Still beautiful, of course, but harder… stronger… his muscled arms standing out in the torn tank he was wearing over black jeans and boots. I’d never feared my safety in his presence, but tonight, as he leaned in over me in an intimidating manner, my chest grew tight.
This was not the Jace I’d known and loved.
“Cat got your fucking tongue, Billie?” he sneered, full lips thinning. “You were in the middle of trying to grow a damn backbone, remember?”
Shit. I’d gotten distracted by his looks—unfortunately, not for the first time—but his not-so-kind reminder of my weaknesses sent another shot of anger through me.
“After all of these years,” I snapped out ,“youseriouslystill think—” I cut myself off there because he didn’t need to know that story. Not when he’d just act like I was making shit up to appease his anger. I wasn’t even sure I could speak the words out loud to explain my choices that fateful day. The day of my sixteenth birthday when I’d so deliberately broken his heart.
Whatever else he thought of me, Iwasguilty of that.
“Sorry,” Jace leaned in looking anything but sorry. “I think I missed some of your bullshit. Did you trail off for a reason? Lies getting all muddled in your head?”
Rhett, inserting himself between me and Jace again, must have had enough, and I blinked as I was once more staring at the back of his jacket. “Just leave her alone,” he said softly. “She’s had a rough fucking night, and she doesn’t need one more aggressive guy in her face.”
Jace’s laugh was dark and raspy. “You poor, deluded fuck. She stared at you with those syrupy golden-green eyes and smiled her signature half smile, huh? You saw perky tits and a perfect ass, and she had you snared. It’s her MO, brother. She’s a manipulative, cheating bitch, and she saw you coming from a mile away. Not like Rhett is that common a name these days, right? Everyone knowsBellerose.”
It was my turn to snort laughter now, as exhaustion pressed in on me. I was homeless, jobless, and very near lifeless. And this arrogant fuck thought I cared that they were rock stars. He thought I’d somehowplannedto confront him tonight? He was deluded.
Jesus. If I could have chosenliterallyany other fucker to run into tonight, I would have. Hell, I’d even take the damn gun-wielding goon back out on the street at this point.
Rhett must have felt me laughing against his back, since I was fairly sure it was too loud to hear the soft, sad sound. He turned then and met my gaze as I stared up at him. “Hey, you okay, Thorn?” he asked me.
He was still using my nickname, and I didn’t have time to wonder why I liked that.
“I didn’t know who you were,” I told him, fairly sure he wasn’t going to believe me. “If I had…”I’d have run just as fast as I had from Angelo’s guys.
“I know,” he said without even a beat of hesitation, and I blinked at the sincerity in his words. “I believe you, Thorn.”
A rumbling growl of anger escaped from Jace. “You’re a fucking moron, Rhett, and I don’t have time for this shit. A bottle of Macallan single malt is at the table with my name on it. Just get rid of her as soon as you blow your load. I don’t want to see her again. Ever.”
He stormed out, and I forced myself—nails gripping into my palms—to not follow his path with my gaze. Instead, I remained as I was, staring up at the most unlikely guardian angel. “You sure you believe me?”
The slowest smile tilted up his lips but didn’t quite reach the piercing green of his eyes. “I’ve been in this business for a long time. I know groupies. I know those who pretend not to know who we are. You had no clue who I was when I told you my name.”
My throat was tight all of a sudden. Not often was I trusted or given the benefit of the doubt. My own fault, really, since I put myself into shady situations to survive. But it was a head-spin of a change. “I know how famous Bellerose is,” I said slowly, “but for my own sanity, I made sure that if the band, or its members, were ever mentioned, I changed the channel… closed the book… turned the radio off.” Another sad laugh escaped. “I even contemplated changing my name, but I never had the money or time to waste on it, so I just told people my last name was Belle.”
Rhett’s expression softened again, and part of me wondered how the hell someone so kind could be a rich and famous rock star. It made no sense, but he was the guardian angel I needed tonight. “What instrument do you play in Bellerose?” I asked.
There was no way he was a drummer. Drummers were always assholes.
Drummers and lead singers.
“Lead guitar.”
His eyes never left my face, possibly because he was trying to catch me in a lie, or maybe it was something else. “I should have guessed that,” I told him. “Your fingers have the same calluses that Jace’s always did.” And Angelo’s, back whenhe’dbeen in Jace’s band. “I didn’t notice at first, running for my life and all that, but… now I feel stupid.”
“You wouldn’t have stayed if you knew…” Confusion and worry touched his brow, and I knew I’d let this go on too long already.
Sucking in a deep breath, I forced myself to take a step back as a new song blasted through the space, much louder than the previous. Thankfully, they were giving the Bellerose hits a break.
“I should go now,” I told him. “I need to figure out my next move, and I don’t need to be dealing with Jace as well as Angelo.”
The skin around his eyes tightened. “Angelo Ricci?”
Of course the current best friend of Jace would be aware of the former best friend. Fuck, Jace and I’d grown up with Angelo. I barely had a memory from the ages of four to sixteen that didn’t have both of them in it.
“You’re still with Angelo?” he asked me with a hint of disappointment.
