Write or Wrong (Common Threads #9)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

BASTARDS

ZARA

At least she’d slept a bit on the jet. From the looks of her living room in her NoHo penthouse, she wasn’t going to rest again for a while.

Cas had warned her on the drive over from the airport that an “all hands” meeting had been called.

She expected nothing less after last night.

And sure enough, Sonja, Kenna, and Gregor—manager, publicist, assistant, in that order—were chilling in the main living room.

This was going to suck. She just knew it.

Zara sighed and dropped her tired body into an overstuffed chair. “Let me have it.”

It was a little weird that Sonja was there in person. She usually called in through Zoom or FaceTime since her main office was in Boston. So either Zara was in deep shit or Sonja had already been in the city for other reasons.

Zara’s publicist had been with her since her second album. Which was about the same time Zara stopped going on the internet. She didn’t even run her socials anymore. Kenna’s team took care of most of that for her.

Gregor, her assistant for only the past year, handed out waters to everyone.

She liked Gregor. He was soft spoken but firm. He didn’t let anyone push him around, not even her. Which was exactly what she needed. He also had a pretty dark sense of humor which she loved. They got along very well.

Sonja nodded at Kenna.

Kenna sat forward and cleared her throat.

“Who is Asa Young?” Kenna asked.

Zara blinked and sat up straighter. “Damn. The devil works hard,” she muttered. “He’s a friend. He’s actually more Nikki’s friend than mine but…” She chewed on her lower lip. “Okay, so last night…”

And she launched into everything that had happened the night before. All of it. From winning, to Logan being a dick, to Asa getting her out of there, to burgers, milkshakes, and music. She let them know everything. It would save time in the long run.

Kenna nodded along, taking notes on her tablet.

When Zara finished, Kenna folded her hands on top of her tablet and leaned forward. Her ruby lips were striking on her pale skin. Her short blonde hair slicked back in a way that seemed effortlessly cool. More than once Zara wished she had the natural style and poise as Kenna who seemed way too sophisticated to be working for Zara.

“Logan’s people are working fast. It’s being reported that you’ve been having an affair with Asa for some time now and that’s why you haven’t gotten married yet. Also, Asa is older, so they’re trying to make that work somehow with you being manipulated and used.”

Zara scrunched up her face in disgust. “Right. Because they still see me as a child.”

Kenna gave her a look and Zara shrugged, rubbing her eyes.

“Most publications are focused on Logan being jilted. He’s playing the wounded puppy. He was photographed outside a café in Malibu this morning looking sad and alone, checking his phone repeatedly, looking distressed. You know the drill.”

Yes, she did.

Logan had done this before. Every time she’d tried to break up with him, he would use the public to get sympathy. Meanwhile, Zara stayed off the streets and everyone accused her of being cold and distant.

Fun times.

“I have some ideas for things we can release to downplay this entire thing. Put suspicion on Logan’s version of the story. But those photos of you and Asa are already everywhere. And one popped up this morning of you in that shirt.”

Zara frowned and looked down at the shirt she’d borrowed from Asa she was still wearing. She needed to get it back to him eventually. “From where?”

She hadn’t stopped anywhere after leaving Asa’s room.

Cas had snuck her out the back stairs and into a vehicle with blackout windows.

“Getting on the plane.”

At the private airfield?

“Fucking vultures,” Zara grumbled. She had no privacy.

“Can they connect that to Asa?” Kenna asked a very valid question.

Zara’s cheek twitched. “I don’t think so. He said it was a band he had with Nikki in high school.”

Kenna nodded and added to her notes. “I’ll do a deep dive on him and see what we can find.”

“Eh,” Zara said with a wave of her hand.

Kenna glanced up, fingers paused in mid-type. “No?”

Zara’s gaze bounced from Kenna to Sonja’s watchful gaze. So far, Sonja hadn’t said a word but Zara could tell she was absorbing every last detail.

“He’s just a guy who tried to do the right thing. I don’t want his life turned upside down by all of this.”

“So you’re not seeing him again?” Kenna asked.

It wasn’t an accusation or fishing for information. Kenna had always made it clear that her job was never to judge Zara, just to handle the press. And she did a wonderful job at it.

Zara thought about how much fun she’d had with Asa. She wanted to talk to him again, she knew that much. But with her life being what it was, there was no way to know when that would ever happen.

“If it’s not on the schedule, I’m not sure how that’s possible,” Zara admitted with a yawn. “I’ll keep my distance for a while and let things cool down.”

Kenna nodded and typed some more.

“I’ll push for more coverage of your win last night. Would you like me to leak anything about Logan?” Kenna asked hopefully.

Zara narrowed one eye at Kenna. “Do I sense glee in there somewhere, Kenna Summerfeld?”

Kenna straightened her shoulders and smoothed her expression. “It’s a possibility.”

Zara chuckled. “Yeah.” She sighed. “I’ll leave it up to you what you want to say.”

Kenna’s eyebrows lifted. “So it’s over-over?”

Zara nodded, her blinks getting heavier. “It was over-over months ago. But now it’s no longer amicable. I’m not interested in helping him look good moving forward. You have free rein. Do what you feel is best.”

Kenna sucked in a quiet breath and typed furiously on her tablet.

Zara almost felt sorry for Logan.

Almost.

She wondered if Asa had made it home yet. If he’d been able to meet Nikki’s baby.

If he’d seen the articles.

“Are they being mean to him?” Zara asked.

“Logan? Not yet. But give me an espresso and an hour, and that’ll change.”

Gregor snorted.

Zara blinked at her publicist. Kenna glanced up, realizing what she’d said out loud.

“I meant, Asa,” Zara said, deciding not to address Kenna’s vengeful streak.

Kenna’s lips twisted to the side.

That was a yes.

Dammit.

This was all her fault.

No. No. It was some of her fault and some of it was Logan’s fault. She wasn’t going to take responsibility for him anymore. He was a grown ass man.

Which reminded her.

“We need to change the codes and locks at the house in LA,” Zara said.

“Cas has already made arrangements for that,” Sonja spoke for the first time. She leaned forward and folded her hands on her lap. “Let’s talk about what comes next. I think, in light of the aggressive way Logan’s team is handling what happened last night, we need to consider they will be a problem for the next album’s release.”

Zara opened her mouth to protest but then she realized Sonja was right.

Logan would try to pull some shit just to mess with her life and make sure he had her full attention.

Ugh.

Zara sat up fully. “I’m gonna need some coffee.” She searched for Gregor and found him already headed into the kitchen. “What are your ideas?” she asked Sonja.

Eight hours later she was finally alone.

Cas and Devan had gone through and changed the security codes and locks in her place. Gregor had packed up any and all things that belonged to Logan. Boxes would start shipping one at a time to his mama’s place in Jersey.

Part of her felt bad for dumping Logan’s things on his mom. But she’d raised him; she could deal with him now.

Zara had a shower and ate the orange chicken bowl Gregor had made for her before he’d left.

She washed her one dish and single fork and put them away.

And looked around her beautiful, clean, enormous penthouse.

Wandering down the hall to her bedroom, she shut the lights off on the way. Her Cal-King called to her and she dove face first into the pillows.

She rolled over with a groan and stared up at the dark ceiling. It was painted navy blue and covered in gold and silver flecks patterned in constellations that sparkled when the light was just right.

They weren’t sparkling at the moment.

Her phone made a noise and she reached for it with an unladylike grumble.

It was just Cas letting her know that the locks had been changed in LA.

Fucking Logan.

Why? You know? Why did he have to be such a selfish asshole?

Last night hadn’t really been that different than any of the other times he’d dicked out in public. It was her who was different. She was tired. Tired of forgiving him and him not actually being sorry. Tired of letting the public’s perception tell her who she should be with.

Especially when they had no idea who Logan really was.

She did though. She’d known him since they were both teenagers. Their relationship had been a fortuitous meeting for the Powers That Be. Arranged, produced, executed to perfection.

But she’d really fallen for him.

Of course, she’d been a child. So falling in love at the drop of a hat was kind of what she did.

She wasn’t sure when she’d stopped loving him. Sometime after the second time he cheated on her and before the third. After that her heart had disconnected from him, followed shortly by her mind. And then one day she just saw him as another part of the performance. Nothing to take personally.

Until last night.

When he’d said her win was partially his because he’d basically helped her write it. Which, no, he didn’t.

She’d just… lost it.

It made her so angry that he would try to take credit for something he had no part in. The love songs weren’t his . Was he crazy? Those were moments she had cried and labored over. Alone. He hadn’t been there.

She’d been about this close to showing the world how much of his hair was actually a weave. And then Asa had waded in.

Without regard for his own reputation and what might come next. Though finding him mid-nervous breakdown in the hotel room had been kind of funny.

He was very odd, wasn’t he?

Rock star yet slightly neurotic.

Caring and kind, yet standoffish.

Musically gifted, but he didn’t use it anymore.

And he didn’t talk like other people. She couldn’t really put her finger on it, but she could hear it still. The cadence of his voice, the choice in his words.

She searched her music app for Winking Pete.

One album. Ten songs.

She hit play and made sure her phone was connected to the speakers in her room.

Oh.

Ohh.

A deep base line joined shortly by a heavy drum had her heart climbing into her throat.

Okay, crunchy guitar, I hear you.

Was that Nikki?

She followed along with the lyrics on her phone and scrolled to the bottom.

Written by Asa Young.

He said he’d written the music. For some reason she’d assumed he meant he’d written it with others. Like Nikki. She already knew from experience how talented a songwriter Nikki was. Album of the Year, hello?

But this didn’t sound like Nikki’s writing.

It was rich and deep with metaphor. Complicated and driven.

It was brave and real and not at all like the cagey man she’d hung out with last night.

She stared at the constellations on her ceiling and willed them to sparkle. Just a little. To reflect a partial glow of the stars she knew were way above the city somewhere.

Song after song after song played through her room and her soul.

On one hand she wanted to turn it up as loud as it would go and rock out. On the other, she didn’t want to miss a single word or chord progression. She wanted to memorize every bridge that gave her goosebumps and figure out how to get the sound inside of her.

The lead singer was okay. Zara had some notes she could give her, but the band was fucking mint.

She knew she’d decided earlier that day to give space between her and Asa. But her fingers itched to send him a text. Her brain yearned to create music with him.

He should be on a stage somewhere.

He shouldn’t be locked in a dark studio mixing jingles for an all you can eat shrimp feast.

He should be writing songs for the biggest names in the industry. He should be winning awards.

He should be a star.

So even though she shouldn’t, even though it might cause more trouble for both of them, she texted him anyway.