My fingers shook enough that I fisted them and tucked them under my crossed arms.
“We don’t know anything for sure, but do you know anything else other than drugs that would make him black out and steal a freaking car?”
“What?” I twisted around to stare at Zane. “You stole the car?”
My stomach pitched. Maybe that puking thing wasn’t that far off.
All this was so out of character for him. For God’s sake, I wasn’t sure if he’d even ever lifted a bottle of water from a hotel room.
“I guess?”
“Oh my God. You don’t know?”
“What part of blackout aren’t you getting?” Cooper snapped.
“Don’t yell at me!”
“Don’t ask stupid questions.”
“Pull the fuck over, and let me out.”
“Are you crazy?”
“I don’t know. Am I stupid and crazy now?”
He stepped on the accelerator and got on the highway. “No. You know I don’t think that.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Could have fooled me.”
“More like I’m imagining it was you, dammit.”
And the waterworks flooded my eyes. I hated that crying was my default when everything got overwhelming. I wanted to stuff it down. Wanted to be able to control it all and be calm about this.
I was fine. But it could have been so much worse.
Could have been me.
I turned to stare out the passenger window as I brushed away tears.
“Ah, hell.” Cooper reached across to brush his fingers over my cheek.
I batted his hand away. “Don’t.”
No one spoke, and with each mile, the air got heavier with unease. Were they thinking like me? The whirl of what might have beens, and what still could be?
Zane still had my phone and was searching for details about his wild night. At least I hoped he was still searching. I was pretty sure there weren’t any incriminating photos on my phone.
Incriminating photos. God, that was even worse. Could Priscilla have meant to get some on me, for blackmail? Or even worse? Why would she want to do that to me?
It just didn’t make sense.
“Do you really think she meant it for me?” I asked quietly.
Before anyone could answer, my phone rang.
“Lila.” Zane’s voice was flat as he lifted the phone to his ear. “Hello?”
My stomach pitched again. She had to know. Why was she calling me?
Zane paused as if he was listening, then he cleared his throat. “Right. I’ll put you on speaker.”
“Mr. Dallas, Miss Daly, I wish I could say it was a pleasure to speak with you, but this, in a word, is a clusterfuck. Do you realize what is on the news outlets about Mr. Landry?”
I really hated when she used formal names. It was worse than when my mother used my middle name.
“We’re piecing it together as we go, Lila.” Cooper’s tone was steady and calm. He took my hand and laced our fingers together.
I wanted to pull away. I was pissed at him, but the need for comfort overrode my anger. For now.
“I would like an explanation about why I didn’t receive a phone call about you being arrested, Mr. Landry.”
Zane swallowed audibly. “I didn’t want to bother you. I know you just flew back home last night.”
“That sounds suspiciously like an excuse.” Lila’s voice crackled with ice over the line.
Zane sent me a panicked glance.
“I don’t think he was thinking clearly, Lila.” Surprised at what had come out of my mouth, I blundered on. “He didn’t have any of his belongings and called the number he knew off the top of his head.”
“And why would that prevent Mr. Dallas from contacting me? Or you, for that matter since you two are…together.”
Throw Cooper under the bus, or not—that was the question.
“It’s my fault,” Cooper answered.
“No, it’s not his fault. Completely. We didn’t know what was going on.” Mostly. Pretty close to the truth.
“It was my second call. I panicked.” Unhappiness laced Zane’s words. “I was fuzzy on all the details. I woke up without my phone or my ID. It was a mess.”
“And that’s for me to handle, not Mr. Dallas. Or whomever you called first.”
“Oz.”
Lila waited a beat. I was pretty sure she was trying to shove down her anger. That was Lila. Emotions didn’t enter into anything when it came to doing her job. I could probably count on one hand how many times I’d seen her get emotional about anything regarding work—or us, for that matter.
And lately, we were a pain in the ass. All of us.
“Osmond?”
“I know it sounds bad,” Zane explained. “But he’s been arrested before. I just figured he would know what to do.”
“In the future, Osmond is not the first person you should call.”
Zane leaned forward and put the phone between the front seats. “There will be no second time.”
“That would be correct, because now all of you will have 24/7 bodyguards. No exceptions. I tried to be benevolent last night and let you all have unencumbered fun, despite my earlier directive, but that’s finished. For your own good,” she added.
Cooper gripped the steering wheel so hard I wondered if he’d pull it off. “I can take care of myself.”
“I’m aware of your training, Mr. Dallas. However, you are an asset to Ripper Records, and we need a little more assurance. Mr. Riggs will be at your place when you return. He’ll cover you and Miss Daly until the band leaves for Philadelphia. Mr. Landry, your detail will be at your house. I’m assuming you’ll be dropped home.”
“Yes, I’m bringing him home.” Cooper squeezed my hand once then put both his hands on the wheel. “There’s one more thing. Two, actually.”
“Yes?”
“First of all, we’re heading to the brownstone to check out the damage and see if we can collect some of Teagan’s personal items.”
“Understood. I’ll send Mr. Riggs to her address instead.”
“Thanks. And the second.” His muscles bunched with tension. I reached out to lay my hand on his rock-hard arm. His nostrils flared with that visceral reaction that seemed to always happen when we touched, but the lines bracketing his mouth eased a little into
