“I want an emerald centered below it, tinted green. Light enough so that, when I want to add to it, the addition won’t get lost.”

He chuckles. “Whatever you want, man.”

“I may want something else, too.”

“I get paid by the piece, and I got all night.”

I walk out of Forever Steel with Xavier laughing.

“You didn’t just drink the Kool–Aid, man; you fucking did a keg stand on that bitch.”

“Thanks for bringing me. I needed that.” I nod.

“We all do once in a while.” I look down at his arms covered in ink. “Some of us more than others.”

“Yeah, true, true.”

My phone rings and his immediately follows.

“The wife.” He holds up the phone.

I hold up mine. “The queen.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be in early,” I tell him as I walk away.

“Sup, Mads?” I answer my phone. She wants to see me. “Yeah, I’ll be there in twenty.”

***

I pull onto River Street and throw the keys to my new ride to the valet. Dad bought Mads a little, red Beemer, and she kept it. He bought me one, too, and I traded it in for an Escalade. It’s identical to the one I drove in Miami where I purposely fucked with Tales because making her squirm was second best to fucking her raw. Now I know better. There isn’t a second best to her, and no matter what the fuck is going on, I won’t try to find out if there is for a long time.

“Keep it close. I won’t be long.”

I walk in and bee line it for the hotel bar, but as soon as I walk in, I see her sitting there, and she sees me, too. This is no surprise to her, though; it’s not me waiting for an hour outside her apartment so I can remind her I’m still fucking breathing. This is her knocking the wind out of me, so I can’t.

Madison turns and gives me a sad smile, and I shake my head as I walk up to her. I kiss her on the head, turning my back to Tales.

“Where’s the car?”

“In the parking garage.”

“No flat, huh?”

“No.”

“So you lied to me to get me here.” She shrugs. “Don’t you think you should have given me a fucking heads up, Mads? Fuck.”

She nods toward Tallia. “You gonna say hi to her?”

I turn and do my best to act unaffected as I give her a nod. “Tales.”

“Hi,” she whispers, her lower lip popping out a bit.

I look away before I can’t. “So why am I here?” I ask Madison.

“Geesh, you don’t have to be a fucking assh—”

“Madison, don’t,” Tally says sadly.

I look back at her.

“We need to talk.”

“Yeah, well, I’m kind of not in a place to talk right now.” I stare right at her pouty, little lips, remembering the last thing I said to her about them. I think of her dad, hoping it keeps the impending erection at bay.

“I need to tell you something,” she says, looking down at her hands. She’s wringing the hell out of them, and quite frankly, I’m nervous.

“You pregnant?”

She smiles and shakes her head. She then lets out a cute as hell, nervous, little chuckle and looks up at me.

Emerald City has a storm brewing, and it ain’t just a sprinkle.

I pull a barstool up and sit.

“First, promise me you won’t hate me. Even if you do, tell me you don’t so I don’t have to live my life thinking any worse of myself than I already do,” she says as the first tear falls.

“Keep talking, Tales, because right now, I’m ready to rip his fucking head off.”

“Memphis, you asshole, she isn’t fucking anyone.”

I don’t look at Madison. Quite frankly, I wish she would walk away and leave me alone with Tales. Whatever she says to push me away is gonna hurt, and I don’t need the little queen to see that shit.

“Tales, she need to be here?” She nods. “Okay, so you need her for moral support? Just spill it, would ya?”

“I caught Dad in bed with someone when he visited me in Chicago.”

“Right, our dad’s a low life cheat. I get it.”

“I caught my dad kissing someone right before I left for Julliard,” Tales whispers.

“Seriously? Your dad was fucking around, too? Tales, if that’s what this is about … if you’re worried all men are fucking scum, I can promise you—”

“It was your father,” she whispers.

“The person I caught Dad with in Chicago was Tally’s father.”

I feel like I have just been punched in the gut. Like the blonde kid in the movie with the green lighted sword—Luke, that’s his name—when he found out that fucked up black, robot-looking, evil thing was his father. Yeah, I know how the poor son-of-a-bitch felt.

“This is a joke, right?” It has to be. “This is a prank. This is—” I stop when Tales grabs my hand and shakes her head.

“I am sorry for what I did by not telling you.”

I pull my hand back and stare at her. She’s not fucking around.

I look at Mads. “You caught them playing hide the fucking salami?”

Tales giggles, and I whip my head around to glare at her.

“Sorry, it’s just—” Then the storm hits. “I should have told her. I should have told you.”

“But you didn’t, because you wanted the fucking fantasy, just like every other fucking chick I’ve fucked.” I stand up and throw a hundred on the bar. “I’m out.”

I leave, feeling sick to my stomach, pissed off, I wanna destroy something! Then I feel a tug on my hand. Just by a touch, I know it’s her.

“Don’t walk away from me until I have given you the entire truth. If you’re going to hate me, you’re going to do it forever, but don’t you walk—”

I turn, tug her arm, and then walk as quickly as I can to the entrance. People are starting to look, and I don’t need that shit. Don’t want it either. I wanna be left alone to process this, this fucking mess.

Outside, I give the valet my ticket.

“Give me just a minute, sir,” he tells me.

“No, he’s staying for dinner with his sister. Call me a cab.”

My fucking jaw drops at her audacity.

“You think you get to tell me what to do, Tales?”

She shakes her head vigorously. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I am to you. I do know she’s your sister, and she always will be, and …” She stops and grabs my hand. “Two minutes, that’s all.”

When she pulls hard at my hand, I decide to hear her out, just hear what she has to say. I want to know the “more” she thinks will make me hate her.

Once we’re around the building and in the alley, she turns and looks at me. “After I saw them”—my stomach turns—“I kind of got angry and, I guess, confused, too, just like you right now. I … I’m sorry. I don’t know how to say this. I mean, so what, right?” She drops my hand and throws hers in the air. “God, I am so selfish. I—”

Nope, I can’t do this right now. “I need to leave.”

“No! No, you don’t.” There is panic in her voice, and she is fisting her hair in her hands.

I hold back from comforting her because I don’t know how to process all of this.

“Mads … Mads knew and didn’t tell, because she was so afraid you’d lose focus on tour. She was afraid your mother would fall apart, but Memphis, she fell apart. Mads fell apart, and she is still falling.” She slaps her hands on her thighs and starts pacing back and forth. “None of this is fair, and she needs you, and you’re gonna need her, too.”

She spins on her heels and looks at me. “And you starting a tour … I mean, all press is supposed to be good press, but can you handle it, or will you have to prove your sexuality for all of the country?” She squeezes her eyes closed. “Not that it’s any of my business, but please don’t do that to yourself.”

She takes in a deep breath. “I didn’t know who to talk to. I couldn’t talk to Mads, and I sure as hell couldn’t talk to my mom, still can’t. So I just shoved it down deep and let it soak. And, well”—she covers her face—“I got mad that I would never be able to think or even hope that maybe someday you would kiss me again for real and not just because you were drunk. I fantasized about that kiss for years, Memphis, and it just wasn’t fair. God, I must sound so stupid to you.” She resumes her pacing. “So I slept with Jones.”