The transition from car to elevator, then up to the penthouse level was smooth. The identical bodyguards accompanied us the whole way, casually chatting to Rhett about the concert that Bellerose had played earlier that night. Rhett swiped a magnetic keycard to access the room and held the door open for me.
“Head in, Thorn. My security wants to scold me like a naughty child before they leave us for the night.” He flashed me another charming smile. “Room service menu is on the TV; this will only take a second.”
I nodded, peeling my hand out of his and taking a few steps inside the room. Wait. Not aroomat all. This wasthepenthouse suite. Holy crap, it wasenormous. The living area held a full bar to one side, a plush sofa seating area, massive flatscreen TV, full-size dining table… Most breathtaking, though, was theview.
Rhett left the front door partially open as he spoke with the matching bodyguards, reminding me that he was here with me, that I wasn’t alone again. Whatever scolding the big guys wanted to give Rhett, it was quick. He stepped into the suite only a minute later, closing the door behind himself and tossing his keycard, phone, and wallet onto the bar top.
“All okay?” I asked, suddenly nervous as I turned away from the view. “Were they…”
“Smacking my hand for giving them the slip back at the club,” he admitted with a wry smile. “But I sure as shit won’t apologize. If I hadn’t slipped my leash, I wouldn’t have met you.”
I bit my lip to hold back the goofy, smitten smile that tried to creep out. Was I crushing on Rhett already? Uh, major yes. I was smart enough to know nothing couldevereventuate out of it… not with him being who he was and me being, well, BillieBellerose. But there was no harm in accepting the flirtation. Just for one night.
“So… penthouse suite at the Viper, huh? Things sure have changed since the days when Jace played concerts in my treehouse, that’s for sure.” I wrinkled my nose the second those words were out of my mouth. I didn’t want to talk about Jace, and I definitely didn’t want to talk about our history.
Rhett was crazy perceptive, though, and didn’t pick at the scab. Instead, he gestured to one of the closed doors to the side of the room. “My room is through here. We should maybe head in there…”
My mind immediately went to sex. He’dsaidno strings attached, but he was a rock star offering to let me sleep in his bed. Not that I was necessarily against the idea… I was already crushing hard on him, but then there was Jace… and—
“Oh.Ohhhhh!Yes, fuck, good thinking.” I glanced nervously at the other doors because one of them was probablyhisroom. It was the penthouse suite, after all, and they were a band. Rhett wasn’t ushering me into his room forsexbut to save me from running into my hate-filled ex again.
His bedroom wasn’t small, by any means. There was a king-size bed, perfectly made, and a private bathroom. Rhett smoothly ignored my awkwardness, grabbing the remote and turning on his flat screen to bring up the menu. “Pick whatever you want; I’m just going to take a quick shower.” He paused in the doorway to the bathroom. “Jace won’t be back any time soon, if that’s on your mind. But Gray probably will be, now that I’ve bailed from the club. Flo and Tom will stumble in before dawn. I just figured maybe you’d want to avoid the rest of the band.”
Fair call. I’d heard some of Bellerose’s songs. None of them were kind to me or my story with Jace and Angelo.
Rhett disappeared into the bathroom before I could say thank youyet again, and I released a long sigh. The tension in my shoulders ached, so I sank down onto the bed to browse the room service menu.
“Holy shit,” I said aloud, sinking further into Rhett’s pillows. The bed wasinsanelycomfortable. Or maybe that was just because I’d spent years sleeping on mattresses with springs sticking out or on the floor. Either way, my body justmelted.
The shower had only just turned on in the bathroom; Rhett would be at least a few minutes. Maybe I could just close my eyes… just to calm down and convince my poor, panicked brain thatright nowwe were safe. Angelo and his goons were long gone. I was safe here… in the bed of Jace’s new best friend and lead guitarist. A man I was already lusting over, despite the shell-shocking events of the night.
Maybe safe wasn’t the correct word. I wasn’tabout to be murderedwas more accurate.
I’d never besafewith Bellerose.
Groaning, I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands, probably smearing what was left of my makeup everywhere. Fucking hell, I should have run to the police, not into the arms of a rock star.
No.Thatwould have most definitely ended the night with me in a morgue, rather than lying in a heavenly bed. The Ricci family had the Siena cops firmly in their pocket.
A huge yawn tugged my jaw.
Rhett had saved me tonight, but there was no way I could stay longer. I couldn’t repay him by causing friction in his band. I’d make sure I was gone before anyone woke up in the morning. Long gone. But for now… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to sleep a little.
* * *
When I woke,I hadnoidea where the hell I was. I took a moment to remember, feeling the high thread count sheets around me and the cloud-like pillow beneath my head. As my senses came online, I realized what had woken me.
Somewhere close by, a woman wailed and moaned. She was either being fucked by someone who was seriously rocking her world or she was being murdered. In the suite of a rock band, my money was on the former.
I sat up slightly, still blinking away the haze of sleep, but a heavy, tattoo-covered arm draped over me to pull me back down.
“Ignore it,” Rhett mumbled, his face smooshed into a pillow. “Go back to sleep, Thorn.”
I bit my lip, listening to the woman’s cries become more urgent. Maybe I should just go now while everyone was… preoccupied? But based on how loud the sex noises were, I’d bet they were fucking right there in the living room. On the couch? Or maybe on the dining table?
Ugh. Was it Jace?
“Seriously,” Rhett yawned. “They’ll go for ages. Better off ignoring it and sleeping. C’mere.” His arm around my waist pulled me into his body, and my face somehow ended up pressed to his chest as he fell back asleep once more.
