CHAPTER 45

ALICIA

“Excellent news.” Gerry barged into my office wearing a smile wider than horizon behind me. “The boys are back in town.”

“Jared and Caleb are back? Do I need to go pick them up from the airport?” I was bursting to see Jared, even if I still hadn’t heard a thing from him.

These last few days had dragged by without him. Life was so much more fun with him in it. More than that, I didn’t want any more days without him there, even if it was just to do the boring stuff with him. I wanted to read the news with him by my side and joke around while making coffee. Ordinary stuff, but I wanted that with him.

As confusing as our relationship could be, that much had become clear to me. Jared was someone I wanted in my life. Whatever that meant.

“Not necessary,” Gerry told me. “They’re home already. They got in last night.”

My eyes bugged at the same time my heart sank and a tiny spear of hurt stabbed my gut. “They’ve been home since last night?”

“Yup,” he said cheerfully. “Caleb got discharged yesterday, and they got the first flight they could out of New York.”

“Oh.” I didn’t really know what else to say. I’d been looking forward to him getting back, thinking he would talk to me or at least let me know when they left the hospital. Obviously, I’d thought wrong since he hadn’t done either of those things.

“The rest of Destitute has just arrived.” He leaned against the door frame, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. “I asked the Larsens to come in, too, but I thought we should have a meeting before they get here. We need to hit refresh on their recording times and hammer out some new dates for their album release. We’ll also need to talk about how we’re going to handle Caleb’s hospitalization in the press if the boys get asked about it. Thought you should probably be there for that.”

“Thanks.” Of course, I should be there for that. I was their public relations agent. I already had my strategies worked out for them. I just wasn’t planning on getting into it on the first day the Larsens got back.

Caleb had only just gotten out of the hospital. I wasn’t going to be scheduling interviews for them for at least a couple of weeks, so I thought it was best to give them a bit of time to breathe.

Gerry, however, had other plans. He rapped against the door and then straightened out. Flashing me a forced grin, he turned to leave. “No problem. If you’d like to join us for this, we’d better get to it. The guys will be getting restless soon.”

“Sure.” Pushing back on my chair, I followed him to the conference room where the others were gathered. The clear glass walls of the room could be turned opaque by the push of a button, and the first thing I noticed was that Gerry had arranged for our privacy. This wasn’t something that happened often at our offices.

People who worked here were so used to the famous clients represented that they didn’t think twice about seeing them around. Security to enter the building was tight. It was one place no one had to hide who they were.

We aimed to create a safe space here for people who were always being hounded to relax and do what they needed to do without unnecessary interruptions even if they were doing it in the open. If we were strategizing about things that needed to be kept confidential and would be using presentations or the digital whiteboards available, then we would use the privacy setting.

It made me wonder what Gerry had up his sleeve for this meeting. Maybe I was reading too much into it, though. Maybe he purely wanted to give them privacy for their reunion. Tensions were bound to be high since, as far as I knew, Jared also hadn’t kept them updated about Caleb’s condition.

From Jared’s side, I was pretty sure there was going to be more yelling about them getting Caleb so drunk, he had to be hospitalized to begin with. Coming to think about it, it kind of made sense for him to be using the privacy setting.

Shaking my worry and a nagging feeling I couldn’t place from my mind, I walked into the conference room after him. Destitute, minus the Larsens, started talking all at once when we entered.

“Are they here?” Dominic asked. He was sitting up straight, and his voice had a demanding tone to it I wasn’t used to from him.

At the same time, Nick turned from where he’d been standing at the window and looking out over the stormy ocean. The weather had been deteriorating all morning, and the troubled sea, darkened by the tinted office windows matched Nick’s eyes. “Is Caleb okay? Why haven’t they talked to us?”

Matt was seated on the far side of the table with a thoughtful expression and a small frown. His voice was quieter than the others, but I knew better than to mistake him for being any less worried. “Where are they?”

“Boys.” Gerry’s voice boomed, slicing through the heavy atmosphere in the room. His lips curved into an assuring, mildly condescending grin that immediately set me on edge. “They’re fine. Everything will be fine. They’ve arrived back in LA, and they’ll be here shortly.”

Dom’s eyes narrowed. “Treat me like a fucking child for one more second, and I’m walking out of here. What’s really going on, Gerry?”

“Jared requested this meeting,” Gerry told him, shrugging. “I wanted to speak to you all anyway, so I thought I’d save time by asking you in early.”

“What’d you need to talk to us about?” Nick crossed his arms, his spine ramrod straight.

A chair scraped against the floor as Gerry pulled it out and sat down. He attempted another smile. “The album, of course. Before we get into that, would anyway like some coffee?”

“Fuck coffee,” Matt said. His posture was rigid as the other two. They were all dressed much the same as they always were, casually but with an unmistakable “I’m a rock star” thing they couldn’t seem to shake.

It was just a part of them, of who they were. The tattoos, jewelry, dark colors, hair, attitudes, everything about them screamed that they were different. Like my sister would say, it screamed that they belonged to a different class of human than us mere mortals.

Barely managing to suppress an eye roll at even the thought of the argument Kelly and I had so often, I turned my attention back to the group. Though they were dressed as usual, there were small changes in each of them you wouldn’t pick up if your eye weren’t as trained as mine.

Tense jaws, locked shoulders, not a hint of a smirk or joke, an undercurrent of solemnity flowing between them. All was not well in the family Destitute, and that was what they were after all, a family. A band in the eyes of the world, a family between themselves.

Matt was known for his laid-back, carefree way and Nick for his devil-may-care attitude toward just about everything, but none of those things could be said for them today. Today, they cared. Deeply.

Gerry turned his gaze on each of them in turn and then, abandoning the false reassurances, acknowledged the atmosphere in the room. “I know you’re all worried. They haven’t told me anything other than that they were back and wanted to meet. That’s all I know.”

“Have there been any more reports about Caleb in the media?” Dominic flicked his intense gaze to me.

I shook my head. “Some outlets are speculating about his admission to the hospital, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary or unexpected. I’ve got it under control.”

He nodded and looked back to Gerry. “And the label? What’s happening with recording the album? We’re already behind, but Caleb’s health is more important. If—”

“I’ve smoothed everything over with them. You’re going to have to take getting back into the album slowly, and they understand that.”

“Do they?” Matt lifted a brow. He didn’t look convinced. “Because if Caleb needs more time to recover, we’re giving him that.”

Gerry nodded his agreement. “That’s fine, guys. Everyone agrees his health is our first priority. You can all relax.”

“Relax?” Nick scoffed, his eyes turning to slits. “He was in the hospital for days, Gerry. Days. That’s more than a run to the emergency room. Plus, there’s been nothing but radio silence from them. We’ll relax once we know he’s okay.”

“I understand,” Gerry said, but I didn’t think he did. These guys were super protective of each other, as much as they disagreed and as often as they argued about things. Just like real brothers, they didn’t always get along, and they didn’t smile politely and move past issues like you would with some friends or even strangers.

I’d known these guys for a few months now, and I’d worked with them reasonably closely and very often, yet I’d never seen them as attentive as they were in this conversation. They were focused and drinking in every word. I could see they weren’t at ease yet and wouldn’t be until they were reunited with the other two.

But it wouldn’t hurt to try. I didn’t smile or make any promises about anything. “Let’s get real for a minute before they get here. We don’t know what Caleb went through or how he is, but we know he was well enough to be released. That says a lot.”

No one answered, but I had the attention of everyone in the room, so I carried on. “We’ll be able to make more concrete plans once they get here. The reality is the album already has been, and probably will be, pushed back. But that’s not a problem. No release dates have been made public, so we won’t have to deal with any rumors about releasing late, and even if we do, then so be it.”

Dominic tilted his head and nodded slowly. Nick had started pacing by the window, but he stopped and leaned against it now while Matt held up his hand for a high five. “You’re a kick-ass chick, you know that?”

I slapped his hand and gave him a small smile. “Thank you, but I’m not just saying all this. I’m being serious. We can only bat whatever comes our way when we know where to swing, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Albums get pushed back all the time. It’s not anything to worry about.”

“The important thing,” I said when no one interrupted, “is that Caleb is okay, and he and Jared are back. You guys are a family first, band second. I can see it in all of you. Let’s focus on getting your family healthy and back together and take it from there.”

For the first time since I entered the conference room, the mood lifted. A near silent sigh of relief escaped me, and I hid it by pretending to yawn.

“You’re right, Alicia.” Gerry sat back with a satisfied smirk. “We can deal with anything that comes our way when and if it does. Now, while we wait for the prodigal sons to return, does anyone want to rethink their answer to having some coffee?”

Before any of us could answer him, there was a loud rap at the door and then it swung open. Standing in it, looking as though they were ready to go into some kind of battle, were none other than the Larsen brothers.