Page 11 of The Temptation of Truth

“What else do you know about her?” Claire asks.

“Not much, honestly. Her name is Aurora. She’s twenty-three and fresh out of undergrad.”

“Twenty-three? She’s practically a baby.” I always forget that Hammond’s only in his early forties. He looks young, but he acts much older. I grab the last grape out of Jonah’s bowl and shake my head. “We definitely need to keep her away from Ezra and Crue. We can’t let them corrupt her.”

Sav smirks just as Torren walks into the kitchen. “Who would have thought we’d become the mature, responsible ones?”

Tor throws his arm over my shoulder. “Not me.”

“Not me,” I chime in.

Jonah laughs. “I thought I’d be dead by now, so I definitely didn’t see it coming.”

I raise my brows and nod slowly. “I hear no lies.”

We all were worried about Jonah for a while. We came close to losing him for good more than once. I shoot Claire a softsmile, and she returns it. We don’t talk about it much, but we all know she saved him. I don’t think anyone else could have done it but her.

Just before we climb into the SUVs to head to the airfield, Claire sidles up beside me and bumps my arm with hers.

“I’m sorry Kat couldn’t make it. I know you were looking forward to it.”

“What did Sav tell you?”

“Nothing, but Kat’s not here, so I made an educated guess. Was I wrong?”

“No, you’re not wrong.” I sigh and attempt to force the disappointment from my voice. “It’s fine, though. Her manager got her an invite to a launch party for a new makeup line. She wants to be a brand ambassador for them, so she couldn’t turn it down.”

I leave out the part that she’ll be attending on the arm of Hollywood heartthrob Kaz Storm. It goes without saying, though. If it’s a public event, you can bet money that they’ll be there together. Kaz and Kat, America’s favorite celebrity “couple.” The media loves to speculate about them. Are they dating or aren’t they? Will they or won’t they? The masses love them, and I admit that they photograph well together. Even if it sucks.

Claire gives me a small smile. “Well, that’s good for her. I hope she gets the ambassadorship. Will she be meeting us after?”

“Not until Auckland.”

She hums, her next words full of positivity. “We’ll see her soon, then.”

“Yep. Soon.”

Claire climbs into one of the seven-seater SUVs with Jonah, Teddy, Callie, and Torren, while I get into Sav’s SUV with her crew. It doesn’t take long before the dark cloud surroundingmy mood lifts. It’s hard to be sad when you’ve got a sixty-pound menace of a dog snoring in your lap and your best friend cracking jokes beside you. By the time we’re pulling up to the airfield, the disappointment of Kat’s absence has been effectively pushed to the back of my mind. It will no doubt creep back to the forefront tonight when I’m alone, but right now it’s family time.

“You sure you want to fly with them?” Brynn casts an annoyed glance at Callie’s bandmates as they board their jet. The label has been chartering one for them now that they’re too popular to fly commercial. And bythe label, I mean Sav. “It’s sixteen hours. You’re going to go all smooth-brained from lack of stimulation. It might even liquefy and leak out of your ears.”

Callie laughs as Torren pulls her carry-on from the SUV. “I used to travel the country in a van with them, Boss. I can handle a private jet.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t have any other options before. Now you have us.”

“She’s not wrong,” I say with a grin.

“Well, I can’t write another award-winning album if I don’t spend time with my band, can I?”

Brynn arches a brow. “Imeeeean, you won’t know until you try. I believe in you.”

“Goodbye, Brynnlee,” Cal sings playfully before giving her a hug. “I’ll see you in sixteen hours.”

I throw my arm around Brynn and lead her to our jet. “You’re stuck with me, kid.”

“You’re my favorite anyway.”

I laugh. “Lies. Teddy’s your favorite.”