Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
I hate lying to the two people I care about most, but they can’t know about my deal with the devil. While Callie and Luke watch a movie in the living room, I tell them I’m going to get some air.
I take the stairs to avoid being seen. I’d like to encounter as few people as possible. The door to the suite opens the moment my knuckles make contact, as if he was waiting for me.
“Come in. Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.” Orin’s oily smile triggers a twinge in my stomach.
I enter the suite, but stop just inside the foyer. The door shuts behind me with an ominous click.
“If I do this, I want all the pressure off Callie and Luke. Spin whatever the hell you want to make this go away, but I want it gone.”
“Callie?” he asks with a predatory edge. “The new girlfriend?”
“Swear it. I’m not saying shit until you do.”
He searches my face in the light of a crystal chandelier.
No matter how hard he looks, he won’t find a single flinch or sign of weakness.
I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life.
He already sent the documents confirming what we agreed on, but I want to hear him say it with my stare cutting into his.
His shoulders sag slightly before he squares into battle mode. “Fine. But whatever you have better be good. What can I get you to drink?”
Somehow I manage not to laugh when he heads toward the main area of the suite. As if I’d ever accept a drink from this person.
“We can do this right here,” I say, holding my ground.
He spins back in surprise. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m not going further into your room, Orin.”
His gaze turns dark, but at least he doesn’t insult me with weak protests and pretend confusion.
“Fine,” he snaps. “This better be good.”
I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.
After a long pause, I force the words out. “I will give you three exclusives. Also, as soon as we’re done here, I’m calling my manager and the Label to let them know I spoke with you. If you fuck with me, you’ll have them to deal with as well, got it?”
He holds up his hands. “Of course. Damn. When did you get so paranoid?”
I ignore the ridiculous question. “The first is about my on-again-off-again relationship with Jana Furmali.”
“The actress you’ve been dating?”
“Yes.” I take a deep breath. “It was never real. Well, it wasn’t supposed to be.
It started as a PR move. The engagement she keeps talking about was part of the original plan.
We would have called it off, eventually, but she needed a boost and the Label wanted to inject fuel into NSB’s sputtering PR engine.
We were becoming irrelevant, and I was the only band member left with a high enough profile to matter. ”
His brow furrows as he considers my story. I don’t have to tell him I went along with it because I didn’t have a choice. He already knows that. He knows how this game is played even better than I do. Hell, he’s the instrument paid to drive these rumors.
“If what you’re saying is true, her people aren’t going to be happy you outed the scheme. Yours as well.”
“I’ll deal with that.”
She’s become insufferable anyway. And now that Callie’s in the picture, everything’s changed.
This has to stop once and for all. I’d told Jana I was done with the facade weeks ago, before I even knew Callie existed.
Jana was pissed and fought it, as I knew she would.
I thought she got her payback with the Kara Corbin retribution, but I was wrong.
Learning at Luke’s party that she wasn’t done with me was a gut-punch. She might never get over it, continuing to punish me for the rest of our lives if I don’t do something.
I’ll tell Callie before the article comes out.
I have to for us to have a real future together, but things were too unstable and raw for that bombshell before now.
Callie doesn’t know our world. She wouldn’t have understood.
And there were already so many other obstacles standing in our way.
I never expected our relationship to go so far so fast, but now that it has, I’ll have to come clean.
I deserve the hit that will come with the truth.
“Okay. That’s something, but not exactly a major headline,” he says dryly. “Publicly, the narrative is you two split anyway.”
“Yes, which brings us to story number two. You asked about Callie. The woman seen with Luke.”
A glimmer of anticipation flashes in his eyes. “You know who she is?”
“Yes. She’s my girlfriend. My real girlfriend.”
He goes still. His shocked gaze locks on me, and I know I’ve got him. This alone should make him happy, and I haven’t even dropped the biggest story yet .
“Wait, so she was seen with Luke because…?”
“They’re friends. They hang out. So what? I’ve been on the road finishing the tour, so I wasn’t around the day of the diner thing. But the three of us are back together now.”
“The three of you? Are you saying there’s a?—”
“No,” I interrupt with a glare. “Not even close. It’s just Callie and me. Luke is a friend, nothing more. And if you say anything different, you will never get a conversation with me or anyone else in the band ever. Understood?”
“Yeah, yeah. Fine. Okay, so you’re dating this girl. Is it serious?”
I swallow hard. That question shouldn’t be as easy to answer as it is.
“Yes, it’s serious, and of the three scoops, I want this one leaked first. We need to shut down the rumors that she and Luke are together. You can even tie it to the Jana thing later on. Say she’s why I’m finally coming clean about that. I don’t care.”
In some twisted way, that’s true.
He’s a second away from rubbing his hands together in maniacal glee. “And the third thing?”
I take a deep breath. “You know that new artist blowing up the charts right now? Penchant for Red?”
He returns a suspicious look. “Yeah. First album just went platinum. We’ve been trying to get to them for months, but they’re behind a freaking wall. No one knows anything. It’s like the music came out of thin air. The mystery is part of what’s driving the buzz. You know something about them?”
“Yes. A lot.”
He’s practically salivating. The publication that finally breaks the story and solves the mystery will have the industry headline of the month.
“Can you get me an interview?” he asks, eyes wide.
“You already got one.”
He squints in confusion, and I take a deep breath .
“It’s me, Orin. Penchant for Red is my side project.
I had to keep that information locked down for obvious reasons.
I couldn’t have people knowing I was working on something else while everything was so up in the air with Night Shifts Black.
Honestly, I wasn’t ever planning to tell anyone because I don’t want the publicity, but shutting down all this other bullshit is worth it to me. ”
His head moves in a numb arc as he stares at me. “I don’t… No… How?!”
I shrug. “Easy. I have lots of time on my hands, if you haven’t noticed. I needed an outlet to escape all the dark shit that fell on me after Luke disappeared.”
“But now that he’s back, does that mean Night Shifts Black is?—”
“Dude.” I hold up my hand to stop him. “I just gave you three big stories. That’s all you’re getting.”
His shoulders droop, but his expression quickly recovers. I just handed him a goldmine, and he knows it.
“I have to run,” I say. “Remember, the Callie story first. Give me at least two weeks on the Jana and Penchant stories. I have personal shit to take care of before that breaks. Can you just give me that? No one else will get the scoop, I promise.”
His eyes bore into mine, scouring for deceit. Liars always expect lies, but I’m not a liar. Well, not a malicious one.
“Deal, but I want an in-depth on-site interview about the Penchant story so we can do a major feature. Cameras and a full spread. The whole deal.”
I grit my teeth. “Fine. We done?”
His greedy stare scans my face. A sly grin slices into me. “It was a pleasure doing business with you, Casey.”
I give his outstretched hand a quick shake before exiting his suite.
Once I’m safely in the hall, I take a deep breath and brace myself for the real storm that’s about to come. My afternoon from hell is just getting started.
TJ and the Label aren’t thrilled I went rogue with Orin Cantea and do their due diligence in making sure I understand how much I screwed up and should never, ever, ever do something like that again.
I wait patiently through the hours of getting yelled at, lectured, and berated, knowing once they had their fill, they’d come around.
Beneath the righteous indignation, they’re just pissed I acted without looping them in.
They know what I did was best case scenario.
I don’t tell them about the Penchant secret or that I leaked the Jana setup.
I’ll let the dust settle from this brush fire before igniting another one.
Still haven’t exactly figured out how I’m going to do it yet.
When the last call finally ends, I feel like I just ran back to back marathons while stabbing myself in the eye.
I toss my phone on the table where Callie and Luke are eating takeout. I’m really starting to hate that annoying little device.
Pulling my hands through my hair, I try to shake off the previous five hours. When I look up, they’re both staring at me with entirely inappropriate amusement on their faces.
“Oh, I’m glad you guys think this is funny,” I grunt.
Callie waves toward a chair and an unopened container. “Eat something. It’s bar food. Not a single vegetable.”
My tired brain actively fights the smile creeping from my soul, but Callie’s expression is just…
“I’ll get you a beer,” she jokes, ending any chance of avoiding it. Should have known she’d remember my previous reference about the proper way to say “thank you. ”
The funniest part is, I’m not even the biggest fan of beer, or much of a drinker at all anymore.
“What’d they say?” Luke asks.
I lean back in my chair, trying to organize an answer to that question.
“Alright, so here’s the deal. Lawyers are pretty sure there isn’t much legal risk.
The leaked footage clearly shows the restaurant manager giving you permission to take the chair.
The only person endangered was Callie when you took a swipe at her, and I’m going to assume she doesn’t intend to press charges.
” I laser an accusatory glare at Luke. “Really, man? You swung at Callie?”
His eyes broadcast his guilt before he lowers them to the table.
I’m still pissed about that, but what’s done is done and there’s no point blowing it up further since he clearly knows he fucked up.
“Anyway, legally we’re good,” I continue.
“Publicity-wise, they actually think we’re good, too, as long as nothing else comes out and we lay low.
While the blow up part with the chair isn’t great, we can spin it as a painful outburst of a hurting icon on the mend.
With no laws broken, the public is going to like that Luke is back out of hiding and clearly reconnecting with people again, even if it is with his best friend’s girlfriend. ”
I direct my attention to Callie. Not only did the Label ultimately sign off on Rhinehearst leaking the truth about Callie and me, they added their own demands to commandeer the narrative.
“Which, for the record, now means you have to be seen with me at at least two high profile events in the next month. Sorry, but it was non-negotiable. We need to prove that you and Luke were just hanging out as friends, and you and I are madly in love. If they see the three of us together, even better.”
Her expression looks about as concerned as it does when I eat greasy food. Does she really not care that we’ve just changed her life forever?
“Any questions?” I ask, pretty sure I’m missing something.
My fears are confirmed when she raises her hand with a “first grader having to pee” face.
“Yes, Callie,” I say, playing along.
She points at the container of appetizers. “Are you going to finish those mozzarella sticks?”
She yelps and takes cover when I launch one at her.