Catch Me When I Fall (Falling Stars 2)

The card fitted on the little stick had my name scrawled on it in a pretty script.

“Must be from Fitzgerald,” Rhys said with nothing short of triumph. “Here on out, I bet we are royalty, baby. Let the prezzies come rollin’ in.”

I couldn’t help but notice the way Royce flinched where he backed away to lean against the wall with one ankle crossed over the other. For a second, I met that fierce gaze, the man too quiet.

Shifting in barely contained fury.

Why was he so upset?

This was what he wanted, wasn’t it?

What he’d been sent to do?

Under the weight of it, I inched for the vase he’d left on the table.

Knowing this was it.

Fitzgerald was welcoming me into the Mylton Records family. I either had to sign or walk away, but I had no time left.

With a shaky hand, I pulled the card from the stick and fumbled into the envelope, eager to see what the inscription read.

My eyes moved over the words, shock stalling my heart before horror crushed down.

So heavy my knees went weak. My soul screaming out. Or maybe it was the silent one I could feel fisted in my throat.

Obliterating the joy I’d felt. The spark of hope I’d needed.

Emmy Love,

I hear congrats are in order. Smart girl. I’m so glad to hear you came to your senses. I can’t wait to see you at the ACBs. What do you say you and I pick up where we left off? Sounds good, yeah? You and me? Tell your brother I said hi.

XX.

X.

X.

The scar burned like it’d just been branded on me with a hot poker, and I crumpled in two, holding myself over the spot.

The walls spun. So fast I was sure I was gonna faint.

Whirling and whirling.

I gasped and choked, unable to see through the torrent of tears that instantly blurred my eyes and soaked my face.

“Emily . . . what the fuck is going on? Who is that from?” Richard demanded as he rushed for me.

Melanie was shouting from the side, “Oh shit, she’s havin’ a panic attack. A bad one. Someone get her some water and a cool washcloth. Hurry.”

But I knew there wasn’t a single thing any of them could do to make this better.FifteenRoyceMotherfucker.

I swore, I watched it all play out in slow-motion while violence screamed through my muscles, my hands pulling into fists of rage.

Emily taking the card. Pulling it free. The confusion that quickly morphed to terror.

I was already fucking pissed, wondering what fucking game Daddy Dearest was playing this time. What shady angle had set off the celebration I’d walked in on two minutes ago.

Fucker kept me in the dark like he thought I wasn’t capable of doing my job.

If he only knew.

Or maybe the greedy bastard had finally realized that I was coming for him.

Took half a second for me to come to terms that she was really going to sign.

Before I was ready.

Before I had everything I needed.

I stood by the wall with my spirit thrashing, heart clattering at my ribs, anger stoking my blood into molten fire.

I struggled to hold it back.

To get myself under control before I said or did something that would ruin it all.

But she was breaking.

Richard hovered over her, roughing his hands through his hair and bending around to try to get in her line of sight while still holding back, at a loss for what to do. “Emily, fuck . . . what’s going on? Please . . . you’re scaring us.”

The rest of them danced around her, hands not quite touching, like she was cracked glass that was going to shatter.

Wondered how close that was to the truth.

“Em . . . what happened? What did the card say?” Melanie coaxed.

Yeah.

I really wanted to know the damn answer to that, too.

Protectiveness rose up in the middle of me. A black cloud that obliterated reason. Everything ceasing to matter except for the fact that this sweet girl was crumbling. I tried to remain standing in the corner. To mind my business like I wasn’t the fool who was getting so wrapped up in this girl that he could no longer see straight.

In a way I shouldn’t. Couldn’t.

Emily bent over, gripping the table, gasping through a sob.

The cord holding me back snapped.

Pushing around Richard, I plucked the card she had crushed in her hand.

I scanned the inscription.

My sight turned red.

The edges black and bleak.

Death stroked in bright, vivid colors.

X.

Didn’t know if I wanted to puke or go on a rampage.

“Get out,” I grated, barely able to bridle the wrath that consumed me.

To stop from putting my fucking fist through a wall.

From hopping a plane and finishing what I should have finished years ago.

Richard’s attention jerked to me, worry and confusion twisting in his eyes.

“What?” he barely muttered.

“I said, get out.”

His entire face pinched. “Excuse me? I don’t know who you think you are, but she is my fuckin’ sister. You don’t get to start tossing around demands just because you are part of the label.”