“Oh, come on. I’m not hiding you in a closet. This lounge has a big screen TV, video game systems, a pool table, a fridge. Believe me, I know how well these things are stocked. What else do you want?”
“Nothing!”
“So what’s the problem?”
“You!”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
“How?”
“Just… Gah! Never mind!”
“Naomi…”
“Stop saying my name!”
“Okay, it’s just… God, Naomi I don’t—”
”I said, stop! I hate you, Uncle Julian. I fucking hate you!”
I press into the wall as a preteen girl in black shoots from the room and storms down the hall.
“Naomi! Fuck!” Julian hisses, following her out a second later. He doesn’t see me as he stares after her, his fingers clenched in his hair like I saw earlier when he looked at his phone. His chest rises and falls in a heavy sigh, his eyes tired and confused as he fixes them on something in the distance. He tugs hard at his hairline before dropping his arm to his side where it hangs from slouched shoulders. That strange hurt from earlier floods into his face, draping his entire body and transforming him into something else.
In this moment, he’s been openly possessed by a person he must be fighting to hide.
I can’t breathe as I watch in awed silence. My fingers twitch with the need to reach out, to fix something I don’t even understand and know he’d never want to share with me. He might as well be buck-ass naked for the intrusive glimpse I’m getting of his stripped-bare soul.
He turns to move back into the room and freezes mid-step. His eyes land on me, still welded against the wall like a sconce. They widen in surprise, then horror before his gaze darts down the hall and back to me.
“Shit,” he mutters. “How much… Fuck!” His hand returns to his hair, and an alarming impulse to free it and soothe his clenched fist surges through my stomach. I swallow it, as horrified at the thought of wanting to comfort him as he is to find me spying.
“Uncle Julian? So that’s your niece?”
He sighs, shaking his head, then nodding. “Yeah. It’s… complicated. Look, I know I owe you an explanation and an apology, but I have to… deal with that. So, can we raincheck on the bickering?”
His lopsided smile shoots through my chest, straight to my heart. Jarring. Yes, I’m jarred as I absorb this unexpected new version of him.
“Sure. But…” I’ll blame the jarring for my next statement. “They really need you at rehearsal. How about I find your niece and hang with her for a little so you can practice. What’s her name?”
His look matches how I feel. A WTF the size of Kansas at my offer. I’m already retracting when those dark lashes fan over pleading brown eyes. “Really? You’d do that? Even though…” He stops, those haunting eyes finishing the thought. Even though I’m a total asshole?
Yes, Julian, I would, because Viv and her dream are worth more than you and your asshole-ness.
I only nod, though, nervous about what might come out of my mouth right now. It could be anything from “I despise you” to “stop looking at me like that because it makes me want to rip off your shirt and tackle you.” What?! I blink through another round of emotional roulette.
“Thanks, Hadley. Really. I…” His hand brushes my sleeve before he cringes and shoves his fingers in his back pockets like they’re being punished. What was that? My pulse picks up when his eyes flicker to mine again. “I know you’re not a big fan of me. I accept that, but I swear to you, I want this band thing to happen. More than anything. I need it to happen, so doubt anything you want about me, but don’t doubt that.”
You know what I really hate? How the thing I’m doubting the most right now is myself.
Once I’m free of Julian’s confusing presence, the reality of what I offered to do comes crashing down. Find and babysit the mini-hurricane that came blustering by. If her uncle can’t handle her, what hope do I have?
As a middle child, I have some experience with preteen angst when my younger sister entered (and never left) that phase. While my brother and sister were vying for spotlights, I did my best to avoid them. I had no interest in drama, a fact that has left me isolated from my celebrity family and made me the perfect companion for Viv. I understand her world, while having no interest in being a part of it.
I love the fact that I can go to a store and not be stopped, that I don’t have to worry if my roots are showing more than they should or my makeup isn’t as crisp as it could be. I hate Viv’s world for her, which is why I work so hard to protect her from it as much as I can. Her boyfriend Oliver is the same, and together we’ve finally managed to help Viv recalibrate her life onto a healthy, sustainable trajectory. Which is why… so help you, Julian Campbell, if you mess this up for her.
There’s no Plan B, so if that means I need to babysit a kid for a few hours to protect Viv’s dream, then I babysit a kid for a few hours. It wouldn’t even be in the top fifty of the weirdest tasks I’ve done over the last five years in my mission to assist and shield my friend. The money doesn’t hurt either, but honestly, I’m wired to be a protector. A fixer. I’d probably do this job for free, much to the chagrin of my “successful” family.
Crap, what was the girl’s name again? Nadia? No. Na… Na… Naomi!
I remember it right as I catch movement through the glass doors of the main entrance. A slight form dressed in all black balances on a decorative stone wall in front of the building. Her legs dangle over the ledge, her heels crashing against the wall with each absent arc.
I push into the sunlight, and she doesn’t notice me approach, probably because of the music blasting in her ears. Ducking slowly, I enter her line of sight and wave. The girl’s eyes lift to me in surprise before she manages to convert them to irritation. I wish I could say her pretentious reaction was any different than what I get from my sister who’s a decade older.
“Can I help you?” she asks, ripping an earbud from her ear.
“Naomi, right?”
The surprise flickers back, maybe a hint of concern. Her gaze shoots to a vehicle in the neighboring lot, and I wonder if that’s Julian’s.
“Why? I’m not hurting anyone. Just sitting here.”
I smart from the defensive tone of her voice, a dull ache forming in my stomach as her eyes shift into fear. What happened to this poor girl?
“I know. I’m just here to hang out. I’m pretty bored. What about you?”
“How do you know my name?”
“Your Uncle Julian. My boss is in his band. Viv Hastings?”
Her eyes widen a bit, and I breathe a small sigh when she adjusts in a way that indicates I’m welcome to sit. I take advantage of the invitation before she can change her mind.
“Viv Hastings? She used to be Genevieve Fox, right?”
I nod and cross my legs over the edge of the wall. “Yep. But now she wants to take a different direction with her music and career. She’s really excited to work with your uncle. He’s very talented.”
The girl shrugs. “I guess. I wouldn’t know.”