Melody's POV

Hunter and I are in the limousine heading towards the bar where the Karaoke night is taking place. We're talking about our date when I see headlights coming towards us. "Hunter,"

Hunter lifts his head and looks out the window, seeing what I am. He pulls me into his arms. "Get low," Hunter says, covering his head with his hands as we wait for the car to hit the side of the limousine.

CRASH,

Nothing happened to us.

Lifting my head, I see another car blocking ours, protectively. "Hunter, it looks like the extra bodyguards saved the night."

Hunter raises his head and looks out the window. He moves closer to the window, and his face pales. "No fucking way."

"What?" I move next to him.

"That guy works for my company. His name is Peter Wynn. I've had a few problems with him and had to let him go. He's not happy with it."

Somebody drags Peter away. He yells. "Hunter Westbrook, you're a dead man. Do you hear me? DEAD."

I wrap my arms around him and ask, "Should we return to the house?"

Hunter shakes his head. "No, my sister would be pissed if I bailed. You have both been working hard on Melody Stryker's song. I don't want to miss you both singing."

A smile spreads across my face. "You owe me two songs."

"Of course I do." Hunter puts his head on top of mine. "Are you going to tell me which ones I'll perform?"

"Sure," I look out the window as the bodyguards talk to the driver. "Truly, Madly, Deeply will be the first song, and the second is Beautiful Things."

A smile spreads across Hunter's face. "I like those songs. It will be easy to sing the ones that I know. Are you going to get up on the stage on your own?"

"Yes,"

"Which song are you going to sing?"

"Flowers. It's one of my favourites."

The driver pulls his window down. "Mr. Westbrook, are you okay?"

"Yes, I am. Can you take us to our destination?"

"Yes, Sir. I will let the guys know that you both are safe. He pulls the window up, giving us privacy again.

Ring,

Hunter's phone goes off, and he pulls it out of his pocket. Showing me the screen, he says. "It's Suri. Probably wanting to know when we will be there." He answers the call and puts it on the loudspeaker."

Hunter: Hey, sis. What's up?

Suri: The sky, clouds, the sun, stars and a full moon.

That makes Hunter and me laugh.

Suri: Do you want me to sign you up?

Me: Yes, I will sing 'Flowers' on my own. Hunter and I will sing 'Truly Madly Deeply' together, and then Hunter will sing 'Beautiful Things'.

Suri: I love those songs.

Me: Are you going to sing one on your own?

Suri: No, I don't have enough courage to make a fool of myself alone.
@

Suri hangs up.

Hunter looks out the window one last time. "What do you think will happen to Peter?"

"Do you want to know?" I ask him seriously.

Hunter shakes his head. "I'm sure he will be going through pain before being handed over to the cops. Peter risked your life because you were with me in the car."

There's an esky next to me, and I pull two bottles of water out and give one to Hunter. "Drink this. When we get to the club, we can get smashed."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," I look out the window as we drive past the car. "I want to forget that. We also need to stay hydrated. I don't want to be so sick tomorrow that I miss the spa day with your sisters."

Hunter and I make small talk as we head towards the club. When we arrive, I leave the car and wait for Hunter to join.

Placing my hand in his, I say. "Are you ready?"

"Sure," Hunter starts walking alongside me. The guy at the door lets us right in. The bar has rows of tables, and people are standing around them. A few have seats, and I head towards one in the back that has chairs around it.

Suri walks over to me with a smile and hugs me, "I thought you were going to bail on me."

Shaking my head, I say. "I would never bail on you. Let's get some shots."

"Yes," Suri throws her fist in the air. "I'll grab them. How about three tequilas?"

"Hell yeah," I say, taking Hunter's hand and pulling him towards the bar with me.

Suri orders the drinks and places one in front of me and the other in front of Hunter. We clink our glasses together and then throw our drinks back.

Holding my hand out, I say. "Another,"

The bartender gives us another three.

Suri looks at me and says. "Keegan, what happened?"

"What are you talking about, Suri?"

Suri looks between her brother and me. "You both look shaken up. Did something happen on the way here?"

Hunter pulls his sister into his side. Lowering his voice, he says. "On the way here, someone tried to kill us. It was Peter Wynn."

"Are you serious?" Suri screeches. "How did that asshole find you?"

"I don't know. Peter didn't get me. Mom and Dad hired extra bodyguards for me."

"How are you?"

Hunter looks at me. "Keegan noticed it when we left for dinner. She's one of the most observant people I've ever met. She knew something was wrong even before I did. Mom sent me a message saying that someone threatened my life and they didn't want to take a risk."

A guy with a beer belly, moustache and grey hair steps onto the stage, and he looks out into the crowd. "How's everyone tonight?"

"Good," we shout.

"Excellent," the guy says, looking at the folder. It seems like we're going to have a great night. I haven't seen this many people sign up for karaoke. For everyone who doesn't know, I am Maverick. Let's start the night. The first people on stage will be Hunter Westbrook and Keegan Jennings singing Truly Madly Deeply."

Turning to Suri, I say. "You put us on first?"

"Yup, there weren't many spots available."

Hunter shakes his head. "That's bullshit. She wants us to fail spectacularly. Let's show her that we're going to crush the shit out of this song."

Putting my hand to my mouth, I blow her a kiss. "You're going to wish we weren't on the list first." I place my hand in Hunter's.

We climb onto the stage. Hunter begins to sing. "I'll be your dream,"

I look at Hunter and sing the following line. "I'll be your wish,"

"I'll be your fantasy,"

"I'll be your hope,"

"I'll be your love,"

"Be everything that you need,"

"I love you more with every breath, truly, madly, deeply do, I will be strong, I will be faithful 'cause I'm counting on..."

"A new beginning, a reason for livin'
A deeper meanin', yeah,"

Hunter and I sing this part together. "Well, I wanna stand with you on a mountain,
I wanna bathe with you in the sea,
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me."

Hunter and I keep the crowd pumping as we continue to sing the song. When we finish, the crowd applauds, and Suri high-fives me as I join her at the table.

Suri looks between Hunter and me. "You both were amazing. I can't wait to see both of you on stage alone."

The beer belly guy calls the next person to the stage. We are enjoying ourselves.

Walking to the bar, I grab three tequilas and carry the shots to Suri and Hunter. We throw the shot back. Suri is called to the stage. She looks at me, and her face pales. "I don't think I can get up there, even on my own," she says

Placing my hand on her shoulder, I say. "You can do it. Just focus on me when you get scared."

"Okay," Suri walks over to the stage and stands on it. The song starts, and she begins to sing. "Right now,
He's probably slow dancing with a bleach blonde tramp
And she's probably getting frisky,

Right now,
He's probably buying her some fruity little drink
'Cause she can't shoot whiskey

Right now,
He's probably up behind her with a pool stick, showing
Her how to shoot a combo
And he don't know...

I dug my keys into the side of his pretty
Little super up four-wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seats
Took a Louisville slugger to both headlights
Slashed a hole in all four tires
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats."

Hunter cheers for his sister as she continues to sing the song.

A smile spreads across my face as I listen to words.

She has a fantastic voice. I'm looking forward to sharing the stage with her.

Before the song is over, the door to the bar opens, and Ayden, Luna, and Mike walk through. They cheer for their sister.

Ayden moves towards us and stands next to Hunter.

The song ends. Suri hands Maverick the microphone and heads to our table. She looks at her siblings and says, "I thought you weren't coming."

Luna looks at Suri and says. "We weren't. Mom called us and said there was an incident with Hunter and she wanted to know if he was fine."

Hunter looks at me. "As you can see, I'm fine."

"What happened?" Suri asks.

"A car nearly crashed into us. Zane's men stopped the car from hitting ours, and somebody took Peter from the scene. He's probably seeing Levi right now."

Hunter's name is called, and he looks at me. "My two songs are done. You still have yours." He winks at me and climbs on the stage and sings his song. "For a while there, it was rough
But lately, I've been doing better
Then the last four cold Decembers I recall
And I see my family every month
I found a girl my parents love
She'll come and stay the night, and I think I might
Have it all
And I thank god every day
For the girl he sent my way
But I know the things he gives me, he can take
Away
And I hold you every night
And that's a feeling I wanna get used to
But there's no man as terrified as the man who
Stands to lose you."

At the last lyric, Hunter is looking at me.

My heart races as I watch the man I'm falling hard for onstage.

When the song finishes, I stand and applaud him. He comes back to the table and looks at his siblings. "Who wants a drink? I'll buy. They give him their drink requests.

"I'll have a tequila sunrise."

Hunter looks at me. "Haven't you had enough?"

"No," I shake my head. "I can drink more."

"Keegan Jennings," Maverick calls my name, and I head towards the stage.

I look at the Westbrook Siblings. "I will be right back." Moving to the stage, a smile spreads across my face.

I'm back to the one place that feels like home. I just have to change my voice slightly so no one will know that I am Melody Stryker.
The song comes on and I begin to sing.. "We were good, we were gold
Kinda dream that can't be sold
We were right 'til we weren't
Built a home and watched it burn

Mm, I didn't wanna leave you, I didn't wanna lie
Started to cry, but then I remembered I

I can buy myself flowers
Write my name in the sand
Talk to myself for hours
Say things you don't understand
I can take myself dancing
And I can hold my own hand
Yeah, I can love me better than you."

The woman in the crowd stand and sing the song with me.

It feels like I'm back at my own concert.

When the song ends, I walk over to the siblings and stand with them.

Luna whispers. "You have a killer voice. You'd be something for the music industry. You'd win plenty of awards."

At that moment, a man wearing a suit walks over with a card in his hand. "I'm Samuel. I run Oceans Record Studio, and we would love to sign you."

"What?" Suri screams.

"Thanks, Samuel. I will be in touch." I tell him politely and watch him walk away.

Tearing up the card, I put it in the trash can.

Suri looks at and says. "Why did you tear it up?"

"I don't need to be signed by him. I have a secret and I will tell you later."

We watch as more people go onto the stage and sing their songs. It doesn't take long before Suri and I are called. I take a long drink of the tequila sunrise. I start to feel the alcohol take effect on me.

Hunter steadies me. "Can you sing this song?"

"Yeah," I slur. Holding onto Suri, I say. "Let's kill the shutout of this song."

Suri chuckles as we make our way on stage. We start to sing my song. "I'm shutting the door on our love,
And opening it for another,
Who's going to show me?
What it's like to be loved.

You told me over and over
That I was the one.
It was a lie,
Cause you're with her now.

I'm left here picking up the pieces of a broken heart,
While you're over there holding her tight,
Whispering in her ear that she's the one,
While I am the one left in the dark."

The crowd begins to sing the chorus, and a smile spreads across my face.

Suri holds my hand and bows at the end of the song.

Before stepping off the stage, I whisper to Suri, " Your dream came true, Suri. Being on stage with Melody Stryker." I wink at her before heading over to Hunter.

Hunter wraps his arms around me. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yes,"

Hunter lifts me and carries me to the car.