Page 60 of Backstage with a Billionaire Rockstar

There’s a pile of dishes in the sink, flies darting around them, and I wrinkle my nose in disgust. I eye the couch sitting in the center of the room and the dust particles swimming through the dim light that comes from a lamp.

“Why are you doing this?” I finally manage to ask.

Mack chuckles. “Oh, now you’re worried about what I’m doing?” He eases his way around me, then sinks onto one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table.

When I don’t answer, he sighs heavily and narrows his eyes at me. “I was doing well for myself, you know? Before you had to go and ruin it.”

Is he kidding me? He’s the one who was trying to control the band.

“I’m not the only one who fired you,” I point out.

“You were the driving force,” he mutters, his hand slamming down onto the table in front of him. “I had everything!”

“You’re right,” I say gently.

Suddenly, I’m realizing how stupid it was to meet him when he just recently tried to kill me on stage. I need to play this as calmly as possible before he ends up doing something crazy, like actually going through with the crime.

The thought of no longer being around to watch Liam grow up sends a wave of panic through me, but I keep my face neutral as I look at Mack. His button-up is loose around his arms, showing that he’s not taking care of himself anymore, and he pulls at the collar frantically.

“You have it all,” he seethes, his lip curling in disgust. “You don’t deserve any of it, you know?”

I nod while he points angrily at his chest. “I’m the one who got you there!”

God, how could I have thought he wasn’t this crazy?

“What did you ask me to come here for?”

Even though I’m sure I know the answer, I want to make sure.

There’s a glint in Mack’s eyes that makes me shiver, but I shake it off. I can’t let him see the fear, or it will only make things worse. “My last attempt failed, but not this time,” he says as he rises from his place at the table.

I watch his movements carefully as he makes his way into the kitchen and wraps his hand around an object before he whips around and points a gun at me.

“Woah!”

Immediately, I throw my hands up in the air and swallow thickly. “Let’s talk about this,” I whisper.

Mack shakes his head, then throws it back with a laugh. “The time for talking is over, Evan. You made sure we wouldn’t be able to do that once you got rid of me and ruined my career.”

There’s a noise in the distance, almost like gravel crunching under tires, but I can’t pull my attention from Mack. His hand is shaking, the gun glittering under the light, and I close my eyes with only one thought.

Please make sure Mia and Liam will be okay.

“Do it, then,” I say while looking him in the eyes.

Mack cocks his head to the side and smirks. “You don’t think I will?”

“I think that you deserve to have your old life back.”

It’s clearly not what’s going to happen, but maybe it’s a good way to get him to lower the gun so I can make a move.

His eye twitches, and he glares, shaking the gun in front of me. “You’re lying!”

“Brent called me tonight, you know?” His eyebrows raise, but he doesn’t say anything. “He doesn’t like our new manager. She doesn’t do things right.”

Clearly, that’s not what he said, but Mack doesn’t know that. As far as he is concerned, I’m the only one who opened that package.

“I don’t believe you,” he mutters, but his shoulders have visibly relaxed.

---