“How the fuck are we supposed to distract her?” Memphis asks.
“I think he means hold her hostage,” Storm notes.
Whatever it takes.
Quinn pops up from the chair. “On it.” Wandering over, she addresses the three of them. “I’ll pretend my appendix burst, and you guys will all freak out about it. Then I’ll beg Lennon to stay with me.”
I’ve gotta hand it to my baby sister because that’s a much better plan…especially since it doesn’t involve Storm cuffing my girl to a bed.
Storm, however, appears skeptical. “You really think that’s gonna work?”
“Trust me. I’m a great actress and improv is a specialty of mine.”
Skylar ushers everyone out. “Let’s go before she’s gone.”
They start to leave, but Quinn halts her steps and pokes Storm’s arm. “I’m gonna need a lift.”
He looks at her like she’s crazy. “For what?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because I’m dying, dummy. Lennon’s never gonna believe it if we don’t make it look real.” She beckons him like she’s a princess and he’s a mere peasant. “Now hurry up and carry me to my room.”
Glaring at me, Storm lifts my sister off the ground. “You fucking owe me.”
“Oh my god. It hurts so bad,” Quinn wails like she’s in actual agony.
“Just make sure she’s still here by the time I’m done.”
With that, I dip out and make my way to Chandler’s room.
He answers after the second knock. “Come in.”
I push past him. “I needed you to open the door, not an invitation to walk through it.”
Sighing, he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Evidently beating the snot out of George wasn’t enough for you to decompress. What’s the issue now, Phoenix?”
“There isn’t one.” I get in his face. “Because you’re gonna give Lennon her job back.”
“I’m most certainly not.” He strolls into the living room of his suite. “I hired her to keep you out of trouble. Not play with your dick.”
And that’s his second mistake of the day.
In less than three seconds, I have him pinned against a wall. “You better watch it.”
He curses under his breath. “And this is exactly why I fired her.”
The hand gripping his collar constricts. “Then you’re not half as smart as you think you are.”
“I beg your pardon?”
We rarely get along, but Chandler knows me. He knows I don’t do relationships.
I stab his chest with my finger. “You knew she wasn’t just some chick I screwed. You knew we had a past and bringing her here would stir up old feelings. What the fuck did you expect?”
The prick has the audacity to look me in the eyes when he says his next words. “I expected her to be more intelligent.”
And that’s his third mistake.
My knuckles crunch against his nose. The back of his head hits the wall so hard the people in the hotel lobby probably heard it.
“Fuck!”
“Are you putting two and two together yet, asshole? Or do I need to continue spelling it out with my fists?”
Glaring, he holds his now bleeding nose. “I won’t insult your girlfriend anymore, okay? Still doesn’t change the fact that she’s fired.”
It takes every ounce of willpower not to punch him again.
“Why? You hired her to take care of me, and that’s exactly what she did.”
“No, she took care of your—” He cowers when I raise my fist. “She broke the most important rule.”
That shit doesn’t make any sense.
“If you hired her to look after me, shouldn’t that be the most important rule? Who cares what we did behind closed doors. I’m a fuck of a lot better than I was before she got here.”
The girl I ruined saved me. How’s that for irony?
He laughs bitterly. “Yes. So much better. You’re beating up band members, missing concerts, arguing with Vic about song choices, assaulting me. And that’s just in the last two weeks.”
Adrenaline surges through my bloodstream.
“First of all, George wasn’t a band member. And me missing the concert that night wasn’t Lennon’s fault. Hell, she’s the one who talked me off the fucking ledge. And you’re goddamn right I’m arguing with Vic because I’m tired of him making all the decisions. I’m the lead singer. It’s my voice people come to hear. My voice lining his, yours, and everyone else’s pockets.”