Pretty Little Hellion (Rocker Universe: Pretty Little #3)

14. Hayat

Chapter Fourteen

Hayat

In an attempt to keep the guys’ identities as anonymous as possible, they went out the back exit, which was heavily guarded, and were supposed to re-enter the club from the front. I kissed them each before walking through the masses on the first floor, two of my dad’s security guards on either side of me, escorting me to the VIP entrance.

Tiny was in front of the stairs to the VIP and gave me a hug when he saw me. “Killer job, Havoc,” he gushed, setting me on my feet. “Seriously, I’ve never heard the crowd go so wild as I did tonight. You and those boys kicked ass.”

“Thanks, Tiny. I’m still recovering from the excitement of everything.” Kissing his cheek, I told him I’d see him later and climbed the stairs up to where I knew my family was already waiting to celebrate with me.

No sooner did my feet touch the top step than I was swarmed by my loved ones. “Holy fuck.” Nik and Drake surrounded me, both of them smothering me with hugs before guiding me away from the stairs so we didn’t cause a backup of people arriving or leaving.

“That was pure beauty,” Nik continued. “We need that kind of vibe to open for the world tour.”

Drake was already nodding his agreement. “Fuck, yeah. I love that idea. Where is Em? We need to lock this shit down. Right now. The timing of the tour will interfere with their contract with Harris. We gotta get them out of that and sign Autumn’s Slumber for the tour.”

Suddenly, I couldn’t catch my breath as I gaped at them both. Excitement like I’d never felt before bubbled inside me. “What… You don’t mean… What? ”

Poppy pushed between his two bandbrothers and swooped me into a bear hug. “Sunshine, you made me so proud,” he choked out against my ear. “Your talent exceeded all expectations and left me in awe. And those boys of yours? Gods, that was a spiritual experience that I’ve never witnessed before in my life. Ky, fuck, that voice! And Sparks? He’s got so much talent. Not five minutes ago, Drake was all heart-eyes emoji over him.”

Drake shrugged. “Shane and Liam were both praising the bass player. My little brother is practically humming with energy to get you four into the studio tomorrow.”

I was still too caught up on the whole opening for the world tour thing to truly hear everything they were saying. It was a surreal moment. Going on tour with Demon’s Wings and OtherWorld, playing on the same stage as both my grandfathers. Tainted Knights, as well as Jagger, Cannon, and Piper, were already signed to join the world tour. My band could potentially be the opening act for some of the world’s most amazing talent.

Three generations of rockers together on one stage. This was a dream, the best fucking kind, because it couldn’t possibly be real.

“You three!” someone barked behind my grandfather. “Why does my baby look like she’s shell-shocked?”

Poppy turned, making room for Mom as she marched over to us. I opened my mouth to answer, but my voice didn’t work. Her face softened, and her arms went around me. She was so much smaller than I was, barely five-six to my six-one, but when she hugged me, our height differences didn’t matter. I felt like a kid again, being wrapped in the protective bubble only a mom could provide.

“It was probably the tour thing,” Nik supplied. “Hey, babe,” he called out. “Emmie? Can you come here? We need to talk about this now. I want it locked down before the end of the night.”

Through the crowd, I saw the top of Emmie’s head as she weaved through the masses of VIP patrons and family members. But Mom had drawn my attention back to her. “What does he mean, tour thing?”

“Harris,” Drake called out, waving my dad over to our group as well. “Hey, man. We need to get the lawyers on this ASAP.”

“W-wait!” I cried, finally able to find my voice. “The guys and I need to discuss this. Take a vote. And OtherWorld should have a say as well. I mean…maybe they won’t want Autumn’s Slumber opening for them.”

Poppy, Nik, Drake, Mom, and Dad—all their eyes went to me, their brows lifted. “Why wouldn’t OtherWorld want you on tour with them?” Mom was the first to speak.

I gave a weak shrug, the burn of uncertainty weighing heavily in my chest. It was an uncommon sensation, one I didn’t like, but it was there, nonetheless. “I mean… Well, maybe not everyone would feel the same about us opening for the world tour. I think they should have a say. A majority vote or something between all of you since it’s for both Demon’s Wings and OtherWorld.”

Emmie squeezed between Poppy and Nik, her green eyes so big they seemed to take up most of her face as she laughed with excitement. “That was fantastic, Hayat. And before you three start throwing out suggestions, I’ve already talked to Annabelle. She watched the show on live stream, and she is practically bouncing with so many ideas for the world tour.”

She paused only long enough to catch her breath, amping up Drake’s and Nik’s excitement even more. “The live stream, which, by the way, got three million views while it was live and another two million since. And the numbers keep climbing. It was viral before the end of the first song. Harris, sorry, but I’m stealing your kid and her guys. I need them in the studio with Shane, not just tomorrow, but for the next few weeks. Let’s get an album ready before the tour. We’re also going to need merch for Autumn’s Slumber. My marketing team is already bombarding me with ideas for posters and T-shirts.”

She patted Dad on the arm reassuringly. “But don’t worry. I already have a band lined up to take over. Remember Atticus…?”

Her voice trailed off when she finally realized that the others were still staring at me like some alien creature they couldn’t figure out. Which only told me just how excited my aunt was, because she was typically the first person to pick up on anyone’s emotions, no matter how many people were in the room. She was scary like that. Kind of terrifying, actually.

“What the fuck is going on over here?” she demanded.

“Not sure,” Nik told his wife without taking his gaze off me. Ugh, I felt like a bug under a microscope. “We’re waiting on Hayat to fill us in, baby girl.”

I glanced from one person to another, trying to stall for time until my boyfriends saved me from this exciting but uncomfortable conversation, because I wasn’t the least bit confident that all the members of OtherWorld would be on board with my band touring with them. There was one member of the band in particular who I knew wouldn’t be happy about it. And his lack of an appearance tonight was causing chaotic, warring emotions to turn my mind into mayhem.

I should have been on top of the world, talking art for the album cover, T-shirts, and any other merch we could get into an online store before the tour, plus to have on hand to sell at the venues once the tour started. My apparel sponsors were no doubt already salivating, with dollar signs popping out of their eyes over the free publicity my band’s new success was creating.

“Hayat, honey.” Emmie took my hands, her soulful green eyes searching mine. “Are we putting too much pressure on you? I promise we don’t mean to. We’re all just so in awe of Autumn’s Slumber’s talent that we are ready to offer you the world. Literally, the entire world.”

“It’s not pressure I’m feeling, Aunt Em,” I told her, my shoulders drooping. They were going to pull it out of me. Even though it was obvious I didn’t want to talk about it, they wouldn’t give up until I spilled my proverbial guts to them.

Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I couldn’t help but glance at Emmie’s phone. The screen was lit up with Annabelle’s name. She was a one-third owner of the management side of Emmie’s business. Nana had bought in as the third partner long before I was born. That Annabelle was blowing up Emmie’s phone over the live show, but Nana—and Pop-Pop by extension—was nowhere in sight made it feel like I’d swallowed broken glass.

“Fuck this noise!” Poppy exploded before turning and stomping away. I held my breath as my eyes trailed after him, watching people scurry out of his way as he stormed through the crowd straight for his target.

When he stopped, I gulped and quickly blinked back tears as he grabbed Pop-Pop by his shirt. I couldn’t hear anything he said to the other drummer, but Pop-Pop’s twisted, angry expression was enough for me to understand the gist of what was being thrown down.

Dad stepped in front of me, blocking whatever was happening on the other side of the room. Grasping my chin between his thumb and finger, he gently lifted my head until our identical eyes locked. I’d never felt so small as I did with him looking down at me, making me feel like a little girl again.

“This should be one of the most exciting nights of your life, Hayat. And I’ll be damned if it gets shit on by anyone. I don’t care who the fuck it is—they bring you anything but joy, and I’ll make sure they understand that my daughter is the star of this show. Even if that person is my own goddamn father.”

I was already shaking my head and clutching at his hand before he could finish. “No, Dad. Please. I refuse to be the reason for any discord between anyone in our family. He and Nana have their opinions, and they are entitled to them. I just don’t want to put anyone in an uncomfortable situation during something that should be full of nothing but amazing memories for everyone. It’s not just about him, though. I won’t let his feelings about my relationship hurt my guys. His inability to be open-minded, his and Nana’s prejudice, would turn everything that should be beautiful ugly, and I’m not willing to put my guys in that position.”

“Those are very mature views, but I’m gonna step in and say fuck that noise just like Jesse did,” Emmie seethed before stomping off in the same direction as my grandfathers.

“Does this count as a DEFCON 1 situation?” I thought Drake asked Nik.

“You think there’s enough security in the building to protect them?” Nik countered. “Ah, fuck, we need to steer them away from the balcony. She’s gonna throw him over… Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

I couldn’t see what he was talking about, but the sound of Nik and Drake running toward whatever was happening told me at least one person’s life was in immediate peril.

Mom and Dad forced my gaze to stay on them. Apparently it was time for that important conversation. Where the fuck were my rockers?

“Don’t get that look on your face,” Mom gently chided. “This isn’t going to be painful. At least, not for you.”

She shot a sneer over her shoulder in the direction of all the commotion, which I still couldn’t see because Dad kept moving to block my view. He probably could have made a career in the NBA like my brother hoped to do if he hadn’t had such big aspirations for the club.

“I don’t want to talk right now,” I grumbled.

“That’s fine,” she dismissed. “We don’t need you to do anything but listen.”

Sighing, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

“Those boys…” Dad grimaced and glanced at Mom. They both shook their heads, and he shrugged, the two of them having a complete conversation with that one look. Their gazes switched back to me, and they gave me sad smiles. “All we want is for you to be happy, Hayat. If that’s with one or all three of those boys, who the fuck cares? Are you in love? Are they? Do you want to spend every spare moment of every day with them? Is their happiness directly connected to yours? Do they treat you like the most precious, amazing human to walk the earth?”

I blinked at him, wondering if this was a trick of some sort. After the way Pop-Pop and Nana had made me feel, I hadn’t held out much hope of my parents jumping on board my crazy train with Ky, Jamie, and Sparks. Parents, even ones as great as mine, didn’t just accept their daughters falling into a relationship with three men at once.

“For the sake of full disclosure, I’m going to razz those boys just as hard as Jesse does me. But that’s my right as your dad. I’m not going to go easy on them either. But as long as they treat you like you’re the reason they even breathe, then we won’t have any issues. Because, plain and simple, your happiness and well-being are the only things that your mom and I care about.”

Mom brushed my hair back from my face, giving me a smile. “We love you and Evan so much, Hayat. If those boys are who you want to spend your life with, then don’t waste time caring about what Dev and Nat or anyone else thinks.”

“I don’t care about what other people think,” I assured her. “I’m not sure why I’m letting their opinions bring me down. I feel like a broken record lately, but we don’t do this in our family. We don’t trash or maliciously attack one another. It started with Maddie, and now it’s moved to this. They didn’t believe me last night about how things went down. On top of that, I could hear the disgust in both their voices on the phone. Pop-Pop has always had my back, been a mentor for me, just like Poppy. But for the first time in my life, he made me feel like I was a stranger. And that hurt.” Closing my eyes, I sucked in a sharp breath. “It still hurts.”

Sensing how my confession was affecting my parents, I snapped my eyes open to find Dad glancing over his shoulder. When he looked back at me, he couldn’t hide the rage in his eyes.

“I don’t want to be the reason anyone in our family feels like they have to choose a side. Our dynamic was so amazing before this, but now it feels like we are all splitting apart. It’s me or Maddie, and I can’t stand it. I hurt and she hurts, but instead of having each other’s backs like we’ve done from day one, she’s throwing verbal daggers so hard they pierce straight through my heart. And Nana and Pop-Pop are on the sidelines cheering her on.”

If Dad’s jaw clenched any harder, he would break a tooth. Hand cupping the back of my head, he tucked me against his chest, hugging me even tighter than he had when I’d seen him earlier in the day. “Maybe you don’t want to hear this, but I’m going to say it anyway. There is no choice, Hayat. It’s going to be you. Every goddamn time, it will always be you. Maddie needs help, I know that. And I’ll do what I can to help Trinity get her into the intensive therapy she requires. But at the end of the day, even when the dust is still stirred up, you are who we choose. And no, it’s not because you’re my kid. If you were in the wrong, I would tell you that. You know we would. We don’t pussyfoot around when you or Evan do something we know is wrong. We’re going to choose you every fucking day because we know your heart. It’s beautiful and loving, it’s protective and supportive. And we know—baby, we know —that you would do anything for those you care about.”

“Maddie’s emotional trauma is clouding her judgment. Just like Dev and Nat are allowing their lack of understanding about your feelings for those boys to cloud their own.” Mom hugged me from the side, my parents squishing me between them. “This isn’t dividing our family—that much I can assure you, Hayat.”

As badly as I wanted to believe her, I couldn’t. There was too much uncharted territory being explored for me to have any faith that this feud Maddie had started between us wouldn’t fuck with all my other familial relationships. How would Trinity react to this new status between her adopted daughter and me? Would it cause tension between Dad and his sister, or Trinity and Mom? And also, we had Banks and Avalyn to consider.

And from the shouting that was finally starting to reach us from the other side of the room, both sets of my grandparents were already at odds. I tried to push up onto my tiptoes to see over Dad when I heard Emmie’s raised voice, but he blocked my view yet again.

Fuck.

Emmie didn’t do raised voices. She didn’t need to. The woman could flay the skin from a person with a simple look. But she was shouting now, and that was not okay.

Pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes, I choked back another sob. “Make it stop,” I begged Dad. “I don’t want any of this. It’s ruining everything. I was so happy when the show ended. We were celebrating and running on an adrenaline high. And now this?”

Mom rubbed my back. “Where are the boys now?”

Scrubbing my cheeks dry, I glanced toward the entrance. “They were supposed to come up. They went around to the front so no one would question if it was them. Or at least, we were hoping. Their anonymity is important to them.”

“Oh, we’re well aware of that,” she said with a soft laugh. “And not just because of Ky’s family. Sparks has a colorful background, or so I’m told.”

“They aren’t their pasts,” I defended.

She gave me a tender smile, mopping up a few of my tears. “I would never judge them for the lives they led before meeting you. We’re only concerned with the present and future.”

I threw my arms around her neck, the realization that she and Dad really were okay with my boyfriends finally penetrating. “I love you both, so much. Please don’t ever doubt that. Thank you for everything you have ever done for me. For just being you and for having my back. I’m sorry for putting you in this position.”

“What position?” she asked. “Hayat, there is no position except to stand behind you and give you the love and support you deserve. Whatever is going on with Dev and Nat, that’s on them. Trust me, baby. They will understand that soon enough.”

An angry roar reached me, and the entire VIP went ominously quiet. Even below on the first floor there was only soft chatter and the music from the DJ. Dad turned, and I was finally able to see what was going on. Poppy and Emmie stood over someone who was on the floor. I blinked a few times before it registered that it was Pop-Pop.

“Oh fuck,” I whispered. “Poppy, no!”

Drake came back to us, his arm around Lana. My aunt was smirking, while Drake shook his head. “Jesse didn’t hit him.”

Relief was short-lived because many of my other family members were too close to the chaotic scene for me to rule them out as the one who had assaulted my paternal grandfather.

“Emmie?” Mom whispered to her sister.

“No,” Lana said, drawing out the single-syllable word.

“Nik?” Dad guessed.

“Wrong again.”

Mom let out a frustrated huff. “Lana, enough with the guessing game. Who hit Dev?”

“Abi left for her honeymoon already, but her new sister-in-law isn’t leaving until tomorrow,” Lana supplied. “But holy fuck, that girl has a hell of a right hook.”

Mom and Dad started snickering with Lana, but I couldn’t find any of the moment amusing. Dodging my parents, I rushed over to the group gathered around Pop-Pop, who was still on the floor. He looked dazed, his mouth bleeding from the cut on his bottom lip, some of which had dribbled down to stain his light-colored shirt. Poppy stood over him, arms crossed over his massive chest, brown eyes swirling with a barrage of emotions. Emmie’s lips were twisted into a sneer as she stood beside her honorary brother.

Nana was crouched beside Pop-Pop, her blue-gray eyes wide as her gaze went around to everyone standing over them. Shane and Harper. Mason and Damien. Evan and Bentley. Nik. Jenna and Angie. Gammy. Luca and Violet. Mia and Barrick were there with Nevaeh and Braxton, while Arella stood leaning against Jordan, watching the show unfold. The group had moved closer to block the view of curious spectators and their phones so they couldn’t record the dramatic family moment.

I didn’t miss the shared expressions between Luca, Barrick, and Braxton. The awe, curiosity, and confusion that Sammy—while only a few inches shorter than me, but with a more athletic body—had punched Pop-Pop so hard it had knocked him on his ass. Bentley slouched back into the group, still using his body as a barrier to the fucked-up freak show that had apparently turned into our family now. Protecting our privacy was one thing. Getting close to the spitting, hissing, mafioso princess was way on the other end of the spectrum, and he wanted as much distance between Sammy and himself as possible.

And then I saw Elias, one arm still braced in a sling after recently being shot in the shoulder in an attempt to save Sammy, Vaughn, and Abi with Anya and Ryan Vitucci’s help. His stance was much more relaxed than everyone else’s, even though he had his good arm anchored around his wife. She struggled against his hold like a lioness fighting to get free.

I’d been so focused on my grandfather laid out on the floor for every celebrity in the VIP to gawk at—but thankfully, no one could since my family shielded the entire incident—that I hadn’t fully registered Sammy. But the closer I got, the harder it was not to. She was practically shouting at Pop-Pop in three different languages, shifting from English to Italian to Russian every few sentences. I realized I needed to start my online language courses soon so I could at least know the gist of what she was hurling at the man on the floor when she wasn’t speaking English.

Realizing she was a bomb that needed to be defused—and fast—I did what Abi would normally do when Sammy got all worked up. Pushing through the last of the crowd blocking me from her, I hugged my arms around her neck, murmuring quietly to her.

“Sammy, shh, it’s okay.” Her arms clutched at me, as if her holding me as tightly as she possibly could might protect me. I couldn’t miss the tremble that shook her body.

“It’s not okay!” she seethed while hugging me. I could sense her attempting to rein in her anger, but she was too far gone for the moment to get hold of her emotions right away. “No one is going to talk about you like that. Fucking no one. I don’t care who that motherfucker thinks he is. I don’t fucking care, do you hear me, you old bastard? You are not going to trash my friend.”

“That chick is crazy,” Pop-Pop groused, but I didn’t look down at him. Whatever he had said to set Sammy off, it must have been beyond bad. But then again, I’d learned that my new friend had a hair trigger that was easily pulled when it came to Abi—and now, apparently, me. “She hits like a goddamn heavyweight boxer.”

“You haven’t seen crazy yet, you old fuck!” Sammy snarled. “You ever say shit like that about my Hayat again, and I will make your torture last for weeks. Months! You die on me before I’m satisfied, and I’ll bring you back. Over and over until you understand that no one is more worthy of respect than my girl.”

“Elias, she’s going to get arrested for making threats like that,” I quietly warned while continuing to calm Sammy down. I’d deal with the pain that was already crushing my heart from whatever Pop-Pop had said to set Sammy off later. For the moment, I needed to de-escalate the more dangerous situation.

Elias snorted, his electric-blue eyes amused. Not for the first time, I found myself wondering if maybe Elias was more insane than Sammy. “Not likely. But it might be fun to watch someone try.”

“You weren’t a part of our conversation. You had no business sticking your nose where it wasn’t wanted,” Nana snapped at Sammy.

I couldn’t stop the flinch when I heard my grandmother’s voice. The disdain that thickened it. The sneer. Whatever Pop-Pop had been saying about me, Nana most likely had been agreeing with him, if not adding her own comments to their supposed private conversation.

As she felt my response to what Nana said, my friend’s eyes switched from one shade of blue to another so quickly it could have easily been a trick of the light, but I instinctively knew it wasn’t. Nana had just flipped Samara Vitucci Reid’s crazy switch.

She went still between Elias and me. No longer struggling. Her breathing changed from rapid, rabid gasps to the pace of someone who was in zen mode. She tilted her head, her smile both beautiful and incredibly terrifying.

“Have you ever wondered what human liver tastes like?” She looked right into Nana’s eyes as she asked the question. “I think I’ll feed you pieces of your husband’s liver. Maybe even one of his kidneys. Then you can tell him how good he tastes before I send you both to hell. It’s going to be so much fun. I can already smell the blood on my hands as I cut him open. His screams will be musical. At least for me. Maybe not so much for you, suka .”

Every fine hair on my body stood on end as a shudder slithered up my spine. Sammy was truly disturbed, but what did it say about me that I felt affection for the sweet psychopath. She was ready to murder my grandparents for whatever they had said that she had taken as a direct insult to me.

Mentally shaking that realization aside, I hugged Sammy tighter. “Hey, hey. Let’s not do that, okay?” I moved so her face was pressed into my shoulder, hoping that by blocking out the sight of Pop-Pop and Nana, she would calm down. I kind of liked it more when she was all flailing limbs and swearing in three languages.

She appeared less dangerous in that mode. The calmness was creepy as fuck—and no doubt a hundred times more lethal. “We’re not going to murder or torture anyone. And we especially aren’t going to feed anyone human organs. Let’s just take cannibalism completely off the table, shall we?”

Sammy tilted her head back until she was looking up at me, her bottom lip pouted out. “But it’ll be fun. And then the mean old fucks won’t ever say bad things about you being with your boyfriends. Literally, they won’t be able to say shit when I cut out their tongues.”

“Your definition of fun is different from mine,” I told her, stroking her pretty, dark hair back from her face tenderly. “How about we table that for people not in my family? Or we could do that with that one chick. What was her name? Lynn, something? Berkeley?”

Her pupils dilated at the mention of that name, and I was glad I’d gotten the name right instead of sending her into a higher state of crazy. I wasn’t sure who Lynn Berkeley was exactly, but I did know that the woman was someone from Elias’s past who had recently tried to cause trouble. Abi had told me a little about it, and Sammy had mentioned it a few random times. Lynn was not only out to reconnect with Elias, but she was causing trouble for Sammy at work. So, the bitch had to go, and I was more than willing to help get her gone if it meant saving someone I loved. “You want to help me, Hayat?”

“Sure.” After the mini lecture I’d gotten when Abi had told me she was leaving for her honeymoon, Sparks wasn’t going to be happy about it, and Jamie was most likely going to spank me—oh yes, please—because of it, but sometimes concessions had to be made. “But only if you promise not to harm my grandparents.”

She was back to pouting. “But they weren’t being nice. I only have two friends, Hayat. You and Abi. I have to protect you both. There will never be anyone more precious than the two of you.”

“But if you harm people I love, that will make me sad,” I reasoned. “Abi considers them her grandparents too. We don’t want to make Abi cry, do we?”

“No, I guess not.” She blew out a heavy breath. “Fine. The old bitch and her asshole husband are safe.”

“Don’t call them names,” I firmly chastised and kissed her forehead. “Elias is going to take you back to your hotel. Tomorrow, we can make plans for me to help you with Lynn.”

Her eyes lit up with excitement. “We’re going to have so much fun. But wait! Should we hold off until Abi gets back from her honeymoon? She might want to have fun with us.”

I was already shaking my head before she could finish. “No, babe. We’re not going to invite Abi.”

“Why not?”

“She’s pregnant, for one. And for another, she might cry.” Fuck, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t cry, but whatever happened with Lynn, at least it wouldn’t be Nana or Pop-Pop on the receiving end.

“No, we definitely don’t want her to cry,” Sammy murmured thoughtfully.

I met Elias’s gaze. He winked at me, which I was going to assume meant Sammy’s crazy button had either been switched off or at least had been put into sleep mode.

Either way, I called it a win.