“Sweet,” Pace said.
Trihn shook her head. “Chloe agreed that they had been on her phone at some point, but she never sent them to Damon. Damon said that he’d never seen them before. They both think it’s spin from the press, saying it’s from his phone, since they’re in the public eye right now.”
“Okay, but why would an anonymous hacker group lie about where the photos came from?” Stacia asked intuitively.
“I asked the same thing. That was the part that worried me,” Trihn admitted with a frown.
She hated doubting Damon at all, but the evidence was damning. When she had picked up the magazine in New York, she had known how Damon and Chloe met, so it was laughable. When the press had started saying that Trihn was a homewrecker breaking Damon and Chloe up, she had been there to see what was going on. But these pictures…they’d just come out of nowhere.
“And what did he say?” Pace asked. “This should be good.”
“If you’re not going to be supportive, you can shut the fuck up,” Stacia warned him.
He smirked at her before facing forward and remaining silent.
“Damon didn’t know why the hacker had lied about that, but since this anonymous group could be anyone. We don’t know their motives.”
“Convenient,” Pace snapped.
Stacia glared at him. “That’s it. You’re not getting fucked tonight.”
His eyes widened. “Like hell I’m not.”
“You’re being a dick.”
“Last I checked, you liked that.”
“Will both of you shut up before I vomit in Stacia’s car?” Bryna spat.
“Anyway,” Trihn said, “I just…choose to believe him. If I didn’t, where would I be? Back in the same black hole of, Woe is me! My boyfriend is cheating on me. I just can’t think that’s Damon. So, unless I see something to the contrary, I’m not believing it.”
With that declaration, the rest of the car fell silent. Stacia flipped the stereo on, and “We Never Met” blasted through the speakers. Trihn couldn’t even be surprised at this point. The song was still at number one, and it seemed that all the press, negative or otherwise, was only helping their fame. Guess it was true. There was no such thing as bad press.
By the time they reached the venue, the opener for the show had already gone on, and everyone was milling around, anxiously waiting for Chloe to perform. Trihn noticed a group of girls wearing Avanaddicts shirts and holding up signs, and she quickly veered away from them. No need for a repeat run-in with some crazy fans. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be recognized.
Trihn took the seat at the end of the aisle next to Bryna and tried to relax.
Bryna was on her phone, likely annoyed that she had to sit through another one of Chloe’s concerts. Trihn thought she liked Chloe’s music, but the stuff with Gates must have really hit home. Bryna held a grudge like no other. Even though she was happy with Eric and Gates was ancient history, Bryna still didn’t trust Chloe. Trihn really wanted to prove her wrong.
She grabbed her phone out of her bag so that she could text Damon. But when she looked at the screen, there was already a message from Damon waiting for her.
Chloe is in one of her moods tonight.
Are you pulling your hair out?
I’m going to rip hers out if she doesn’t chill. Panic attacks on top of panic attacks.
Then, another message dinged immediately after that.
Shit! Maybe I shouldn’t have put that in a text message. What if our phones get hacked again?
Both Chloe and Damon had gotten new phones after the hacking incident. And Trihn knew that he probably didn’t want anyone to read his personal information or get that personal information about Chloe, but the word again made her cringe. It was as if the last time had revealed something from his phone.
Sorry, love. I have to go onstage in a minute. Wish you were here.
Trihn smiled at that. She was here. He just didn’t know it.
Good luck.
Just then, the lights flickered, and a cheer rose up from the audience. Everyone got to their feet just as Chloe appeared onstage in a cloud of smoke, singing the opening song to her self-titled album. She was wearing a two-piece black sequin outfit and killer heeled booties. Her dark hair was parted down the middle, and she looked fierce. No one would guess that she had been having panic attacks all day. The stage was her playground, and nothing could touch her there.
The crowd was enthralled. Trihn even had to admit that it was hard to tear her eyes away from the show to search out Damon in the back. He was playing guitar without any spotlight on him. He was just jamming away back there, as if he were a part of the band.