Chapter Eleven #2
“So,” Luca said as soon as everyone was seated. “I want this over and done with.”
Walter began to shuffle some papers. “Yes, right, we have the paperwork—”
“All I need is the document for ending my contract. I know my lawyer and my manager have both contacted you about this. I checked with Marissa right after I stepped off the plane today.” Ah, that was what that call had been, then.
Thorne piped up hastily, “We wanted to discuss—"
“There’s nothing to discuss.” Luca’s voice was firm.
“When I was ill, the label actively tried to keep me on stage, going to all the wrong kind of doctors so I wouldn’t disturb the tour”—he lifted a hand when the men tried to interrupt him—“and I know I can’t prove any of that, but frankly, my miraculous healing was not your doing.
” He grinned wide and lethal, his fangs showing.
Thorne jerked back in his chair. Somehow, he hadn’t known before and hadn’t noticed today. What an idiot.
“Uh… that’s…,” he tried.
“So I think, whatever you had planned to ‘discuss’ is a moot point now. I know your company policy. Yes, the one we don’t talk about openly.” He made sure his fangs were showing with each wide smile. I had a feeling he’d be doing that in the press conference, too.
Walter took over, finding the right sheet of paper from the bottom of his folder and gave it to Luca to read and sign. Thorne was clearly pissed off, but couldn’t do anything about it. He kept shooting hateful looks at me and Ben, as if we were the culprits here.
Luca signed the document with a flourish and announced, “And we’re done.” Then he looked at Thorne. “Where am I talking to the press?”
“In the atrium,” Thorne ground out.
“Alright. Lead the way.” Luca got to his feet with grace, and then came to Ben and me.
He held both hands out to us, and we went to him, hugging him carefully so as not to disturb his outfit.
Thorne scoffed. I was pretty sure he didn’t realize we could hear that. Like I’d thought before, an idiot.
Luca turned to look at him. “Not only are you speciesist, but you’re also a homophobe. Did you genuinely think there was going to be any amount of money in the world that could’ve kept me under your thumb?”
The way Thorne marched to the elevators told me everything I needed to know about him and men like him. Life was surely nicer and simpler back home. There were less assholes there.
The press conference was short and oddly sweet. Luca announced that he, Mila, and Q had decided that Kaiju was done. He spoke about Will and his legacy and a foundation they were starting for underprivileged kids to learn music.
“I won’t be taking any questions about my personal life, or any changes some of you might’ve spotted,” he said, smiling rakishly with his fangs showing.
The crowd chuckled. Then slowly, there were a few murmurs, as if it was now hitting them where they were and who Luca had become and how that might be a conflict of whatever. Values?
“Okay. If you have questions, you can direct them to Thorne here.” Luca slapped the man’s shoulder in a way that looked friendly but made the guy waver.
Ben chuckled next to me on the sidelines behind some pillars.
“Is there anything you want to say to your fans?” a journalist called out at the last moment.
Luca stilled, then looked at the cameras and microphones. He smiled, his face transforming with a genuine expression of gratitude and joy.
“I can speak for myself, Mila, and Q when I say that we had the best fans a band could wish for. All we want now is space to figure out our next steps. We will never forget you, and we will always be grateful for what you helped us become. Thank you.”
With that, he stepped down from the dais and walked away from his career.
We met him by the side door. If the reporters saw us, I didn’t give a shit.
“I need to change. Let’s go back upstairs,” Luca said in an almost frantic tone.
We hustled him into the elevator and back to Alexei’s kingdom, then waited for ten minutes while Luca changed.
He’d scrubbed his face, too, and only some remnants of the eyeliner were left.
“Let’s go to the hotel,” he said tiredly after saying goodbye to Alexei.
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Ben agreed.
“I’m gonna call the car to the side door just in case,” Luca muttered in the elevator.
Somehow, none of the people with mics and cameras were waiting for him in the lobby. We snuck past the reception and through some corridors to the side door.
In no time, we were back in the backseat of the Audi, heading to the hotel.
The hotel wasn’t far, like Rian had promised, but it was… a lot.
“What did Rian do?” Ben asked as he looked around in the lobby.
Somehow, the staff was expecting us. A man hustled from around the reception desk, beaming at Luca.
“Mr. Moretti, we’re so glad to have you!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together.
Something about that movement made a bellboy materialize and he carefully gathered our luggage, such as it was. Luca had a nicer suitcase. Ben and I had our own separate bags that were from a big box store. It wasn’t as if we needed regular suitcases anyway.
The switch in Luca was imminent. He put his public facade back on. It was startling, and I didn’t like it, but I thought we’d probably see it again before we left the city.
Ben and I followed Luca and the receptionist guy—whoever he actually was—to the elevators, where the guy handed all of us a key card and explained that it worked for the elevator to get us to the correct floor and into our suite.
I glanced at my brother, who raised his brows at me. Yeah. It was fancy as fuck. We so didn’t belong there, but we took our cues from Luca and eventually we, and our luggage, were inside the room.
“I feel outright scruffy,” Ben stated as we looked at everything, our eyes a bit wide.
Even Luca seemed a tiny bit out of place, but it was still a more familiar environment for him.
We took a quick look at everything the suite held.
It wasn’t super grand, but it had a very large room with a massive bed that for some reason faced the couch, and another, smaller bedroom to one side.
There were large windows, a fancy bathroom that had a tub Luca was immediately drawn to, and a room service menu that was in a thick as fuck folder.
It all made my mind spin a little, but that was fine. I was here with Ben and Luca and we’d all be okay.
This trip was about setting Luca free from his record label. And visiting his grandma tomorrow afternoon. We also had another thing we had organized with slight help from Rian, if Luca wanted it, but that was the day after tomorrow.
To have this hotel room for two nights? It did seem like a lot, but I was grateful, too.
Luca headed to the bathroom for a bath, while Ben and I started to figure out what we wanted to eat.
After that, I hoped for some quality time with them both, because we definitely needed it more than ever before.