Read Owned (Rockstar Romance) (Lost in Oblivion Book 5) for Free Online Page B

wrong?”
    “I know you have rules in the sand, and I’ve been skirting them for a year. Forget skirting them.” She forced herself not to fidget, unwilling to even give that much of a tell. “I’ve been laying down on them, legs up.”
    “Well, there’s an image.” He coughed into his hand. “Nick’s influence on you is obvious even if I didn’t know the particulars. Your speech never used to be quite so…colorful.”
    “I was repressed,” she said flatly. “Now I’m not.”
    Her mother’s voice echoed in her head. Tell the truth, Lila Lee.
    “Okay, that’s a lie,” she said, causing Donovan’s brow to furrow just as soon as it had smoothed. “I’m getting there. I’m still too used to shutting off my feelings and focusing on work. I do that because I love it. I love music so much that the idea of being away from it for even a few days causes something inside me to wither and die.”
    Her version of telling the truth evidently came with a healthy dash of purple prose, but whatever. She was rolling with it.
    “Why would you have to be away from it?” Before she could reply, he tilted his head. “If you’re planning on tendering your resignation, I won’t accept it.”
    “What?”
    “You heard me. I simply won’t allow you to quit. You mean too much to this company and our artists, and I refuse to let you go.” He leaned forward. “So name your price.”
    Though she’d had no intention of quitting, what she required was all too clear. “Nick,” she said quietly. “He’s the one thing I can’t give up. I won’t.”
    “And you think I have no sympathy towards your feelings?”
    “I think you made your stand on the subject quite clear when you demanded I end my dalliance with him.”
    “Which you did for how long? A week? Two?”
    She refused to back down from his steely gaze. “I broke your trust, and for that, I’m sorry. But I’m not sorry for being with him. He’s…a revelation.”
    Donovan held up a hand. “Stop right there. Friends or not, we do have boundaries.”
    Her lips twitched. “Your eardrums are safe. Just because I’m seeking my personal liberation doesn’t mean I’m turning into one of those women who bores everyone else with intimate details of their relationship. I’m just saying that I refuse to put work ahead of him. I’ve done it for the past year. No one knows we’re together.”
    “Except for The Tattler ,” Donovan said drily. “Check out page twenty-two of this week’s issue.”
    Her eyes widened as delight and concern battled for dominance inside her. “Good angle or bad?”
    “They’re making it sound as salacious as possible, which as we know always helps move units. Between the talk about you and Nick, and Nick’s insistence on letting his fingers do the walking on Twitter, interest in Oblivion is peaking again right before they come back on the scene.”
    “Which is what we want,” she said cautiously. Salacious wasn’t her favorite word, especially when it involved her, but any press was positive press, depending on spin. And she was extremely experienced at spinning the hell out of anything she got her hands on.
    Being the subject was new, she had to admit, but hey, she’d work with whatever came her way.
    “Yes, it is. And no, you being with Nick is not a deal-breaker when it comes to your continued employment at Ripper Records.” She was about to sigh in relief when he reached for the phone at one end of the conference table and pressed a button. “Madeline, send in Dex Munroe.”
    At her sharp intake of breath, Donovan smiled, a man in complete control. As always. “Now it’s time for you to learn my price, Lila. You’ll be working with Dex Munroe for the benefit of all of our artists.” At the knock on the door, Donovan flicked his wrist. “Come in, Dex.”
    Lila shut her eyes. Dream job, still in hand. Work environment?
    Just went to shit.

3
    Nick
    F riday nights were meant for wild times with hot babes. Babes, not