Page 25 of Holding On

“What the fuck!? Rick! Stop! Rick, get off her! Help! Security! Come and do your actual job, you assholes!” Allie screeches as I assume the protective stance I am far too familiar with, knowing that Rick is going to strike again and all I can do is try to protect my face so I can still go out and perform for my waiting fans.

Allie is curvy like me, but she is all of five-five, and that might even be generous to her short stature. But she is not one to back down, and after years of hearing about this behavior and us tiptoeing around the reality of my life, Allie is unwilling to ignore what’s happening in front of her face. So, she jumps—right onto Rick’s back and wraps her arms around his neck in a chokehold like a ninja spider monkey.

I wish that’s where it ended, but Rick isn’t that easy to take down.

Cockroaches are never that easy to get rid of.

With a shake like a rabid dog, Rick throws her off his back and turns with his hand raised—despite my screaming at him to stop—and backhands Allie hard enough that she falls to the floor.

“You and your meddling family need to learn your place. Your dad thought he could tell me what to do too, but when it came to making hard decisions to pay off our business debt, I was the one that did what was necessary, and he was a fucking coward.”

What the hell is he talking about? My dad died from a heart attack when I was really young. What does that have to do with their debt …

His life insurance.

Wells told me that both our dad and his business partner took a ton of life insurance out on each other when their business was doing well and was successful as part of a buy-sell agreement to ensure they could keep things going should something happen. That same life insurance is what bailed my dad’s business partner—Rick—and my mother out of the financial crisis they were in when my dad died.

I can’t process this right now.

I rush over to get to Allie and Rick delivers a swift punch to my stomach. As I fall to the ground, I find myself thankful that he hasn’t hit my face—at least not yet. But that blow was a hard one, and I think he might have broken one or two of my ribs. I gasp for breath and try to brace for the hit I know is coming next.

But it doesn’t land.

I look up just in time to see Allie connect a large decorative lamp with Rick’s head. “You little bitch!” Rick covers his face as blood pours from his forehead while Allie jets around him, grabs my hand, and yanks us into the bathroom, locking the door.

I fling my arms around her as the reality of what she just witnessed sinks in—and how she stepped in to protect me from Rick. No one has ever protected me from that monster.

“Okay, it’s okay, we’re okay, Tinsley.” Allie squeezes me tightly. “But enough of this bullshit, yeah? Like seriously, can we be fucking done with that man?”

I nod my head as I try to catch my breath. We both jump as the door handle rattles and Rick pounds on it, yelling belligerently on the other side.

“Right. First things first, baby cakes, it’s time to call in reinforcements and get the fuck out of here and the hell away from him.” She hands me my phone that she grabbed at some point before we made it to the bathroom. “It’s time to call your brother—and tell him everything. It’s so long overdue, honey. This ends today.”

Taking my phone, I nod and unlock it, immediately calling my brother. I wait as the call rings, but Wells doesn’t pick up, and eventually, it goes to his voicemail. I’m not even sure what country he’s in today or if it’s the middle of the night wherever he is. Rick continues to throw what I assume is his body up against the bathroom door. I don’t know how long we have until that door gives way. Allie gives me a panicked look, but it’s okay. If I can’t reach Wells, I know who to call.

I just hope he’s still willing to come to my rescue.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLIER

“We are projecting to finish the third quarter with strong numbers, potentially earning twenty-five percent more profit than our initial financial forecasts projected.” Natasha Markova pulls up another chart before going through the forecasted numbers for the upcoming fourth quarter. Natasha is our Senior Vice President of Finance and has been with Lux for at least a decade in various finance positions. She’s a dedicated employee, and I value—and appropriately reward—loyalty to Lux.

With the size of our company, we have financial team members in multiple cities, although prior to last year, most of the leadership was here in Nashville. When our previous CFO retired, we ended up wooing our now-CFO, Chris Greene, from a smaller start-up we bought out that showed real promise. Chris is young for his position, but his hire has been affirmed multiple times since he joined Lux that taking a chance on him will yield an exceptional return, and the team he runs out of New York interfaces flawlessly with the other finance team locations.

I’m cautious with relationships, both personal and professional, so I’m naturally hesitant to put new team members in leadership roles, but Wells convinced me to give Chris a shot, and I’m glad my friend was right. That said, I have to explicitly trust the members on my leadership teams—or they wouldn’t be there in the first place. I’ve felt like that for years, but when everything with Kane Daughtry happened, that awareness and concern only heightened.

I listen to Natasha go on as my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and immediately stand as I see her name.

“Tinsley? Hello?” I don’t say anything to the team members I just walk out on—I am the boss after all. “Is everything alright?”

“Jack? Jack … I need help. Please, help us!” There’s a loud crash in the background and Tinsley is crying. Why the fuck is she crying?

“Where are you?” I demand as I signal to my assistant Jett to follow me into my office. I put the phone on speaker so Jett can help me figure out whatever the hell needs to happen right now. I mute it quickly so I can tell Jett, “Whatever they need, we make it happen, okay? I don’t care who you have to call. You don’t ask for permission, you make things happen, got it?” Jett nods and I nod my thanks. Obviously, Tinsley’s brother is Wells, but Jett knows Tinsley is also very important to me on both professional and personal levels.

“I’m in a dressing room bathroom at The Pointe and I’m supposed to go on stage, but I can’t do this anymore, Jack. I want to be done with him, and I can’t do it. I tried to call Wells and—” Tinsley is cut off as someone takes the phone from her, and I can clearly hear someone pounding on a door in the background.

“Jack? It’s Allie. Listen, we need some security, or cops, or I don’t care, massive bikers off the damn street, but Rick has lost his mind and beat the shit out of Tinsley before he hit me, and we have to get her away from him!”