Broken Lyrics (Book 3 of the Black Heart Series)

One

Asher

I had been sitting in this fucking record label for over an hour now, listening to these fools that I called my brothers ramble on and on about the next album.

I had writer's block for the first time in forever. So fucking what! I had time to come up with some shit or other. If they hadn't sued me for sending half of their asses to the hospital, they wouldn't start over this shit.

"I honestly feel that we should go back to Maine." Gabe shrugged, "It's where it all started."

It would be so easy to reach over, grab that fucking blonde ponytail of his, and slam his head into the table. I pictured it how it would go down, as I glared at him.

I wasn't going, I didn't want to go and I had no reason to go.

"I have to agree with Gabe here, Ash." Jason was trying to be the reason, his brown eyes searching mine, as he leaned his elbows on his light wash jeans.

He was our drummer and, at 6′3", 225 lbs, he was the biggest guy in the band, but he wasn't a fighter. He was soft through and through.

"I'm in." Nick shrugged as he glared at me. He seemed ready to square off, if this came to blows.

These guys had been my brothers for twenty-five years. Hell, even longer... We had grown up in the same little town, caused the same amount of trouble there, and we'd gotten out. Together.

It had been a long, twisted as fuck road, to get to where we were, but here we were now, the top selling band, with no lyrics.

We'd made it through a shitload over the years. Studio lockdowns, fist fights, bar brawls and bailouts, but we'd held up. They even stood by me in my darkest days and now, here they were, all voting against me.

"You know damn well how I feel about it." My voice was a calm monotone, but my skin was crawling. The fact that this was even up for discussion was pissing me off.

"We all lost her, not just you." Jason weighed his words as he spoke. They were cautious and calculated.

"This isn't a fucking open invite to start talking about that shit." I glared at him, but remained seated, trying to keep my calm.

Even after sixteen years, our lead singer's disappearance was something I couldn't talk about without loosing my shit.

She was just there one day and gone the next, as though none of us had mattered. No note, no goodbye, nothing. She just packed a bag one day and was out.

I'd hired a private investigator years ago, but he came up with nothing. Her trail had dead ended, leaving us all questioning if there had been foul play, which killed me. I should have been there. Hell, I just shouldn't have left that night, but if her old man had caught me there in the morning, shit would have hit the fan.

"You're right, Ash," Nick said, "We shouldn't talk about it. No one lost what you did, but don't you think, if you face this, you could move on?"

I was out of my chair in an instant, suddenly feeling like the walls were closing in around me. But, like a caged lion, I pounced. I was across the table in no time, fisting my hand into Nick's shirt.

"I've already moved on, shithead!" He didn't flinch as I shouted in his face. Instead, he was starting me dead in the eyes. Nick was tough and this wouldn't be the first time he and I went at it, but there was a reason we'd met here, vs one of our houses. We couldn't fight here. We were already on thin ice with our label, and anymore uproar, we were out.

"Porn stars, strippers and groupies don't count, bro." My twin entered the room, as though the near altercation was nothing.

I watched as he leisurely plopped into the chair I had just ejected from and I released Nick. Taking the seat my brother should have occupied this last hour, as I glared across the table at him.

"And look who finally decides to show up," I mumbled, "The bitch that caused this problem."

"Me?! How am I the cause of YOUR shitfit?" He had the balls to act taken aback.

"Was your wife NOT the one who brought up this asinine idea?" I cocked a brow at him.

"Fuck you." Chris's smile left his face instantly and we were squaring off now.

"Reegan isn't in this fucking band, Chris." I reminded him, "She's got her own band where she has a say."

We looked similar with the telltale McGhee black hair and blue eyes, but there were obvious differences between my twin and I. For instance, he was soft, both emotionally and physically, where I was not. The years had hardened me, made me colder and angry. I appeared older and more warn than my brother, who still had his baby face at the age of thirty-five.

"Don't blame Ree for your fucking hang ups!" He snapped, "She's trying to help us! It's not her fault you suddenly can't form coherent lyrics! Maybe if you'd stop drinking, or fucking randoms, we could get something done!"

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" I was out of my chair again, stomping toward my brother, "I brought this band where it is today. Without my lyrics we got shit!"

Jason stood between Chris and I. The guy was like a fucking door.

"Our best album came from our experiences in that town, Ash." He spoke quietly to me, "The hurt and anger in that album all stemmed from-"

"From my loss!" I shouted in his face.

"We lost her too!" Chris shouted around Jason, sounding just as irate as I felt, "Stop acting like it was just you! She was our sister! We loved her too!"

I was so pissed, it was either walk out or fuck someone up, and I couldn't fuck anyone up here because we had a contract. One with a violence clause. So, the door it was.

"Ash, you can't just walk out!" Chris yelled after me.

"Make your decision and get off my fucking back!"

Chris

We watched as my brother stormed out of the conference room.

Bree's disappearance had hurt us all, but It didn't just hurt Asher. No, it haunted him and followed him everywhere. He could never escape it.

She'd been everything to him. Even as kids, the two of them had a bond that no one had ever compared to. Even now, being married, it was nothing like those two.

Where Ash had a temper, Bree had always smoothed it. Where she was shy, he pulled her out of her shell and the two of them were inseparable. We all were. We were always at her place, or she was at ours. Until the night she vanished...

She was only sixteen...

"We want this, Chris." I heard Gabe, but didn't look away from the door my brother had just slammed in his wake.

"He's been outvoted," My voice was weighted with my concern, "We're going."

"Is he going to cooperate?" Jason asked.

"Either he'll cooperate and come up with the best shit he's had to date," I cleared my throat, turning to him with a nod, "Or we'll end up killing him with this."

I walked past him and sat in a chair, running my hands over my face.

He didn't do pills anymore, it'd been eight years, but we were on the other end of the continent now. What would happen when we went back there?

"I'm gonna talk to Cortney, see if she can come with us." Jason whispered.

"Ree's seven months pregnant," I sighed, "But I can ask her too. It might distract him, if they're barking at each other."

The banter between Ash and my wife was even comical sometimes. Hopefully she'd be enough of a distraction for him.