Rev was stalking Jay as he had for years, but he no longer cared about being discreet, nor did any of the rest of the agents. Jay was a criminal, a giant flight risk, and a disgrace to humanity. Plus, he knew he was being watched, so there was no reason to be sneaky about it.
There had been a lot of comings and goings at Jay's main residence. Rev planted himself there unless Jay himself moved, and then he followed Jay. He directed the other agents to follow other people, and they worked hard to figure out who everyone was and the possible implications of the visits. Rev was only working with the FBI, but regardless, everyone deferred to him and ran everything past him before they took a step. Rev had done the leg work for four years, he was the back bone of the case against Jay, and he had earned their respect by pulling things together as he had.
He had also thrown himself into this operation with such focus and gusto that he knew most of the agents were scared to question him. Good. He preferred working with people who took orders rather than whined or wasted time with questions.
He was passionate about getting justice served, but getting his mind off of Paige was more of a motivator than convicting Jay was. She was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the love of his life, the only light in his life, and the only person in the world who really understood him. He also knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he had lost her. He suspected it when he saw her trackers at Brad's, and it was confirmed when he found out Brad was going with her to Tennessee.
He knew this might happen. He always knew, but what killed him, what kept eating at his heart, was that he had just started to believe that he was her first choice, not Brad. He started to believe that they had a chance as a real couple, and that she was going to stay with him. This all would have hurt so much less had it been a few weeks ago, before his hopes had gotten so high.
He was going to let her go graciously, and keep things open between them, if she let him. There was always a chance Paige might get lonely for him, or Brad could fuck up again, and he could have her for a weekend or a day. Rev was brutally honest with himself, and he knew no matter how badly it hurt, he would take her any way he could get her. He also knew, very deeply, that she did love him, no matter if she chose Brad or not. She still loved him. He saw it when she tried to hide it. He saw it when she didn't know he was watching. He heard it in her voice, read it in her face, and felt it in her body. One day, she might not be with Brad. One day, when he retired, she might decide he was a better fit than Brad. He could always hope and he would always wait for her.
In the meantime, he was going to make the world better by fucking up bad guys.
...........................................................................
Saturday morning we were at the studio by nine. The production manager was Trent. He was about the same age as us, very direct, very efficient, and very blunt. I had never been through this process before, nor had anyone else besides Tommy, so we really didn't know what to expect.
Brad had told me he was going to leave for a couple hours around ten, and I told him to take as long as he wanted because I could call if we finished before he came back.
Trent asked what song we wanted to start with, so I suggested the one we had practiced with the most. He had the guys play through it without me, gave them very specific feedback, then had them do it again. Then he had me sing to the recording. It felt strange. I felt very mechanical and awkward. He kept stopping me and having me change notes or how I was saying things.
By the time Brad arrived back, it was lunchtime, I was frustrated, and the recording wasn't complete. I looked helplessly at Brad behind the glass of the soundroom I was in alone. Then Rafe walked in and immediately asked Trent to playback what we had done, which was literally the one song, and I knew it wasn't good. I headed over to the equipment room with everyone else and hovered at the doorway. I listened and was embarrassed.
YOU ARE READING
The Neverending Hangover
Romance*Second in the Fire Whiskey series* 'I had been amazed at the connection Brad and I had, and our connection was inexplicable, but this with Rev was something else. It was different but just as impressive. Was I cursed or blessed to have two amazing...
