The Girl's Got Secrets (Forbidden Men #7)(118)

“This, uh, this is my cousin Tomás. Big T. He’s agreed to be my assistant tonight. You might remember him. He played the guitar at Casta?eda’s when you were there and I sang...” She didn’t bother to finish the explanation, as if she feared the reminder would pique my temper.

I nodded to Tomás, refusing to believe it was relief ballooning in my chest as my tensed muscles relaxed. “How’s it going?”

He sent me a head bob in return. “?Qué pasa?”

Forgetting him, I turned back to Remy. “What’s wrong?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Wrong? Why do you think anything’s wrong?” She darted her cousin a quick glance before she turned back to me. Then she sniffed as if my question were completely ridiculous. “We’re fine. Go back to your friends and have fun.” She even nudged my arm to get me to move along. “I’m sure they hate me enough already without me hogging any of your time away from them.”

I resisted her nudging. “What makes you think they hate you?”

“Well...” Her brow knit with confusion. “You hate me, so wouldn’t they hate me too, in loyalty to you? Besides, I also lied to them about who I really was. It seems only logical.”

I opened my mouth to tell her I didn’t hate her. But then stopped myself. Was I supposed to hate her after telling her I never wanted anything to do with her again, after publically rejecting her the way I had last night?

An uncomfortable feeling slithered up my spine. Uncertainty and guilt mixed with longing. As much as I wanted to hold on to my anger and hurt, I really couldn’t outright hate her. Had I been too hasty to completely turn her away? Damn it, I didn’t like this sensation of wanting to be closer to her and yet not trusting anything I wanted.

So I settled with telling her, “They don’t hate you. If anything, they’re rooting for you and think I should forgive you already.”

“Really?” Her face lit with excitement as she brought her hands to her chest and glanced across the bar. “Aww...I love your friends. You know, you should listen to them. They have your best interest at heart.”

I couldn’t help it, I cracked a smile. But then I faltered. Damn it. I didn’t want to be charmed by her. Remy had betrayed me in one of the most embarrassing, demeaning ways possible. Curling my grin into a snarl, I said, “Stop changing the subject. What’s really wrong?”

She scowled back and made a sound of frustration. “Seriously, how could you tell anything was wrong?”

Because I’d seen Sticks distressed before, and Remy was showing similar behavior now. “What’s wrong?” I repeated.

Her shoulders deflated as she scowled at me and reluctantly admitted, “I can’t get the sound system to turn on.”

My brows furrowed. “Have you tried the main power switch?”

I usually kept it on because it had a sleep mode, and I didn’t recall turning it off last night after karaoke, but I didn’t remember much from last night, and with my forgetfulness...anything was possible.

As I reached for the switch, Remy scowled. “Oh, gee. Why didn’t I think of that idea? Yes, I flipped the damn power switch!”

I grinned because her response was so typical Sticks. It made me miss my friend. But my grin fell when the system didn’t respond to my command.

“And the plug-in,” I started, only to stop when Remy sent me a glare. “Of course you checked to make sure it was plugged in,” I answered for her, checking the cord anyway. “Maybe the connection came loose at the other end or something.”

I had a feeling she’d already checked the connections at the other end as well because she sighed and folded her arms over her chest as she watched me grasp the plugged-in end and follow the cord to—shit.

The cord came off in my hand, the rest of it...not there.

“Holy f*ck,” Remy murmured in surprise, leaping forward to see the neatly cut wire I held. “Okay, that I did not see.” I looked up into her shocked eyes as she shook her head as if apologizing for missing it. Then she gasped. “Omigod, you don’t think I did this, do you?”

“What?” I shook my head, not expecting that conclusion at all. “No.”

Her shoulders fell with relief. “Good, because I totally didn’t.” Then a thought struck her because her forehead crinkled as she studied the cut cord. “You know, this is just like the fuel line to your motorcycle, cut neatly in two.” Eyebrows lifting, letting me know she had another conspiracy theory brewing in her head, she pointed. “Someone is clearly out to mess with you. I still think it’s your dad.”

I sighed. Yes, she was definitely Sticks in there, paranoid about my old man and everything. “How is this out to get me?” I lifted the cord. “This was done clearly against Pick.”

Oh, shit. Pick. He needed music at his reception, or he was going to flip out because his vision of dancing with Eva to “Baby Love” wouldn’t happen. We needed music. Fast.

“But Pick is your brother.” Remy seemed determined to argue with me. “And he’s like...” She waved out a hand. “Close to you now. The worst way to hurt you would be for someone to go after the ones you loved, right? And Pick is about the only person you really love, isn’t he?”

The question made me pause. I did love Pick, didn’t I? And I’d loved Mozart, who was now gone, and I was more certain now than ever that I hadn’t left his cage open. But were those really the only two people I loved? My gaze traveled to Remy’s concerned brown eyes, and I couldn’t answer.