Page 28 of Snared

“Charlie is part of the band. Of course I’m thinking about her. I’m thinking about all of you. I know I’m a dick, but I didn’t set out to cause this mess. You all should know that,” I said, hoping they could at least realize that.

Bash pinched the bridge of his nose. “We know. But you need to stop putting the band first. Charlie’s the one that matters here. She’s worked too hard for this. She’ll be attacked because she’s the only woman in the band. Whatever goes on in her personal life should have nothing to do with her ability as a drummer, but none of us are naïve enough to think the world agrees with that. So, what are you going to do?” Bash asked.

My shoulders sagged, and my entire body felt heavy. I had to figure this out and I needed to do it fast. They were right. While the guys blamed only me for this mess, I knew the media and fans would have a different spin on it, one where Charlie ended up taking the brunt of the hate.

“I’m going to go talk to her,” I said.

“No, you’re staying here and figuring out a solution, and we’re all going to meet back here at eight. We’ll present a united front to the press, but you’re going to fix this mess before it destroys Charlie’s career,” Jax said, pointing his finger at me.

“Figure this out, Josh. She deserves better than the media circus that this will no doubt create,” Tristan said, as he followed Jax and Bash out of my room.

Fuck. My. Life.

CHARLIE

Someone knocked on my door, but I wanted to keep sleeping and hope my nightmare would go away.

I rolled over and turned the lamp on before reaching for my phone. I’d set it to silent after crawling into my bed last night, needing a breather from everyone. The minute I lifted it, a notification flashed on the screen, then another a second later.

Shit, there were a ton of them, including a few texts and a missed call from my sister. This was so not good.

My stomach sank.

Another knock sounded at my door as words popped out from my phone’s screen.

Charlie. Steelwolf’s drummer. Married. Band manager. Vegas. Band shocker.The knocking started up again, this time followed by Josh’s voice.

“Charlie, let me in.”

I tossed my phone on the floor and pulled the covers over my head. This could not be happening.

No.

Nope.

No one knew.

There’d been no videos of us at the chapel. If there had been, it would’ve hit yesterday. This was on him because he opened his damn mouth.

“Charlie,” his voice called out again.

“Go away,” I yelled, burrowing deeper under the covers.

“Let me in, Charlie. Please,” he pleaded.

Why? Why was this happening to me?

Oh right. Because I stupidly drank my face off and married a man I hated in Vegas. Fucking Vegas.

Apparently, what happened in Vegas didn’t fucking stay in Vegas. Not that I’d left Vegas yet. Oh my god. I was losing my mind. I could feel uncontrollable laughter bubbling up. As it reached my throat, it mixed with a sob and merged into some foreign gargling sound as it left my mouth.

“Charlie, open this door or I’m getting the other key,” Josh said.

I shoved off the covers, pulled on some clothes, and opened the door.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I barked out a laugh. “Are you serious right now?”

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