Page 46 of The Masks We Wear (Satan’s Angels #1)

Harvey

Our night in the studio was revolutionary for me.

I’ve never been so open about myself or my past with anyone before and it felt…

strange but also freeing in a way. I trust her with everything, my past, my present, but not my future.

I’ve grown so used to being in her life and having her in mine and it’s hard to remember that we only have two and a half weeks left together and then we move back to our home states and return to our regularly scheduled lives, hers a life of debauchery and mine a life of order and routine.

It worries me how easy it is to forget we have a clock looming over us, how open I’ve been with her, how much I crave her.

She occupies my every thought and the scent of her lingers in my nose.

I’m full of her in so many ways and I still hunger for more of her.

It’s a sickening thought, truly. Now I understand an addict’s tribulation because mine is the same but the substances are swapped out with the little rockstar who challenged me at every opportunity she got and went above and beyond to make my blood pressure rise.

I know that when the inevitable comes and it’s time to say goodbye, that I’ll miss her witty mouth, her full lips, the wicked smirk she gives me when she’s up to no good or has a deliciously sexual need that requires fulfilling, the way she loses herself in song, but overall, I’ll miss her .

I’ll miss what we have now and that scares me.

It scares me because I’m vulnerable for the first time in my life since my father left.

She makes me vulnerable and she makes me feel and I have to remind myself it isn’t going anywhere because it can’t.

At the end of the day, we live two completely different lives and it would never work out.

Besides, I’ve never been in love and I’m not looking to be.

My phone vibrates inside my pocket and it shifts my focus from my deep thoughts to the room I’m in and the name on my screen.

I look up, debating whether or not I should answer and when I find Brody and the girls completely focused on the new song they’re working on, I hit the green answer button and step out of the room.

“Hey, Luce,” I greet my baby sister. We talk everyday, whether through text or through calls.

She must’ve just gotten home from school if she’s calling me at this time in the afternoon.

“Hi,” Lucy greets from the other end, energy present in her voice.

I smile at the sound of her small voice, “What are you doing?”

I can practically hear her shrug, “I just got off the bus and I’m gonna do my math homework. What about you? Where are you now?”

I lean against the wall outside the studio, “We’re in Florida now.”

“Cool,” she geeks out on the other end. “How is Brody?”

I laugh at her question, “Why do I get the feeling you only called me to ask me about Brody and not to talk to me?”

She giggles on the other end, “Because I did.”

I shake my head even though she can’t see me, “You’re really something else.”

“Yeah, I know. How is she though? I saw on TikTok that she was attacked,” my sister’s voice is coated with worry. “Is it true?”

I clench my jaw at the reminder of what I walked into that night. Of him strangling her and her eyes rolling to the back of her head. “You should get off that app, Lucy. It’s all nonsense on there,” I change the subject. I’m not talking about Brody’s private business with anyone, not even Lucy.

“But did it actually happen?” She presses.

“I can’t talk about it, Luce. Just let it go, okay?”

She huffs, “Fine.”

“How was school?” I take a whole new route of conversation.

“Boring.”

“How’s Mom?”

She pauses before whispering into the phone, “She’s going out on a date tonight with some new guy.”

I roll my eyes, “Is she making you dinner before she goes out?”

“I dunno.”

I sigh, “You have my credit card so get yourself some food and use my card to pay, okay? And what about that class trip you’re supposed to go on? Did Mom give you the money for the ticket?”

“Not yet.”

If my mother didn’t give her money yet, she likely won’t ever be giving her any.

I take a deep breath to force the anger at bay.

I can get angry at my mother when I hang up but not while I’m still on the phone with Lucy.

When I made my first million, I bought my mom and Lucy a huge house, put Lucy in the best private school the state had, and continued to buy them groceries and whatever it is my mom decided to put on my credit card for years .

She’s never been motivated to get a job and provide for herself, happy to be living off me and my hard work.

Lucy on the other hand, I have no problem supporting or taking care of.

My mom has access to a large sum of money, all mine, and she still hasn’t given Lucy what she needs to go on her fucking class trip.

“I’ll send some cash over to the house and you can use some for your ticket, okay? ”

“Okay, thank you.”

I want to hug her so bad right now. I miss her smiling face and the warmth that spreads through my chest when she’s near.

I’ve only ever felt that way with Brody but with her it’s different.

Is this what it feels like to be a parent?

God, I’m a parent to a kid that isn’t even mine. “Do you need anything else?”

“No,” her voice sounds grim on the other end. “When are you coming home? I miss you.”

A drop of dread plants itself in my stomach and sprouts leaves. “Soon, Luce. I’ll be back in Nevada in two and a half weeks and then you and I can go do something together okay?”

“Okay.”

“I love you,” I say, rubbing the ache out of my chest with the heel of my palm.

“I love you, too,” she replies before hanging up.

I sigh, bumping my head against the wall behind me. I feel like I’m being pulled in two different directions. One way is Lucy and my home, tugging me strong and the other is Brody and the chaos she leaves in her wake, tugging me just as fiercely.

My phone rings again and thinking it could be Lucy again, I answer without reading the name on the screen. “Hey,” I greet her gently.

The voice on the other end isn’t the voice of my squeaky, energetic, thirteen-year-old sister.

It’s the voice of Dallas Carter, my friend from the military.

“Long time, no talk, Taylor. I was starting to think you’d forgotten me.

” Dallas and I work in similar fields, or at least we did when I owned my security company, before I sold it to him.

I was very protective over my company, but I knew Dallas was the best person to sell it to.

The guy is an evil genius in a suit. He grew the company and expanded it to create a private investigating unit.

We talk from time to time since he lives in California and I live in Nevada, but if he’s calling me now, it must be because there’s something wrong or because he needs something.

“You’re impossible to forget, Carter. Trust me, I’ve tried, you just keep calling and texting when you need something,” I retort.

We’re actually good friends and I like him a lot.

I’m just being snappy because I want to get back inside the studio.

The feeling of being away from Brody for this long is starting to cause little rockstar withdrawals.

“Very funny. Your impatience wouldn’t have anything to do with the blond bombshell I’ve seen you with in the press, would it?

” He sounds amused. “I heard you signed a contract to babysit her. Not a bad job, huh? Especially not when your client is that hot.”

My eye twitches in irritation. “What do you want?” I won’t hint to him that Brody means something more to me than just a client. I don’t want him to have that kind of information.

He laughs, “Do you think I’m a fool, Taylor? I’m watching you right now on the security footage from that recording studio you’re in in Boca Raton. You look really irritated by my suggestions.”

The bastard. I look up at the corners where the walls meet the ceilings and flip off the first camera I see. “I’m hanging up unless you tell me what you want?”

His tone shifts to one of seriousness, “I have a job I could use you on.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? I could use your expertise,” he throws in the little compliment to butter me up but it doesn’t work.

“I mean no. I’m going home when this contract ends and spending time with Lucy. I’ve been away from her for too long and she needs me.”

He sighs, irritated. “Harvey, the job is big,” he uses my first name instead of my last.

I shake my head, “I don’t care. My sister comes first.”

He grunts, “What if I told you it was in LA and you would be closer to the rockstar? Brody, isn’t it?

No point in pretending I don’t know every detail.

You know me and you know I do my research and keep tabs on the people in my circle.

I know you have feelings for her even if you don’t want to admit it so I’m giving you the chance to act on them by being in the same state as her. ”

This piques my interest. “How long is the job?” I instantly regret asking because he thinks he’s won.

I can hear his grin on the other end, “A year, but it could be longer. It’s long term is all I know right now.”

“And when it ends?” I ask, looking for a reason to convince myself not to consider the job. I feel guilty for even going this far.

He offers, “I’m looking for a partner to help me run the company. It’s gotten too big for me to handle on my own and after this job, if you want to stick around in California, I want you to partner with me, get back into business. I don’t trust anyone but you to do this with me.”