Chapter 29 #2
“Oh.” She drags her feet as she shuffles to the minibar where they keep the alcohol. “I don’t think you need to be concerned with that. I haven’t even considered it.”
Yeah, because you’re high out of your mind.
She crouches down and disappears behind the enormous kitchen island. “I don’t feel like having a beer. What would you suggest?”
“How about water?” I push my chair back, causing it to grind against the floor. “You shouldn’t mix alcohol with painkillers.”
“Nor should I smoke weed or do blow.” She stands with a bottle of sparkling wine in her hands and an emptiness in her blue eyes. “I shouldn’t be having sex or be required to work, but here I am doing it all.”
I bear down on my molars and close my eyes. Count to ten and remember she’s dealing with a lot.
Bren pats my shoulder. I face him and he gives me a sympathetic shrug. It does nothing to calm my irritation. My brain goes right back to why we’re here. My shithead uncle.
Bren gets up and stands next to Livianna. “You know, Cash is dealing with this, too.”
“I never said he wasn’t.” She jams a wine opener into the cork of the bottle. “What’s the big deal? There wasn’t even a full twenty-four hours before it was gone.”
“The big deal is there was a baby.” I rise to my feet, wanting to shake her until she faces her pain.
I know it’s in there. She’s too sensitive to be this apathetic about something so important.
My heart aches. “And it was alive for a lot longer than twenty-four hours.”
“I realize that, Callum.” She pops the cork, pours herself some wine, and gazes over at me. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Guys, let’s just get some food together and…” Bren drops his head. “Fuck if I know how to deal with this.”
Livianna runs her palm over his back. “We just get through it. That’s what they’ve always taught us, right?”
Bren lifts his eyes to hers. “Yeah, Livianna, but I think they mean the shit we deal with regarding our careers, not this.”
“Maybe, but it still has merit.” She gulps a massive drink of her wine, licking her lips after she swallows. “This is yummy.”
My head swims in a sea of angry waves, spinning me around and drowning out all my good sense. I’m gonna lose my patience.
My rage-filled frustration is creeping through my hands like they’re burning pitchforks from hell.
I yank my keys out of my pockets, march to her side, and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’ve got an appointment tomorrow at eleven. I’ll be here at ten thirty to pick you up. I love you.”
She pulls back. “You’re leaving?”
“Yeah. You don’t seem to need my help any longer and I’ve gotta take care of something.” I stomp out the front door, slamming it on my way out.
I drive home in record time. Thoughts of how different Livianna is gut me to the core. I can’t get through her thick skull, and because of that I’m losing my mind. A scream rips from my lungs as I pull into my parking spot.
I barge into my uncle’s house. “Where are you, motherfucker?”
He jumps off the couch, wide-eyed. “Cash, settle down and let me explain.”
“Give me one good reason that doesn’t have to do with an excuse.”
“I’ll make it up to you. Just give me a chance.”
“How? Can you bring my kid back?”
He swallows hard. “No. I’m sorry she lost the baby. I swear I never wanted—”
“The fuck you didn’t. You told me to get rid of it.” My chest burns, but I fake an evil laugh. “You took care of that for me, now, didn’t cha?”
“Sorry. I was high. I know you don’t want an excuse, but that’s the truth. It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t messed with the drugs.”
I stare him down until I can barely see straight. “If you touch her again, I’ll kill you with my own hands.”
“You have my word, I’ll steer clear. I swear on my brother’s grave.” He motions to the couch, suggesting I take a seat. “Let me make it up to you.”
“What could you possibly do to fix this?”
“Will you sit so we can talk and figure it out?”
“Why?”
“What do you have to lose, Cash? You hold all the power.”
“Do I?”
“Tell me what you want and I’ll do it if it means we can move past this.” He runs his hand over his neck. “Since your pops died, I’ve seen you as my own. I just want to get back to being family.”
“I’ll never be your son.” I slam myself against the couch cushion. “And leave my pops out of this.”
“Forget I said anything.” My uncle sits in a chair across the room.
“Why did you hire some guy to hurt Livianna on New Year’s Eve?”
“I didn’t know he was going to do anything to her. I trusted him.” Uncle John rests his elbows on his knees and cups his hands together. “That guy was a reference from the production studio where she works.”
“Did you report what he did to her?”
“Uh…no, but I will as soon as I wake up tomorrow.”
“That’s a start.” I slouch back and try to think of something I really want that he could give me. Something hits me. I shift forward. “Get us out of our contract with Ur Boyz and hook me up with Leon Baker.”
“I can’t get you out of the tour for the new album, but we can come up with a way to sabotage it. They’ll drop you guys and you will have upheld the requirements in your contract. They’ll continue to collect all the royalties, though.”
I don’t like it, but this is the best he’s ever given me. “Fine. Now about Leon Baker—”
“Cash, I know he’s powerful, but he’s…” My uncle stares at me like he’s trying to tell me something important. “There’s history there.”
“You said you’d give me anything I asked for. I want Mayhem to be the biggest rock band around. Leon Baker can make that happen.”
“But you don’t know what you’re asking for. If you get involved with Leon Baker’s label, he’ll own you.”
“Any label will own me. Why not hitch my trailer to his?”
“You know he used to work with your pops?”
“No. I didn’t know that.”
“They were tight. Then it went…south.” A strange look washes over my uncle’s face. “Your pops was never the same.”
“Ma says Pops was never quite right. She said the stress of the industry is what got to him.”
“Yeah, that’s the story she tells.”
“Then set it up. Get me out of Ur Boyz and in with Leon Baker. If you do that, we can move past this.”
My uncle drops his gaze to the floor. He seems to think about something for a moment.
He lifts his head and nods. “If this is what you really want, Cash, I’ll start paving the path right after I call Livianna’s studio.”
“Sounds like we have a plan.” I get to my feet, feeling like I just made a deal with the devil.
But being so young and stupid, I don’t know who the true devil is.
Why?
Because nobody told me the devil always wears a disguise.