I turn back to my band, raise the mic to my face and scream, “Okay, Seattle, let’s fucking rock!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
~Samantha~
The after party is in full swing back stage. Fans who won back stage passes for autographs and photographs have come and gone. The band made it very clear that this party was just for them and their families.
There are still more than thirty of us.
“The show was ah-mazing!” Stacy exclaims and snuggles into Isaac’s side, a drink in her hand.
“It was,” Brynna nods and smiles at Meg and Will, sitting on a couch, Meg in his lap. “Will, that was quite possibly the most romantic proposal I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m a romantic guy.” He shrugs and offers us all a cocky grin.
Meg explodes in laughter. “You’re a lot of things, babe, but romantic isn’t one of them. Did Luke give you pointers?”
“Hey! I have my romantic moments!” Will frowns at her and then leans in to whisper in her ear, making her blush.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
“I don’t want to know.” Matt shakes his head and then turns to Caleb, who has been dead silent all night, even during the concert. His eyes have been narrowed, his body on high-alert. “You doing okay, man?”
“Fine,” Caleb confirms with a nod.
Brynna frowns up at him. “Are you sure?”
“I’m fine.” His jaw is tight, but his voice is firm and leaves no room for questioning.
“Hey, Sam.” Jules approaches us from across the room. “Leo was looking for you a few minutes ago. You must have been in the restroom.”
“Do you know which way he went?”
“Out into the hallway.” Jules points toward the door.
“Okay, thanks.” I check the time on my phone as I head out into the corridor. I wonder how long we have to stay before we can tactfully leave. The guys are leaving in the morning for the tour, and I want as many hours alone with my man as I can get.
I hear voices murmuring in the hall as I turn a corner. Leo is standing with his back to me, facing Rick his manager, who is facing toward me, but hasn’t seen me yet.
“You’ll destroy her, Leo. She loves you.”
“I loved her too, but I sure as fuck can’t trust her now. What would you propose I do? The sooner it happens, the better.”
What the fuck did I do?
Rick glances over Leo’s shoulder and sees me. His mouth flattens in a grim line and he exhales hard. “Hey, Sam.”
“Fuck,” Leo mutters under his breath, lowers his head and props his hands on his hips, and my heart feels like it’s going to beat right out of my chest. “Go back to the party, Sam.”
His voice is cold. Angry. He doesn’t turn around to look at me.
Rick shakes his head. “No, I think this is a conversation you need to have.” He slaps Leo on the shoulder and pats my own shoulder as he passes by me, leaving Leo and I alone in the stark white, quiet hallway.
“Yeah, it sounds like we need to have a conversation.” I pull my walls up around me. Do not let him see you hurt, Samantha. I walk around to stand where Rick was moments ago. Leo won’t look at me; he keeps his eyes trained on the floor. “Look at me.”
He pulls his head up, but instead of looking me in the eye, he focuses over my shoulder.
“Fucking look at me, Leo.”
He shakes his head, clenches his eyes shut and swears under his breath again.
“Look, Sam…”
“No, fuck this. Just tell me what I did wrong.”
His head whips up and finally he pins me in his stormy, gray gaze, scowling. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But you just said you can’t trust me. I heard you.”
“No.” He shakes his head adamantly and rubs his hands up and down my arms. “You didn’t do anything. I wasn’t talking about you, baby.”
“What’s going on?”
“Fuck,” he mutters again, sighs and swallows hard. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Sam.”
“You’re scaring me,” I whisper.
“I’m just gonna say it, but before I do, please know that I am so, so sorry.” He’s looking in my eyes again, worried and sad and so pissed off.
“What?” I ask, exasperated.
“It seems that someone took photos of us in L.A., at my house, making love on the balcony.”
“What? How? Your beach is private.”
“Yeah, well, who knows?”
“How do you know this? Have you seen the photos?”
He scowls and shakes his head. “No. Melissa is blackmailing me. She says that if we fire her for the photo leak of you, she’ll post the photos online.” He shoves his hands through his hair and paces away. “So, I won’t be firing her until I can figure out how to handle this clusterfuck.”
“Fuck that.”
“What?” He turns back to me, his eyes wide.
“She is not going to bully you into keeping her damn job, Leo. Call her bluff. Fire her. If she posts the photos, so be it. We’re consenting adults in a loving relationship. If anyone doesn’t like it, they can kiss my ass. I won’t have her turning the most beautiful moment of my life into something dirty.”
He just stands there, his mouth gaping open, and then blinks rapidly. “Wait, where is this coming from? With as pissed as you were about the photo last week, I thought for sure this would destroy you. I’m not worried about me, but I won’t have something like this surfacing about you.”