“Now, now, don’t go getting your knickers in a twist, Easton. You really don’t know a good thing when you have it.”
“That so?” I say, stumbling slightly, my bottle clanking on a nearby table. “You’re such a prize?”
He shakes his head warily before he drains his Coke and wipes his mouth as though the act drained all of his strength. “No, mate, I’m the bad guy. But…” he smirks, “sometimes my misdeeds have a way of paying off. All along, I’m the man you should have been thanking.” He sighs. “Doubt you’ll see it that way now.”
I toss back more Jack. “This should be good. Thanking you for?”
“For jumpstarting your career. For meeting your wife. I knew making that call was a risky move. But you can’t lose anything you don’t have, am I right?” He pins me briefly with his glacier stare. “Who knew it would actually work in getting you to pull your head out of your arse.”
“The fuck?” I drop my bottle, stalking toward him, and fist his shirt.
He laughs in my face before shaking his head. “Temper, temper, young King,” he bites out. “You’re a bloody idiot, you know that?”
“Your opinion means nothing to me, or anyone else for that matter, but go ahead and enlighten me,” I grit out.
“Or what, Easton? You’ll beat me into submission? How has that been working out for you?”
Finding strength I never imagined I have, I release him.
Amused, he straightens his shirt. “As I was saying, I’m the one who tipped off Rosie. Rosie, not Natalie, because she was the one with the national gossip broadcast. I always wondered why that story never aired but ironically, a week later, your dad calls us in.”
I gape at him as he grips the railing behind him, his knuckles turning white.
“It took me a second to figure out why you suddenly pulled the trigger.” He smiles, his eyes glossing over, “and it was because a different journalist pursued my lead. Didn’t see that one coming.”
“Why?” I ask, feeling like I’m having an out-of-body experience as I glare at him, doing everything in my power to keep myself in check.
“Why else, man? To play. Always for the chance to play. You’ve been such a fumbling idiot with the gifts you’ve been given. Leaving us hanging for months without knowing our future. Every musician alive would kill for talent like yours, and you were wasting it. So, I did what I had to do to try and force your hand.” He sweeps me with a look of clear disdain. “Look at you now. A real rock star.”
“You’re fucking fired.”
“No surprise,” he snaps. “Nor thanks,” he sighs again as if bored, “not that I expected it.”
“Jesus Christ, I should end you,” I seethe. “Did you out our relationship?”
“No,” he slurs. “As much of a bastard as I am, I didn’t because I would kill to have a bird look at me the way she looked at you. But you fucked that up well, didn’t you?”
“You’re disgusting.”
“And you’re missing my point. Your life, right now, is made up of so many musician’s aspirations, and you’re squandering it on senseless emotions. Not the kind that matter. Anger is not fueled by the heart—bitterness isn’t either. Pride? Please, it’s annoying. You’re annoying, and you’ll lose it all by paying attention to the wrong things. The gigs, the women, you’re blowing all of it. You owe it to everyone dreaming on a rock star who wishes they had your advantages not to toss it for stupidity. You can start by going to get your bird back.”
“She’s just divorced me, you fucking imbecile.”
“And things aren’t going your way anymore because you’re all heart,” he taunts as if my answers are obvious.
On the verge of snapping, I turn my back, heeding Dad’s warning. I’ve already cost myself with my rage, and if I assault LL a second time, he could rob me of some of my net worth, or worse, cost me my career. Maybe that’s his intention.
“So why tell me now?”
“Because my dream has played out, and I’ll be honest, I’m disappointed, probably because I don’t have the drive or energy I used to.”
“Just get out,” I whisper, the need to hurt him surging through my veins. “Please, man. Just get the fuck out.”
“I have just one ask before you decide whether or not to bloody me up, mate.”
“Fuck you,” I spit, my back to him as I text Joel to come for him before I black out on him in a rage.