“Because you saw what they wanted you to see. The only time they’re united is when they’ve set their sights on the same game.”

“Meaning me.” She gave an apologetic nod in confirmation. Splendid. “So what am I supposed to do? Put an apple on my head so they hate each other a little less?”

“Nothing quite so dramatic,” she replied with a tip of her red-painted lips.

“Then what?”

“In short? Find what’s broken and fix it. If you can’t, at the very least, keep them from killing each other. I don’t care how as long as it gets you all home in one piece.”

“I’m confused,” I said as my gaze narrowed. “Am I playing for Bound or babysitting Bound?”

“You’re securing your future,” she vehemently shot back. “I know those assholes seemed like a unified front in there, but they’re one bad argument from breaking up, and they’ve all been best friends since their first boner.”

“How is that my problem?”

Sitting back in her seat, she studied me, searching for a weakness. Obviously, she found it because she finally answered, “No Bound, no deal.”

My eyes were mere slits now as I regarded the cutthroat businesswoman lurking underneath that angelic face. “I’m starting to see why they don’t like you.”

I was also getting that it was hard to rattle Oni Sridhar when she shrugged. “It’s this business. It brings out the worst in everyone.” She tipped a head full of dark curls toward me. “Including you.”

My stomach turned as cold dread replaced the warm blood in my veins. God, I hoped not. I’d seen me at my worst, and it wasn’t just ugly. It was catastrophic. The casualties were endless.

I found myself staring a little too closely at Oni’s lips as she bounced her head in time to the music, completely unaware of my focus or interest.

“Anything else?” I demanded curtly. I needed a distraction before I hit on the A&R rep. There was no reason for me to sleep my way to the top. I was already there, and I still didn’t understand how.

“In a few days, you should hear from a man named Xavier Gray.” I didn’t miss the way her lips flattened at the name. Another fan of hers, I supposed. “He’s Bound’s manager, and he won’t like this any more than they do. Luckily, he’s a professional, and he’s good at his job, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble from him.”

I felt my heart quicken. “Why wasn’t he there this afternoon? Couldn’t he have done something?”

“No,” she said as she stood from the stool. I guess our clandestine meeting was over. “And they blame me for that too.” She walked away without saying goodbye, and I watched her disappear before finally exhaling.

Fantastic.

It’s been two weeks since I became Bound’s guitarist and not a peep from Xavier or my new bandmates. I knew Oni had given them my contact information. I also knew they weren’t occupied with anything pressing. Just last night, a blog had reported spotting them walking inside a Las Vegas casino.

I felt like I was in high school again, except instead of waiting for one boy to call, I was waiting for three. Four if I counted the manager who’d despised and discarded me already. I wasn’t even afforded the pleasure of giving them a reason to hate me first.

Bummer.

Oni, on the other hand, didn’t seem surprised when she called to check on things. However, in typical Oni fashion, the conversation abruptly ended once I informed her that I hadn’t heard a peep. That was close to forty-eight hours ago, and now she’d disappeared too. I wasn’t sure how much of this was in her job description, but since she was the only one in my corner, I didn’t ask questions.

Pounding on my bedroom door jolted me to the here and now.

“Yo, Brax, let’s go!” Griff demanded. “We’re going to hit traffic.”

“It’s L.A.!” I shouted back even after glancing at the time on my phone and cursing. “There’s always traffic,” I muttered more to myself since she was already gone.

I stood from my bed and began stuffing last-minute shit into my rucksack. My sleeping bag took up most of the space, but my dad had shown me a few tricks since my sister and I spent our summers camping with the church growing up.

This weekend was the Indies in Indio Festival, and my name was on the lineup. I was glad the guys I usually played with talked me into it since I had spent the last two weeks of my spare time rehearsing rather than waiting by the phone.

I’d invited Oni, who only offered a maybe.

Now I was starting to think it would be best if she didn’t show. The crowd wouldn’t be more than I was used to, but somehow, I was more nervous than I’d ever been. What if I floundered tonight and ended up on the internet as a source of ridicule only to later be discovered as Bound’s newest member?

Holy fuck, I really knew how to stir a pot full of steaming shit, didn’t I?

Wearing only a thong, I quickly squeezed my ass into my tightest pair of blue jeans. I then paired it with a cropped black corset that pushed my tits up to my chin.

Perfect.

If only those assholes could see me now.

Bound’s first impression of me hadn’t been exactly accurate. They’d been too quick to judge me by my cover while ignoring the pages inside.

As I shoved my feet into a pair of thigh-high boots with fake crystals and silver spikes adorning the black straps running the entire length, I considered biting the bullet and calling them. I wasn’t a fan of the self-involved who assumed communication was only found from one end, so if the three of them couldn’t be mature about this, I would.

Perhaps it would be for the best.

Houston, Loren, and Jericho were undoubtedly expecting me to cower. If Oni was right and Bound was splintering, a new threat would force them together. I just wasn’t thrilled at the idea of turning myself into a target. It wasn’t quite what Oni had asked me to do, but I didn’t see any other way.

Carrying my ruck and guitar case into the living room, I found my backing band in the living room pregaming with my roommates. I’d met Liam, Mason, and Abe two years ago in a dive bar. Liam had hit on me first, followed by his brother, who somehow thought he had a better chance after I’d turned down his twin, who was identical in every way.

It wasn’t their fault they had no shot. The night we met, I was a skittish kitten still adjusting to my surroundings even though I’d been in L.A. for two years. Once upon a time, their blond hair, blue eyes, and the boy-next-door charm would have won me over. I turned them down because I knew what they were inviting into their bed while they had no clue.

Abe, their equally hot but too shy roommate, hadn’t bothered trying after watching his friends get shut down. Apparently, rejection had never happened to the Miller brothers before. I was grateful that at least one of the trio could take a hint since Liam and Mason, usually when alcohol was involved, hadn’t entirely given up on getting down.

They might not have been able to weaken my resolve, but they had convinced me to let them back me on stage since I was more adept at scoring gigs, and they needed the extra cash.

Tonight was one of those nights.

The guys were decent musicians with Liam on lead guitar and backup vocals, Abe on bass, and Mason on drums while I doubled up on vocals and rhythm. It’s just that their hearts belonged elsewhere. The twins were both studying to be doctors and Abe an engineer. Music was just their side bitch.

“You ready for this?” Liam greeted after pouring a shot and handing it to me. He studied me so intently that paranoia had me fearing he knew my secret. I hadn’t told anyone, not a single soul, that I was Bound’s new guitarist, so I knew it wasn’t possible. I doubted anyone would believe me even with my tour contract bearing Savant’s letterhead along with Houston’s angry scrawl, Loren’s practiced one, and Jericho’s lazy loops beneath my effeminate signature.

Stupidly, I’d stared at our names for hours that night, and it wasn’t awe over my fast road to stardom that made me do so. It was seeing my name mixed among theirs. The strangest part was how right it all seemed—like lost pieces connecting at last.

Nodding at Liam, I took the shot glass, tossed it back, and decided as liquid courage burned its way down my throat that Bound’s time was up. I’d give them until morning before I broke down the walls they’d built and stormed my way into their lives once again.

“Aren’t you cold?”