Page 41 of Backstage with a Billionaire Rockstar

Which is partly true. Knowing the stalker is now standing outside my bedroom window is enough to have me shaking, but I’m not about to show that to Carmen or she’ll never leave.

Carmen frowns, but nods. “Whatever is best for you, Evan, just let me know if you need me.”

I cough again when Mia moves, which causes Carmen to turn toward me. “You should really get that cough checked out too, it’s probably not good for you to be on stage when you’re sick.”

“I’ll get on it, Carmen, thank you.”

“We’ll figure this out, Evan, maybe hire another guard to help Mia out?”

“If Mia agrees to it, then sure.”

“Okay…well, goodnight.”

As soon as the door opens, then shut, I hurry over to it and slide the lock into place just in time for Mia to come scrambling out of the bathroom with wild eyes.

“Evan, we’ve got to figure out who this is. You’re only putting yourself in more danger by continuing with the tour, maybe you should listen to Carmen on this one.”

I shake my head. “I can’t, Mia, the fans are counting on us.”

“Maybe we should make sure everything is okay with Liam,” she says softly, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Ever since the last note, where they mentioned something about Liam, Mia has been going overboard on the phone calls and texts. Every thirty minutes she’s texting Kenzie, asking if Liam is okay, then calls every two hours to talk to him. This is eating her up inside, knowing she can’t figure out who it is, but I’ve got a feeling we’re almost there.

It’s only a matter of time before the stalker ends up coming clean about their identity… and there’s something inside of me that says I won’t like it when we find out.

The drive to the venue is tense. Mia's eyes constantly scan our surroundings, and her body is coiled tight like a spring.

I try to focus on the set list and on the excitement of performing, but the stalker's threat hangs heavy in the air.

As we pull up to the stadium, I take a deep breath. It's showtime, and it's time to give the fans what they came for.

But even as I plaster on a smile, I can't shake the feeling that something's not right.

***

As much as Mia wanted me to cancel the show, I managed to convince her that it was the right thing to do since we had to postpone the other half of our US tour.

Brent’s solo song, a slow one that he wrote just for Julia, comes to an end, and he clears his throat into the mic with a big smile. He thought it would be awesome if we started this set with this song because he wants to surprise the fans about Donny being back.

“Okay, okay, we’ve got something very special for you guys tonight,” he says, and the crowd goes insane around us.

When I look backstage, Mia is nervously darting her gaze around the stadium, while Carmen looks like she wants to push Donny off stage. Donny’s bouncing from excitement, his drumsticks clutched in his hands, and he runs a hand through his long curls.

The women loved his long hair, and I can’t imagine they’ve already forgotten about it.

“Alright, come on out, man,” Brent says, looking right at Donny.

He takes confident steps toward the stage, and as soon as the spotlight shines on him, the women in the front row nearly trip over each other to get a closer look at him. There’s people standing up on the top rows, practically leaning over the banister, and I shake my head with a chuckle.

“Give it up for Donny, everyone, who is more than happy to be back with us!”

I’m not sure why he did it, there was no reason because the crowd sounds exactly the same.

Donny makes a show out of the attention, doing his own thing on the drums for a few moments, and then he winks toward the curtain that closes us off from backstage. When I look over, Carmen is glaring at him, and her arms are crossed in front of her.

She acts like there wasn’t a chance that Donny would be put back into the band. I understood her need to have him audition since he was gone for quite some time, but she couldn’t think he wouldn’t kill it. Did she ever hear him on the drums? He’s practically a God, and if we said no, the next open spot would’ve gladly stolen him from us — which wasn’t happening.

Brent nods his head at Jace, who starts up the next song on our set list, and the crowd dies down so they can pay attention to the beats Donny starts to make it with the drums.

---