Rockstar Romeo - Abbie Zanders Page 0,71

they were oddly at peace with it. Chaz and Dave were stoked about getting to spend more time with their families, and Kurt was easygoing enough to roll with it. We’d had a great run and made a shit-ton of money doing it. We’d become like brothers, and nothing was going to change that. Music would always be a part of our lives, just not on the same grand public scale.

Truth be told, it was something we’d all been thinking about for a while. What had happened with Eva was just the final push I’d needed to bring it up and put it out there for discussion. I hoped it helped Eva see that there was more to me than being the front man for Dark Wing, but if it didn’t, my decision would have been the same. I wasn’t a kid anymore, and I wanted more out of life than the next tour or show. It was time.

I didn’t see Eva at the recording studio, but then, I hadn’t expected to. I showed up every day and went through the motions until we perfected every track. Every track, except one, the one we’d been struggling with. The sad thing was, I now knew what it was missing. I’d subconsciously written that song with Eva’s voice in my head, harmonizing with mine. It was meant to be a duet. A song telling of a love so pure that it could withstand anything.

Even errant assumptions and misplaced, selfless nobility.

Eva doubted me, but I wasn’t ready to give up on her. That was exactly what she expected me to do. To come to the realization that I’d somehow be happier without her by my side.

That wasn’t going to happen.

I walked into Ross’s office, ignoring the repeated chirpings of their shared admin, Cassie, the moment I heard rumblings that he was back in town. Apparently, Black Raven’s tour had been cut short.

“Jace, come in,” Ross said, waving off his flustered PA.

She shot me an annoyed look and closed the door behind me on her way out.

Ross must have come directly from the airport. He was looking a little worse for wear. His hair was longer than it had been the last time I saw him, and it wasn’t slicked back with his usual pomade. Rather than his trademark impeccable, custom-tailored designer suit, he had on jeans, a black T-shirt, and a well-worn leather jacket. I wasn’t sure I would have recognized him in passing.

“Ross. Tough break on the tour.”

Ross gave me a small smile. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. “It was inevitable. Past time really.”

He went over to his well-stocked private bar and held up a bottle in invitation. I nodded.

“So, is it true? Dark Wing is calling it quits?”

“Yes.”

Ross handed me a glass and then went back behind his desk. He dropped down into his leather chair without his characteristic grace and propped his feet up on the surface, the fine detailing of his Italian shoes visible, even from halfway across the spacious office.

“Maybe if I bend over, you can all just fuck me at once and get it over with.”

“It’s not about you, Ross,” I said irritably.

“I know,” he said on a heavy exhale. “In a matter of weeks, that woman has cost me my two highest-grossing clients.” Before I could say something in Eva’s defense, Ross held up his hand. “Don’t say it. Please.”

I clamped my lips shut while Ross downed half his glass and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

“She doesn’t do it on purpose,” Ross said finally, eyes remaining closed, his voice losing its authoritative tone. “Doesn’t even realize she’s doing it.” He laughed. “Fuck, she doesn’t even believe it’s possible. But that woman has a way of making people love her.”

Amen to that, brother. I poured us each another drink, sensing he wasn’t finished.

“First, it was Ian. I think he really did love her, in his own fucked up way. In the beginning, Eva was the very air he breathed. He was talented, but it was Eva’s voice that got them noticed. It was Eva who fed his spirit and his soul, her belief and trust in him so absolute that he couldn’t help but believe in himself and in the band. But then she got pregnant, and the idea of a wife and kids didn’t quite fit the dream. He was so young, so caught up in the fame and adoration, that