Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Damien
It was official. My bandmates were positive the real me had been abducted by aliens.
It’s like they’d never seen me smile before.
Fuck them. Can’t a guy be happy for once?
We were on our way to another show in Las Vegas, and I was doing my best not to lose my newfound jubilation.
But with these four dick wads busting my balls, it wasn’t easy.
I’d gone to text Cadence to drown out their incessant teasing, but she was still on the plane.
The last 48 hours with her were beyond the capacity of words.
And words were my life.
I made a living putting them together and capturing moments. But now, I struggled to name what I felt when I was with her.
She was incredible. Intelligent, sexy, and somehow unaware of her effect on the opposite sex.
There was an unquestionable chemistry between us, and it was impossible for me to not reach out and touch her.
Something I never experienced before with anyone else.
Things between us were easy, fun, and completely chill.
Even telling her about Vanessa had been highly cathartic for me. It was a topic I didn’t talk about, not even to my bandmates. But for whatever reason, lying with her last night, I’d felt safe enough to open up about it.
Despite all this, I was caught somewhere between the fear of repeating what happened with Vanessa and embracing the serenity Cadence brought to me.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place was taking on a whole new meaning.
I ran my hand through my hair and pulled my phone up again.
“Don’t worry, the aliens won’t leave you here with us too long. You’ll be back home with mommy soon enough.” Colton was so used to being an asshole that even when he was happy, he was still a jerk to everyone around him.
And why would I say he was happy right now? Probably because of his new texting buddy.
But I owed some of my recently acquired elation to him and Jade, so taking the high road was a sacrifice I could make.
I stood, moving toward my bunk to grab my headphones and walking like one of those fake astronauts on TV, with my arms out, trying to balance as the bus continued down the highway.
When I got back to the couch, I put my Air Pods in, ready to drown out the rest of the chatter with music until we reached Vegas.
I wasn’t expecting a FaceTime call from my sister to come through.
“Hey, Vi.”
“Hey, Rascal.”
“Geez, you look like hell.” Her skin looked even paler, and her cheekbones were completely hollowed out now. She’d shaved off her thinning hair and kept her naked head covered in a silk scarf.
“I feel like it too. Which is why I’m calling.” She paused, coughing into her hands. But she had my undivided attention. There would have to be a monumental catastrophic disaster for me to stop this phone call.
When she caught her breath, she began again. “I’m getting my will set up and my affairs in order in case I die. The kids—”
“Vi. You can’t.”
“For once, Damien. Please. Just let me talk.”
I huffed, but nodded for her to continue, chiding myself for making her talk more than she needed to. She sounded so winded, and we’d just started our conversation. But she had to know she couldn’t die. She couldn’t leave me or her kids behind.
“If I die, I want you to become the guardian of Maylee and Grant. They love you and won’t be able to handle going anywhere else. It would kill them.”
I tried to swallow the golf ball that lodged in my throat unsuccessfully and nodded. I’d do anything for those kids, for Violet, and she knew it.
“But there is something else I have to tell you. Thomas came by the other day.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
My pulse throbbed in my ears at the mention of his name. Who the fuck did he think he was? How dare he show his face around my sister again.
“Yeah, I know.”
“What did he want? Did you tell him to fuck off?”
Violet raised an eyebrow. She was my sister, after all.
And one thing we were good at was giving twice as hard as we were given.
“Come on, Damien. Who are you talking to? But he saw me and found out I was sick again. So, he started asking about the kids, saying how he deserved to be in their lives and blah blah blah.” Her bottom lips trembled as she looked at me through the phone.
“You know what he did to me. You can’t let him get his hands on my sweet, innocent kids. ”
I remembered with absolute clarity what he’d done to Vi and Grant. The wreckage he left behind after he ran. Sometimes, I could still see the blood on the ground, hear the sound of Grants muffled cries.
That was the night May was born, after all.
Thomas was lucky he’d made himself scarce after that. I wasn’t particularly violent, despite my constant joking with Cay about beating people up. I believed there was always a way to solve a disagreement without force, and everyone could walk away for the better.
But Thomas was the one person, if given the chance, I’d like to give a taste of his own medicine.
“I won’t let him touch a single hair on their heads, Vi. You have my word.”
She slumped back, her face visibly released all the strain it held moments ago. “Thank you. Thank you, Damien.”
“Vi, I need to ask. If you’re going through all this… is it that bad?”
She licked her lips, avoiding my gaze as she spoke. “Yeah, I think so. This might be it, Rascal. It isn’t looking good for me. My body isn’t holding up as well as it did through the last round of treatment, and I’m tired. So tired. Sometimes I feel like it’s too much even to open my eyes.”
I clenched the fist that sat in my lap, squeezing it so hard that I was sure I was going to leave little bruises on my palm. But it was the only thing I could do to keep my composure. The pain in my palm distracted me from the pain in my chest.
I wasn’t ready to handle this. But I would. For her.
I swallowed roughly. “Whatever you need, Vi. Anything.”
“Next time you’re home, I have some stuff for you to sign. Do you think it will be soon? I don’t want to, you know, die before then. I hope to have all my affairs in order before I meet my maker.”
“Death jokes. Funny. Except they aren’t. And yeah, I’ll be home soon. Really soon.”
As fast as humanly possible.
Violet let her eyes flutter closed, as she did her best to smile. “Good. I really do miss you.”
“I miss you guys, too. Now, get some rest. Call me if anything happens.”
“Okay. I will. Love you, Rascal.”
“Love you.”
As I hung up, acid burned in the back of my throat as I tried to blink away the tears that glazed my eyes. I stood again, abruptly and clumsily this time, drawing unwanted attention from my bandmates.
They heard none of what Violet said because of my headphones, but I wished they had so I wouldn’t have to explain why we needed to cancel the next show and all the ones in the foreseeable future. Or how I needed to get on a last-minute flight to Detroit out of Las Vegas.
Before I’d be able to say anything, though, I had to get myself under control. To calm the storm that raged inside, or I’d be a blubbering mess in no less than three seconds flat.
Their gazes settled on me. They wanted to ask. If they’d paid attention to the words I’d said, they must realize what just happened.
I walked back to my bunk and laid down. Letting my eyes shut briefly, I allowed my tears to silently escape down my cheeks.
When I finally explained to the guys, they were more than supportive of canceling the rest of the tour. I called our label and made all the necessary arrangements to get me back home while making sure everyone else was taken care of.
Getting to my sister’s house became my number priority. Strung together with nerves as I traveled, I worried something would happen while I was on my way.
I was relieved to find that nothing had.
No signs of Thomas hanging around either.
What did Thomas coming here and asking about the kids mean?
How did he find her?
Violet had bought that house a few years ago. It was easy to find people these days, but it still took some effort. Something about it just seemed off.
Why now?
What changed?
“Uncle Damien!” Maylee shouted as I came through the door.
That was something I would never get tired of.
She wrapped her arms around my legs as Grant followed closely on her heels. “Did you bring us anything?”
I laughed. “Just because I go somewhere doesn’t mean you get a souvenir each time.”
Grant shrugged it off and went back toward the living room.
I picked up May and gave her a big squeeze. “Where’s your mom?”
“In her room. Jodie says we need to let her sleep, so she gets better.”
“Jodie is right.” I set her down and heeled off my shoes. “I have to ask Jodie a few questions, then I’ll come and play, okay?”
“Yay!”
Such a simple thing to make that little girl smile.
My heart broke at the thought of those two losing their mother.
It couldn’t happen. It wouldn’t happen.
I was in complete denial.
I found Jodie as she came out of my sister’s room. “How is she?”
“Let’s go sit at the table. Want any coffee? I just brewed a fresh pot.”
“Yeah, sure.”
I made my cup, not paying much attention and almost overfilling it.
“Well,” Jodie started. “It’s not great. But it’s not terrible. Not yet, anyway.”
“On the phone, Violet said…”
Jodie smiled. “Yeah, I know. She faces all this uncertainty and is just preparing for the worst. She may have exaggerated a bit, but it was with the best intentions.”
I slumped into my chair, the rush of relief making me a little dizzy. “So, she isn’t on death’s doorstep.”
Jodie shook her head. “No, but she isn’t out of the woods. The treatment is doing its job, but her body is so weak. It could go bad at any moment.”
“Oh, thank God.”
Jodie squeezed my arm. “But having you here really raises her spirits.”
“Then here is where I’ll stay.”
For the first time since I got the call from Vi, air made its way through my lungs. The knot of dread that settled in my stomach began to loosen.
“Hey, Uncle D?” Grant called from the living room.
“Yeah?”