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

23. Ky

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ky

Sparks nudged me when he saw movement by the doors. Turning my head, I watched as Hayat entered the room with her aunt. Seeing her aquamarine eyes glittering with tears made it hard to get a deep enough breath.

The sight of those gems filled with anything but happiness made me want to find the ones responsible for my girl’s distress and bleed them out like Sparks had taught me. That Maddie, a girl I’d considered a friend and the closest thing to a sister I had since my own was too much like her mother, had done this fucked with my head. Her mental health could only be excused for so long for certain actions, but not this shit. She’d gone past being mentally ill and into a different sphere.

Making other people feel like crap because she was depressed was not acceptable. Vandalizing and attempting to set an entire building on fire, floor by floor, was not going to be excused because she had let the dark impulses win.

Maddie was in a facility that would hopefully help her get back to a more stable headspace, and I wished her luck, but she wasn’t going to be a part of my life again. I wouldn’t let her come close enough to ever risk Hayat’s heart again.

Around us, the room went quiet until the quiet seemed to echo inside me. Before Sparks or I could move, Jamie was on her, pulling her into his arms, whispering against her ear as he rocked her against him. Sparks was out of his chair before I got up, but I was right behind him, needing to get to our hellion.

She hugged Jamie back just as Sparks and I reached her. With the three of us wrapped around her, she let go for a moment, allowing us to take the pain from her. Hold her up. For far too short a time, she let us bear it all for her, so she didn’t have to be weighed down by the ache in her heart.

But then she sucked in a breath and took a small step back, giving us a sad smile that broke something inside me to see, before turning to face the rest of the occupants of the studio. Yesterday, this had just been a place to practice our sets for First Bass.

Now, it had all the gear we needed to record a six-song EP that Emmie could use to promote us until we could get into ASM and lay down more tracks for a complete album. She wanted us to have our own songs that we could share with the world for the tour. A tour that was still months away from beginning, but she was obsessed with making a success for no other reason than to make Hayat smile.

If it were for any other person, I might not have understood Emmie’s sheer force and dedication to make another human happy. But it was for Hayat. And I couldn’t not get why she needed to ensure the happiness of the girl who could change the entire energy of a room by simply existing.

Four men got to their feet. Four of rock’s biggest legends facing the young woman who had her heart on her sleeve. Her chin trembled for all of three seconds before she stepped forward and hugged Zander first.

Her grandfather’s best friend sagged when she hugged him, a choked sob leaving him before he could check himself. Only moments ago, everyone had been laughing, but with Hayat’s arrival, the fake-amused chatter died a quick death. It was replaced by the bone-deep pain from what was nothing short of betrayal by a person who should have only ever given his granddaughter respect.

As Hayat had cried herself to sleep on my chest the night before, she’d told us she didn’t understand why everyone was so upset at Devlin and Natalie. She had her reasons for being hurt and angry. She even got how Jesse would go from one to one hundred on the rage spectrum in the blink of an eye, but really, what had they done to everyone else?

And I didn’t have an answer for her. Neither did Sparks or Jamie. At least, not one that would make sense to her in that moment. All I could think as she’d finally fallen into a restful sleep was why wouldn’t the entire world be ready to cause anarchy against the people who didn’t think twice before plucking the wings off the free-spirited butterfly in my arms.

“You okay?” Zander asked, hugging her tighter. “Want me to drive out to Malibu and kick his ass again?”

“Again?” she said with a half giggle, half sob. “Was the first round bad?”

“Left him pretty bloody.” Wroth was the one who answered her.

With one arm still around Zander, Hayat moved so she was able to hug Wroth with the other. “Please tell me you didn’t break your hand.”

“Nah, sweetheart.” The older man’s usually gravel-like voice was gentle. “His face wasn’t that hard. Unlike his huge head.”

Zander snorted. “Right? That’s what I said when I kicked his ass over the whole bet…thing.” He side-eyed his wife, who was sitting across the room with Lucy, the two of them silent witnesses to the love these men had for Hayat. Annabelle rolled her eyes at him, and he coughed dramatically, making Hayat giggle a little more. “Although Jesse seemed to have softened the fucker’s head up some. I mean, how many stitches and staples did he have in his scalp? And weren’t his pupils off? Total concussion going on there.”

Axton pushed Zander out of his way so he could hug Hayat next. “Moving on from the gory details. Gross, by the way, idiot.”

“Gross?” Zander grunted. “Dude, your wife comes home covered in gore every other day. All that amniotic shit, and well…shit.”

“Z, babe, those are details that do not need to be a part of this conversation,” Annabelle redirected her husband with a sigh.

“Truth,” Liam muttered, making both Shane and Drake, still seated at the temporary recording system, bob their heads in agreement. Liam stepped around Axton and hugged Hayat from the side. His gaze flickered over her face, emotion darkening in his eyes. “How are you feeling, baby girl?”

Hayat took a moment to consider his question before shrugging. “I don’t know, Liam. I’m still digesting everything. The last few days have been a lot. I…” Her eyes welled up, glittering so bright my throat grew tight at the sight. I stroked my hand over her hair, twisting my fingers in the curls as she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Liam demanded. “Not one thing has been your fault, Hayat. Not a single fucking thing.”

“I’m still sorry,” she whispered.

“Yeah, honey. Me too. Sorry you had to hear such filth from a man who had no business being anyone’s judge and jury, let alone yours. Sorry even one tear spilled from those pretty eyes because of that dumbass. But more than anything, sweetheart, I’m sorry that we have to break your heart and tell you that as much as we would love to fulfill your dream of being on the world stage with both your granddaddies, you’re gonna have to make do with one and the rest of us old fuckers who love you as much as our own daughters.”

Hayat sucked in a shuddery breath, a few tears spilling down her face, but she gave the man before her a sweet smile. “I knew as soon as I heard all of you in here. You didn’t break anything, Liam. None of you did. It’s all on him. I…I guess what I want to say is thank you, to all of you.”

She glanced at the other members of OtherWorld, who stood in a semicircle around her. “I’m still struggling to understand it all, but thank you for having my back. I know what you did must have been difficult. You have been through so much together, but you ended it over me.”

“Wasn’t as difficult as you might think, actually, kid,” Zander informed her. “There was no decision to make. You or him? Hands down, it’s gonna be you, Hayat. Every damn time, it’s gonna be you.”

I didn’t know how she didn’t already understand that. Not just with the four remaining members of OtherWorld or the Demon’s Wings guys. Or even her uncle Luca, who was still sitting in a corner, watching us all with narrowed eyes as if he was personally making sure no one else so much as sneezed wrong in Hayat’s direction to make her think she was unloved or unwanted. Or maybe he just needed to be close to her, without overwhelming her, until he was sure she understood how much he loved her too.

Emmie cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s gaze to her. “I really hate to interrupt, but we need to record at least a sample of this song Kin just emailed me by midnight so we can use it as a teaser for the SatRad show that Autumn’s Slumber will be performing live tomorrow night in their studio downtown.”

“You want us to learn an entirely new song, that no one has ever heard before, by tomorrow? To do live for SatRad, which has, like, half a billion worldwide subscriptions?” Hayat looked at her aunt for confirmation.

“Yes. But if you aren’t up for the challenge, I can just tell Kin to give this song to—”

Hayat’s eyes sparked with fire. “No one said we weren’t up for the challenge. Pfft . That’s not even a challenge. We got this. Right, guys?”

“Absolutely,” Jamie agreed, even as he side-eyed me, looking a little unsure. “We could learn this song in our sleep and be ready for the morning show.”

Sparks looked terrified at the thought, blinking his brown eyes at her a few times like an owl. But he nodded, offering solidarity if not confidence in our abilities.

I grinned, wrapping my arms around Hayat from behind and burying my face in her jungle curls. “We got this, Hellion.”