Chapter 59

Marshall's POV

The hum of the private jet was steady and dull, but my mind wouldn't quiet.

The tour was finally over, months of bouncing between cities, performing every night, and barely having a moment to breathe.

But now that it was finished, the only thing on my mind was her.

Leila.

Even as the lights of the city blurred beneath us and we started the descent, I felt the familiar tension gnawing at me, I hadn't seen her in weeks, but everything we'd been through before I left kept replaying in my mind like it was yesterday.

Our last fight, the way she'd thrown those damn panties at me, the way her eyes blazed with that fury I couldn't get enough of.

The way she hit me.

And fuck, the crazy thing? It turned me on.

The sting of her slap, the shock of her ring catching my cheek and splitting it open, it should've pissed me off more than anything, but instead, all I could think about in that moment was how much I wanted her, how the anger between us only made the fire burn hotter, that even the taste of blood in my mouth didn't stop me from wanting to pull her close and feel every inch of her against me.

That was how it always was with us, explosive and uncontrollable.

I'd felt the heat rise in my chest when she hit me, but it wasn't just rage.

It was something darker.

Something primal.

She knew how to push me, knew exactly how to ignite something inside me that no one else ever could, I hated it as much as I craved it, as much as I craved her.

Leila didn't just get under my skin, she was my skin, every inch of me was wrapped up in her, even when we weren't together.

And then there was Madison.

I'd finally had enough of that, after the tour ended, after she crossed the line one too many times, she wasn't just lingering around anymore, she'd taken it too far when she slipped those damn panties into my luggage, hoping Leila would find them and tear us apart.

But it didn't work.

Monica had called me when the tour was wrapping up, she told me about the hotel surveillance footage, Madison had been caught on camera entering my room when I was out, making it obvious what she was up to, and that was it, the last straw, I made sure she was fired for it, there was no way I'd let her keep crossing those boundaries, she'd been fucking with my relationship for too long.

I wasn't going to let anyone, especially not Madison, mess with what I had with Leila, it didn't matter how volatile or chaotic things got between us, Leila was mine, and I'd do whatever I had to do to protect that, even if it meant cutting Madison out for good.

I shifted in my seat, grabbing the notepad from my bag, I'd been writing more than ever lately, the tour gave me time to reflect, but it also left me restless, my mind spiraling over everything between us, and every time I thought of her, of us, the lyrics started pouring out.

It wasn't just love, it was more than that, our relationship was like some dark, twisted magic that pulled me deeper into something I couldn't escape, but I didn't want to escape it.

I opened the notepad, the blank page staring back at me, but the words were already forming in my head, I could feel it, the chaos, the intensity, that fire she lit inside me every time we collided.

We're volatile, I can't call it though...

It's like too large a peg, and too small a hole...

I smirked to myself, we never fit into anyone's idea of a "normal" relationship, and I knew people would think we were toxic, but fuck it, I didn't care, I thrived in the madness of it, the unpredictability of what we had, she made me feel something no one else ever could, alive, raw, real.

But God strike me dead, she knows that I would walk over hot coals for her with both of my feet bare...

I shook my head, letting out a low laugh, it wasn't even an exaggeration, Leila had me wrapped around her finger, but not in the way people thought, she wasn't controlling me, she was consuming me, every inch of me belonged to her, and I knew that, but it wasn't just about being in love, it was about how she inspired me.

She was my fucking muse.

I scratched out another line, my pen moving quickly across the page.

All I know is that the sex is phenomenal though...

I paused, staring down at the line, it was true, when things were good between us, they were fucking electric, the way we came together after a fight was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, it was like everything in the world disappeared, and all that mattered was her.

She lifts me up, then puts me down, but I am under her thumbnail...

It was messed up, I knew it, the way we fought, the way we broke each other down just to build each other back up again, but that was the only way we knew how to be, not soft edges, no calm moments, it was fire and fury, all the time.

Leila was a storm, and I'd never been the type to shy away from a little destruction.

I leaned back in the plush seat of the jet, staring out the window as we descended, my thoughts kept drifting back to her, the way we'd left things before I went back on tour, that night, fuck, I couldn't stop thinking about it, the way she'd looked at me, accusing me of something I hadn't done, throwing those panties at me like I'd betrayed her, the anger in her voice.

But it wasn't just her, I was just as fucked up, I couldn't stand the thought of her being around other men for work, manipulating them, using her charm to get what she needed, I trusted her, but it still got to me.

Every time.

The jealousy was like poison, seeping into me slowly, and I knew it showed in every fight, but I couldn't help it, Leila was the kind of woman who made you crazy, made you question everything and maybe that was part of the reason I loved her so much, she kept me on the edge, and that edge was where I thrived.

But fuck, that edge was dangerous, the closer I got to it, the more I realized it could break us one day, the more I felt like one more fight, one more accusation, and we'd push ourselves too far.

Still, I couldn't stop, that's how she was, chaos and calm all at once, she drove me to the brink of madness, but then she'd pull me back, just when I was about to tip over, every time I thought we were done, she'd be there and I knew, deep down, that even if we burned everything to the ground, I'd crawl through the ashes to get back to her.

I'm stuck in this radioactive pattern...

She's got my heart in chains...

I let out a slow breath, running my hand over my face, every time I wrote about her, it felt like I was pulling pieces of myself out, putting them into the lyrics, Leila was the chaos that inspired me, but she was also the calm in the storm, when everything else was spinning out of control, she was the constant that kept me grounded, even when we were burning each other alive in the process.

But that calm never lasted long, did it? Because with her, the fire always came back.

It was just a matter of when.

The jet dipped lower, and I could see the lights of the runway beneath us, getting closer with every second, I slipped the notepad back into my bag, the lyrics still unfinished but already taking shape.

I'd add more later.

The rest would come to me when I saw her, when the fire between us sparked again.

Because it always did.

As the jet touched down, I could feel my heart starting to race, I hadn't seen Leila in weeks, and I knew the second I laid eyes on her, all the pent-up frustration, the jealousy, the longing, it would all come crashing back, that's how it always was with us.

But that's what I loved about her, there was no middle ground with Leila, it was all or nothing, fire or ice and right now? I was ready for the fire.

The jet came to a stop, and I grabbed my bag, heading down the stairs.

As soon as I stepped out onto the tarmac and into the cool night air, I spotted her instantly, leaning against the car, waiting, the sight of her, hair messy down her shoulders from the wind, arms crossed, eyes scanning the crew getting off the plane, lit a fuse inside me.

The fire inside me sparked the second I saw her.

I could feel the heat building in my chest, spreading through my veins, as her eyes finally locked onto mine, even from across the distance, I could see that familiar intensity in her gaze, the same fire that always pulled me back in, no matter how much I tried to resist it.

And just like that, all the tension, the exhaustion from the tour, the frustration, it all melted away.

But in the back of my mind, I knew it wouldn't last, not with us, the fire was already building again, ready to explode, whether I wanted it to or not.

Because with Leila, the fire never really goes out.