Page 68 of Captivating

I pull his face down to mine and nip his lip. “But I can’t wait to have your babies one day, Killian. I think the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be more than a singer is a mother.”

“Is it too early to ask you to marry me, Lilah?”

My heart stops and starts all at once, and I smile against his lips. “Maybe a little.”

“How about we start with you opening your birthday present, then work our way up to a ring?” He teases. At least I think he’s teasing until he gets out of bed and takes the unopened pink box from where it’s been living on my vanity.

I sit up and wrap the sheet around myself as he sits back down and places the box in the palm of my hand. “Happy birthday, princess.”

“Why am I nervous?” I ask with shaking hands as I untie the box and tear off the paper. A tiny red box sits in my hand, and my voice and my heart get stuck in my throat.

“Open it, Lilah,” he tells me gently.

And my heart is no longer in my throat because it sinks to the floor.

I crack open the lid, and sitting neatly on a layer of red velvet is the golden strawberry necklace Killian gave me for my sixteenth birthday. “But how...”

“Princess.” He wipes my eyes before I even realize I’m crying.

“But I threw this in the trash.” And wished a million times I hadn’t.

Killian shrugs and takes it out of the box. “Turn around.”

I lift my hair and turn as he fastens it around my neck.

“I took it out of the trash and kept it. I guess I always knew I’d get the chance to give it to you again.”

I climb into his lap and wrap myself around him like a spider monkey. “Thank you for keeping it safe for me.”

“I will always keep you safe, princess.”

LILAH

You’re the song I don’t want to end.

—Lilah’s Secret Thoughts

“Hey, Scottie.” I answer the call and toss my phone to the counter. “You’re on speaker, and my sister’s here with me,” I tell her and go back to the chicken I just pulled from the grill. Not gonna lie. I’m pretty proud of myself. This might be the closest I’ve ever come to cooking. Hopefully, it’s not raw.

“Hi, Scottie.” Dillan waves as if she’s in the room and keeps scrolling through the contract she’s reading.

“Okay well, let’s get right into it then. I fired Tasha, reminded her of her NDA and had her severance sent to her. I wish I could say I was surprised, but very little surprises me anymore. Better people than her have been caught selling secrets. I just hate that they were yours. I guess it goes to show you everyone has aprice.” Scottie tsks like she’s admonishing a child, and I want to scream.

“You’re sure she was the leak?” I ask again, even though I know the answer. She’d been feeding information to theKroydon Kroniclesand anyone else who wanted to pay for a story. Just the thought of it makes me physically ill.

“We’re sure or we wouldn’t have terminated her contract. Now listen, Iris needs to know if we’re replacing Noah, and I need to know if we’re looking for a new assistant.”

Dillan looks up from the contract with wide eyes, suddenly very interested in the conversation. She knows the answer to one question but knows better than to ask about the other.

“Dillan is my new assistant. And before you say anything about working with family, she’s already looking over her contract, and the decision is final. As for Noah...” I look away from Dillan and back down at the chicken. “I’m still not ready to make that call.”

“Lilah—”

“I know, Scottie. But I’m not. And you can’t tell me that if we need a fill-in at the last minute, we don’t have ten guys in our arsenal completely capable,” I snap, unwilling to discuss this. Not yet.

“I didn’t say that, but I think you need to talk to Noah and make a decision. It’s been weeks. If you wanted to forgive him, you would have already done it.”

I grab the phone and walk through the kitchen door, fuming. “Don’t you think I know I need to make a decision? This is my brother, not just my bassist, And I’ll figure it out on my fucking time. I swear to God, I’d cut every last one of you completely out of my career if I could. So maybe think about that before you try to force me into a decision I’m not ready to make. You and Iris did the same damn thing Noah did, it just didn’t hurt as badly because let’s face it, to you and the label, I’m a dollar sign. But toNoah...” I trail off and spin around when the sliding glass door beeps as it opens behind me and Killian pops his head out.

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