her lips. "You're welcome. Tomorrow I'll make you French toast."
"You're rather sure of yourself, Jami Hart."
He grinned. It was the grin that made the women at his concerts squeal and swoon. But it was real. He wasn't playing a game with her; it was Jami. The man. Her heart thudded in her chest at the realization that she knew the true human behind the voice of Hart & The Hurricanes. It was thrilling.
They ate quickly, and he jumped in the shower while she continued to check socials and the internet to make sure nothing had changed.
As a protective measure, she changed the band's password to keep the label from making any changes, then changed Jami's password to keep them from doing anything to his page. As soon as everyone arrived, it would be the first thing she instructed them to do on their own pages.
They could play this game too.