Rocking Kin (Lucy & Harris, #3) - Terri Anne Browning Page 0,31

his knees right there in front of me on that damn stage—singing for me and only me in a building full to capacity.

Without thinking, I took a step closer, my eyes still trapped in his. The song was slowly coming to its end and my heart was in my throat as I took one tiny step at a time until we were right there in front of each other, mere inches separating us. The last guitar chord was slowly echoing into nothingness and the entire club was suddenly silent as if everyone were holding their breath while Jace continued to hold my gaze hostage.

“Kin,” he began, his voice rough and full of emotions I didn’t want to know about.

Lifting my hand, I slapped him across the face as hard as I could. His head snapped back and my hand fell to my side, stinging like I’d just thrust it into a flaming pit, but I relished the physical pain. A red outline of my handprint blazed on his cheek, and the crowd around us was so stunned no one dared speak. Angry tears started to fill my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

“Fuck you, Jace.”

Soft hands wrapped around my waist and I turned with just the smallest of urgings from Lucy. “Let’s go sit upstairs, babe,” I heard her murmur.

“Ice,” I thought I heard Harris say to another waitress as they both led me upstairs.

My hand felt like it was blistering, it was still stinging so bad, but I relished that pain as Lucy pushed me down onto a leather couch in a back corner of the VIP floor. Feeling pain meant I was alive. The pain that had weighed down my heart for so long now hadn’t won and I actually felt like I could take a deep breath for the first time since I had stepped foot in California.

It was with that thought that a grin teased at my lips and an actual laugh escaped me as Lucy pressed an ice pack to my red palm. “Can I do that again?” I murmured as I glanced over at her.

Harris dropped down onto the couch beside her, his aquamarine eyes dancing with humor. “Maybe next time. He’s got a job to do tonight, and I have a packed club who will riot if he doesn’t finish up the show.”

“Next time,” Lucy agreed with a wicked grin as she scooted back against Harris so she was facing me more. “Feeling better?”

I shrugged. “Better than I have in a long time, babe. It was kind of cathartic.”

“Good,” she laughed. “Now let’s have a good time.” Her gaze went to the man standing in the corner and she waved Marcus over. “I think we will be here for the rest of the night. You can relax and get yourself a drink.”

Marcus glanced from Harris and then back to Lucy before nodding his head once and heading over to the VIP bar to get himself a glass of soda. Moments later he settled into an empty chair not far from our couch. It was positioned so he could keep his eyes firmly on Lucy, but offered her some space and privacy so she could be herself.

Harris draped an arm along the back of the couch and lifted his beer to his lips. “This is nice. I’m glad you came, Lu.”

“Yeah,” she murmured as she glanced up at him. “Me too. Other than Kin nearly breaking her hand, it’s been a great night. Tainted Knights have some killer potential.”

“Emmie thanks so. As soon as their contract is up with me, she has big plans for them.” He took another swallow of beer before turning those awesome eyes on me. “Speaking of future plans… I had two people call me this morning about you. One wants to talk to your agent about the song you performed last night. The other wants to know if you have any more they could hear.”

All thoughts of Jace, the bullshit I had to face at home, and the pain in my hand disappeared. “Are you serious?” I meant to ask it in a calm voice, but it came out nearly hysterical. No way. There was no way he was telling the truth. No one would want to talk about my song.

Right?

“I don’t kid around about things like that, Kin. These guys are some of the biggest names in the music world. I told them I’d pass their names and numbers along to you.” He pulled something from