He laughs. Shakes his head. And tries to shut the door in my face. I use my foot to intercept him.
"Your contract has been paid off." He makes a wild gesture with his hands. "It’s over. You’re finished."
"Paid off?"
He looks at me like I'm an idiot, and then his eyes wander to my belly.
"Yes, paid off. By your psychotic boyfriend. You're out. Done. I don't want anything else to do with you."
"Javi?" I whisper.
"Yes, Javi." He scowls and rubs his shoulder as though he's recalling a painful memory.
"He paid you off?"
"Yes." He blinks. "Are you hard of hearing, Isabella? I fucking said that already."
"That's why you didn't come looking for me."
He makes another gesture with his hand. "I'm done with you.”
And it's obvious he really is. Whatever happened between him and Javi has left a sour taste in his mouth. There isn't an ounce of desire in his eyes when he looks at me now. But that only strengthens my resolve. I didn't want to play that card with Luke. I didn't want him to think that things would ever be the same between us. That we could go back to the way things were with me as his willing puppet and him pulling the strings.
There is one other thing that Luke loves though. One other thing I know I can use to my advantage. So before he slams the door in my face a second time, I stop him with one simple question.
"What if I said I could make you a lot of money?"
He narrows his eyes at me. Laughs and shakes his head.
"And how exactly do you think you're going to do that, princess?"
"One final show," I propose. "You can have it all. The rights to the music. Just give me ten percent of the profits."
He laughs again.
"Oh, Isabella. You poor, naïve little country bumpkin. Don't you realize that the world has moved on? There were twenty pop princesses ready to take your place the day you walked out."
He's lying, and I know he's lying. Because I can see the fire in his eyes. He's already thinking about how he can spin this.
"Everyone loves a comeback," I tell him.
"Do they?" he smirks. "I don't know if you could call it a comeback when you never really got started in the first place."
I don't take part in his verbal jousting. This is just the way Luke is. And I know how to push his buttons, just as well as he knows how to push mine. He's all about the dramatic effects.
I pull my foot from the door and meet his eyes.
"Fine. I'll go somewhere else, then. I'm sure there are plenty of others who would be interested in what I'm offering."
I turn to leave, and he grabs me by the arm.
"What exactly are you offering?"
He hates himself right now. Serves him right for putting me through hell.
He doesn't want to need me. But I know as well as he does that his career is in the tank after canceling my tour and then losing Megan to another label.
"One show," I tell him. "My way. No fireworks. No smoke. No backup dancers. Nothing but my music, my way."