Chapter 29

DIANA

Levi’s fists curled at his sides, shaking and white-knuckled. The electric tension coursing through him could have powered a battery.

“The position’s been filled. Someone else is going to sing the part,” he gritted out each word through his clenched jaw.

A brief laugh vented through her lips.

“You can’t replace me, babe.” Her thin legs carried her across the floor, and she prodded one pointed red nail into Levi’s chest. “Or have you already forgotten how good we sing together? Do I need to remind you?”

All she’d done was use him the last time he worked with her. Levi told me Scarlett only wanted his body whenever they weren’t onstage. He hated the lack of emotion and the feeling of being nothing more than a toy for her.

Seeing Scarlett in person now, I understood what he meant. In the depths of her eyes, there wasn’t an ounce of genuine feeling. Everything on her face was a mask—she was giving a performance even now.

Jealousy, possession, and a new protective instinct reared to the front of my mind and seized control of me. Before I realized what had happened, I side-stepped Levi and inserted myself into his place.

Scarlett’s eyes rounded, and her perfectly arched brows jerked upward. Her gaze darted over me, taking me in as if she hadn’t realized I was in the room the entire time. Slowly, she dropped her hand, placing both palms on her hips.

“Like Levi said, the position’s been filled. You can’t sway yourself into the job,” I bit out.

Her nose scrunched up. “Excuse you. Do you even know who I am?”

I mimicked her expression, curling my lip and pulling forward every ounce of my disgust. “Um, no. Should I?”

Scarlett scoffed. She looked back at Raymond, then Levi for backup. I wished I had a shovel to scrape her jaw off the floor.

Raymond stood frozen in shock. His eyes were wide, waiting patiently for the outcome before he jumped in.

Levi placed a hand on my shoulder, and the immediate warmth that flowed through me bolstered my confidence. I held my head a little higher and stood a little taller.

Scarlett noted his hand placement and the nonexistent gap between his body and mine. She took a step back, and her shoulders shifted with her visibly growing discomfort.

“Who the hell is she?” she snapped.

“My girlfriend,” Levi answered before I had the chance. His hand on my shoulder drifted lower, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

My hands rose, and I curled my fingers over his forearm. A victorious little smile tugged at the corners of my lips.

Scarlett gaped further. “You can’t be serious. Levi, don’t I ever cross your mind?”

“You sure don’t.” His answer eased the green viper of envy coiling against the back of my skull.

“When you kiss her, when you touch her, I bet I do. You can’t get me out of your head, babe. Does she feel like I did underneath you?” She smoothed her hands down her sides in a motion meant to draw the eyes to her curves.

I couldn’t see Levi’s face over my shoulder, but I had the utmost faith he wasn’t falling for it.

On the other hand, Raymond was quaking in his boots. A lot of new information just landed on his plate, and his beady eyes were spinning in circles.

Scarlett’s filthy statement unleashed the last of my restraint. I wouldn’t stand by and let this woman and her overinflated ego walk all over Levi.

I stepped out from under his arm, targeting her with all the vitriol in my body. “He forgot about you a long time ago, and good riddance. Your vibe is so fucking foul, I could smell your stench around the corner. And this show you’re putting on is a really bad look, by the way. For someone acting so important, you have the personality of a court jester about to get their bells rung.”

Like a striking snake, Scarlett lashed out. Time slowed as I watched her sharply manicured nails flying toward my face.

“Diana!” Levi’s shout was distorted by a buzzing in my ears.

As if coming out on the tail end of dormant instincts, my fist curled and shot forward like a bat out of hell. I ducked Scarlett’s claws, and my knuckles landed squarely against her jaw.

She went reeling back, crying out.

“Jingle, bitch,” I spat at her feet.

Heavy, firm hands latched onto my shoulders. Levi spun me around, staring down at me with something wild and excited in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

Clarity settled back into my mind, my knuckles tingling. I shook out my hand, glancing over my shoulder at the woman staggering in her stilettos. “I am. Wow, I don’t know what came over me,” I answered Levi.

In the background, Raymond tipped forward and wrapped an arm around Scarlett. “We better get you out of here, Ms. Daze.”

“I can’t fucking believe she hit me,” Scarlett squawked.

“Looked like self-defense to me.” With that, Raymond ushered her out the door. Only a second of quiet passed until they exited the studio.

Levi’s ear-to-ear grin at the center of my attention made my stomach dip and flutter. “You’re a rock star’s daughter through and through, huh? That was so hot.”

Out of breath and coming down from the adrenaline high, I vented a quick laugh. “Well, you got into a fight the night we signed our first contract. Seems only fair I get into one for the second.”

His rich, dark eyes rounded into saucers, and his breath hitched. He squeezed my shoulders, massaging my arms as he turned over my statement. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Do you really mean it?”

I braced one hand on his chest, fingers splaying over his fast-paced heart. The other brushed purple strands of hair behind my ear. I smiled wider, nodding vigorously.

“Oh God, I can’t believe this!”

“I’ll sing the parts. But when we start this first tour together, I get one of those shiny metal masks with the little horns on them, all right?” I giggled at the boyish, incredulous look on his face.

Then he was sweeping me up and spinning me around in circles.

“You can have whatever you want, songbird. Ask me for the fucking moon next and I’ll rip it out of the sky for you.”

I threw my arms over his shoulders to maintain my balance. His hands dropped to my waist when he stopped spinning us. I glanced up and sucked in a breath at how close our faces were.

“You’ve made me the happiest man in the world. I fucking love you so much.” His swift admission punched the wind from my body and heated every ounce of my blood.

When his eyes widened, realizing what he’d said, I blurted the words buzzing at the tip of my tongue.

“I love you too, Levi.”

Then his lips crashed into mine.

My body melted into the sweet, heart-wrenching kiss, but my eyes remained wide open at his casual revelation.

My arms tightened around his neck, tugging him closer as he stole the air from my lungs.

I didn’t know how long we stood there kissing, and I didn’t care.

All that mattered was how weightless and golden I felt at that moment.

“Do you really?” he panted when he finally came up for air.

“Of course. I wouldn’t agree to sing with just anyone,” I returned.

Levi Stark towered over me, yet the way he stared at me made me feel a thousand feet tall.

“Then let’s get this show on the road, songbird.”