I woke up the next morning to the smell of lilacs. They were everywhere. On the dresser in my bedroom, overflowing. Down the hallway on the side tables. In the freaking chandeliers. He’d put them everywhere. On the counters in the kitchen. Even in my bathroom next to the tub.
And he’d left Olive’s, Pink’s, Dimitri’s, and Ethan’s flowers, like they were allowed.
The note on the counter was telling.
Their flowers can stay only because they don’t pose a risk, Kee.
I stared up at the security cameras and then a text from him came through.
Dex: Don’t cry. They’re just flowers, Kee. Get ready. We’re going to breakfast.
Me: You’re watching me.
Dex: You said I could.
Me: In the heat of the moment.
Dex: I can’t really look away. You’ll have to get used to it.
Dex: Anyway, come down to the Sapphire. I ordered you scrambled eggs and a cinnamon roll.
Me: What if that isn’t what I wanted?
Dex: You always want it. Get your ass down here. We need to talk before we start going out in public.
I narrowed my eyes, and now that I knew exactly where cameras were planted, I flicked each of them off as I got dressed and got a tiny thrill from every one of them. Instead of worrying if someone was spying on me, the concern was replaced with exhilaration.
It might have been twisted. It might have been unhealthy. Yet, I couldn’t stop smiling even as I threw on some cutoff jean shorts and a college shirt that read Wisconsin across the chest.
I now only worried a bit about what I said to my father on the phone, but Dex already knew I wasn’t talking to my mom. So, the conversation made sense still.
“Mom doing okay?”
“Good, baby. I think she’s just a bit tired.”
“Tell her I love her.” I wanted to tell her how much I missed her. She might have smiled when I told her about the flowers Dex got me. About the lilacs everywhere. She had always loved them as much as me.
When I walked into the restaurant, no one seemed to bat an eye at my attire. I was getting used to feeling at home in the hotel where most everyone was trying to avoid being approached and noticed for their celebrity status. So far, no reports of me that I knew of had gone out. Olive was very good at scanning all the pages for me.
I only got one comment about my outfit, and it was from him as soon as he saw me and stood from the table to pull my chair out for me. “You’re giving me a complex wearing other college shirts,” he murmured before he kissed my neck from behind and scooted my chair in.
“You don’t need to get up and pull my seat out for me, Dex. No one cares here and—”
“I’ll always stand when you enter a room, heartbreaker. You were the woman of my dreams for years and then the woman of my nightmares. Either way, you deserve respect for that.”
How could I argue?
He rounded the table and sat down to open the laptop he’d placed on the table as I took him in. His suit was gray today, which somehow made his hair a darker brown. And he’d combed the waves back so they were tame enough that I wanted to run my hands through them and mess them up.
“Do you always wear suits to work?”
He pulled at his gold cufflinks as he looked me up and down. “As opposed to college shirts?”
We were still on this? “I told you why I had them. You want me to wear your college that bad? Get me a sweatshirt then.” It was ridiculous how jealous the man could be about nothing.
He huffed in his three-piece suit but then smirked. “If I wore another singer across my chest—”
“You would never,” I cut him off immediately, but he’d made his point as I glared at the idea. “Whatever. Get me a shirt and I’ll consider adding you into the rotation.”
Our food was delivered right then, and he chuckled as I stabbed my fork into it without thanking him at all for ordering it.
“I just might do that, but it’ll have to be after we discuss this.”
And in the middle of the restaurant, Dex turned that laptop around and I stared at the email from Mitchell.
From: Mitchell Hendrickson <[email protected]>
To: Dex Hardy <[email protected]>
Attached you will find the last fifteen years of contracts for Keelani Hale. We are so excited to welcome you into the family and as soon as you are married, I know we will consider even bigger and greater contracts with Keelani in the future. Cheers to more endeavors.
The room felt like it was spinning as the fork I dropped clattered onto the plate. He knew then. He knew how I’d signed off on everything, how I’d let them control me, how I’d sold away my rights over and over again for money and for medical services. Nothing was written specifically about my mother, but he’d put two and two together. Money and medical bills. It was clear as day once someone started reading.
And what I’d sold. I gave them the right to print whatever they wanted all those years ago. I specified that I’d never go against their word in the media. I’d basically agreed to let them rip Dex apart.
“I haven’t read them yet, Kee,” he said softly, but I saw how his face had hardened. How his jaw was working. “At first, I thought we’d sit here and read them together. In public. Where I wouldn’t feel inclined to go insane because I’m guessing I’m going to feel the need to.”
I grabbed for the orange juice and took a big gulp before answering. I kept drinking and drinking, and he stared at me like he had all the time in the world. Fuck, the man was going to wait me out.
“We don’t have to look,” I tried.
“I’m going over your contracts, heartbreaker. It’s not a choice. I guess before I do though, I need to ask you if you want to share anything with me. Or should we just dive in? From the look of sheer panic on your face and the fact that it looks like you’ve seen a ghost, I’m guessing you’ll want to disclose something?”
He’d never forgive me. And I finally realized in all this, I wanted him to. I was an idiot to believe I would be able to avoid my feelings. Dimitri was going to say he was right. That I should have been careful. I could already hear him. Because Dex would tell Dimitri. No doubt.
“Can we…” My voice was shaky. “Can we not look today?”
“When?” His tone was hard. That he was even considering giving me time was probably more than I should have asked for.
I closed my eyes. “Never?”
“Not an option.”
When I opened my eyes and reached across the table for his hand, for some reassurance or sign we would make it through this, he pulled it back to check his watch. “You have sound check for the show tonight, and I have to get to work.” He closed the laptop and stood in front of me. His height alone was intimidating, but when he looked down at me like that, I felt so small.
I couldn’t ask him not to be hurt, couldn’t really beg him for all this extra time when he’d waited years in silence.
Then he leaned in so I was the only one who could hear him say, “I fucked you on the stage you’re going to perform on tonight. I lost complete control of my emotions there. You’re mine now and you know what that means?”
“What?”
“I will fucking destroy every single person who came between us in those contracts, you understand?”
I bit my lip and looked at those green eyes that had hardened into stone. I remembered him this way—passionate and determined. Dex had always felt everything just as much as I did. He simply executed it differently. I sang. He drove his goals forward. Fast. With effectiveness. And determination. He would ruin someone if he wanted to. I had no doubt.
“Every single person, Kee. So, tell me the day I get to start. It’s going to happen one way or another. But I’ll let you decide when.”
He walked away from me, left me with the perfect breakfast and every worst thought flying through my head. He’d destroy everyone, and that included me too.
