Just One Spark (The Kingston Family 4)

At least it had been. Until now.

“Who wants to guess who the fuck alerted the press? Because I sure as hell know.” Dash finally asked as he picked up a vase and threw it against the wall.

In shock, she watched it shatter.

“Dude, chill. I’ve left a message for Naomi,” Jagger said.

Ignoring him, Dash said, “I want Dean held responsible.”

Jagger blew out a breath. “I wouldn’t put it past that slimy bastard to out you but maybe we need to consider all options. Just playing devil’s advocate here but could it have been your friend’s sister?”

“I doubt it,” Cassidy murmured. “She’s a nurse and respects the Twelve Steps.”

“But she could be pissed enough to let her emotions override rational thought?” Jagger raised an eyebrow.

Dash spun to face her. “Who do you think it was?”

He obviously trusted her judgment and she appreciated that fact. She also agreed with him. “I think it was Dean.”

“No wonder the prick disappeared.” Mac’s disgust with the manager was evident in his frown, before he took a long sip of his beer.

“That motherfucker is gone,” Dash said. He glanced at his bandmates, one by one. “Jagger, do you have an issue with it?”

The bassist shook his head. “No. I just wanted to lay out another option. Dean’s been a pushy pain in the ass lately. I’m ready to part ways.”

“Same.” Mac put his empty bottle on the table.

Dash’s gaze landed on Axel.

Her brother nodded. “He’s never been my guy.”

Dash led the band, but even in the midst of his anger, he turned to the others for a fair decision. His actions showed the kind of man he was inside and Cassidy admired that.

“I’m firing him in person,” he said. “I want to see his expression when he loses the Original Kings.” He picked up the beer he’d put on a shelf earlier and took a long swig, swallowing and drinking some more.

Cassidy hated that she had to speak up again, but she couldn’t help it. Someone needed to look out for him. “I don’t know the full story, but it sounds like something you’re going to want to get in front of,” she said to Dash. “I know Jagger said he left your publicist a message, but I’m also pretty certain Heather has already given her version to the press and …”

Dash met her gaze, and her voice trailed off, disturbed by his taut expression and the cloudiness in his eyes that could only be caused by sadness. “Everyone out.”

“What?” Cassidy asked.

“Not you.” He turned to the guys. “I love you like brothers but I need space. I need to breathe. I need…” He glanced at Cassidy. “I need you guys to find your own places to live.”

Their mouths hung open wide. Not Axel’s. Cassidy already knew he hated living in what he’d called a frat house and had been talking to a Realtor. But the original guys in the band looked stunned. To say Dash had shocked them was an understatement.

“What the fuck?” Jagger asked.

Dash dipped his head. “I don’t mean you have to go immediately. Except to your rooms. I want to talk to Cassidy. But start looking around. Yeah?” he asked.

Jagger frowned. He hesitated, then gave a shrug. “Yeah. I get it.”

Mac leaned back in his seat and nodded. “It actually works for me. I can’t bring chicks home or bang them in the kitchen here.”

Cassidy blinked. “Really?” Had he just said that?

Dash glared at him.

“Read the room,” Axel muttered to the bassist.

Jagger merely laughed.

But they all pushed up from their seats and headed out, Axel pausing to raise his eyebrows at her, concern etched on his face.

She met his gaze and shrugged because she didn’t know what her talk with Dash would reveal.

Chapter Nine

Dash had planned to kick everyone out of the family room, not his house, but he’d been building to this moment for a while. And though he’d have preferred to have done it in a nicer way, after today, he felt like the walls were closing in on him, and he’d exploded, everything that was weighing on his chest coming out.

He blew out a sharp breath and turned to Cassidy, who stood silently waiting for whatever he’d do or say next. Although he’d made sure they had privacy, being in the center of the house, where anyone could come back out at any time, wasn’t enough. He wasn’t sure how she’d take the story, and worse, he didn’t know how emotional he’d become during the reveal.

Throughout the encounter with Heather and the horrible things she’d yelled at him, Cassidy hadn’t lost her composure. She hadn’t turned to him with accusations in her gaze. He didn’t know if her stoicism boded well for what he had to do.

“Let’s go to the bedroom,” he said.

Arms folded across her chest, her expression wary, she nodded. He placed a hand on her back, and they walked across the hardwood floors and turned down the hall to the master. The guest rooms were on the other side of the house, where the guys each had their own room.