Page 63 of Savage Guardian

She was numb, though. The shock of it, the sense of utter betrayal…it was simmering, percolating….

She’d been so distracted by the crap online that she couldn’t focus, so all the work she needed to complete that day had taken forever. Even Teddy had been pissed about staying late, and that man had no life outside the studio whatsoever. It was nearing 9:30 when she finally pulled through the gates of the compound, Preston and Dragon trailing behind her on their bikes. Despite their night together four days ago, Hawk was still taking great pains to put space between them. Sure, he’d text once in a while to make sure she wasn’t doing anything stupid, and sometimes those texts were kind of sweet. But, other than that, the man had made it his mission to remain detached around her.

Ready for a long, hot shower, a fat, juicy burger from the club’s kitchens, and maybe a dram or two of Johnny, she shuffled through the clubhouse doors and stopped dead.

Carrie, three club girls, Hound, Dragon, Ringmaster, Slick, and Toke, were there. Carrie and the club girls were dancing with Slick and Dragon, while the other brothers were throwing back shots, watching the women dance, and laughing.

It looked like a party.

Where was Hawk?

Not in the mood to deal with facing Carrie after the shit day she had—because of Carrie, she hurried to cross the room to get to the back hallway and the officers’ rooms.

Unfortunately, Carrie spotted her, toddling over to Fae to smirk in her face.

“Oh, Fae,” Carrie tittered, “you missed it! The party was ah-may-zing! You should have been there!” Apparently, the fun at the clubhouse wasn’t her first of the night.

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough partying, Carrie?” Fae whisper-hissed. “The internet is blasting Aoibheal all over the place. You weren’t supposed to tell anyone about Aoibheal yet, and now people are—”

“Who cares what those trolls are saying? They’re just jealous.” Carrie smirked, waving away Fae’s concerns…like she always did.

Blistering anger splintered the numbness that had been blanketing her for the last several hours. “Jealous? Carrie, you got banned from two night clubs.Two. And we haven’t even been here two months!”

Carrie sniggered, not even bothering to lower her voice. “Oh? Those clubs were basic anyway. They couldn’t handle having someonelike megracing their establishments. Now, that club on Grand…. The people loved me. They cheered, bought me drinks—and a few of them even cried! They were bummed to hear the concert was cancelled, but they were happy again once I told them about the tour,” she squealed, shimmying to music only she could hear.

“What?” A tour? Fae knew she hadn’t heard or read anything about a tour. What the hell was going on? “What do you mean tour—and what about the concert? I haven’t heard about it being canceled.”

“And why would you? It isn’t like it’syourconcert. Besides, the jerks at The Music Box were getting whiny about the threat of that Banshee psycho, and they didn’t want to deal with the potential threats. So, they pulled the contract. That’s fine, though. That means we have more time to prepare for the tour.”

Reeling, Fae stumbled a bit but righted herself when her gaze landed on Hawk, striding into the room. Did he know about the threats to the venue? The canceled concert? Was he keeping things from herstill, siding with Carrie and Jimmy to keep Fae flapping in the wind like a used up, dirty sock?

“Fae, you know Jimmy wants to take the new album on tour. Of course, I realize you have obligations back in Olsen, so you can’t come with us, but we’ll be sure to send lots of pictures.”

“Are you freaking kidding me right now? You’re seriously going to leave me behind?Me?” The exact person responsible for her fame, her worshippers, her flashy clothes, and expensive night life. It was allherhard work and talent that had made the concert possible in the first place, and she hadn’t even gotten to enjoy it. No one thought to even talk to her about perhaps changing the venue or negotiating with The Music Box about remaining there.

They don’t give a shit about you, Fae. None of them do.

A sickening sense of betrayal slithered through her belly, making bile rise into her throat.

Carrie shrugged, smirking. Standing behind Carrie, Hawk was glaring at Fae, nearly making her recoil, but her emotions were high. Too high to focus onhisanger…whenherswas boiling. What did he have to be angry about? He’d been with Carrie at those clubs, he’d gotten the VIP treatment with her, he’d also been there when she was acting out, ruining Aoibheal’s reputation one drink and nip slip at a time. He hadn’t stopped her. He’d been there and had done nothing to keep his precious Aoibheal out of the gutter press. Everywhere Fae looked, she was surrounded by people who didn’t care how much they were hurting her.

And Hawk’s reaction, his anger, the fact that he was standing behindCarrie, was atherback glowering at Fae instead of atFae’sback, holding her up, wrapping her in the warmth and comfort of his arms….

Words failed her as she fought to blink back the tears burning behind her eyes.

“It’s not like we need you anymore, Fae. We’ll just hire anotherassistant. You weren’t all that good at your job, anyway.”

Snap.

“You are a fucking bitch! You…youwould be nothing,havenothing if it weren’t for me! How can you even think that you can just leave me behind, that you can just go on without me? You can’t replace me! Aoibheal would benothingif it weren’t for me!”

“Please…it isn’t like anyone would miss you.I’mAoibheal. It’smethe people want.”

In that moment, Fae lived an out-of-body experience. Outside of her body, she watched as Fae flew across the room at Carrie, her arms outstretched to snatch and grab and scratch and punch.

But she never made it that far.

Two steel bands snapped around her, forcing her back hard enough to make her breath whoosh out.

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