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.