The two of them stop at the back of a pickup truck and talk for a moment before they part ways, the guy getting into his truck while Cohen heads for a black Benz on the opposite side of the lot. After the guy pulls out and takes off, Cohen backs out of his spot, then heads for the exit, flipping on his turn signal to go left. Kenton, who was parked in front of us, takes a right ahead of him, then we follow, sandwiching him in.
“We’re right behind you,” Gene says when Kenton stops at the first stop sign, with Cohen stopping behind him. I get out, lift my chin, and remove the gun Kenton gave me from the back of my jeans before I approach Cohen’s car on the driver side. Going on instinct, I open his door, and his head spins my way while his eyes go wide.
“What the fuck?”
“Give me your cell and move the fuck over,” I tell him, and he swallows, handing me the phone already in his hand before unhooking his belt and moving over to the passenger seat.
“How much money do you want?” he asks, and I laugh, the sound gruff and foreign to my own ears.
“I’m not after your money.” I press down on the gas when Kenton pulls off, and I follow.
“Then what do you want?” he questions, and I see him reach for the door handle out the corner of my eye.
“You don’t want to do that.” I press the barrel of the gun against his thigh and click off the safety. “Not that I’d be upset about having a reason to shoot you.”
“What’s this about?”
“You and I are going to have a conversation.” I turn right and follow Kenton into a parking garage that’s in the middle of being renovated. When we get up to the fourth floor that is completely empty, I park and shut off the engine, grabbing the keys, and ordering, “Get out.”
“Man, just tell me what you want,” he begs, looking around the dark space, and I shake my head.
“Just get the fuck out.” I open my door, then wait for him to emerge on the opposite side of the car before I slam it closed and walk around to where he’s now standing with his back to the open edge of the building. I cross my arms over my chest, waiting for Kenton, Justin, and Gene to join me, taking some satisfaction when he registers that he has no way of escaping, is outnumbered and fucked if he’s not careful.
“If this isn’t about money, I—”
“Let’s talk about April Mayson,” I say, and the look in his eyes changes ever so slightly, the muscle in his jaw clenching tight.
“What about her?” he asks, then his eyes narrow, and he shakes his head. “Wait, are you the guy she’s seeing now?” He tosses his head back and laughs. “Fuck, I can’t believe this. What, are you so insecure in your relationship with her that you needed to kidnap me?”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to just shoot him?” Gene asks, taking a step toward him pulling out his glock, and I reach out, placing my hand against his chest, holding him back while never taking my eyes off Cohen.
“Insecure? No. Just done with your bullshit affecting my woman.”
“Your woman.” He grins. “Dude, she’s still mine, even if we aren’t together right now.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that it didn’t feel that way when she was sucking me off this morning, but getting into a pissing match with him is not on my agenda, even if it pisses me off that he’s attempting to lay claim to her.
“Tonight, one of your fans showed up at her house with flowers, and when she answered the door, the woman pointed a gun at her chest with the intent to shoot her. And she would have, if I hadn’t shoved her out of the way.”
“What?” he whispers, the color draining from his face.
“You heard me.” I step toward him. “Now, I know she asked you to not bring her up again publicly, but since you didn’t do that, I feel like I need to deliver that message myself.” I get in his face, pressing my chest against his, my fingers twitching, wanting to wrap around his throat. “She does not exist for you. What you thought you two shared never existed.”
“Someone tried to…”
“Kill her. Because of you,” I finish for him, my face inches from his. “You claim you care about her, but I’m finding that hard to believe after the way you tossed her under your ladder, needing a few more feet to get the attention you so desperately want.”
“I never wanted that to happen,” he growls, placing his hand against my chest to shove me back.
I grab his wrist with one quick move, twisting it behind his back, causing him to double over and cry out in pain.
“This is going to be the only warning you’ll ever get from me,” I hiss against his ear as I hold him in a position that would cause him to dislocate his shoulder if he attempted to get out of it. “After tonight, if you so much as whisper her name in someone’s ear and I hear about it, you and I won’t be having a conversation. Do you understand what I mean when I say that?”
“Yes,” he hisses, jerking his head around to meet my gaze, and I hold his eye for a long moment before forcing him to his knees and taking a step back.
“Tomorrow,” I say as he pushes up to stand. “You’re going to announce that the woman you wrote your album about never existed, that she was some woman you and your band made up.” He starts to open his mouth, and I shake my head. “You’re going to put whatever spin you need on it to make it believable, then you’re going to go along your merry fucking way, with April nothing more than a memory.”
“I love her.”
“You don’t.” I barely resist the urge to rub my chest over my heart. “If you did, you wouldn’t have let her go. You wouldn’t have done anything to harm her or make her doubt how much you cared for her.” I turn my back on him and head toward Gene’s SUV. When I open the door, I toss Cohen’s keys still in my hand in his direction, and he lets them fall at his feet.
“Do you love her?” he calls out, and my eyes lock with his once more.
“Yes.” I don’t even hesitate to answer, and he lifts his chin. Fuck, looking into his eyes, I can see that kills. He cares about her—maybe not the way I do, where the need to protect her is always at the forefront of my thoughts, but it’s still there, shining bright. Then again, my woman is easy to love, and if you’re lucky enough to have that love returned, you’ll bask in it when you’ve got it and crave it when it’s gone.
“Take care of her.”
I don’t respond. I get into the passenger seat of Gene’s SUV and slam the door closed, my mind on getting back to April and making sure she’s okay. I hope like fuck that Cohen heard what the fuck I said and cares about her enough to do the right thing.
An hour later, I pull up to April’s parents’ house, shut down the engine of my car, and get out, stopping at the trunk to grab my bag before I head for the stairs. Before I even reach them, Asher opens the front door, and his eyes sweep over me.
“Kenton called to let me know you were heading this way, said you took care of things.” He steps back to let me inside.
“I hope I did, but only time will tell,” I say, and he drags in a deep breath, then pats me on the back.
“November gave April something to help her sleep about an hour ago. Last time I checked on her, she was passed out.”