Page 16 of Riot

“I spent my entire life being formed into his perfect protégé, but I never quite compared to him. Even now, they whisper about it. My father was a legend. He was good at being a rock star.”

“And at being a father?” I ask.

She glances at me, her eyes dark with something unfathomable. “Like I said, he was good at being a rock star. It was his life, which became mine. Being a good father had nothing to do with it. I was an extension of him, just like his guitar, something else to use, not like they will ever know that. The world worships my father and puts him on a pedestal, but no one knows the real him. Only me.”

“Yet you say nothing?” I ask.

“What would speaking about it do? He’s dead, they love him, and I will be compared to him until the day I die.”

“Fallon—” I reach for her. She looks so alone right now, so lost, that it makes my heart hurt. She inhales sharply, and it’s so out of the blue my eyes track hers to find what she’s watching.

“Is that?—”

“My ex-husband,” she answers, her throat working as she watches him. “And his new girlfriend.”

“What is he doing here?” I ask.

“She’s the producer’s daughter. She’s trying to make a name for herself,” she replies. “She’s a pretty young actor, making her way up. She’s just someone else for him to cling to. It’s the closest he’ll ever get to fame and he knows it.”

Our eyes go back to him as he works the room, holding her arm proudly, but I see what she sees. He’s a leech, butting into conversations and hanging onto his girlfriend’s fame. She looks awed by him. She’s young, just like Fallon said, barely twenty, with straight blonde hair hanging to her waist. Her round face is turned up to his as she gazes at him with worshipful eyes. No doubt he has love bombed and preyed on her need to feel a connection, yet he never once looks at her.

Poor girl.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen him?” I ask.

“A year.” She glances at me, smiling. “I kicked him out the moment I was home. I didn’t see him after. Why would I? He broke my trust and ruined our marriage. There was nothing to see him about. In all honesty, I expected to run into him before now.”

“Are you okay?” I question.

“I thought I would feel something, but I feel nothing when I look at them. Doesn’t that make me twisted and cruel?”

“No, it makes you, you,” I murmur as I lean in. “My Fallon, who doesn’t let fools like that have her heart or tear her down. He never deserved it in the first place, and you knew that. That’s why you never truly loved him. Deep down, you knew he wasn’t worth loving. It was never a relationship, it was a transaction, and you were always paying the higher price. There can never be real love when you aren’t equal. He used your name and your money, and part of you hated that about him.” She looks at me, her eyes wide. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you didn’t use that inequality as a way to keep him at arm’s length because it’s easier when they owe you something than it is if they don’t.”

For a moment, she just stares at me, her eyes so wide I could drown in them.

“Who says I’m capable of love?” she counters, unwilling to focus on anything else I said since she knows I’m right.

“I do, and I can’t wait to feel it,” I murmur.

The entire world disappears, and for a moment, my heart stops as she leans in, glancing at my lips, and my head starts to scream at me.

Fallon is going to kiss me.

She’s finally going to kiss me.

“Still not letting you win,” she whispers with a cruel grin as she leans back.

I release a shaky breath, my heart racing a million miles an hour as she picks up her drink and casually takes a sip. Meanwhile, I’m left reeling, but I can’t swallow the smile that curls my lips. Fallon is playing my game. She’s talking to me, and she’s here with me.

All my dreams are finally coming true, and before she knows it, she will be mine, and I’ll show her just how capable of love she is, and if not . . .

I’ll love her enough for both of us.

“I need the bathroom.” She stands, and with a dismissive turn, she heads past her ex and his new girlfriend. He turns as if feeling her, his eyes seeking her out, and I know then he came here on purpose.

He might have cheated on Fallon, but he never wanted to be discovered. He wanted to keep the kingdom she built, and he’s here to try and get her back, the fool. Downing my drink, I stand, ignoring the women and fans calling to me, and then I follow after her.

Fallon is mine. Maybe it’s time I made them all aware of that, including her.

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