Celebrity Status (currently being revised to 1st person) Walk of Fame-- Book 1

Chapter Thirty

Charlie sat up and forward, far too quickly. A searing pain wound its way through her chest. She made a face and cursed. "What? He can't cancel the tour! That's ridiculous."

Robbie nodded. "Says you, me, Sawyer, Lane. After you passed out, he went berserk. I've never seen him like that, anyway yesterday afternoon he told us that you were more important to him than the music."

Panic gripped her. "Robbie, no! Please, you have to stop him. He can't stop making music. Especially because of me. What about the rest of you? He's wiping out everything you guys worked for."

Robbie shrugged. "Well yeah, but loyalty comes first. Even before music. We have to stick with him."

"He's been dreaming about this for his entire life," she said. "He can't give it up for me."

Robbie's smile faded as his lips formed a thin, straight line. He wound his fingers together and placed his thumbs on his temples. His shoulders arced as if he was forcing himself to take deep, heavy breaths. She'd known Robbie almost as long Sebastian, there was more to tell.

"Spit it out, Robbie," she ordered.

"Nothing more to tell."

"Liar!" Charlie accused. "Tell me, or I swear to God, I'm getting up, walking out of here and I'll find out for myself."

His eyes narrowed as his furrowed brows cast shadows over them. "You wouldn't."

Charlie raised her own eyebrows and pulled back the covers, placing her good hand over the IV to indicate that she'd have no qualms about ripping it out. "Wanna make a bet?"

He shifted in his seat, nervous, probably trying to decide if he should call her bluff. She gave it a small tug for show, even though it hurt. Robbie threw his hands up. "Okay! Stop! I'll tell you, just don't do anything like that, Sebastian would kill me."

Charlie leaned back in the bed, removing her hand from the vicinity of the IV, letting Robbie breathe a sigh of relief.

He leaned forward. "Well, it's no secret the guys at Moody are dicks."

"Right," she nodded.

"Well, they're bigger dicks than we ever gave them credit for. Sebastian told them he quit but apparently we signed a deal with the devil when we all crossed the t's and dotted the i's on that contract."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What does that mean?"

"Don't get mad," he said. "If you do, you're gonna get all worked up and probably have your blood pressure spike or something, and I'd never hear the end of it."

"Fine," she agreed. It was stupid to promise not to feel a particular emotion, but she'd keep them in check.

"Moody thinks this," he motioned across her body with his hand, "is the best thing that could have happened. They think that McKenzie's meltdown and Sebastian's girlfriend being shot right after he told everyone he loved you couldn't provide better publicity. It's in all the papers, in the news, it was even on Entertainment Tonight. That scumbag Bennett said we're getting millions of dollars worth of free advertising."

Her mind flipped like a rolodex about the impact this publicity would have for Bach's Revenge. If Sebastian continued the tour while the news was fresh, the limelight would only continue. People would know who the band was, they would buy tickets just to see the boy she almost died for.

She sighed. "The scumbag Bennett, he's right."

"I know Charlie, they're just gold digging-" Robbie started, and then stopped. "Wait. What did you just say?"