Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 67(@200wpm)___ 53(@250wpm)___ 44(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 67(@200wpm)___ 53(@250wpm)___ 44(@300wpm)
“Anyway, I saw you staring at the television and came to do damage control, but I need to make a few calls.” Sasha stood just as the break room door creaked, indicating someone was walking in.
“Guess who came to visit!” At the unexpected sound of her brother’s voice, Cassidy spun around.
She squealed and ran for Axel, flinging her arms around his neck. “I missed you!” As the Original Kings’ drummer, he’d been traveling with Dash and the band. “What are you doing in New York?”
Axel set her down. “I grabbed a free twenty-four hours and came to see Tara,” he said of his veterinarian wife.
“Hi, Axel,” Sasha said with a smile. “Good to see you.”
He treated her to a grin. “Always nice to see you, too.”
Sasha tipped her head toward the door. “I was just going back to my office. You two catch up.” She waved and walked out of the room.
“I can’t believe you’re here! Was Dash able to get away, too?” Cassidy asked, excitement filling her at the prospect, and she looked past Axel to the empty doorway.
Her brother shook his head as he slid his leather jacket off his broad shoulders and hung it over the back of a chair. “There’s a lot of backstage drama going on and Dash has been handling it.”
She narrowed her gaze. “What kind of drama? Because if the tabloids are to be believed, he’s busy with Peyton.” Cassidy despised the bitterness in her tone. It wasn’t like her, and the only reason she was feeling insecure was the damned media hammering home Dash’s supposed infidelity.
Axel met her gaze and shook his head. “No, Cass. Just no,” he said, obviously talking about her husband and the young rock star. “It’s ugly drama we’re trying to keep under the radar until the tour ends. Dash will explain when you two talk, I’m sure.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Make that if we talk. Neither one of us has had the time. He’s called away; I’m needed on set.” She sighed. “It’s hard to hear the gossip and see the photos, Ax.”
He pulled her into a hug. “Dash would rather be here with you. Trust me, if I thought otherwise, I’d rip out his vocal cords, the band and the money be damned.”
She grimaced at the visual, but she believed her overprotective brother and relaxed for the first time since hearing the gossip-based news.
Axel had been her rock since their parents passed away in a car accident when she’d been five and Axel seven. They’d gone to live with their grandmother, who they’d lost to cancer when Axel had been eighteen. He’d taken over as Cassidy’s guardian when she was sixteen-year-old. As a result, she and her brother were tight. If Dash was cheating, Axel would tell her and blow up the band, just as he’d said. He would have no qualms about violating bro-code; his loyalty was always with Cassidy first.
“Dash also has a photo shoot today he couldn’t get out of or he’d be here. He tried,” Axel assured her.
Cassidy let out a rough breath.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“I do. Thank you.”
He held out his hand and she bumped his fist with hers. “You and me first,” he reminded her.
She nodded. “You bet.”
He changed the subject to Tara’s business and the new doctor she’d hired because the practice was growing. Whatever was happening on tour, Axel obviously didn’t want to talk about it. Cassidy would just have to make time to discuss it with him and see that he did the same. Whatever the issue was, she would support him fully in whatever way she could.
She turned her attention back to her brother. “Where are your constant companions?” she asked of the dogs, Walter, his and Tara’s shelter adoptee, and Dakota, their Samoyed. Axel had once borrowed Xander’s golden retriever, Bella, to win over Tara, and when he was in town, he never went anywhere without their pets.
“I flew in last night, surprised Tara, and spent the night with her. She was called into emergency surgery and I spent the morning with the dogs. I’m here to see you before I leave for the airport again in a couple of hours. Can we grab a bite to eat?” he asked.
“We sure can.” Cassidy smiled. “You do realize your wife is a lucky lady?” With one night free from a concert, he’d traveled across the country to see the woman he loved.
“Nah. I’m the lucky one. Now come on. Let’s go eat. Food makes everything better.” Axel picked up his jacket again and hooked it over a finger, wrapping his free arm around Cassidy’s waist and leading her out the door.
She spent a couple of hours with her brother, listened to the funny band stories, and ate away her worries. Axel settled her into her ride to the movie set where she was needed, and he left for the airport.