Page 14 of Belonging to Them

For her?Always.I’m at the office.Want to come by?

Yep, I’m close.Thanks.

I let security downstairs know that she’s coming.They’ll check her ID and let her through.

Ten minutes later, she’s knocking on the edge of my doorframe.“Hey.”

“Come on in, sweetheart.What’s up?”I stand and come around the desk to pull her into a hug.

“I just met with Helena Tran,” she says.

Stepping back, I gauge her facial expression, trying to figure out if she’s happy about how the meeting went, or upset.“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah.She’s really, really great.I mean, she has to be if she handles the careers of all of these other successful musicians.I liked her immediately.And she really seems to believe in me.Maybe a little too much.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” I say.

Ella rolls her lips between her teeth.“I don’t want you to think I’m asking for hand-outs.”

“I have never thought that about you, and if you ever asked me for money, it would be for good reason.”

“You trust me too much,” she says.“If you knew what Tommy did?—”

“You are not your brother,” I remind her.

“You’re right.”She sighs and runs a hand along the edge of my desk.“Helena says I should consider quitting my job, and do music full-time.I mean, ludicrous, right?”

By the time she’s finished talking, her voice is high-pitched and breathy, like she’s panicking and unsure.

I get the sense that my reaction here could either lift my girl up, or do lasting damage.I want to be snarky and tell her she’s behaving like an idiot for not believing in herself, but her emotions are obviously fragile at the moment.

“Come over here,” I say, leading her to the more comfortable sitting area in my office.I fall into the loveseat and grab her by the hips, pulling her onto my lap.

She curls up, resting her head on my shoulder.We sit in silence for a long moment.My arms are loose around her while she simply breathes.I deepen and lengthen my own breaths, subtly trying to get her to match them, and slowly, she does.

“Sweetheart,” I say.“Ella.Helena Tran is a professional music agent with a very strong client list.Even when Bash was still working with the snake—I mean, Trina—he admired Helena’s professionalism from afar.I guess what I’m trying to say is, Helena knows her shit.”

“I agree,” Ella says.

“And she has advice for you—advice that might seem scary for you to take.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll set aside the verifiable fact that Sebastian and I have both refused your offers to help pay rent, and that we badgered you to move in with us, and that if, god forbid, we broke up, neither he nor I would leave you on the streets.No matter what.”

“Okay,” she says slowly.

“So we’re going to focus on Helena’s advice.To quit your day job and focus on your music, full-time.”

“Right.You’re a businessy business guy,” Ella says, “so I was hoping this is the kind of advice you can give.”

“A businessy business guy?”I say, struggling not to laugh.

“Yes,” she says with a giggle.“That is the job title next to your name on the door, isn’t it?”

“That’s exactly what it says.”I chuckle and squeeze her.“So, I don’t have any experience in the music world, but there is something to be said for truly focusing on what your heart desires.”

“Yeah.”She snuggles closer to me, if possible, and presses her hand against my chest, over my heart.