Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
CALLUM/CASH
Then
The Day The Smog Doesn’t Clear
You don’t notice the trap until you realize the man holding the key is the one you asked to lock the door.
Livianna stares down at me with an empty gaze. “What are you apologizing for, Callum? Didn’t your night go exactly as planned?”
“You know it didn’t.” I get to my feet with my world falling apart and feeling as if I have no control. “You were supposed to be at my concert.”
“And yet you denied me access.”
“You and your crew really messed up, Cash.” Bren growls and points at me. “Do you know what the fuck she went through last night?”
“Bren, stop.” Livianna glares in his direction and motions to his room. “Callum and I need to talk. Believe me, it’s better for Mayhem if you aren’t a part of it.”
“I couldn’t give two fucks about Mayhem at this point. Not after—”
“Bren, it’s your dream and the rest is none of your business.” She breathes in quick, shallow breaths. “I already told you we won’t be discussing that ever again.”
I spin to her with a sick feeling in my gut. “What happened last night?”
She keeps her eyes on Bren until he relents, cursing as he leaves. He disappears into his room.
I scan her arms, knowing exactly what I’m searching for. And with one sweep over her wrists, I have my answer. They’re both covered in bandages.
“Why did you do that to yourself?” I step to her, wanting to give her the comfort she needs.
She flinches away from me. “Where have you been, Callum? You obviously haven’t been in your room given you’re still wearing the clothes from yesterday.”
My heart drops. “I can explain that.”
“Um-hmm. But you don’t have to.” She grabs an orange blanket off the couch and wraps it around herself. “My mom called. They have pictures of everything.”
I hope I’m wrong, but I need to make sure. “Who? Tell me what you’re talking about.”
“The gossip sites. They’re getting ready to run stories on last night’s fascinating occurrences.” She flashes me a smile like she couldn’t care less. “See, I don’t need your fake words. I already know.”
“Anything you think you know, you don’t.”
“What I know is Mayhem is already living up to its name. You’re building quite a reputation for yourself and you’ve only performed once. Good job, mate. Well done.”
Her apathetic tone makes me see spots. My chest turns into fire.
“Tell me what the hell went on last night. Why weren’t you at the show? Why didn’t you find me after? Where the fuck were you?”
She tilts her head. Her usual bright blue eyes are muted and almost gray. “Why don’t you ask your uncle?”
“What does he have to do…” It slams into me like a bat to the face and almost knocks me out.
The tabloid stories.
Livianna just said they have pictures and she knows everything. My uncle’s plans to give me a bad boy image so I can get out of Ur Boyz have been put in motion.
The problem is, I have no idea what spin they’re putting on it. I only know that Livianna isn’t supposed to be a part of it.
“Lily, any story they’re printing isn’t the truth. It’s taken out of context to show me off with a rockstar edge. It’s nothing more than that.”
She sinks into a chair and gazes up at me. “Why didn’t you respond to my messages?”
“They took all of our phones before we went on stage. Ask Bren if you don’t believe me.”
“Where is it now?”
“I don’t know. I got done performing and was immediately pulled into another room with a bunch of people I didn’t know. My uncle wasn’t even there for a while. When he finally showed up, he said they lost my phone and he’d get it replaced.”
“Did you think to ask him to text me for you?”
“I did ask and he said he would.”
She huffs a fake laugh and nods, but something about it assures me she believes me.
I stride over to her and kneel before her. “Please, Lily. Let me explain.”
“I didn’t get a message from John. I don’t need to know anything else. It’s obvious he wants us apart and since he’s your manager…”
“No. You’re supposed to be left out of this. Anything he does to spin my reputation is only supposed to land at my feet. You’re not to be a part of it.”
“I’m not sure he’s making well on his promise.”
The air leaves my lungs. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The pictures they’re running are of you and Zara. You’re singing to her from the stage with your hand in hers, sleeping next to her, and holding her in your arms. They have pictures of you leaving her hotel this morning in the very same clothes you’re wearing now.”
The blood in my face drains. “They couldn’t… There can’t be pictures of that.”
“Really?” Livianna studies me like she knows something I don’t. “What makes you believe that?”
I can’t tell her why. Not without her doubting every word I’m saying.
I run my palms over her thighs to reassure her. “There just can’t be.”
“But there is. My mom saw them for herself.” Livianna builds a sad smile. “You were with Zara alone and that’s why you don’t think there can be any photos out there of that time with her. Is that what you’re not telling me?”
My heart stops and my stomach bottoms out. I sit back on my heels with an emptiness in my chest.
Livianna tightens the blanket around her. “You always tell me you’re not a liar. Don’t start now. Not if I mean anything to you.”
I blink and glance away. “I don’t know how it happened.”
There’s a moment of silence.
I face Livianna and shake my head. “I was with a big group. We were partying. My uncle was with me and I was waiting for you to get there. Faith showed up and—”
“Her name is Zara but go on. I’m listening.”
“She came up to me and thanked me for singing to her. I don’t even remember doing it. I was lost in the moment of making Mayhem a reality and being out on stage as me, who I’m meant to be.”
“You were and for that, I’m so proud of you.” A cry catches in Livianna’s throat. “You’re going to be a big star, Callum Mayze, and last night proved it.”
Any other moment and her words would mean everything to me, but this is like she’s saying goodbye. Is being a rockstar worth it if I can’t have her by my side?
“Lily, I don’t want it if it means—”
“Did you have sex with her?”
I press my palm to my heart. “Absolutely not. I passed out before anything like that could occur.”
“Were you doing coke last night?”
“A little. Why?”
“How did you go to sleep? You never can after you do blow.”
“I don’t know.” I lower my head and try to piece it together. “Faith, I mean Zara, kept following me around. I was ignoring her and that was working well until something weird happened.”
“What was that?”
There’s a pause and I gaze up.
Livianna gives me an encouraging dip of her chin. “Tell me the rest, Callum.”
“Someone gave me a drink. I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Faith was standing there, waiting for me. Things got really fuzzy at that point. I was dizzy and kind of stumbling, but I wasn’t drunk. She told me she knew of a place where I could get myself together.”
“Let me guess. It was the room where you woke up this morning.” Livianna pushes out of the chair. The blanket around her falls to the floor. She strides to the window and keeps her back to me. “Did you kiss her?”
“She tried, but I remember pushing her away.” I rise to my feet, stand behind Livianna, and place my hands on her shoulders. “She kept telling me to call her Lily. She even smelled like you. It was confusing.”
She turns and faces me. “Did you think you were with me?”
“No, I knew I wasn’t, but I remember thinking maybe you were in the room and my senses were messing with me. The next thing I knew, I was waking up. I thought it was you. Your perfume was all around me.”
“It seems we both got played, Callum.” She releases a sad sigh. “And we fell for it just like they knew we would.”
I barge into my uncle’s hotel suite. “I told you Livianna isn’t supposed to be a part of any of your media manipulations.”
“Good morning to you too, Cash.” He’s lounged back with his feet crossed at his ankles and resting on the coffee table. “Stop overreacting. She’s not part of anything.”
“Then how do you explain letting Faith drug me and get pictures of me to give to the tabloids?”
“Oh, that.” He takes a drag off his cigarette. “That’s part of the spin we’re putting on it.”
“The fuck we are.” I push his legs off the table and tower over him. “Call your contacts and get them off my back.”
“Listen, Cash. The stories from last night will run and we’ll have a news conference where we explain you and Zara were drugged. You both passed out and slept it off. It’ll be fine.”
“Fucking hell, Uncle John. That’s a ridiculous story.”
“No, it’s perfect. We’ll say it was a setup and you were both taken advantage of. We’ll blame someone for trying to make a dime off of screwing you and Zara over. Everyone comes out a winner.”
“How so?”
“Zara stays relevant and you look like a guy who parties hard and people want to get to.” He takes another drag and blows out the smoke. “Something got screwed up because you were only supposed to be photographed talking to her in the hallway alone.”
“Well, that plan went to shit.” I drag my fingers through my hair.
“Yeah, it did. I’ll admit that part. I don’t know how you ended up in a room with her. It had been arranged that I’d find you in the hallway with her. When I went there, you were both gone. I thought you bolted and came back here.”
“Instead, I was sleeping next to Faith and thinking it was Lily. Explain that.”
“I gave Zara some of Livianna’s perfume to entice you into talking to her. I thought it would give your expression a more realistic ease if you were thinking of her.” He stamps out his cigarette. “It worked while you were out on stage. You were magnetized to Zara like it was Livianna.”
“Why the fuck would you arrange that?”
“To give the public something to debate. I never intended for there to be bedroom proof.”