Until April (Until Her 6)

“Your woman.” He grins. “Dude, she’s still mine, even if we aren’t together right now.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that it didn’t feel that way when she was sucking me off this morning, but getting into a pissing match with him is not on my agenda, even if it pisses me off that he’s attempting to lay claim to her.

“Tonight, one of your fans showed up at her house with flowers, and when she answered the door, the woman pointed a gun at her chest with the intent to shoot her. And she would have, if I hadn’t shoved her out of the way.”

“What?” he whispers, the color draining from his face.

“You heard me.” I step toward him. “Now, I know she asked you to not bring her up again publicly, but since you didn’t do that, I feel like I need to deliver that message myself.” I get in his face, pressing my chest against his, my fingers twitching, wanting to wrap around his throat. “She does not exist for you. What you thought you two shared never existed.”

“Someone tried to…”

“Kill her. Because of you,” I finish for him, my face inches from his. “You claim you care about her, but I’m finding that hard to believe after the way you tossed her under your ladder, needing a few more feet to get the attention you so desperately want.”

“I never wanted that to happen,” he growls, placing his hand against my chest to shove me back.

I grab his wrist with one quick move, twisting it behind his back, causing him to double over and cry out in pain.

“This is going to be the only warning you’ll ever get from me,” I hiss against his ear as I hold him in a position that would cause him to dislocate his shoulder if he attempted to get out of it. “After tonight, if you so much as whisper her name in someone’s ear and I hear about it, you and I won’t be having a conversation. Do you understand what I mean when I say that?”

“Yes,” he hisses, jerking his head around to meet my gaze, and I hold his eye for a long moment before forcing him to his knees and taking a step back.

“Tomorrow,” I say as he pushes up to stand. “You’re going to announce that the woman you wrote your album about never existed, that she was some woman you and your band made up.” He starts to open his mouth, and I shake my head. “You’re going to put whatever spin you need on it to make it believable, then you’re going to go along your merry fucking way, with April nothing more than a memory.”

“I love her.”

“You don’t.” I barely resist the urge to rub my chest over my heart. “If you did, you wouldn’t have let her go. You wouldn’t have done anything to harm her or make her doubt how much you cared for her.” I turn my back on him and head toward Gene’s SUV. When I open the door, I toss Cohen’s keys still in my hand in his direction, and he lets them fall at his feet.

“Do you love her?” he calls out, and my eyes lock with his once more.

“Yes.” I don’t even hesitate to answer, and he lifts his chin. Fuck, looking into his eyes, I can see that kills. He cares about her—maybe not the way I do, where the need to protect her is always at the forefront of my thoughts, but it’s still there, shining bright. Then again, my woman is easy to love, and if you’re lucky enough to have that love returned, you’ll bask in it when you’ve got it and crave it when it’s gone.

“Take care of her.”

I don’t respond. I get into the passenger seat of Gene’s SUV and slam the door closed, my mind on getting back to April and making sure she’s okay. I hope like fuck that Cohen heard what the fuck I said and cares about her enough to do the right thing.

An hour later, I pull up to April’s parents’ house, shut down the engine of my car, and get out, stopping at the trunk to grab my bag before I head for the stairs. Before I even reach them, Asher opens the front door, and his eyes sweep over me.

“Kenton called to let me know you were heading this way, said you took care of things.” He steps back to let me inside.

“I hope I did, but only time will tell,” I say, and he drags in a deep breath, then pats me on the back.

“November gave April something to help her sleep about an hour ago. Last time I checked on her, she was passed out.”

“Was she okay?”

“Worried about you… and pissed.” He smiles. “She’ll be fine.” I lift my chin, and he motions for me to follow. “Room’s the last on the left down the hall. There’s a bathroom in there.”