Page 32 of Fallen Princess: Shadow Stalker

“Well, I certainly didn’t. So that leaves it to one of you,” she says, dragging her eyes away from the fixed angry stare she has on Callum.

“You had more of a reason, princess,” I retort. “You hated how they were controlling us. But they forced a lot more shite on the girls. Don’t pretend you had nothing to do with tainting that sweetCinderella story they spun the public with. You hated it more than anything.”

She takes a step back to distance herself from all of us. It’s a little painful to watch her want nothing to do with us, especially when we once shared a closeness with her that we never had with any other girl.

“Screw you, Haze,” she spits out angrily. “I would never have betrayed you like that.”

“Nor us with you, darling. So that’s why you left. You thought we did you dirty.”

She shifts her weight subtly, a subconscious attempt to maintain control. There’s more to why she fled, and she has no intention of letting up.

Damn it! Why couldn’t I see it before? Eden’s never been shy of confrontation. She’d bulldoze any of us down if she thought one of us had something to do with the video. Seeing her face up against Callum just now tells me she was never afraid of us.

Eden’s not a tiny woman, but compared to us lads, we can be pretty intimidating, yet she’s never been shy about expressing her fiery side to us.

“Music’s in your blood, luv,” I say. “There’s no bloody way you got scared of a video surfacing you in a bad light. Even if you couldn’t continue as front woman, you would have found a way to continue making music. You have a talent for songs; you would have worked behind the scenes for other musicians, yet you chose this solitary lifestyle.”

“Yeah,” Callum adds. “So this is your chance. Our chance to make music together all over again. Relight that magical flame we had as a team.”

Not exactly where I was going with this but I can see Eden’s face softening.

“I can’t trust you,” she persists. “We can’t work in a team because I can’t trust you.”

“I get that. But take our word at face value. We had nothing to do with that video.”

“If you didn’t and I didn’t, then who did?” she says, and I see her beginning to close herself off again as she takes a step away from us.

“Eden,” I catch her attention. There won’t be an affectionate name here because I’m serious about what I have to say.

“I don’t know what’s up with all the security inside and outside this property, but there’s more to why you left LA, and that’s okay ifyou don’t want to tell us. But we are serious about the music. Just music. That’s all we want.

“Your isolation here probably didn’t make you aware that our old singleShadow’s Solitudewas covered by a new musician and hit the number one British charts for several weeks in a row.”

“And it’s god awful,” one of the lads adds.

I chuckle, “Yeah, it is. Unfortunately, the gyms’ DJs have to play it on a loop.” I roll my eyes.

“Gyms?” Eden asks curiously.

“Yeah, that’s a discussion for another time.”

“How have you not heard about this single?” I ask curiously. “You and Brittney still talk. She handles all your royalty checks. I would have assumed she told you about it.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but all talk about you, and our old music has been banned, and my royalty checks are donated to a specific charity.”

She’s buried everything about her past.

“Is that why there’s nothing in this room that indicates Eden Rivers, the legendary musician, lives here besides your guitar and music sheets?”

“My guitar was the only thing I took when I left LA with Catalina.”

“And Storm,” she adds. “I picked him up at the dog shelter the same day I drove out.”

I turn and see Asher crouching on the floor next to the dog, which has already warmed up to the bastard.

“He’s got arthritis on his back hips. That’s why you take him to get physio,” he says as he pats the dog and whispers something in his ear. The dog makes a low-pitched sigh as if he’s responding to whatever Asher is saying.

Bloody dog whisperer in the literal sense.

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