Page 130 of Tortured Tones

“Bullshit,” I stood my ground. He was just pissed I’d overruled him last night. I deserved the reprimanding. I’d overstepped my position. But fuck him. He wasn’t just my boss—he was my friend, too, and I needed to vent. “You’re always texting her. Calling her. Why weren’t you on the floor last night covering Blake and April? You were in the catering room when shit went down.”

“Ava? Enough,” Wells snapped.

Yeah. He’d been sexting Ramona. Guaranteed.

“Come on, man?” Beckett patted Wells on the chest and steered him over to the window. “Ava’s upset, and rightly so, thanks to Luther. She’s done nothing wrong. A few lines may have blurred with Cole, but so fucking what? She’s your 2IC who’s never put a foot out of place before. She has followed the rules. She hasn’t been screwing Cole every night. They’ve actually stayed apart when they’re fucking crazy about each other. Don’t give her shit, man.”

My heart pounded against my ribs. “Oh, I may be crazy, but not about Cole. He’s a fucking pain in my ass who’s done nothing but get on my nerves and mess with my head. I fell in love with his daughter. Not him.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Ava.” Beckett threw me a smug smile and shook his head. “You’re so into him.”

A tear trickled down my cheek. “No. I’ve stayed away from him. I’ve done my job. I’ve done everything right.” But ...fuck. I hadn’t. The knots in my stomach cinched tighter and tighter. I sank onto the bed and wiped my wet cheek. “I’ve tried not to care for him, but I do. Now I’m going to lose the one thing I’ve been living for. Josh is everything to me. I fucked up.” I picked up the photo of Cole and me in the park. I scrunched the photo in my hand. “Not one of these pictures are of me making out with Cole or fucking him. But Luther’s lawyers are so powerful, they’ll twist and turn every instance around. They’ll make me look like a whore and...a bad mother.” Oh God. Bile bubbled up my throat, threatening to spill across the floor.

“Ava, you’re not a bad mom. Never have been.” Wells lowered his chin. “But I’m sorry, I have to do my job and protect the band and the team. You’re damn good at your job—I just can’t have you on this one. I can’t have you on active duty. Not like this.”

As I wrapped my arms around myself, I trembled all over. “You’re firing me?”

“No. I’m sending you home to the office sooner rather than later. Kennedy will cover Slip for now. I’ll get someone from the New York office to help us out over the next two weeks.”

Like a plummeting elevator, my heart crashed to the floor. Being pulled from this gig was just as bad as being fired. Not being 100 percent focused on my job crushed my soul. My involvement with Cole had gotten in the way of my clear thinking. My emotions had taken over. I’d disobeyed orders. I’d panicked, afraid that someone had taken Charlotte and wanted to hurt her—like that asshole had done to that kid in LA when I’d been on the force. Fuck. I’d thought I’d dealt with my past. I’d been through therapy, but maybe I wasn’t okay. I wasn’t cut out for this job. “I’m so sorry I let you down.”

“You’re lucky we had a good outcome last night.” Wells stepped over and rubbed my shoulder. “You know all too well that’s not always the case.”

More than you realize. I nodded. “It won’t happen again.”

“I’ll book you a flight home for tonight.” Wells patted my arm then stepped aside. “I’m sorry Luther had you followed. You’re a great asset to our team. You’re a great mom. Josh is lucky to have you. If we can do anything to help, let us know.”

“I will.” But I doubted Wells could save me. Luther was too ruthless and played dirty.

“We’ve got a briefing about tonight’s show in five minutes.” He jutted his chin toward the photos on my bed. “We’ll give everyone an update on this situation. After that, you can say goodbye to the team...and then the band. We’ll call them and their entourage to join us and notify Cole of this outcome.”

Say goodbye? Shit. How could I do that? “Um . . . thanks.”

“We’ll let ourselves out.” Wells stepped toward the door. “We’re in meeting room three on level two. See you there.”

Beckett and Wells took off. I flopped on the bed and sobbed. I’d been such a fool. Luther had gotten his hold around my throat again and squeezed tighter than he ever had before. Would I ever be free of him? Would I ever get Josh away from him?

Ramona sank onto the mattress beside me. She draped her arm around my shoulders and gave me a big hug. “I’m so sorry, babe. I hate seeing you like this. I hate that you’re leaving early.”

“I broke the rules. I compromised the team.”

“I feel awful.” She rubbed my arm. “Wells and I are together, but you can’t be with Cole.”

“I’m not with Cole.” I swiped a tissue from the box on the nightstand and wiped my eyes. “I know you and Wells do everything to keep work and your relationship separate. I love you both. I’m sorry for blurting about you two in front of Becks.”

“It’s okay, babe. Seems like he knew about us anyway. I don’t care who knows. Wells is the one who worries.”

“Yeah. Consequences suck.” I twisted and scrunched the tissue in my hands, then pointed at the photos on the bed. “How am I going to fix this? I can’t lose Josh.”

“I don’t know.” She smoothed her hand over my loose hair. “But maybe something good has come out of this. Take out all the shit that’s gone down—I haven’t seen you laugh and smile as much as you have since we’ve been on this tour. Maybe Cole had something to do with that.”

“Nothing good has come out of this. Not when it might’ve cost me Josh.”

“You don’t know that for certain.”

“I know Luther. He’d sell his soul to fuck me over.” Who was I kidding? He didn’t have one to begin with.

I should’ve never fallen into Cole’s bed. Or fallen for that charming smile and dirty talk of his. Or fallen for him and his daughter.

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