Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Wishing that Axel never left.
Wishing that Ezra never broke me to pieces.
And wishing that he never even looked my way.
4
Ezra
The flight from Australia to the U.S. has never been my favorite, even in our private jet. But add the torture of being scolded by management for two straight hours while nursing the worst fucking hangover, and it’s practically hell. Not to mention Rock’s inability to quit drumming against the table, but after so many years, it’s a noise one must become accustomed to.
It’s almost a fourteen-hour flight, and we’re barely past the halfway mark. If it weren’t for the knowledge that Axel is currently on the phone with Raleigh while sitting directly opposite me, I probably would have crashed by now.
Something is wrong.
The moment she accepted his call and he started twisting his ring around his finger, I knew it.
His whole tone changed, and he was on high alert, but the questions spewing out of his mouth were the worst. “What the fuck did you just say, Raleigh? What are you talking about? Did someone touch you?”
I swear to whatever greater power exists, if some motherfucker put his hands on that girl, I’ll tear him to shreds. Just the image has me fucked up. My fingers curl into tight fists, and my nails cut into my palms, but it only lasts a moment before Axel relaxes enough for me to realize that whatever she said to him, he’d taken it the wrong way.
Raleigh is fine. At least, physically. Just because she hasn’t been hurt doesn’t mean she’s doing well, and by the way Axel slouches in his seat, it’s pretty damn clear we’re thinking the same thing. She’s hurting, and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.
He gets up to pace the length of the jet as he chats to Raleigh, and as I do my best to ignore him and the too-soft mumble of her voice coming through the silence, I scrawl meaningless words in my notebook, hoping that one of these days, the pain might subside for just a moment to feel normal.
“Devil Spawn?” he questions, pausing his pacing. A subtle smirk flitters across his lips as his gaze lands on me. “Right.”
Great. Suppose I have a new nickname now. It’s fitting though. I can see why she’d refer to me as the devil spawn. It’s not as though I’ve left her with anything good, only heartbreak, longing, and anger.
The moment Axel wraps up his call with Raleigh, I’m finally able to concentrate on the words before me, and after writing “Devil Spawn” at the top of the page, I start stringing the words into lyrics.
Axel sits in broody silence opposite me. He doesn’t say a word, simply stares at his hands as waves of tension roll off him. I consider asking him about the conversation, but where Raleigh is concerned, I purposefully keep out of it. It’s a touchy subject between us. He was always down with us being together . . . kind of. We were never officially together, but no matter how I look at it, she was mine, and I was hers. He saw that she was happy, and that’s all he ever wanted for her, but our decision to leave . . . fuck. I know we made the decision as a group, but he hates that my leaving tore her to shreds. Fuck, I hate it too.
“I think I need to go see her,” he finally says.
I lift my gaze, my brows furrowed. Don’t get me wrong, he loves his little sister. She’s the sun in his sky, but he goes out of his way not to visit her, especially during tour because all it does is fuck with everyone involved. “After the tour, you mean?”
He shakes his head, a heaviness clear in his eyes, and I fear the words teetering on the edge of his lips. “Nah. The second we land, I’m taking off. She’s not coping right now. College is kicking her ass, and her professor just accused her of trying to get a free ride because she’s my sister. She was bawling her fucking eyes out. You know her, man. That’s not her. Something bigger is going on, and whatever it is, she’s keeping it from me. As long as I’m away, I’ll never get to the bottom of it. I just need . . . a week, maybe.”
My eyes widen in horror as my stare collides with Axel’s. “The fuck?”
Raleigh Stone doesn’t cry. The girl I knew would sooner die than let anyone see her fall apart, and for her to break like that over a simple phone call . . . Axel is right. Something’s going on.
“Yeah,” he says in agreement. “I think she’s just having a rough time. At least, I hope that’s all it is. All I know is that whatever she’s holding back, it’s fucking with her head, and I can’t stand it. I need to get to the bottom of it. I won’t be able to focus on the rest of the tour if I don’t sort this shit out. She’s my world, man. She’s all I’ve got, and if she’s not doing okay . . . I can’t worry about her like that when we’re on tour. I need to know she’s alright. I mean, fuck, man. What if something happens and I’m across the fucking globe?”