Page 104 of When the Storm Breaks
And it was true. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d been so happy. All my worries that Brody would hate my life, or that he’d feel like he didn’t fit in, or that he wouldn’t know how to handle Bastian and the paparazzi and the chaos of a world tour, had vanished. I guess I should have given Brody more credit. But Marcus had put a lot of doubts in my head. Had made me question whether it was a smart move to invite Brody to join me for a week.
“This tour is a big deal, Shiloh. You can’t afford to screw up,” Marcus had said, as if I needed a reminder. It was my career, my tour, my responsibility to give the best damn show I could every single night. “I don’t want you to be distracted. You have a lot on your plate without having to cater to a guy who knows nothing about the music industry.”
Even my publicist, Naomi had called from L.A. to discuss it with me. As if Brody’s arrival needed security clearance. “I don’t want to be blindsided. Is there anything I need to know about him?”
That had pissed me off. Like she fully expected me to dish the dirt and share all the intimate details of Brody’s private life. “Only that I care about him and he’s a good man.” I’d answered. “That’s all you need to know.”
The funny part? When I’d told my management team that I wanted Acadian Storm to open for me in North America, nobody had even questioned it.
“I thought you would have put up a fight,” I’d told Marcus.
“Acadian Storm is a good draw. Your fans will love it. And that’s what it’s all about, Shiloh. Keeping the fans happy.”
It was a funny thing in the music industry. Short of murder and rape, everyone loved to watch rock stars behaving badly. As long as they gave the fans what they wanted, they were golden. And Dean… he knew exactly how to please a crowd. He was, after all, the master of deception. And I knew why Naomi and Marcus were thrilled at the prospect of having Acadian Storm open for me. It created the type of controversy that sold tickets and got everyone talking about us. While I was with Acadian Storm, some of our best concerts were on the nights when we were all at odds with each other. Our fights and anger had fueled our music and critics had declared our performances ‘electrifying.’
But I didn’t want to think about Dean or Acadian Storm or the rest of my tour. I wanted to enjoy my time with Brody while I had him right here next to me. It made me so happy to see his smile and listen to his laughter.
When someone is important to you, their happiness is a priority. And Brody was so important to me. I never wanted him to feel like he didn’t have a place in my life. I could handle our time apart as long as we were on the same page, striving for the same thing.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Brody
It wasday three in the big-ass villa on the Mediterranean. For the most part, it had been chilled and relaxed. I got along fine with Bastian and Hayden. Bastian was what I’d call your quintessential rock star. He claimed to be a recluse, yet he surrounded himself with people. He loved Shiloh but not in a romantic way, thank fuck. And Shiloh had assured me they’d never slept together. Now that I was here, I could tell they hadn’t and that they really were ‘just friends.’
This afternoon, it was just me and Shiloh poolside. A few of the others went out on a boat and Hayden had informed us that Bastian was hiding out in the cinema room and didn’t want to be disturbed. I thought I was bad, but the dude was moody as fuck.
“You thirsty?” I asked Shiloh.
“Mmm.” She nodded, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, a sheen of sweat on her skin as she baked under the French sun. She was wearing a tiny black bikini held together with strings I’d untied with my teeth earlier.
She lowered her sunglasses, and her grays met my browns. In the sunshine her eyes looked clear, not stormy. For a brief moment, I felt like she could see straight into my soul and see every dirty secret I kept buried inside.
Had we met before? In another lifetime?
I shuddered, trying to shake off that weird deja vu feeling I got around her sometimes. Nobody had ever gotten under my skin like she did. Nobody had ever made me feel like I’d found the one thing I’d been searching for all my life. Sometimes, I didn’t know what the hell to think about that.
“Is there any water out here?” She glanced at our empty bottles on the table.
“I’ll go inside and get some.”
“Thanks, babe.”
I chuckled. “Anytime,babe.”
I grabbed my phone from the table under the umbrella and left her lounging by the pool. The house was quiet, no signs of life, as I strode across the terracotta tiles, swiping my thumb over my phone. Lila’s face appeared on the screen, her smile big and wide. It was four o’clock my time and nine o’clock their time. Since it was a Sunday morning, the whole family was together. “Hey B. Just in time. You have to see this.”
She flipped the camera and I watched Levi take a few steps toward Noah who was kneeling on the living room floor with outstretched arms. I smiled at Levi’s attempts to walk. He looked like a drunken sailor. Jude was off to the side, phone in hand, no doubt taking a video.
“Come on, Levi,” Noah said. “You can do it.” Noah kept moving back, widening the space as Levi lurched toward his big brother, a big gummy smile on his face. He fell down, his knees hitting the rug and for a minute it looked like he was about to burst into tears.
“Cowboy up, Levi,” Noah said, making me chuckle. That’s my boy. “You can do it.”
After a second, Levi pulled himself to his feet and practically ran the rest of the way into Noah’s arms. “You did it! You’ll be playing football and riding horses with me in no time.” Noah pulled him into his arms and carried him around, hooting and hollering, “Yeah, you did it!” The way he was carrying that poor kid, with Levi’s face smashed against Noah’s stomach and his legs dangling, it couldn’t have been comfortable.
Jude and Lila were laughing, celebrating a milestone in their son’s life. Jude took Levi from Noah and held him up in the air above his head. The picture returned to Lila who was still smiling like a proud mother.
“Did you tell him the news yet?” Jude said in the background.
