Page 59 of Fake Fiancé for the Billionaire Rockstar

Is she talking about Carmen?

She has to be.

“Woah, babe, Brent says and tugs her closer to him, making sure not to jostle the baby in the process. What are you going on about?”

“Carmen, she’s talking about finding someone else to manage the band.”

It’s getting even worse. It was bad enough that she had to make sure a reporter got wind of the truth about our relationship, but now she’s leaving?

Mia steps forward and places a hand on my shoulder. “Donny, you need to think about everything.”

She waits until I’m looking at her to continue and cocks her head to the side. “Do you really think Carmen would’ve done all this shit if there wasn’t an ounce of feelings for you? It could’ve been done a while ago, but she stayed… doesn’t that mean something?”

I shake my head. “She told me she was going to tell everyone the truth, and now she did.”

Mallory scoffs next to Mia and shakes her head. “Seriously, dude?She didn’t do anything.”

“She loves you, you idiot!” Julia blurts out, then throws a hand over her mouth with wide eyes and shakes her head. “Shit,” she mutters, “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“Carmen… loves me?”

My heart stutters in my chest. How long have I been waiting for those words? And now that I’ve heard them, why does the weight of them scare me more than anything?

Mia sighs heavily. “Of course she does, and now she’s a mess, thinking you’re never going to come back to her.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I just wanted some space to get my head in the right place.”

“You walked out on her,” Mallory snaps. “What was she supposed to think?”

Jace slides up to Mallory’s side and pulls her against his chest, whispering something to her that has her gaze softening just a little. There’s a pang of jealousy in my chest, watching the two of them together, and I quickly look away from them to stare at Julia.

“She told you this… that she loves me?” I ask, needing to hear it one more time.

Julia steps forward and gives me a sad smile. “Yes, and now would be a great time to make sure she knows that you feel the same way.”

“How do you know that?”

She smirks and rolls her eyes. “Are you kidding me? Everyone here has gone through the exact same thing. We know what love looks like.”

“What if I’m too late?”

The thought lodges in my chest like a stone. I know how much Walker’s pushes her to change careers, to leave all this behind and take thesaferpath. He’s never seen what I see in her—the fire, the passion. What if this time, she listens to him and he convinces her that she’s better off leaving the city?"

“I need to go to her,” I say, and hurry toward the front door.

Brent’s hand shoots out, and he shakes his head. “No, man, you’ve been drinking. Sleep it off. She’ll still be here in the morning.”

“And if she’s not?”

“Then we’ll take you wherever she goes, but you’re not talking to her right now.”

Everything inside of me is telling me to shake away from Brent’s touch and rush out the door, but I know he’s right. I’ve made her upset today by walking out on her, even though she was trying to tell me the truth, and I’m only going to make it worse if I show up drunk.

“Yeah, yeah,” I mumble before making my way down a long hallway. “You guys head home. I’ll be fine here.”

“Are you sure, man?” Evan asks, concern evident in his gaze as he looks at me. “I don’t mind staying here for the night. I’m sure Mia can handle the kids until morning.”

“No problem,” she pipes up.

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