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

18. Emmie

Chapter Eighteen

Emmie

Sitting at the kitchen island in the Carvers’ massive penthouse kitchen, I sipped the fresh cup of coffee Jesse had brewed, while single-handedly texting no fewer than eight people. I needed not one, but possibly three different lawyers.

One to start on getting Maddie, with her questionable mental health, into a rehabilitation center. The reality that she had hit rock bottom weighed on me. I should have kept better watch over her. She wasn’t my daughter, or even biologically linked to me in any way, but I thought of her as another grandchild. I loved that girl, even when she did things that made me strongly dislike her.

Another lawyer was needed for the charges I figured Devlin or Natalie would file against Jesse for the beating he’d given the other rocker. Ever since Jagger had had his little incident with a photographer who had taken pictures of my daughter-in-law naked when she was changing, I kept Peter Kratt on retainer for situations relating to the less savory side of the rocker lifestyle.

Kratt had gotten Cannon Cage out of jail after he’d broken the face of the pervy producer from his previous record label. That prick had nearly crushed Piper’s larynx. After that bullshit, I’d destroyed Petrova’s label and worked with Shane to build ASM for not only my own clients, but many others who had worked with Petrova and had had similar experiences as Piper. Kratt would get Jesse off with a slap on the wrist. A few grand in fines, some community service, and then he would be free to do as he pleased once his probation period was over.

The third and final—I hoped—attorney I needed to speak with was the most nerve-racking for me. Just reading the words of the message my business attorney had sent made my stomach knot and cramp painfully.

When I hit send on my reply to the man, two more texts from different people popped up on my screen. It was an endless cycle, and given the level of pissed-the-fuck-off I had achieved at the moment, my answers weren’t making anyone else particularly happy either.

Too bad for them.

The shitshow that had gone down at First Bass had been epic in every way it could possibly be. I’d been so proud of Hayat. Blown away by Autumn’s Slumber as a whole. Having previously heard them via their social media platforms, I’d known they wouldn’t disappoint. But with several of my content creators streaming the show live, we had basically broken the internet with the number of views during the show. And even now, hours later, the numbers were growing by the tens of thousands every twenty minutes.

Annabelle, watching on the East Coast, had been texting me throughout the entire live event. Autumn’s Slumber was too huge not to start pushing them. Which meant we needed to get the band out of their First Bass contract, replace the club’s Thursday night show with another band—which I already had lined up—and start recording as much as possible with Shane producing.

Annabelle and I were already working with the PR, branding, and merch teams. They all intertwined but had their own areas of specialty. Ultimately, Autumn’s Slumber was going to be every-fucking-where.

But first, there was some personal business that had to be sorted out.

Around the kitchen island sat Nik, Jesse, Layla, Harris, Ky, and Sparks. Lucy was in Hayat’s room with her and Jamie, trying to soothe her daughter to sleep. Hayat had been distraught from the moment Devlin had opened his fucking mouth. He’d crushed her spirit, bending that titanium soul of hers that had never even been dented before.

It killed me that what should have been one of the most memorable nights of Hayat’s life had turned into a nightmare.

And that was unacceptable to me.

“What happens now?” Nik was the first to break the growing strained silence around the kitchen.

“First, I need to switch Autumn’s Slumber’s contract out for Atticus’s band. Do you remember him, boys?” I asked, looking from Ky to Sparks and then to Harris. “He auditioned when Hayat did and came in second.”

Ky and Sparks tensed but nodded. “But why are they taking over? Are we fired?” Sparks asked, jumping to his feet, already moving around the island toward Hayat’s bedroom door. “Fuck, is that why she’s so upset?”

Harris stopped him by gripping his shoulder. “You’re not fired. You’re just going to be too busy to fulfill the contract with my club. We probably shouldn’t even be talking about this yet. Hayat wanted to put it to a band vote. With the way your performance tonight crashed not one, but three different social media platforms, this is the time to strike. You’ll be in the studio recording nonstop. If you don’t have enough of your own original material written, Nik and a few other writers I know will help. Kin is always working on something.”

“There will also be podcast features. Rolling Stone will want an interview. Radio spotlights. Stuff like that,” Nik explained, giving them a very watered-down version of how hectic the lives of all four members of Autumn’s Slumber would become soon. “And Harper was already asking Lucy when would be a good time to get you all in for a photo shoot for the cover of the spread she has planned for the band.”

“Okay, that all sounds amazing, but what the fuck does any of this have to do with why Hayat is an emotional mess right now?” Sparks demanded.

“It’s nothing, really,” Jesse said with a shrug, playing it cool as he took a gulp of his scalding coffee. Nothing but the torrent of rapidly switching shades of brown gave away his inner turmoil. If Dev had been in the same room with him right then, Jesse would have happily finished the job he’d started and killed his friend.

The only thing that had stopped him back at the club was the distressed sounds coming from Hayat. I didn’t know what had upset her more. Those disgusting things Devlin had said or the beatdown Jesse had given him. From the way she’d clung to him afterward, that suggested it was more the former than the latter.

“I might have busted Devlin’s nose earlier. Maybe fractured his skull. Just a little bit. Not sure yet, though. And really, it was the wall that caused him the damage. Not me. If anything, Dev should press charges against Harris’s faulty construction in that hall.” Jesse rolled his shoulders back, trying to work the stiffness out of his muscles. “I’m sure Nat will run her mouth as soon as all the scans and X-rays come back to fill us in.”

Either that or she’d call the cops and file assault charges on Jesse. No matter what she did I was prepared for her to make a move. Another text forced my attention to my screen, and I read the newest message from the business lawyer.

Harris scrubbed a hand over his face. “You still haven’t told me why you did that. I saw the blood on the wall, the hole through the drywall, but no one has given me an explanation.”

“It’s not worth repeating, honey,” Layla assured her son-in-law. “But Dev should be thankful Jesse left him breathing.”

When the bedroom door opened, Lucy came out, her face set in hard lines, her eyes sad yet full of a banked rage I was feeling myself. “Sparks, Ky. Hayat can’t settle. You two should go in with Jamie and snuggle with her.”

Picking up my mug of coffee, I crossed to them. “Sorry to be an inconvenience to you, but right now, we would all like to stay as close to Hayat as possible. Do you mind if we crash here? Just for the night, and I promise we won’t invade your privacy.”

Ky waved a hand to the door across from Hayat’s then two more on the other side of the spacious apartment. “Be our guests. We have three rooms that are more for our clothes than anything else at this point. We can’t sleep without being close to Hayat. All the sheets and covers are clean. We have a service that comes in twice a week to keep this place in somewhat decent shape. Extra towels in every connecting bathroom’s storage cabinet. Also, toothbrushes and any other toiletries you might need.”

“Dibs on the one farthest from Hayat’s room!” Harris called.

“I second that,” Jesse half growled.

“Fuck,” Nik groaned. “Is there a TV in there I could turn up to max volume? I don’t wanna hear anything my innocent ears shouldn’t be hearing.”

Fighting a grin, I assured the boys we would be fine, and they practically ran to Hayat’s bedroom, the door not quite slamming, but it didn’t shut softly either.

Once I heard the lock click, I turned to the others. “Jesse, would you make me another pot of coffee? And then everyone can head to bed. I’ve got a lot of things to sort out tonight before I can get any sleep.”

Layla’s brown eyes met mine, her anger visible, but I saw more sadness. For our Hayat. For the blast of an explosion years in the making that was beginning to crumble the world around my family.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” my best friend asked softly. “I’m not against doling out consequences to those who deserve it. I, more than anyone, know the fallout from bad behavior. But this is a little extreme, Em.”

Inhaling slowly, I considered for the hundredth time the repercussions I was ready to serve on those who caused Hayat’s heart turmoil. I would fight to the death for my family. But I would also kick their asses if they did something stupid or hurtful. Especially when it was to others within our family.

A glance at Lucy and Harris gave me pause, but then they both met my gaze and gave firm nods. “We’re behind you on this, Aunt Emmie,” Lucy murmured. “Maybe if Dev hadn’t said the things he did earlier, I would plead and fight for them to have a second chance. To give them a little more time to get accustomed to seeing Hayat with those boys. To appreciate how happy they each make her. But those vicious, disgusting things he said to and about her?”

Shaking her head, causing her curls to tangle around her, she straightened that spine of steel she had learned to reinforce since being adopted into our crazy world. “I want you to go for their jugular. But since that would leave too big of a mess, aim lower and take everything else away from them.”

“Someone needs to tell me what the fuck my dad said to Hayat,” Harris gritted out.

“I will, babe,” Lucy assured him. “But later.”

With a frustrated grunt, he locked gazes with me. It always left a crick in my neck, having to look up at him, but it was even worse when it came to Evan, who seemed to grow half an inch every week. Harris’s grief hurt to see. I tried hard, every godsdamn day, to ensure everyone in my family was safe, happy, and healthy.

But that got harder to manage more and more with each passing year. I’d thought that with Nat and Annabelle, the three of us were preparing Trinity to take over the management portion of my business. We had all been in agreement that while the earnings from my shares would continue to feed into the women’s shelters, soup kitchens, school programs, and housing projects—basically all the charities I’d either founded or supported—upon Annabelle’s or my own death, Trinity would assume full control of artist management.

ASM was separate from that part of my company. It had been Shane’s passion that I’d helped him turn into something insanely successful. Shane was already preparing the next generation to take over when he eventually retired from producing, but that was still years and years into the future. He loved being in the studio more than he did performing with Demon’s Wings.

Now, I wasn’t so sure Trinity would want to do that. Especially after the virtual meeting we would all be having later that morning. Before long, dawn would be peeking up from the east, but there would be no sleep for me until I was sure Hayat was safe from people who, up until recently, had showered her in nothing but adoration. Yet they now treated her worse than a stranger.

“Maybe I am being petty. Vengeful. Releasing some of the wrath that has been building over the last few weeks since Hayat first came to ASM to talk to Maddie and they were supposed to meet with Shane.” I drained the last of my coffee then held out the mug.

Nik took it and refilled it, adding the creamer and dash of sugar the way I always took it. I loved that he still knew the little things that made my life easier. Once upon a time, I had been nothing but the little girl four rockers struggled to take care of. Poor, constantly beaten by my drug-addicted mother. And today, I was a billionaire philanthropist who tried to keep children safe when no one else would. Give those children a safe place to sleep, food in their stomachs, a chance at a better education and life they never could have dreamed of if I hadn’t created those places they needed so desperately.

“Actually, you know what? Fuck the maybes. Yes, I am one hundred percent, without a shadow of a doubt, going to be petty. I am going to eviscerate the people who made the girl with the heart of gold feel like…like…like. Fuck!” I couldn’t even repeat the words Devlin had thrown out at his granddaughter.

Reining in my anger, I lowered my tone. “But when this is over, and they see that their actions had extreme consequences and they are ready to fall at my feet and beg for mercy, I’m going to step over them, and guide Hayat and those three boys past every single one of them. I will give all four members of Autumn’s Slumber the literal world. What is it that Emerson says all the time that makes Mia’s head practically spin off her shoulders?”

I snickered, remembering the phrase my eldest grandchild tossed around. “They fucked around, Layla. They fucked around, and now they’re going to find out what it feels like to break someone down. That girl, our precious, wild, unpredictable Havoc, was once strong and able to take on the entire world. But now, she’s curled in the fetal position, trapped in her own mind after the vile words a man she fucking worshiped carelessly spewed at her.”

But it wasn’t just that incident in the hall either. It was how Dev and Nat had reacted when Hayat had told us how Maddie had treated her earlier in the week. Not believing her. Not even attempting to hide their contempt for Hayat’s relationship. Then in the VIP before, during, and after Autumn’s Slumber’s show. They’d stood close to where I was at the balcony, Mia on my right. Nik at my back, while Barrick was at my daughter’s.

Not once had they cheered. Not once had they clapped and yelled for more. Each time I glanced their way, they were just standing there, unmoving, faces set in hard lines.

That should have prepared me for what followed. I should have taken them both aside then and there and had a discussion with them. Instead, Annabelle had distracted me with a million texts and calls, amping up my own enthusiasm over Autumn’s Slumber’s incredible talent.

Without a shadow of a doubt, they were going to be our biggest band. Ever. Bigger than Demon’s Wings, OtherWorld, Tainted Knights, or the Blonde Bombshells. Combined.

They were raw talent that I didn’t want anyone to mold into something different. I wanted them as natural as they could be, and Annabelle had agreed wholeheartedly. Shane had grabbed me right after the last song, his entire body vibrating with excitement. “Hundred bucks they make it to the Grammys next year and win.”

“No deal, because I already know I would lose.” I’d given my honorary brother a hug, then practically skipped around the room from one family member to another, everyone gushing over the amazing chemistry of the band members and their amazing talent.

But then I’d gone over to where Hayat had joined Nik, Drake, and Jesse. Our usual hyper girl was curling into herself, causing my excitement to burn into rage for whoever had pulled her down when she should have been dancing around us, celebrating and enjoying her success with the band.

“What bothers me the most is that after everything Maddie went through, after she suffered being called those types of names, witnessing the downfall of what came afterward?” I shook my head. “They are the ones who now throw those ugly words at Hayat. And I won’t rest until they realize the errors they made by picking on someone precious to me.”

Harris, practically shaking, roared, “ What did he fucking say to her? ”

Locking gazes with his aquamarine eyes, I repeated every last thing Devlin Cutter had said to and about his granddaughter before Jesse had shut him the fuck up.