Toxic Lips [l.h]

s e v e n t y

'I've got a message, 

And there's no time to lose.

So listen closely, 

Tonight we'll find out the truth.'

-----

I expect Drew to walk over here and wreck havoc among our small group, but instead he turns his scarred face away from me and walks straight over to where Mr Adams is sitting with his wife. Tyler follows him, breaking my gaze as well.

Isabel stands abruptly. She nods to us before walking to Drew and Tyler, her black heels clicking on the marble.

Luke's hand rests on my thigh, his fingers nervously diging into my flesh/

"I need to check in with Michael and Ashton," he says, taking his phone out and texting one of them. "They should be at ivory right now."

Matilda has ventured away from our table, shouting something to Annie across the ballroom. Emma runs a hand through her hair.

I spot Jamie across the room with Calum and lift my hand in a wave. They both wave back, sending me nervous smiles. 

"We need to put the plan into action," Luke says, looking into my eyes after he pockets his phone.

My nerves multiply by one thousand. This is where it could all go wrong.

I swallow hard. "Luke, I don't know if I can do this, I--"

"Yes, you can, you can do it. I believe in you, remember?"

My mind flashes back to when I was going to meet Connor in Perth. I had sat at that coffee shop nervous as hell, when my phone had rung with Luke's number flashing from it.

"Luke?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you... do you believe in me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Im about to do something... something big. Do you believe I can do it?"

"Of course you can do it."

I nod slowly and Luke kisses my lips softly. 

Before I can say anything else, a tapping sound echoes through the hall and everyone turns to look toward the band.

Drew stands in front of the microphone, his hands held behind his back.

"Evening, ladies and gentlemen," he says. "My name is Drew Blackwater, and I would like to thank you for joining me tonight in honor of Mr Lincoln Adams."

A round of applause sounds as Adams stands and waves to everyone, a humble smile on his face

A nagging feeling of surveillance causes me to turn and lock eyes with Andrea.

Andrea, the woman who called me to tell me I had gotten the job, the woman who answers the phone at Capitol Records every day, is the inside. She listened in and reported to Drew, going completely under everyone's radars, including my own. I had never suspected her for a second.

I turn away from her, facing Drew again.

"I would like to propose a toast," Drew says, lifting a glass of wine in the air. "To Capitol Records, and--"

"How much money you managed to con from them," Luke says, standing from his seat and lifting his own glass.

The room falls completely silent.