27. Ky
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ky
Sparks’s fist landed against my shoulder. “You stupid motherfucker!” he roared, getting in my face. “Open your eyes, you dumb shit. All you had to do was reassure her that we need her, that we aren’t us without her. That Autumn’s Slumber is nothing without her. And you just stood there, looking at her like you believed everything this little twit said was true.”
“No,” I denied, shaking my head vehemently. “She knows I wasn’t agreeing with Maddie. Hayat has more self-confidence than that.”
Jamie’s fist connected with my other shoulder. His muscles were leaner than Sparks’s, but he packed a hell of a punch. “You fucked everything up. Everything, Ky.” His eyes cut across the room to where Maddie stood, looking unsure, her fingers crumpling the papers in her hands. “Little girl, I suggest you get back to your office, and you let Emmie Armstrong know that we’re waiting for her. Because Hayat was right. You are not going to be in charge of our social media accounts.”
“You guys haven’t even given me a chance yet,” she argued. “Can you three calm down for five minutes and listen to what I have to say?”
“No,” Sparks and Jamie said in unison. “Because you have nothing we want to hear,” Sparks continued.
Raking my fingers through my hair, I paced a few steps then turned back. This was bullshit. Hayat was just overreacting. Once she calmed down a little, we could figure everything else out. I wouldn’t make threats like I did last time, not when I’d seen the jealousy in her eyes over Maddie. Which had been ridiculous, but valid to a point. I wouldn’t have been pleased if she’d let anyone not related to her by blood hug and kiss her cheek.
“Let’s listen to her plan,” I told my bandmates. “By the time this meeting is over, Hayat will have calmed down enough to have a rational conversation. Then we can go to the studio to talk to Shane Stevenson about the single and—”
“Dumbest fucker I’ve ever met,” Sparks muttered under his breath. Waving a hand toward the conference table, he said snidely, “Go ahead, Ky. Listen to whatever Blondie has planned for you. Because that’s what this is going to be about. You. Not Autumn’s Slumber, not Hayat or Jamie or me. You and only you.”
“Whatever, man. Maddie knows what she’s doing.” I turned to face my niece’s biological mother. “Tell them, Maddie. Lay it out so they will understand how wrong they are.”
She squared her shoulders. “Well, first, we’re going to need more videos of you in the studio. Preferably with no makeup or masks. The world needs to see the real you. Then I’m going to push you vocals on all the platforms. TikTok videos, YouTube, reels on Facebook, Instagram. Your voice is the draw we’re going to focus on, and then we’ll slowly incorporate the other members of the band, so they don’t overshadow your talent.”
Jamie barked a dry laugh. “Hellion was right. All you care about is Ky. There are four of us in this band. We’re a unit.”
Disappointment and frustration crashed over me in powerful waves. “Why are you so focused on me, Maddie?”
“Because we’re going to show Hadley Renchford how amazing you are while she struggles to get Holden to pass intro classes in college. This can be your revenge, Ky.”
“Fuck’s sake,” Sparks grunted.
“Shut up, man,” I growled at him, keeping my eyes on Maddie’s. Hers had a wildness to them. Her need for revenge against my stepmother and the rest of my family was something I understood, but I’d thought she would be over this shit by now. Maddie had a successful career of her own. Hadley and Holden should have been wiped from her mind. They didn’t deserve to live rent-free in her head, twisting her up inside the way they continued to do.
“Maddie, honey,” I said softly. “You have to let that go. I don’t want revenge against the Renchfords. And sweetheart, you shouldn’t either. We both moved on from them. We have lives that are full of love and success and the kind of happiness they will never understand. Because they are greedy, selfish pieces of trash.”
“But, Kyrie—”
“Ky,” I corrected her. “I won’t let you use me in this vendetta you still have against them, Maddie. And I sure as fuck won’t let you hurt my band and Hayat to accomplish it. I’m sorry, but Hayat was right. We don’t want you having control over any aspect of our band, especially our social media.”
Tears filled her eyes, spilling like diamonds down her pretty face. She looked so fragile, breakable. Not the strong, fierce woman Hayat was—the woman who owned me. And I’d fucking let her get on that elevator and leave me.
Fuck!
I wanted Sparks and Jamie to punch me again, until the pain and the panic inside me dissipated. Beat the fuck out of me until I couldn’t stand and had to crawl to Hayat on my hands and knees to beg her to forgive me for hesitating. For not immediately reassuring her that we were in this together. That Havoc wasn’t going to hurt Autumn’s Slumber, because we weren’t a band without her now.
We were nothing without our Hellion.
“But I thought you understood,” Maddie whispered.
“I do, Maddie. More than anyone, I understand the pain they can inflict. But you’re letting it rot a piece of you that they never should have touched. And if I let you use me and Autumn’s Slumber to continue to punish them, you’re never going to fully heal.”
“I-it would have driven them crazy,” she murmured, looking down at the papers in her hands. “Seeing your face everywhere, hearing your voice on every radio station. Holden would have gone dark, knowing he would never measure up to you. And Hadley, she would have gone into a rage. I bet she would have broken everything in their house. It would have eaten at her, every minute of the day. Just like they deserve for all those horrible things they said about me, about Avalyn. About my family.”
Her pain and heartache, both caused by Hadley, was something I was familiar with. I’d let my stepmother get into my head. She’d turned me into a person I didn’t like for many, many years. But I’d moved on. Maddie’s trauma from them went deeper than my own. She’d given birth, then had to face the guilt of giving her child up for adoption, all while being called a whore to her face by people who didn’t know the real her.
Jamie nudged me, causing me to turn my head to find three women walking into the conference room. One looked so much like Hayat, my breath caught. That had to be Trinity, her aunt and Maddie’s stepmom. The other was Natalie Cutter, but the one we all couldn’t take our eyes off was the green-eyed woman with gray-streaked red hair.
Emmie Armstrong was a legend in the rock world, and her temper was something that even powerful men in the business cowered away from. Right at that moment, her eyes glittered at Maddie for a long moment before the blonde ducked her head, her cheeks heating with shame.
“Mom, I know I messed up,” Maddie started, sounding remorseful.
Trinity held up her hand, cutting off her stepdaughter. “We’re going to sit down and discuss that later, honey. Right now, let’s focus on work.”
Turning slowly, Emmie drifted her gaze over my bandmates and me assessingly, looking for any and all faults. The longer she looked at us, the more her eyes glittered, her lips pressing into a hard line.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” she said in a voice devoid of any emotion. “Maddie is going to go to her office, and she will not be involved in any capacity where Autumn’s Slumber is concerned. Actually, Maddie, we will be hiring two more social media content creators to help lighten your load.”
“But—” Maddie tried to interrupt, appearing unhappy about this new development.
“I’m still speaking.” Emmie cut off the younger girl, not sparing her so much as a glance. “I will personally find a social media content creator for Autumn’s Slumber. They will be focused solely on your band because, as I told Hayat in my email earlier in the week, her popularity is going to drive the numbers into another orbit for you. That is, if you still want Havoc as your drummer. If, however, you’ve changed your mind, I will hand your social media calendar over to one of my other content creators. Someone mentioned a drummer named Atticus. If he’s who you prefer, speak up now.”
“We want Hayat,” Sparks told her, speaking for the three of us. Jamie nodded.
One light-red brow lifted at me. “Is that a unanimous decision?”
“Hayat is ours,” I told her point-blank. “We’ve been waiting our entire lives for her.”
“Smart choice.” Emmie turned her back on us to speak to the other two women. “She goes back into therapy starting now. Get her in to see someone this week. Today, if possible.”
Trinity nodded. “I already called Dawson. He’s making a few calls.”
“I don’t need therapy!” Maddie whined.
Ignoring her, Emmie shifted her gaze to Natalie. “This puts you and Trinity in a tight position. Your loyalties are pulled in opposite directions. Natalie, they are both your granddaughters. I understand how hard this must be for you to handle. That’s why I’m stepping in. Autumn’s Slumber is my responsibility from here on.”
Natalie nodded. “I agree. Maddie made some very questionable choices, and I’m going to let Trinity sort that out. I don’t want to cause more friction between Hayat and Maddie, so it’s best I stay out of the business side of this. That doesn’t mean I have any control over how Devlin handles what took place today.”
“That’s family business, not work,” Emmie said with a shrug. She glanced over her shoulder at us. All three of us stood up a little straighter. “Jamie and Sparks, if you would please follow me?”
My friends rushed forward, ready to follow her anywhere. I took a step in the same direction, but green eyes zeroed in on me, freezing me in place. “Ky Carver, your services are no longer needed today. Security will show you out. You can leave the same way you came.”
“I need to see Hayat,” I argued.
“What you need is irrelevant to me. Hayat has no wish to see you. And since there will be no meetings for Autumn’s Slumber here today, your presence is no longer required or desired.” She sneered at me. “In case you can’t understand basic English, let me dumb it down for you. My niece doesn’t want to see you, so get the fuck out of my building before I have you thrown out of a window. Which would be a pity, really. I’ve seen the videos of your performances. It would be such a waste of talent. But trust me, I’d have you replaced before the end of the week.”
And now I understood firsthand why her clients called her the fire-breather. She had just roasted the skin from my bones, leaving me in a pile of ash.
But I wasn’t going to back down until I saw my girl. “Hayat can tell me she doesn’t want to see me herself. If she does, I’ll leave willingly.”
“Of course,” Emmie said with a sigh. Dialing something on her phone, she placed it on speaker, and we heard it ring twice before someone answered.
“Em, is it taken care of?” a deep voice demanded. In the background, I heard a few sniffles, and I clenched my hands at my sides. Hayat. She was crying.
Sparks whispered something vicious in Spanish, while Jamie’s hands curled into fists.
“Almost, Jesse. I’ll be down with Sparks and Jamie momentarily. First, let me speak to Hayat.”
“Emmie,” Jesse warned.
“Just a few moments,” she soothed. “And then I won’t bother her again.”
Cursing, I heard him shift and then Hayat’s soft voice. “Aunt Emmie?”
My knees went weak at the sound of her hoarse, tear-filled tone. “Sweetheart, are you sure you don’t want to see Ky?”
“No!” she cried. “Please don’t bring him down here. I can’t… I won’t deal with him right now, Aunt Emmie.”
“Hayat,” I rasped, stepping closer so she could hear me more clearly.
“Go home, Ky,” Hayat commanded in a voice that was suddenly hard and assured. “Call Atticus and ask him to be your drummer. I don’t want to see you.”
Taking the phone off speaker, Emmie spoke softly into the receiver before hanging up. “Jamie, Sparks, if you care for Hayat, please come with me. Ky, security will escort you out.”
Without waiting for us to comply, she turned on her heel and walked from the room. Sparks and Jamie snarled at me as they passed, Sparks pushing the bag with our band gear in it against my chest before jogging to catch up with Emmie and Jamie.
And I stood there, frozen, knowing I’d fucked up yet again.