Gray said goodbye to Angie and followed Marco out of the conference room. The hallway was wide, the walls covered in posters and golden discs, and Gray raised an eyebrow when he saw his latest one there.
“Gray,” a voice called. “Can I talk to you?”
He looked up to see a woman of around thirty walking toward him. Her hair was cut short and dyed platinum. With her drainpipe jeans and skin-tight black band tee, she fit right in around here.
“Not now, Rae,” Marco said. Then under his breath, he muttered to Gray, “That’s Brad Rickson’s manager.”
“It won’t take long, Marco. Brad would like to talk to Gray for a moment.” She raised her eyebrows. “To apologize.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to him,” Gray told her, fire rising up inside him. “And it isn’t me he needs to apologize to.”
“He’d like to set up a meeting with Maddie, too.” Rae’s smile was conciliatory. “He’s aware of how much he messed up when he was a kid and he’s disgusted by it all. He’s as upset as you are that it’s leaked. It had to be somebody from the school they both went to.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Marco said firmly. “Thank you, but no.”
“It was years ago,” Rae protested as they passed her by. “Are you really going to let his career be ruined over this? It was a prank gone wrong. A bad judgment. Haven’t we all made those? Come on, at least talk to him. Man to man.”
Gray whipped around, his eyes blazing. “He’s not a fucking man, he’s an asshole. And I don’t deal with assholes, full stop. If you’re his manager, then I advise you to keep him away from me, unless you want to manage a dead singer.”
“Gray,” Marco murmured, patting his arm. “Keep calm.”
“He ruined Maddie’s life, did you know that?” Gray told her. “She left Ansell because of him. Abandoned her musical career. So don’t ask me to feel sorry that his career is ruined. He deserves so much more than that.”
“Everything okay?” Liam, his security detail, asked, coming out of the elevator. “The car’s still waiting down there and the coast is clear.”
“We’re coming now,” Marco assured him, steering Gray down the hallway.
“Call me if you change your mind,” Rae shouted out at their retreating backs. “Marco has my number.”
“We’re not calling her,” Gray muttered as they walked into the open elevator. “Not now and not ever.”
“Of course we’re not.” Marco nodded. “Come on, let’s go talk to some journalists. Start setting the record straight.”
* * *
It had been less than two months since Gray sang in front of an audience like this, but it felt like a lifetime spanned between then and now. He felt bare without his guitar. He leaned into the microphone, his good hand curling around the stem as he looked out at the crowd.
They were on his side. He knew that from the moment they’d applauded wildly as soon as Dan O’Leary had called his name. They’d cheered again when he told them that Brad Rickson was an asshole, although Dan had apologized profusely for Gray’s language.
“It’s the only thing I can think of at the moment that won’t get you kicked off air,” Gray had told him. “And I don’t want that to happen.”
The audience had laughed, and he’d known he had them. He wondered if Maddie was watching the show at Ashleigh’s house. He hoped she was.
It had been Angie’s suggestion that
he sing one of his most popular songs. “Now’s not the time to be trying out your new stuff,” she told him. “You want the fans to connect with you right away; both the ones in the audience and the ones at home. Give them something they can sing along to. Help them bond with you.”
There was only one song he really wanted to sing. The one he’d sung in front of her. And that night at the Moonlight Bar he hadn’t even realized how he felt about her. Hadn’t understood that every word he sang was for her.
But now he knew.
The guitarist strummed the intro, and the audience began clapping again. He looked out at them, and then at the camera, willing Maddie to be looking back at him.
Then he felt the adrenaline surge. It was like a drug rushing through his veins. His heart started beating to the rhythm of the drummer, and all those thoughts, those worries, they dissolved into the air, the music taking over.
“Remember when we were kids?” He kept his eyes on the camera.
His voice was deep and smooth. Somebody had once told him he could sing the panties off a nun. He’d laughed, but right now he wanted to sing into her heart. If that made him soft he didn’t care.