“Do you sing too?”
“I know where you’re going with this, but no. I’m not that…”
“When he was fifteen, he could. And that was before puberty hit him. Hard. Little shit’s voice went from a soprano to baritone overnight,” Graham tells them, ignoring me completely. “My guess is he and Maverick have a similar tone and range, or the songs wouldn’t work as well for him as they do.”
“That’s my guess, too,” Maddox replies. “I want to hear it.”
“Now, hold up. You are not railroading me into singing. You want the songs? Fine. I already gave them to Maverick anyway, but…”
“Yeah, I think we should carve some studio time for him after the holidays,” Ryder adds.
“Do you three realize I am in the room, and I am the one who gets to decideifI want to do any of that?” I yell. “Not everyone wants to be on the goddamn stage. Besides, if you haven’t noticed, my life just became a whole lot more fucking complicated in the last twenty-four hours.”
“No one is railroading you, Jagger. This is what you’ve wanted since you were a kid,” Graham chuckles. “You got all Mom’s talent and then some. I’m not letting you waste it.”
“And what about Noah?” With that one question, realization slams into me. Poppy was right. I’ll never let him go anywhere.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“We have an entire team that’s paid good money to do just that, remember?” Maddox tells me with a wink.
“You seem to think you’re all alone in this…all of it, but you’re not. If ya haven’t noticed, mate, we take care of our family. You’re part of the family. If it weren’t for you, we might not be here.”
“It’s insane to think it, but we owe our careers to a fucking punk kid. Now we’re showing our appreciation.”
As usual, they head for the door before giving me a chance to respond. I jump from my chair, spinning. “I don’t need your appreciation,” I yell at their backs. “I need everyone to stop meddling.” I get middle fingers as they keep walking.
When the door opens, Casey is standing on the other side. She says hello to the men as they pass her, then walks inside. Her normally happy face turns into a frown when she sees me.
“Casey, I swear I didn’t take him to get him away from you.” I immediately say, assuming the mood is because of Noah.
“What?” she asks, brows dipping lower. “I know that. I was there, remember. And Iwanthim to be with you.I always have. Dads, good ones, are amazing. You? You’ll be the best dad, and he needs that in his life.”
My breath hitches, and my chest tightens. I’m speechless, unable to find words to respond.
A chair moving sounds, followed by the shuffling of Italian leather over the carpeting. Graham stops next in front of her, pulling her against him. “Then why the face, Casey?” He brushes the hair from her face with his own scowl. “Tell me who I need to bankrupt or kill.”
She shoves him away with a huff and a hard eye roll. “No one. And that can’t be your go-to response for everyone that upsets me.”
“Wanna bet?” he mutters as she strolls toward me.
“You took Poppy back to your place, right?”
My stomach dips, the foreboding feeling from earlier making a reappearance. “Yeah. Why?”
“When she left this morning, she seemed okay, right?”
My shoulders slump, head tilting back. “She wasn’t there this morning. I woke up around midnight, and she was gone.”
Her lower lip slips between her teeth. Blue eyes dart away, looking thoughtful and concerned. “Did you two argue?”
“No,” I grind out, reminding myself not to let the thought that everyone thinks I’m a screwup win. “When we fell asleep, everything was fine. I woke up, and she was gone. No note. Nothing. I’ve been trying to reach her all day, and she’s ignored me.”
Her frown deepens. Worry skitters through her sapphire eyes.
My anxiety skyrockets. Dull throbbing wraps around my head, settling in my neck. I glance at Graham, silently asking him to get her to spill because suddenly I feel like I might be sick. Or lose my shit.
“What’s going on, Sunflower? Why all the questions?”
