“I’m giving you a sneak peak of a song I just wrote.” She pointed behind her to the empty instruments. “It’s so new that even my band doesn’t know it. Let’s just keep it between us, okay?” At the audience’s laughter, she continued. “I wrote this a few weeks ago. There’s not a lot to do on the road except be alone with your thoughts. So, I write new stuff, and sometimes I record it, and sometimes I play it for my fans first.”

She strummed a few chords, and when the crowd settled, she started singing. It was a song about hope. It wasn’t as if she wrote it about Annie, but more about what she represented to Bristol. She didn’t dare look at Annie for fear that she would know. Instead, she focused on the fans in the upper deck and the teenagers to the left of the stage, who held a glittered sign.

“Thank you for spending your evening here with us.” Bristol’s voice was low as she said her final good-bye. She waved on her way backstage. A roadie was waiting to take her guitar.

“What the hell was that?” Lizzy asked. Her hands were on her hips, and the look she gave Bristol wasn’t a happy one.

“A new song I wanted to try out.” Bristol dried off the back of her neck with a towel one of Lizzy’s assistants handed her. “I think they liked it.”

“You know it’s never a good idea to do something like that. Then you’ll get a ton of people who will pirate your songs, and the legal battle isn’t worth it.”

“Maybe it’ll just be a freebie. Come on. Let’s get ready for tonight. I desperately need a shower.”

Her security escorted her to the private elevators in Caesars, where she was rushed up to her penthouse for a quick shower and wardrobe change. They had plans. When did she ever have plans?

“Where are we going first?” she asked Lizzy.

“Did you want to gamble? Or would you rather dance?”

“I think I’d like to gamble. Oh. Did you grab Annie and Charley? We should ask them too.” She tried to sound nonchalant.

“They’re in the living room.”

Bristol felt a flutter in her chest. Annie was here. Just on the other side of the door. The penthouse was grotesquely large, but Caesars comped her the room, as well as several suites for the crew. Pampering her staff was important, and what better place than in Vegas? “I’ll be quick.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve got champagne flowing and appetizers galore. You take your time,” Lizzy said.