Chapter 30
SOLD ME OUT
JESSE
Enough by Sleep Theory
Silent Revenant frontman is Jesse O’Donnell, son of rock legend Jack O’Donnell, a source close to the band has confirmed.
The phone slips from my fingers and clatters against the floor. I don’t hear it. Blood roars in my ears, drowning everything else as I stare at the words until they lose meaning, until they’re nothing but shapes on a screen, until they reform into the worst thing I’ve ever read.
A source close to the band.
Fucking Tommy.
“You did this didn’t you?” I shift my gaze to him and see red. He has the nerve to look confused.
“We had a good thing!” My voice echoes off the concrete walls as I point at him. “And you had to fuck it up.”
Tommy’s brow furrows. “Jesse, what are you…”
“You couldn’t let it be?” I step closer, hands curling into fists.
Tommy shakes his head, palms raised. “I have no idea what you’re talking…”
His denial snaps something loose inside me. Something I’ve been keeping in check for so long.
“You sold me out.” I grab the front of Tommy’s shirt and shove him against the wall, my forearm pressed to his chest. “Was it worth it? Whatever they paid you, was it fucking worth it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Tommy raises his hands, defensive, but doesn’t swing. He doesn’t even try to push me off. “I swear to God, I didn’t do anything.”
“Don’t lie to me.” I slam him against the wall again, harder. “A source close to the band.” I shove the phone into his face and force him to look at it. The news article that names me as the frontman for Silent Revenant. “You’ve been bitching about the anonymity since day one.”
I cross the space between us and swing.
My fist connects with his jaw before he can finish the sentence. Pain explodes through my knuckles, sharp and satisfying. Tommy staggers sideways, knocking over a cymbal stand with a crash of metal against the concrete.
“Jesse!” Stella’s voice cuts through the ringing in my ears. “What the fuck!”
“Stay out of this.” I shake her off, my focus locked on Tommy’s face. “You wanted recognition so badly you destroyed everything we built. Everything I built.”
“Jesse, stop!” Stella grabs my arm, pulling me off. “This isn’t how to handle it.”
Tommy flattens down his shirt. “I’ve been here since yesterday.” He looks sheepishly at Stella. “With Stella.”
“Don’t drag her into your bullshit.” I push him back against the wall, ready to slam my fist into him again when the warehouse door screams open behind me. “You sold me out,” I say. “A source close to the band. Who else would it be?”
“Jesus Christ!” Dylan rushes across the concrete and grabs my shoulders, wrenching me backward. “Get off him!”
I stumble, releasing Tommy’s shirt. Tommy slides sideways along the wall, putting distance between us. His hand runs over his jaw.
I stare at my hand, knuckles already swelling across the ridges.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Dylan positions himself between us, chest heaving. “Have you lost your mind?”
I want to laugh. Yes, I’ve lost my fucking mind.
Tommy watches me from across the room, and the way he holds himself, shoulders hunched, weight shifted toward the exit, makes my stomach turn. I can’t reconcile the person who threw that punch with the person I’ve always believed myself to be.
“You took away my freedom.” I wave my hand at him as I turn away, the rage leaving me like someone pulled the plug.
“Maybe there’s a way to get ahead of this,” Dylan says, pulling out his phone. “Let me see what I can do. It’s localized. Maybe we can spin this…”
“Fuck it,” I say, the words come out flat and Dylan stares at me. “I’m done. I’m done with all of this.”
I slam the door shut behind me.