Page 108 of The Drummer's Heart

Not even a denial.“You knew about this?” I seethed.

“He had to tell someone who wouldn’t kill him.”

Adrenaline coursed through my veins. “How could you keep this from me?”

“You’re proving how well you would’ve taken it. You really wanted to get news like this in the middle of a tour?” He shook his head. “But honestly, I have no guilt about it because they’re not doing anything wrong.”

Ronan emerged from the bathroom.

“What the fuck are you doing with my niece?” I roared.

His face turned white. He held his hands out. “Okay…calm down.”

“I won’t calm down.” I felt like I was about to hyperventilate. “You can have any woman in the world—why my niece, you prick?”

“Whynother? Do you have any idea how special she is?”

“Does she know how many women you’ve fucked around with?”

“If that was relevant, then Nicole shouldn’t be withyou, should she? None of us would be worthy of a good woman if we were judged by our past actions.”

I rose and began to pace. “I knew there was something weird going on. You’ve been acting strange for a while now.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve messed around with zero groupies this entire tour. And even before that, you weren’t as talkative as you normally are. I knew you were keeping something from me.”

“Sonotsleeping around makes me suspect? Think about what you’re saying. I haven’t been with any groupies because I’ve beenloyalto Kenzie.” He paused. “I love her.”

“Love?”

He nodded. “It’s been going on for a while. It’s not new.”

I drew in my brows. “Since when?”

“Since Tristan’s wedding.”

Spit flew out of my mouth as I shouted, “You’ve been seeing my niece for months behind my back?”

“I get that you’re not happy with this. No one is ever gonna be good enough for her in your eyes. But I’m your best friend. Do you really think I’d do this to you intentionally? Out of malice? Are you crazy?”

“He’s got a point,” Tristan chimed in.

I ignored him, waving my index finger at Ronan. “You kept it from me. Friends don’t do that.”

“Really? Just like you told Mimi the truth about you and Nicole getting divorced? Sometimes we keep things from the people we love to protect them.”

I opened my mouth, but then snapped it shut. His last point left me without a comeback. “I need some air,” I said as I left the bus.

Thankfully, the guys let me be. About five minutes passed before I saw my niece approaching across the parking lot.

“Uncle Atticus…”

“Yeah,” I muttered.

“We need to talk.”

“I’d say so…”

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