Despite herself, she glanced toward the bar from her perch on the stage, secretly hoping to see Tobias standing there, those brooding eyes watching her. Forcing herself to look away, she played harder, sang louder, pushing away the frustration as the last of her story flew vehemently from her lips toward the crowd at the Salty Hog. “I won’t break, won’t break, won’t break. Not from heartache, heartache, heartache. I’ve already danced with the devil, and the devil’s got nothing on me.” She strummed lighter, singing softer. “The dirty-bastard devil’s got nothing on me.”

Applause rang out, and seated patrons shot to their feet, blowing her away as they cheered, calling out for more.

“Way to go, Mads!” Blaine shouted.

Her chest tightened as she looked over the crowd, past Marly’s table, where she and Dante were clapping, and found Blaine standing by the windows with Zeke and Zander, the three of them chanting her name, fists in the air. She was still angry, but carrying the anger and hurt was exhausting, and she missed them. It was too much to try to deal with in front of a bar full of people. Tearing her gaze away, she pushed to her feet and thanked the crowd, wishing she hadn’t made eye contact with her brothers and stirred up all the annoyance she’d been trying to ignore.

She left the stage and headed into the back room to put her guitar away. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out, reading her mother’s message. Grandpa’s coming for breakfast Sunday at 8am. Join us? Madigan sent a quick reply saying she’d be there.

“That was a great set,” Blaine said from behind her, sending her emotions reeling.

She pocketed her phone and zipped her guitar case. “Thanks.”

“I’m sorry for pissing you off, but this silent treatment needs to end.”

She turned to face him, trying her best to remain calm. “See, Blaine, this is where you’re wrong. You don’t get to decide what I’m allowed to feel.”

“I’m not trying to. But you’re shutting us out like you did when you came back from Spain. We know bad shit went down there, and we still don’t know what it was.”

Her stomach knotted. “And you never will, because it’s none of your business.”

“You’re our sister. Anything that hurts you is our business.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m not asking what happened back then,” he fumed. “Just tell me what I can do to fix things now, because I fucking hate this. We all do.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have barged into my life, guns loaded.”

His eyes narrowed. “We’ve been over this. We were worried about you.”

“I hear the words coming out of your mouth, but they make no sense. Tobias was protecting his sister.”

“So was I.”