Page 51 of Pretty Little Rocker

“You love them,” Poppy repeated quietly. “These three rockers of Autumn’s Slumber, the same band that is going to be working at your dad’s club for the next year.”

“Sparks and Jamie, I love them. Yeah. They’re great. Sweet and kind of adorable at times. And just so damn lovable. Jamie’s like this pit bull. You know how vicious they can be, Poppy? Well, they aren’t really. And they protect the people they care about. And Sparks, he had it rough growing up, but he didn’t let that change his heart. He was grumpy at first, but then I got to know him a little, and he took such good care of me.” I sniffled, my head starting to throb. “I shouldn’t love Ky. He’s an asshole. He agrees with Maddie that I’ll mess everything up. But…”

I pressed my fist to my chest, my vision blurring again as giant tears spilled down my cheeks. “Why isn’t there an off button, Poppy? Why do I still love him, even though I know I shouldn’t? Even after he already showed me that I was stupid to trust him with my heart. Why won’t it stop? It hurts. It hurts so bad.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ky

Sparks’s fist landed against my shoulder. “You stupid motherfucker!” he roared, getting in my face. “Open your eyes, you dumb shit. All you had to do was reassure her that we need her, that we aren’t us without her. That Autumn’s Slumber is nothing without her. And you just stood there, looking at her like you believed everything this little twit said was true.”

“No,” I denied, shaking my head vehemently. “She knows I wasn’t agreeing with Maddie. Hayat has more self-confidence than that.”

Jamie’s fist connected with my other shoulder. His muscles were leaner than Sparks’s, but he packed a hell of a punch. “You fucked everything up. Everything, Ky.” His eyes cut across the room to where Maddie stood, looking unsure, her fingers crumpling the papers in her hands. “Little girl, I suggest you get back to your office, and you let Emmie Armstrong know that we’re waiting for her. Because Hayat was right. You are not going to be in charge of our social media accounts.”

“You guys haven’t even given me a chance yet,” she argued. “Can you three calm down for five minutes and listen to what I have to say?”

“No,” Sparks and Jamie said in unison. “Because you have nothing we want to hear,” Sparks continued.

Raking my fingers through my hair, I paced a few steps then turned back. This was bullshit. Hayat was just overreacting. Once she calmed down a little, we could figure everything else out. I wouldn’t make threats like I did last time, not when I’d seen the jealousy in her eyes over Maddie. Which had been ridiculous, but valid to a point. I wouldn’t have been pleased if she’d let anyone not related to her by blood hug and kiss her cheek.

“Let’s listen to her plan,” I told my bandmates. “By the time this meeting is over, Hayat will have calmed down enough to have a rational conversation. Then we can go to the studio to talk to Shane Stevenson about the single and—”

“Dumbest fucker I’ve ever met,” Sparks muttered under his breath. Waving a hand toward the conference table, he said snidely, “Go ahead, Ky. Listen to whatever Blondie has planned for you. Because that’s what this is going to be about. You. Not Autumn’s Slumber, not Hayat or Jamie or me. You and only you.”

“Whatever, man. Maddie knows what she’s doing.” I turned to face my niece’s biological mother. “Tell them, Maddie. Lay it out so they will understand how wrong they are.”

She squared her shoulders. “Well, first, we’re going to need more videos of you in the studio. Preferably with no makeup or masks. The world needs to see the real you. Then I’m going to push you vocals on all the platforms. TikTok videos, YouTube, reels on Facebook, Instagram. Your voice is the draw we’re going to focus on, and then we’ll slowly incorporate the other members of the band, so they don’t overshadow your talent.”

Jamie barked a dry laugh. “Hellion was right. All you care about is Ky. There are four of us in this band. We’re a unit.”

Disappointment and frustration crashed over me in powerful waves. “Why are you so focused on me, Maddie?”

“Because we’re going to show Hadley Renchford how amazing you are while she struggles to get Holden to pass intro classes in college. This can be your revenge, Ky.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Sparks grunted.

“Shut up, man,” I growled at him, keeping my eyes on Maddie’s. Hers had a wildness to them. Her need for revenge against my stepmother and the rest of my family was something I understood, but I’d thought she would be over this shit by now. Maddie had a successful career of her own. Hadley and Holden should have been wiped from her mind. They didn’t deserve to live rent-free in her head, twisting her up inside the way they continued to do.

“Maddie, honey,” I said softly. “You have to let that go. I don’t want revenge against the Renchfords. And sweetheart, you shouldn’t either. We both moved on from them. We have lives that are full of love and success and the kind of happiness they will never understand. Because they are greedy, selfish pieces of trash.”

“But, Kyrie—”

“Ky,” I corrected her. “I won’t let you use me in this vendetta you still have against them, Maddie. And I sure as fuck won’t let you hurt my band and Hayat to accomplish it. I’m sorry, but Hayat was right. We don’t want you having control over any aspect of our band, especially our social media.”

Tears filled her eyes, spilling like diamonds down her pretty face. She looked so fragile, breakable. Not the strong, fierce woman Hayat was—the woman who owned me. And I’d fucking let her get on that elevator and leave me.

Fuck!

I wanted Sparks and Jamie to punch me again, until the pain and the panic inside me dissipated. Beat the fuck out of me until I couldn’t stand and had to crawl to Hayat on my hands and knees to beg her to forgive me for hesitating. For not immediately reassuring her that we were in this together. That Havoc wasn’t going to hurt Autumn’s Slumber, because we weren’t a band without her now.

We were nothing without our Hellion.

“But I thought you understood,” Maddie whispered.

“I do, Maddie. More than anyone, I understand the pain they can inflict. But you’re letting it rot a piece of you that they never should have touched. And if I let you use me and Autumn’s Slumber to continue to punish them, you’re never going to fully heal.”

“I-it would have driven them crazy,” she murmured, looking down at the papers in her hands. “Seeing your face everywhere, hearing your voice on every radio station. Holden would have gone dark, knowing he would never measure up to you. And Hadley, she would have gone into a rage. I bet she would have broken everything in their house. It would have eaten at her, every minute of the day. Just like they deserve for all those horrible things they said about me, about Avalyn. About my family.”

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