Fractured Beat (Meltdown Book 1) (41 page)

Grant

Mallory was up
to something. Otherwise she wouldn’t have sent me on a wild goose chase into Austin with Hank, Nash and Chaz to some exotic grocery store to find a spice that didn’t even exist. She’d been acting secretive for the past week and every time I asked if she was okay she got a guilty look on her face. My girl seriously sucked at hiding shit from me. She was worried and I didn’t know how to ease her mind. Luke’s death was a total mind fuck. I kept racking my brain and coming up empty. How did I not see it? The entire time I thought it was Kirkland who drugged me, Kirkland who set me up and Kirkland who had Sarah killed, it was Luke – my best friend, bandmate and brother. As I lay there on the floor feeling like a helpless piece of shit, all I could think about was how none of it mattered – the music, the fame, the money – none of it. What mattered was my family, my friends and…Mallory. I was about to die and Mallory would never know how much she meant to me. I thought I could reason with Luke. If I tried hard enough, dug deep enough, I thought I would touch that part of him. That was until he shot Nash. There was no remorse, no regret, nothing. He just raised the gun and shot him. I knew right then and there that I was going to die.

It took Luke shooting Nash to get me to fight back. While I sat there and watched my best friend bleed out all over my studio floor, I finally got pissed. Who the fuck cared if Luke loved Dale? We all loved Dale. Dale didn’t love himself. How was that my fucking fault? I didn’t shove those pills down his throat. I didn’t make him snort the coke or smoke the dope. How was it my fault that Dale loved the drugs more than he loved Luke? Fuck that and fuck Luke for blaming me. And then it happened…just as I lunged for Luke, Mallory saved the day.

Mallory.

When the gun went off and Luke dropped, I had no clue what had happened. And then I saw her – lying on her stomach with the gun in her hand – and I knew. She’d saved me. She’d saved me and now she wanted to fix me. Only, I didn’t know if I was fixable. The day Luke died I lost a huge piece of myself and for the life of me I didn’t know how to get it back or even if I wanted to get it back.

“We’re here,” Hank announced. Shaking the thoughts from my head, I stared at the front of my house. This was the place I’d once loved more than anything, but I wasn’t so sure about that anymore. As we exited the car, the front door swung open and there stood my mother.

“Melba!” Nash shouted when he saw her. All I could think was,
oh shit. My mother and Mallory are in the same house.

“Nash Bostwick, get yourself up here and give me a hug!” Mom called out.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m greeting my son and his friends. Now, hurry in and wash up. Dinner’s almost ready. Ava, Mallory and I made your favorite, spaghetti, Caesar salad and garlic bread,” she announced. I was shocked speechless.

The media was all over Luke’s death. Up until about a week ago, we had reporters camped outside our front gates. Blane proved to be invaluable. Not only did he field all phone calls, but he also handled the press and dealt with our sponsors. I’d talked with my dad right after the incident, but had yet to speak with my mother. I was incredibly disappointed in her. My parents had taught me to give everyone a fair chance yet she had done just the opposite with Mallory.

When I reached the door, Mom pulled me into her arms, kissed the side of my head and said, “I’m sorry. I love you and I’m so terribly sorry. Will you please forgive me?” I’d missed her. I may not like the way she’d acted, but for better or worse she was my mother and I loved her.

Before giving her my forgiveness, I pulled back and asked, “Are you good with Mallory?” She smiled and I knew that everything was okay. As I pulled her in for another hug I asked, “Where’s Dad?”

“He’s downstairs with Mallory,” she answered, and I froze. I hadn’t been downstairs since the day Luke died. I just couldn’t bring myself to walk down those stairs.

“Are they hanging out at the pool?”

“Why don’t you go down and see?” Mom smiled like a Cheshire cat, and I knew she was up to something. I wanted to see Dad and Mallory, but I didn’t want to go downstairs. “Come,” she said, and held out her hand. Hesitantly, I took it and let her lead me down the steps. The moment I hit the bottom, I froze. I wasn’t sure if I could go the rest of the way in. Then I heard laughter, Mallory’s laughter to be exact, and I suddenly had to see her face. Fear and anxiety overwhelmed me as I stepped into what had once been my refuge…then I spotted it. My eyes shot to Mallory and she burst into hysterical laughter.

“What the hell is that?” I asked the room full of laughing people.

“Well, you remember the night in Boston when you sang
Unravel
…” she started to say. Then it hit me. The stool she’d been sitting on, the one that left green fuzz on her dress and in her hair, was none other than The Grinch. The back of the stool was his face and torso, the seat was his lap and the bottom was his feet. It was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen! Once the shock wore off, I noticed the other changes to the room. The floor was no longer bare, but was covered by several decorative rugs and the sofa was gone. In its place was a kick ass black leather beauty. As I glanced around the room at the people I loved most in this world, I knew that I was going to be okay. It would take time, and there would be a scar, but I would be okay.

I held my hand out to Mallory and said, “Come here.” She took my hand and I pulled her to me. As she stared up at me with tears in her gorgeous blue eyes and a smile on her face, I said, “I’m going to love you forever, Mallory Jane Scott.”

Acknowledgements

~Christian – Even though at times I wanted to do you bodily harm, as always, you came through for me. Thank you. I don’t always show it but I am beyond appreciative.

~Petra – You rock, woman! I am so lucky to call you my friend. Thank you for editing as well as everything you do for me. Love you.

~Tania – Thank you for the amazing cover and teasers.

~Lyndsey – Your friendship is immeasurable and your input invaluable. Love you beyond words.

~Natalie – Thank you for stepping in and saving me. I am forever grateful and so happy you are my PA. We make an amazing team and I cannot WAIT to see what the future has in store for us.

~My Betas – Lyndsey, Natalie, Nicola, Danielle, Ginger, Kaci, Leah, Leigh, Sarah and Tara – Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read Fractured Beat. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

~Kaci, Leah and Sarah Harmon – Thank you for allowing me the use of your names.

~Hilliard’s Hellions – I want to thank each and every one of you for your endless support. Love you ladies!

~To my amazingly talented author friends – Thank you for your support and friendship.

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