Page 27 of The Masks We Wear (Satan’s Angels #1)

She takes a turn and I follow her. Immediately I find two burly security guards, blocking two women from entering.

Selene gestures for them to let the girls in and she does.

I take in the older woman first. She’s an inch or two taller than me with jet-black, shoulder length hair, curled loosely and she wears a pair of jeans and a Satan’s Angels t-shirt.

Her eyes go wide when she spots me and she places a hand over her mouth in shock.

The smaller woman, or girl rather, is about five inches shorter than me with olive skin and chocolate colored hair.

She squeals when she sees me and bounces up and down on her feet.

“Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!” She cries excitedly.

She wears a pair of denim shorts with a t-shirt.

On the t-shirt is a graphic of me at my drum set.

I grin when I see it. “Nice shirt.”

She blushes and rushes towards me, throwing her arms around my waist and hugging me.

I hug her back and her mother apologizes on her behalf for her excitement.

I wave her off and smile down at the girl, she looks up at me with the widest, toothiest grin.

“You must be Lucy. It’s nice to meet you. Your brother talks so much about you.”

Lucy’s big green eyes go wide, “He does?”

I nod. “Yep.” I whisper in her ear so her mom can’t hear, “I think you may be his favorite person. He’s a grump.”

Lucy laughs, her freckled cheeks turning red. “He’s always mad about something. Mom used to tell him when he was little that his face would freeze if he kept frowning.”

I can’t help but chuckle at the thought of a young Harvey. Lucy releases me and I grab her hand, looking up at her and Harvey’s mother, “It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Taylor. Do you mind if I steal Lucy for a bit?”

She waves me off, “Sure, have fun! And you can call me Melissa, I’m not married, and Harvey and I don’t share the same last name.”

I nod, “Right. Thanks, Melissa. I’ll bring her back soon.”

Selene and Melissa engage in a conversation of some sort while I lead Lucy down the hallway we came from.

She asks me questions about myself as we walk and I answer them all for her.

I bring her to both Ivory’s and Aria’s dressing rooms for photos and meet and greets before I steal her away again and bring her to my dressing room.

I stop right outside the door and peer inside, finding Harvey on his phone, not typing but making a curious face.

Lucy whispers, “He’s been texting me for hours and I haven’t answered. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

I whisper back, “That’s probably why he looks constipated. I’m gonna tell him I have a surprise for him and then you can come in.”

She nods and I wink at her before I step inside. “Hey,” I greet him.

Harvey looks up and nods before looking back down at his phone, his brows creasing.

“My guests came.”

He grunts in acknowledgement.

I roll my eyes, “Hello?”

He looks up, “I heard you.”

“I said my guests came.”

He flares his nostrils in annoyance. “And I said I heard you, what else do you want?”

I frown. “Well, I wanted to do something nice but since you’re being a dick, I don’t care anymore.” I call to the door. “You can come in,” I yell to Lucy.

She peeks her little head inside and Harvey’s eyes go wide with shock.

She sprints into the room towards him and he jumps off the couch to catch her.

“What are you doing here?” He says, a warm smile on his face as he holds her to him.

It’s amazing how he can go from being the world’s biggest dickhead to being so kind and loving with a child.

Lucy squeals, “Brody invited me and Mom!”

Harvey’s eyes widen even further, and he glances at me. I don’t say anything, still annoyed with his attitude. “You did that?”

I raise a brow and nod.

“Mom’s here?” He asks Lucy and she nods. “Where is she?”

Lucy shrugs, “Talking to the lady with the suit and high heels.”

“Selene,” Harvey laughs.

Lucy wraps her arms around his neck and the sight of them together is so wholesome. I feel a stab of envy at how he lets his guard down with her but I know it isn’t fair of me to feel that way. I’m just his client, she’s his little sister.

Harvey and Lucy talk quietly, and I can’t quite make out what they’re saying but I get distracted as Ivory and Aria enter the room and take Harvey in.

The puzzled expressions on their faces reveal a mirror of my thoughts.

How is Harvey, asshole, Taylor, smiling and being loving towards a child?

I asked myself when I first saw them together, it’s very odd to see this tender side of him.

Ivory wears a light pink chain bralette with a matching skirt, revealing plenty of skin.

Her hair has recently been touched up with its baby pink ombre coloring and she has glitter and rhinestones on her eyes, but she doesn’t need all of it to sparkle on stage, her personality shines all on its own.

Aria, never a fan of skirts, wears an electric blue pair of leather shorts that leave a small amount of her rear on display, and she completes the look with a matching blue bralette top and fishnets with rhinestones.

All of it ties in perfectly with the baby blue streaks in her hair.

Her makeup is simple, the way she likes it.

Lucy’s focus homes in on us and she squirms out of Harvey’s grip and runs over to us. “I can’t believe I’m really here.” She exclaims.

I ruffle her hair, “Better believe it, because you are.”

Aria smirks, “And not only that, but you’re backstage while we perform. You get the best seat in the house, Kid.”

Lucy shrieks in excitement and jumps up and down.

I can’t help but grin at her excitement.

She’s excited because of us . It feels comforting to know that I have at least one loyal fan that I don’t have to worry about being irrelevant to.

I wish they were all like Lucy. She’s shorter than I am, so I easily drape my arm over her shoulders and pull her into me.

“Harvey, take a picture of all of us for Lucy.”

He nods, his face not revealing any emotion, as he slides his phone out and snaps a few pictures of us. We all pose and make different faces, so Lucy has as many photos to look at as she wants later on.

Selene pops her head in and knocks on the door, “Show time in five.”

My chest deflates. Selene walks away and Ivory and Aria nod their heads at me to follow them as they start for the stage. “I’ll be out in a minute,” I say awkwardly.

They nod and wait in the hallway for me. Lucy looks up at me expectantly and I try to force a smile for her, not wanting to ruin her experience in any way. Harvey walks closer to us and looks down at Lucy, “Luce, can you wait in the hall with Ivory and Aria for a minute so I can talk to Brody?”

Lucy looks up at me and then at her big brother and the wide, devilish grin on her face says that she knows something but whatever it is, I don’t know it. “Okay,” she agrees as she skips out of the room, leaving me alone with Harvey.

“Thank you for doing that for her. This means a lot to her and she won’t forget it,” he thanks me.

I shrug, “I didn’t just do it for Lucy.”

He exhales, “Brody-”

I cut him off, “It’s not like that. I just felt like you’d stop being such a dick if she was around.

I thought you could use some cheering up.

” I ramble as I reach for a water bottle to occupy my hands and my eyes.

“It was selfish really, I was just trying to butter you up so you’d be nicer to me, that’s all,” I lie as I sip the water.

He gives me a look like he doesn’t believe a word that came out of my mouth. “Right.”

“Anyway, I should go.” I put the cap back on the water and turn to leave but he grabs my arm, stopping me. I feel electricity jolt through my body and my veins from where he touches me. I wish my body didn’t react to him this way, but it feels unstoppable.

“Wait,” he says under his breath.

I look up at him expectantly, but I’m not sure what I expect him to say. He already made his feelings towards me very clear, so what could this be? “Yes?”

Harvey tries to speak, his mouth opens, but words don’t come out.

He closes his mouth and seems to reevaluate his word choice and then he tries again, looking defeated.

“Thank you. For her and for me.” Is all he says.

Just five words but they mean something else entirely when they come out of his mouth.

I’m so stunned by the raw emotion on his face that I just nod, no witty responses prepared on the fly.

He lets go of my arm and I turn and leave the room, finding the others in the hallway.

Together, we make our way to the stage, Lucy and Harvey behind us and with every step I take closer to the fans who’ll be watching my every move, my legs feel like they’re getting heavier and heavier.

My heart thuds so loudly it sounds like its own drum, and my breaths become rapid.

With every second I get closer to the stage, it feels like I’m going down a slippery slope.