by Meghan Quinn
“That’s because Rook owned me,” Maisy practically shouted. “He consumed every inch of my body and owned me, Kaid. I can’t just get over that.”
Nodding his head, Kaid agreed and pulled her into a hug. “I know and that’s what I’m saying. You need to find closure with that relationship. You need to find your peace.”
“So, what are you suggesting?” Maisy asked, not really knowing where Kaid was going with this.
“I’m saying you need to have a conversation with him.”
Pulling away from Kaid’s embrace, Maisy laughed and shook her head. “You’re insane if you think I’m going to go have a conversation with Rook. There is no way I would ever do that.”
For one, she didn’t ever want to see him again, and secondly, she knew deep down in her soul that if she saw him, she would be tempted to kiss him, to hold him, to ask him what the hell he was thinking, but she didn’t want to give him that chance; he didn’t deserve it.
“I’m not strong enough to do something like that,” Maisy admitted.
“You’re stronger than you think you are, baby girl.”
Could she really talk to Rook? No, no way. She could never do it.
“Why are you so adamant about me talking to him anyway? I thought you didn’t like him. I thought if you ever saw him again you would literally kill him. You were the one beating the shit out of him on the bus, telling him to never come near me again.”
Maisy remembered that day vividly, when Kaid found out what happened between her and Rook, he lost every ounce of self-control and went after Rook. The odd thing was, Rook didn’t even put up a fight; he didn’t even flinch. He just let Kaid attack him. He let Kaid take all his anger and frustration out on him. It wasn’t until Cruz showed up that Kaid was dragged off of Rook, and then that was the end of the tour.
Kaid was about to answer Maisy’s question when the door to the studio opened and Landon walked in, looking around. The minute he spotted Kaid, his face lit up and he practically ran over to him, just as Kaid got off the couch and flung himself at Landon. The two embraced and exchanged obnoxious hellos. Their little bro-mance was put on hiatus once the tour ended, leaving them to go their separate ways. From the look in their eyes, Maisy could tell they really missed each other.
“Holy shit, I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Landon said, as he pulled away, and then saw Maisy. Kindly, he went over to her and gave her a hug. “What are you guys up to?”
“Writing for the new album,” Kaid answered, while putting his hands in his pockets.
“New album? That’s awesome, you guys. I always knew you would do amazing. Didn’t you just come off of tour?”
“Yeah, with Meyer’s Men,” Kaid said.
Landon nodded, and then said to Maisy, “Oh, yeah, I think I saw you and Cole on some magazine cover, getting cozy.”
Maisy blushed and just nodded her head.
“He’s a good guy,” Landon added. “He and Rook never got along, though, that was for damn sure.”
“Yeah, well, does anyone get along with him?” Maisy muttered, as she opened her notebook back up to look busy. The last thing she wanted was to go into detail about Rook’s attributes.
Seeing one of the members from Shattered Souls wasn’t easy for her; it just brought back all the memories of being on tour with them, of all the memories she shared with Rook and everything she lost.
“He’s not a bad guy,” Landon said.
“Dude,” Kaid warned.
Landon shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just saying, he’s not. You might not understand him, but he has his reasons, or at least he did.”
The fact that Landon used past tense in his sentence was startling to Maisy. Why would he do that? Why did she care? She shouldn’t care, but when she studied Landon, she realized she didn’t like the somber look on Landon’s face and the way his demeanor changed instantly when he brought up Rook.
Curious, Maisy asked, “How is the man-whore?” Not very eloquent, but she didn’t care at the moment. She might be curious, but she still harbored some pure hatred toward the man for what he did to her.
“Not really sure,” Landon said, while not making eye contact with Maisy. “No one has heard from him since the tour ended.”
“What tour? The one we were on together?” Maisy asked, confused, since that was six months ago.
“Yeah.”
It was a simple answer, but it held so much grief, so much worry in it that Maisy instantly started to feel sick. She may hate the man, she may never want to actually see him again, but she would be devastated if something actually happened to him.
“Where is he? Did you try calling him?” Kaid asked, concerned, as Maisy searched her brain for where he might be, but then instantly chastised herself for caring so damn much.
“We have no clue,” Landon said. “He left his phone on the bus, so we have no way of getting in touch with him. Ever since his dad died, he completely shut off…”
“His dad died?” Maisy asked, as her head shot up to look at Landon.
He nodded, but didn’t say anything as he rocked on his heels with his hands in his pockets.
Clearing his throat, Landon said, “I’m sure you don’t want to talk about that, given everything that happened, but I will tell you this, Maisy, that boy loves you…”
“Don’t,” Maisy said, as she stood up and started to gather her things. “Don’t you dare defend him. If he loved me, he never would have done what he did. He doesn’t get the right to be defended. He cheated on me, on purpose, Landon. No, there are no excuses.”
Landon nodded his head and said, “There may be no excuses, but there is always a reason for everything.”
Maisy wanted to ask Landon to elaborate on that statement, but she was too damn worked up to even bother listening, so instead, she looked at Kaid, gave him a terse smile, and said, “I’m heading back to the house; I can’t be here anymore. Do you mind bringing home dinner?”
“No, that’s fine,” Kaid said, as he got up to give Maisy a hug.
Landon took a step forward and said, “I’m sorry for upsetting you, Maisy.” He was very genuine in his apology, and it only made Maisy feel guilty. Landon wasn’t the one she needed to be mad at; it wasn’t his fault his friend was a giant idiot.
Maisy hugged Landon and said, “Not your fault, Landon. It was good seeing you. Stay in touch; this boy over here misses you.”
“Damn, Maisy, I was going to play hard to get,” Kaid teased.
“No use, “ Landon said, “It’s all over your eyes, I know you want to tackle me to the couch and dry hump my leg.”
“You’re right. I’m just waiting for Maisy to leave so I can save face with her.”
Maisy rolled her eyes and waved her goodbyes. She needed to relax, forget Rook, and just veg out. Maybe with some mindless TV she could forget about the stabbing pain that started in the pit of her stomach once she heard Rook’s name.
**Kaid**
“Dude, I feel like a total dick for bringing up Rook in front of her,” Landon said, as he sat down on the couch and brought his hand to his forehead.
“She was already in a ripe mood, so don’t sweat it. I really think she’s having a hard time coping with everything. She says she’s moved on, but when I look at her, I know she hasn’t. She’s still depressed. I haven’t seen that beautiful, genuine smile of hers in quite some time. I’m worried about her,” Kaid admitted.
He watched over his girls, and right now, all of his attention was on Maisy. She was on a destructive path with her lack of communicating about her feelings and pushing everything into the depths of her mind and letting it brew. Kaid could foresee her just blowing up one day; it was bound to happen, he was just wondering when.
“Did you tell her about Rook’s intentions that day?”
“No, that’s none of my business. I get what he did, but I don’t get why he just didn’t talk to her. Why did he have to go to such extremes?”
Landon shook his
head and said, “You don’t get it, do you? Maisy was the one thing that made that kid happy, genuinely happy, and his dad saw that; he saw it on Rook’s face and he would do anything to take that happiness away from Rook. There was no way Rook could have talked it out with Maisy. She would have tried to hold on, and his dad would have kept using her as a pawn in his fucked up game, putting her in harm’s way. He even approached her that day everything went down; ask her about it. His dad wouldn’t have stayed away, so Rook did the one and only selfless thing he had ever done, he gave Maisy up, so she could live a better life.”
Well, Goddamn, Kaid did not want to think about Rook’s intentions that way because it actually made it seem like he was doing something good, when in fact, he wasn’t. He cheated on Maisy, wrote her a note, and then fucked another girl. You just didn’t fucking do that.
But he remembered Maisy talking about the guy who approached her, who gave her chills and sent her into a dark place where she used to find herself when her dad was attacking her. The guy was a complete creep, and from the stories Kaid had heard about Rook’s dad, he never would have stopped his harassment until he got what he wanted. And the man had friends, lots of them, who were all desperate for cash as well. There would be no end in sight unless Rook actually took action, which he did.
“Fuck,” Kaid said, while he ran his hand over his face. “This is just so fucked up.”
“Tell me about it, and now we can’t find Rook anywhere. He’s our boy, Kaid. We’re fucking scared that he’s going to show up in a ditch somewhere. He’s not mentally stable. The one thing that helped him, that kept him sane and happy, was Maisy. She turned his life around, and now that she’s no longer in it, I can’t imagine Rook wanting to…” Landon’s words caught in his throat as he shook his head.
“Do you think…?”
“We don’t know. I want to think he’s still alive, just in hiding, but who fucking knows? That guy is a loose cannon, especially when he’s on a bender, which I have no doubt in my mind that he is. Whenever something went wrong in his life, he leaned on alcohol and drugs to ease the pain. Losing Maisy was probably the worst thing that could ever happen to him, so to say he’s probably drugged out somewhere is a pretty safe bet.”
“Shit,” Kaid shook his hands and was glad that Willow and Maisy were his band mates and had pretty good heads on their shoulders. He couldn’t imagine having to deal with what Landon was going through. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t know. I’m meeting up with Cruz and Quinn tonight to go over some options. We have to keep looking.”
“Well, if you need help, let me know. I hate the bastard for what he did to Maisy, but even though I don’t want to admit it, I understand.”
“Thanks, man.”
Kaid nodded and then blew out a loud breath. “God, that’s some heavy shit to deal with. How about we talk about something a little more upbeat? How are things with Quinn? Grey still pissed?” Kaid asked with a smirk.
Landon rolled his eyes and replied, “The guy hasn’t talked to me since we got off the tour bus.”
“Ahh, so you’re striking out everywhere,” Kaid tried to joke.
“You could say that, but you know what, even though I love my brother, I love Quinn so fucking much, I wouldn’t change what happened. She’s everything I ever wanted. I’ve wanted her since the minute she walked into my house with Grey at her side. She’s been the only girl who’s ever planted herself in my head and stayed there. I love her with every bone in my body. She’s it for me.”
“Seriously?” Kaid asked. He knew Landon had feelings for Quinn, but to hear him speak so passionately about her, and calling her “the one” was a bit of a surprise to him.
Landon nodded and pulled out his phone. “I haven’t told anyone this yet, but look…”
Landon handed Kaid his phone, which displayed a picture of an elegant and tasteful, but very big, engagement ring.
“No shit, are you kidding me? Wow, man. That’s great, but what do you think Grey is going to think?”
“Still working on that. I’ve tried talking to him, many times, but he’s not giving me the time of day. I hope, over time, my mom can wear him down.”
“Calling in the big guns already? That’s harsh, man.”
“Hey, I have to do what I have to do,” Landon said, while getting up off the couch. “I have to pick up some instrumentals for possible songs the label wants us to consider, and then head out to meet Cruz. Listen, we need to meet up more often, because I hate to sound like a total girl here, but I miss you, man.”
“I miss you too; let’s plan for dinner or even a jam session soon.”
“Sounds good.”
“Hey, congrats about Quinn. I’m happy for you, even if someone else isn’t. He’ll come around. I think he knew he wasn’t in love with her back then.”
“I think so too.” Landon gave Kaid a two fingered salute and took off down toward the offices in the studio.
Jealousy pricked at the back of Kaid’s mind as Landon walked away. The man had it all. He knew his future and was happy; Kaid only wished he could be the same way. He hated the fact that he didn’t have anyone to go home to…besides his two sisters, he was alone. He tried the whole single guy route while he was on the road with the band, but what he sorely came to notice was that he was a relationship kind of guy, and all he wanted was a girl to come home to at night…
“Kinkaid, are you just going to sit there and stare at the wall, or are you actually going to write something?” Harper Wiggens, Twisted Perfection’s producer, said, as she stormed into the room.
The little English tart was quite bossy with her brilliantly red hair and grey eyes. She was notorious for getting under Kaid’s skin because, even though he was the artist, she was the boss when it came to mixing the song, and most of the time, it was her way or no way. Kaid didn’t like not having complete control, but he had to admit, what she created was absolutely amazing, which was annoying beyond all belief, because he hated that she was always right.
“Working on it; back off,” he snapped.
Harper put her hands on her hips and studied him. “Writer’s block?”
“No,” Kaid answered defensively. “I was just taking a break.”
“Let me see your notebook.”
“No, that’s private,” Kaid said, while stuffing his book under his arm.
“Private? No, nothing is private when it comes to song lyrics. Hand it over.”
Rolling his eyes, he handed his notebook over to Harper, who quickly opened it and flipped through the pages. Her eyebrow raised in question as she looked over the book and down at him.
“What is this?” she asked, while turning the notebook toward him.
“Wiener dogs,” Kaid answered honestly, as he looked at his many cartoon drawings of wiener dogs. Some had spots and some had musical notes on them, others were decorated with warrior paint, and some were just downright comical.
“Why the fuck are there wiener dogs where there are supposed to be lyrics?”
“They’re my inspiration,” Kaid answered matter-of-factly, as he stood up from the couch and grabbed the notebook from Harper. Even though he towered over her, she was still able to hold her own and not show one ounce of being intimidated by his height.
She poked his chest and said, “Tower over me all you want, you’re not doing anything but making yourself look like an ass. We need lyrics, you have to give me something, Kinkaid.”
The way his full name rolled off her accented tongue was annoyingly charming. He hated to admit it, but he dug her accent, and kind of liked the way she said his name, just kind of.
“I’m working on it, okay?”
“Where’s Maisy?”
“She went home; she had a rough day.”
“It seems like you all have been having ‘rough days’,” she said in a condescending tone, while using air quotes.
He understood that she had a job to do, but there was a point in a person’s li
fe where they had to realize what was going on past the job, and right now, Harper had no clue, so Kaid took it as an opportunity to educate her.
Getting inches from her face, Kaid said, “Listen up, Harper. I get that you have a job you have to do, but you’re working with some pretty fucked up people who have a hard time dealing with life situations. We grew up in one of the shittiest foster care systems out there, and were never given the opportunity to learn how to deal with our problems. Maisy was fucked up big time six months ago, and she’s dealing with it the best she can. If she needs to take the night off to clear her head, then she’s going to. Leave her the fuck alone.”
Backing off slightly, Harper nodded and then said, “Alright that explains Maisy; what’s your excuse?”
Kaid would never hit a woman, but the cocky attitude coming from Harper had his hand itching. If she was a man, his fist would be through her face by now. She had zero respect for feelings, and it really grated on Kaid’s nerves.
Needing to get her out of his path, Kaid folded his arms and said, “Lack of sex is my problem.”
Without even blinking, Harper pulled out a twenty from her pocket and slipped it into the front of Kaid’s jeans, where he couldn’t help but notice the graze of her fingertips against his hard thigh.
“There’s a twenty. Go to the corner and grab yourself a twenty dollar blow job, maybe that will get things flowing for you.”
With that, she turned around and sauntered her way out of the studio and back down to the offices, where Landon was.
Irritation and anger consumed Kaid as he flipped her off like a mature adult and walked out to his car. He was going to grab some dinner and then head home to veg out with Maisy. Harper could fuck off for all he cared.
Chapter Four
**Cruz**
A knock at Cruz’s door had him setting down his Xbox controller and going to open his door. Standing in front of him was Landon with a big smile on his face and Quinn tucked under his arm.
“Well, don’t you two just look fucking adorable?” Cruz said, as he held onto the door frame and looked at the couple.