Chapter 28

DIANA

Two more weeks together in the studio passed in a wonderful blur. Each day with Levi was a memory I’d hold dearly.

Each night together gave me enough inspiration for more songs than I’d ever have the time to write.

The first time we’d met, I thought Levi was certifiably insane. I’d projected negative thoughts toward him to protect myself from the past.

Despite that, each time I’d lashed out, he took it in stride before knocking out pieces of the wall I’d built up around myself.

He’d held my heart in the palms of his hands, caressing and stroking it back to life until each beat echoed his name.

My bones vibrated, and my blood hummed for each blissful touch of those masterful hands. His fingers on my skin, his lips sealed to mine—he made me want to sing.

Sitting on the couch in his studio, I glanced up from the sheet music in my lap. Levi sat on the other end, plucking random notes on his guitar in search of his tune.

The neon lights reflected in his raven’s feather hair looked like a dark halo on a fallen angel. He was so beautiful.

“Hey, Levi.” I dropped the paper onto the stone center table.

His head snapped up from his instrument, and a heart-stopping smile split his lips.

“Yeah, songbird, what’s up?”

I fiddled with my thumbs in my lap, turning over the thoughts I’d been having for the past couple of weeks. I’d spent hours wrestling with my mind, agonized over those new ideas.

But they thrilled me and gave me hope for a new life too. The hope of getting back a spark I thought I’d lost forever.

“All your band members wear masks when they perform, right? Do you plan on doing that long term?” I asked.

Levi’s brow arched, and he slung an arm over the back of the couch.

“Yeah, they all wear them. They can choose whether they go public about who’s underneath. I imagine we’ll keep up with this shtick. It’s part of our image now,” he said.

“And if Scarlett sings with you, would she wear one?” I breached the topic neither of us had spoken on since Raymond called.

Levi visibly cringed back. He swiped a hand over the back of his neck and sucked a breath between his teeth.

“Not likely. She’s too vain for that. Last time we worked together it was me singing parts in her songs, so it never came up. Plus, Raymond would want her face visible for brand recognition during the shows.”

My teeth trapped my tongue in my mouth as two sides battled for control within me. One part wanted to speak up, and the other dragged me down into silence.

“Why do you bring it up, Dee?” Levi probed gently, reading the tension in my body.

“And if someone not as well-known wanted to sing the parts? Could they wear a mask?” As the question passed my lips, a weight rolled off my chest.

I picked my head up, meeting Levi’s astonished open-mouthed stare. A bright glimmer of hope twinkled in his eyes as he set his guitar down.

He leaned closer, tentatively placing a hand on my thigh.

“If it was someone who I wanted to sing with me more than I wanted air to breathe, then I’d let them wear whatever made them feel comfortable onstage.”

“I’ve been in the dark for so long, and now I—” The front door to the studio banging open interrupted me.

Levi’s head whipped around to the door of the control room, every muscle in his body tensing at the startling intrusion. His fingers on my thigh tightened for a second before the door cracked open.

Raymond scurried through the door, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw me next to Levi.

“Apologies, I didn’t think you’d be here on a Saturday, Diana.”

Levi shot up from the couch.

“What’s this about, Raymond? You can’t show up at my studio unannounced.”

Raymond’s thin brows shot up over the rim of his glasses.

“Unannounced? Didn’t you get my email?”

“I don’t check emails on the weekend, man. You know that,” Levi groaned at his manager.

His eyes flicked between me and Levi, and he sighed.

“Scarlett is going to be here any second to read the music. I thought you saw everything I sent over.”

Levi snarled, tugging his hands through his hair.

“Fuck. My contract with Diana is confidential. Scarlett can’t see her here.”

The world didn’t know that D. Johnson and Diana Winslow were one and the same. If Scarlett Daze saw me here, there was no telling who she might blab to.

“I’m sorry, Levi. I didn’t know you missed the email, or that you and Ms. Winslow were working overtime,” Raymond said.

I rose from the couch and placed my hand on Levi’s back.

“Should I go upstairs until she leaves?”

He whirled on me, grabbing my shoulders.

“No. I don’t want Scarlett here at all.”

The agitation and distress in his eyes bolted through me. I smoothed my hand over his chest, feeling his drumming heart within.

“Levi, it’s okay. We can talk later,” I whispered.

“No.” His grip tightened painfully on my upper arms. “If you were going to tell me what I think you were, then this can’t wait.”

Frantic and wild, he released me and pivoted back to Raymond.

“Tell Scarlett I’m not signing the contract with her. She’s not getting the part. I don’t want to sing with her.”

Stepping closer, I tangled my fingers in the back of his shirt. I could feel the vibrating tension coursing through his entire body. At any second, Levi Stark might explode.

My lips parted to say something that would ease his churning annoyance. Anything I could think of to help him calm down and get through the moment without upheaval.

When Levi wanted something, he got it. And he’d known what I was about to tell him. Getting interrupted on the verge of getting something he’d craved since I walked into his life spun him into turmoil.

Before I had the chance to get any words off my tongue, the door creaked open once again. Brittle pressure blanketed the room as heels clicked sharply on the floor, breaking up the charged silence.

When the clicking halted, I peeked around Levi’s wide shoulder.

Luscious, long waves of crimson hair flowed around her shoulders. Dark red lipstick stained her plump lips. Striking blue eyes glanced around the control room with a familiarity that made my stomach churn violently.

Scarlett Daze stood tall and elegant yet looking down her nose as if she were the most superior creature in the entire world.

In her tight wine-red dress, she placed her hand over her ample chest. A mockery of wounded pride flashed in her eyes when her gaze targeted Levi.

“What’s this about not wanting to sing with me, I hear?” her voice was a vicious purr.

“I don’t understand, Levi. You know we make such sweet music together.”

Her lustful gaze raked down his body, and the intent in her voice told everyone in the room she wasn’t referring to music.

And my heart lurched to a stop mid-beat before plunging through the floor into the abyss beneath my feet.