“Are you with Keys now?” Zander said.
“Yes,” she croaked.
“Is he good to you? We were all worried when we were in Cancun.” He picked up the glass award and studied it.
“Yes. He’s not the party boy you all perceive. He’s got his own demons to deal with.” Mia’s face muscles didn’t seem to work at the moment. Even talking proved difficult.
“I do know what it’s like to fight with demons,” Zander said, setting the award back on the desk. “But, I hoped you were making the right decision by being with him. A guy with his reputation could destroy a kind heart such as yours.” He focused his gaze on hers. “I just wished you’d have told me. Then, I could have been prepared and not blindsided. Do you think so little of me that you didn’t think I could be mature about losing you?”
Each word drilled a new hole in her heart. “I don’t know what I thought,” she whispered. He probably wants me to go as soon as possible. “But it’s done now. May I go? I have to pack up my things.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d give me two weeks so I can try to find a replacement,” Zander said, his sudden crisp tone of voice indicating he’d slipped into his billionaire boss demeanor.
Mia welcomed the shift in his temperament. “I’ll put out an ad in a few places.” Somehow, she managed to stand and wobble toward the door. “Zander?” she said, before exiting.
“Yes, Mia?” he said in a formal sounding voice.
“Thank you…for everything.”
With tight lips, he gave a subtle nod, turning his attention back to his monitor.
Mia shuffled out toward her desk on stiff, heavy legs as her world crashed to pieces at her feet.
Keys
Minutes after he hung up with Mia, Keys thrust open the door to Dante’s apartment, prepared to go to war on his behalf. Someone must have painted a target on his face, however, if the vicious looks from his bandmates were any indication.
They all stood like statues arranged around Dante’s front room furniture. Arrows of intense disapproval assaulted him, shot from their unforgiving eyes.
“What?” he growled.
As if he’d lit the fuse to a bomb, everyone started yapping at once.
“You made the band look like a joke!”
“I knew this would happen. Mia’s the one at fault.”
“Nice move, Keys. Secretly record a song, release it, and then leave us hanging.”
The caterwaul of yelling voices made Keys’ head pound. He pressed his palms to his temples and shouted, “Shut the fuck up! Let me explain.”
A ceasefire kind of quiet settled around the room.
Dante folded his arms over his chest and said, “We’re listening.”
“You know I’ve tried to move the band in a different direction,” Keys said, his feet still glued to the floor in the doorway. “You shoot each and every idea down. I have ideas, too. Maybe everyone does, but no one is willing to speak up since they see how you treat my ideas. This isn’t the Dante Vega’s band. We’re a team, or at least that’s what I thought. You act like our overlord.” As he spoke, his limbs began to shake, releasing pent up emotion. To stop the shaking, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. His voice still quavered, though.
“I see,” Dante said, his posture stiff as a rail. “Does everyone feel this way?”
Gia and Trevor stayed quiet.
“You guys are pussies,” Keys growled, as rage split open his insides. “Fucking pussies. You told me some of my ideas are solid, but you won’t say a word when Dante is around, Gia. What gives with you? Are you and Trevor just sheep?” He released his hands and made a baaing sound, pacing around the room. “Follow the leader, follow the leader, don’t stick up for yourself.”
Both Gia and Trevor looked away, finding fascination with their shoes or their socks or maybe the goddamned floor.
“That’s not necessary, Keys,” Dante said.
“Isn’t it?” Keys eyed each person whether they looked at him or not.
Trevor finally peeled his gaze from the floor. “She did this to you. She’s the one who wooed you away from the band. You can’t keep it in your pants, and she’s a gold-digger. She’s poison.”
Keys coiled his fingers into hammerheads. His eyes bore down on Trevor with utter vehemence. “She’s all of our friend, asshole. She’s not a gold-digger. She’s the kindest person I know.”
“It doesn’t matter what she is,” Dante said, waving his hands in front of him. “I’m done with you. I’m kicking you out of the band. Our reputation is ruined because of you.”
Waves of fury rolled through Keys. “You can’t kick me out of the band, because I quit.” He spun on his heel and stormed toward the door. Before he threw it open, he looked over his shoulder and said, “You need to look in the mirror…all of you. I’m not the one who single-handedly broke up the band. It was a team effort.” He grabbed the doorknob and hauled the door open so hard it slammed against the wall.
Gia called, “Wait, Keys.” Her footsteps pounded the floor.
He held his middle finger over his head as he headed toward the elevator.
Her footsteps grew faster until she leaped on his back like a monkey and tackled him.
He stumbled, nearly falling. “Gia, you’d better get off my back right fucking now. I’m warning you. I’ll back up into the wall so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” she said, sliding to the floor. “But, I’m so pissed at you right now,” she said, coming to face him. She propped her hands on her hips and said, “How could you do this to Mia, especially given all she’s been through?”
“After all she’s been through? What did I do, exactly? And what about me? Have you forgotten that my ex not only abused me, but she shot herself with my gun, huh?”
He and Gia faced one another, panting. They eyed one another like warring elk, assessing who would strike first. Finally, he fell back against the pin-striped wallpaper and said, “I’m in love with Mia. Heart and frigging soul. I’ve never loved someone so hard, and it scares the living daylight out of me. But, we’re a couple now. And, it’s going to stay that way, whether you, or Dante, or Trevor think it’s a good idea. It’s not for you to judge.”
Gia cocked her head and squinted at him. “You’re not kidding, are you, Keys?”
His jaw jutted out, and he shook his head. “Not one bit. We had a come to Jesus moment, and we both came clean about our feelings for one another. I’ve loved her for a long time. I was just too chicken shit to do anything about it.”
“Good Christ, I believe you,” Gia said, letting her hands hang at her sides. “I know what it’s like to resist love. You know the story of Brutus and me at the rehab center. And, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I didn’t stick up for you. I just didn’t think it would come to this. I honestly don’t know what we’re going to do without you.”
Keys’ mouth twisted. “I’m sure Fearless Leader has a plan.”
“No.” Gia shook her head. “I don’t think he does. You didn’t see him before you got here. He was stunned with disbelief. Shocked. Immobilized. We’re a family, Keys.”
“Huh. Some family.” Keys dragged his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t mean for it to go down this way. I was going to announce my departure. Some twat got a hold of the recording from Syd’s studio and leaked it. I heard they made a fuck ton of money.”
“Aw, shit, Keys, that has to suck,” Gia said, scuffing her tennis shoe against the floor.
“It does. I swear I was going to let you all know. I’m not that big of a dick.” His phone buzzed in his pocket. He tugged it free and stared at the screen, finding a message from Mia.
We need to talk.
His thumbs moved over the tiny keyboard. What about? His eyes focused on the three little dots, waiting for her response.
Us. We need to talk about us.
A bad feeling gripped his balls and worked its way up to his chest.
She wants to break up with me. I
can feel it.
What had started out as a day filled with promise, was quickly becoming a pig pen of shit and mud.
“So, what are you going to do?” Gia said.
He stared at his screen, waiting for more words.
“Keys.”
He yanked his attention away from his mobile phone to stare at Gia. “Huh?”
“I said, what are you going to do?”
“If this day gets any worse, I’m going to go out and get wasted.” Sharp knives of dread whittled their way into his heart, leaving an empty shell. “Wait. It doesn’t have to get worse. It’s as low as it can get. If you need to talk to me, don’t bother. I have to go over to Mia’s so she can break up with me. Then, I’m going to get comatose.”
“Did she say that?” Gia’s face creased in alarm.
“Nah. She didn’t have to. I can read between the lines.” He waved his mobile phone in the air. “Who wants a loser like me?”
“You’re not a loser, Keys.” Gia’s expression grew pained.
“Tell that to Mia.” His chest felt empty and hollow. He stabbed the elevator button hard enough to hurt his finger.
The doors slid open like an inviting maw. Keys stepped inside and let the doors enclose him. Then, he pressed against the back of the lift and whacked his head against the wall over and over. If what he feared Mia saying was true, by midnight tonight, he wouldn’t remember a thing, not even his name.
Mia
Mia clung to her breakup plan like she clutched the fuse to a bomb. She and Keys simply could not continue—she had to let him go.
I’ve got to do this. Keys will thank me later when he finds someone who isn’t a mental headcase.
As she waited for him to arrive, Mia twisted the gold chain around her neck until her skin grew red and raw. Next, her fingers found her opal ring, twirling it around and around her finger. Her red coat lay in a heap on the floor where she’d dropped it when she’d numbly made her way into the front room after leaving her former place of employment.
When the doorbell rang, she jumped from the sofa and raced to the door.
Both Mike and Keys stood at her door.
Mike’s face held it’s usual monotone, non-smiling expression.
Keys stood slightly behind Mike, which seemed odd.
Mia frowned. When does Keys ever not push his way into the spotlight? Why is he hanging back?
Sunglasses in place, saying nothing, he stood at the door like a stranger, about to be executed on her doorstep.
“Your boyfriend’s here,” Mike said.
“I can see that. Step aside so he can enter,” Mia snapped.
Like a robot, Mike stepped to the side, allowing Keys to shuffle past him.
Keys’ shoulders drooped like he carried barbells on his shoulders. He marched woodenly into Mia’s front room and stood in the middle of the rug, sucking his upper lip into his mouth.
Mia shut the door and turned to face him. “Zander’s disappointed in me. He seemed crushed by my failure to be honest with him from the start.”
Keys said nothing. He simply studied her from behind his sunglasses.
His silence unnerved her. “I’m so sorry I spoiled your big reveal about going solo. This is my fault.”
Keys’ eyebrows drew together, but no words emerged from his mouth.
Her babbling continued. “Don’t you see? Our relationship could never work. It only served to ruin our friendships with others. We created fractures in our community. No one wants us to be together. We can’t continue.” She wrung her hands together.
The silence continued.
Mia’s heart seemed to shrink inside her ribcage, squeezing into a painful mass the size of a squashed pea. “Keys. Say something.”
A lone tear slid from beneath his sunglasses. “What do you want me to say?” he said, his voice cracking. “You’ve obviously got this all figured out.”
Mia’s mind slid into a different track. “I’m a terrible music agent. If I can’t protect your reputation and guide the release of your first solo song. I’m no good. You deserve someone who can protect you and steer your career in the right direction.”
More tears slid down Keys’ cheek, dragging her heart right along with them.
Her own tears forced their way from her eyes. “I don’t know what to do,” she wailed. She longed to race across the room and wrap herself in his arms but her legs refused to budge. “Everything’s broken.”
Keys finally removed his sunglasses and swiped at his eyes with his forearm. In a ragged sounding voice, he said, “We can fix it, Mia. We can pick up all the pieces and fix it. We’re meant to be together. I’ve been happy in the last few days. Genuinely happy. Never happier. What you’re insisting we do right now…guiding us toward the cliff…I can’t take it. I just can’t take it,” he said through his tears.
For a few minutes that blew through her apartment like a frigid wind, they both stood in their respective place and bawled like babies.
Then, Mia threw back her head, fisted her hands, and cried, “I destroy everything. Everything I touch turns to poison. Especially love…”
Keys’ lips parted, and he stared at her. “You can’t believe that.”
“I don’t know what to believe, Keys. I thought I was pursuing a dream. I thought together we could make things happen.”
Keys stepped toward her.
She moved backward.
His eyebrows rose, eyes wide, and he stopped, putting his palms out. “Baby, please don’t do this. Please don’t break up with me.”
“We’re already broken, don’t you see? We were never whole. We lived in the dark…in secret. Neither of us healed enough to be in a relationship.” Her head shook back and forth like a wind vane.
Keys’ jaw solidified, like granite. He regarded her with an ice-blue gaze. “So, this is how you want to play it.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to think.” Mia grabbed her ring like a talisman and worried it around and around.
“Just say it. Say you don’t want to be with me anymore,” he choked out.
“That’s not it.” More tears stung her eyes. “Just…just go, Keys.” She pointed toward the door.
Without another word, he stumbled toward the door. After opening it, without turning around, he said, “For the record, I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”
“I know,” she said to his back in a dispirited voice. “Me, too.”
After the door closed behind him, Mia screamed. She stormed across her front room, picked up one of her fancy objet d’art porcelain sculptures, and hurled it across the room.
It whacked against the wall, leaving a huge dent, and broke to pieces, like her heart.
She crumpled to the ground and sobbed.
The walls of her stupid, well-designed apartment closed in around her with devastating force. A vine-like noose strangled her breathing. Her home had become a prison, devoid of life. Nothing mattered anymore—not her closet full of designer clothing, nor the fine furnishings she had purchased to give her comfort. No. Comfort came from risking to love, as painful as it might seem at times. Comfort had come from loving Keys. And now, she’d thrown it all away.
Slowly, she dragged herself to her feet and made her way into the wine cooler in her large kitchen. She chose a random bottle of wine, found the opener in a drawer and uncorked it. Then, she turned and slid down the kitchen island, bottle in hand. Hefting it to her lips, she downed a few hearty swallows of Cabernet.
When her phone rang from the other room, she brightened. Maybe it’s Keys. Still clutching the bottle, she lunged to her feet and staggered toward the front room. Without glancing at the number, she slid the connect button to the right. “Hello?” she said breathlessly.
“Hey, girl. Is Keys there?” Gia said.
Mia slumped onto the sofa. “No. I think I just broke up with him.”
“Oh, God.” Gia’s words landed like shards of glass in Mia’s ears. “How was he when he left?”
“Crushed. Defeated. Destroyed. Should I go on?” Mia squeezed back the pain in her eyes and twirled with a lock of her hair.
Gia’s voice sped into Mia’s ear.
“You need help. You both need a friend. Everything’s gone to the dogs. I’m going to send Trevor over to Keys’ house, and you’re coming over to hang with Brutus and me, got it?”
Mia looked around wildly like someone would burst through the walls any second. “But, I…I…” I’m afraid to leave my castle.
“No questions. It’s been decided. Get your ass over here now,” Gia said.
“I have a bodyguard,” Mia protested. “Zander ordered high-level security placed around the building.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Never mind, bring him over. He can wait outside. Or, have him walk you down to the taxi. Just get over here before you do anything stupid.”
“Okay,” Mia said, weakly. It did sound reassuring to be with a friend. “I’ll see you shortly.”
“Good woman. I’ll be waiting,” Gia said.
After disconnecting her phone, Mia tipped back the bottle and took another bracing swig. Then, she picked up her coat off the floor and weaved to the front door. Next, she grabbed her small purse and slung it over her shoulder.
In the hall, she gestured to Mike, who stood like a piece of art in her hallway. “I’m going to a friend’s. Walk me down to the taxi.”
Mike glanced at the wine clutched in her hand. “Not with this,” he said, reaching for the bottle.
“Fine,” Mia said, swishing her hand over her head. She grabbed onto Mike’s bulky forearm to keep from falling.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to go anywhere?” Mike said, steadying her.
“Of course. My friend Gia is waiting for me. You take me to the taxi, and I get in. Friend greets me outside her apartment. Done deal. I’ll be safe and sound.” She patted his cheek, then lurched toward the elevator.
Mike pursed his lips and hustled by her side.
As she stood in the black and gray lift across from Mike, zooming toward the lobby, another onslaught of tears flooded her face. “Have you ever loved someone and lost them?” she blubbered.
The Key to Love Page 23
