We were alone.
“I can do it if—”
“No, it’s fine.” I nodded, unsure who I was trying to convince more.
“Okay, then. I’ll call ahead and let Johnson know we’re on our way.” She gathered up her things.
“What will happen with Riley?” I asked as we exited the room and headed for the elevator.
“Legal will handle it. She’ll get paid off to keep quiet, and they’ll lock her into an airtight contract.”
“Didn’t she have the contract before though, and that didn’t stop her manipulating the band.” The words soured on my tongue. I didn’t know Riley from Adam, but I hated her for what she’d done to the band. To Levi.
“This industry is all one big game.” We entered their elevator and Letty hit the button for the ground floor. “She made her play, now it’s our turn to make ours.”
“And Levi?” Just saying his name made my heart clench. He reminded me so much of my ex, Zephyr. Lost, angry... afraid. Levi had issues; everyone could see that. But music was his salvation, his therapy. It wasn’t a cure though. That could only come from inside.
Letty gave me a weak smile. “Let’s go see what he has to say.”
I took a deep breath as I followed Letty inside the suite where the label had banished Levi. It was everything I’d come to expect from my short time with the band: big, modern, with no expense spared where the furniture and décor was concerned.
“Levi,” she called.
“Fuck off,” he grumbled from somewhere inside the room.
I leaned over her shoulder and pointed at the bare foot just visible over the top of the huge sectional.
“Come on, Hunter, we need to talk.”
“I said fuck off.”
She let out an exasperated breath.
“Let me,” I mouthed at her and she nodded, giving me space to move around her.
“Levi,” I said. “We really need to talk.”
“Phoebe?” He sat up, rubbing his eyes. “What are you—” He glanced down at his tight black boxers and muttered under his breath.
“Maybe go get dressed?” I suggested, heat rushing through me. “And then we’ll talk.”
“Uh, yeah.” He clambered to his feet, and I tried to look anywhere but at his ripped, inked body.
God, he was magnificent.
“I’ll just...” He ducked into one of the other rooms.
“Okay,” Letty said, “that was just weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the infamous Levi Hunter act... embarrassed.”
“I fucking heard that, Panem,” he yelled.
Less than thirty seconds later, he reappeared dressed in jeans and a Blood Runs Thicker tour t-shirt. He ran a hand through his hair. It had grown longer in the last couple of weeks.
“You should try opening a window in here,” Letty teased. “The place smells worse than a men’s locker room.”
“Are you here to bust my balls or because you have actual news?” His eyes flicked to mine, softening.
“We had a conference call with Dusty and his team. Riley is asking for one mil.”
“I hope they told her to go fuck herself. Traitorous bitch.”
I flinched at the venom in his tone. But I knew Levi well enough to know he didn’t appreciate disloyalty.
“Levi, you know that’s not how this works.”
“She broke the NDA,” he hissed, “legal should nail her ass to the fucking wall.”
“But it wouldn’t stop her leaking the full story. The video has already caused enough damage. If she gives the exclusive who knows what bullshit she’ll say. That wouldn’t be good for you or the band.”
“Fuck.” Levi clenched his hand into a tight fist. His jaw was set, his dark eyes narrowed to thin slits. He was furious, anger rolling off him like a volcano on the verge of erupting.
“I’m not giving that manipulative bitch a cent.”
“Good thing you don’t get to make that call then. Dusty agreed on five-hundred grand. They’ll call her bluff with court action if she doesn’t take it. But she will.”
He scrubbed his jaw, studying Letty. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I worked with her for the last two years. I know how she thinks, and she only wants the money.”
“What do you think?” Levi fixed his eyes right on me and I felt myself grow hot all over again. He didn’t just look at me, his eyes seared me to the very bone.
There was intense, and then there was Levi Hunter.
“M- Me?” I choked out.
“Yeah, Intern, you.”
Intern.
My fingers curled around the edge of the couch. It’s what he’d called me when I’d first joined the tour. I suspected it was Levi’s way of distancing himself from people, of reducing them to something less than their given name.
But now... now he said the word with such intimacy, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was toying with me.
Steeling my spine, I replied, “Well, I don’t think you have much choice. This is bigger than just you, Levi. You have to think about the band.”
Something flickered in his dark gaze, and a shiver ran through me.
“Levi,” Letty hissed, drawing his attention. Released from his scrutiny, I let out a shaky breath. “We didn’t come to debate the plan. This is the plan. Legal will handle Riley. It’s my job to handle the band’s image.”
He groaned, sinking back against the huge cushions littering the sectional. “And what, pray tell, do you have in mind this time?”
A faint smile traced Letty’s mouth. “You’re in the studio first thing tomorrow.”
“The studio?” That piqued his interest.
“Everyone agreed we need a distraction, something to draw people’s eye off your latest indiscretion.”
He scoffed at that. I pressed my lips together, trying to focus. The last thing I wanted to think about was Levi snorting cocaine off that traitor’s body.
“You talked to the guys about this?”
“Not yet. We wanted to talk to you first.”
Confusion clouded his eyes. “What’s the catch?”
“It’s a collaboration.”
“Eva...” Her name was a whispered sigh on his lips.
“The label has been wanting to get her into the studio, and what better way to improve your image than have the band release a record with the sweetheart of Country?”
“Shit, Letty...”
“It’s the right move, Levi.”
“I don’t like the idea of using her like that.”
“It’s not like that and you know it. Masterpiece wanted Black Hearts and Eva because Dowager saw what everyone else sees, the two of you together, it’s effortless. It shouldn’t work, but it does. We have to play on that, now more than ever.”
“Do you have a song in mind?” There was a cautious edge to his voice.
Letty glanced between us and smiled. “Actually, I do.”
Levi
“It’s good to see you, man,” Damon pulled me in for a guy-hug, slapping me on the back.
“Yeah,” I clipped out, feeling irritation trickling up my spine.