“Sorry, Prickles,” Grayson murmured, wrapping his coat around my shoulders. “I got carried away.”
“No complaints here,” I assured him with chattering teeth. “Where’s Rhett, though?”
Grayson raised a brow, his lips creasing in a sly smile, and I groaned. “I didn’t mean like that…” Or maybe I did.
“He was getting the heat going in the truck,” Jace said, taking my cold hand in his and tucking them both into his pocket. Grayson draped his arm over my shoulders, and the three of us walked the short trail just like that.
When Rhett saw us—sawme—he scowled daggers at both Jace and Gray. “I hate you both,” he snapped. “You…” He shifted his glare my way, and it softened. “Okay, I love you. But goddamn, you look freshly fucked and utterly gorgeous right now.”
Grayson and Jace exchanged a grin and bumped fists as we approached the truck. It was a subtle gesture, so maybe I imagined it. Regardless, I wriggled out of their hold and went to Rhett, where he leaned against the door with a sexy pout on his face.
“Snuggle with me in the backseat?” I offered, batting my lashes. “I’m cold.”
Rhett immediately drew me into his warm embrace, holding me close with his face buried in my hair. “Anything for you, Thorn. Absolutely anything.” Then he kissed my cheek and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Will you let me make you come while Gray drives us home? He deserves payback.”
I chuckled, nodding. “Fuck yes, he does. You’ve got yourself a deal, so long as I can sleep in your bed tonight to hide from Gray’s wrath.”
Rhett’s laugh was pure evil, and Jace groaned in dread when we climbed into the back seat of the truck. He knew what was coming, but he’d sit there in the front with Grayson and suffer.
Now who was punishingwhom?
eleven
BILLIE
It was getting harder and harder for us to leave the house these days. The Bellerose story had started big, but then it’d continued to build like wildfire until the speculation was intense. Big Noise released their statement on the crazed musician-fan theory,but not everyone was buying it. The fans had some huge opinions on who was targeting the band, and the blame ranged from a crazed fan to a jealous musician, and then morphed to guessing it’d been a personal attack on Grayson, Jace, or Rhett. Ex-girlfriends, past acquaintances, high school bullies… the list went on and on. The media was digging hard into their past, and skeletons were falling out of closets faster than any of us liked.
Of course, the one who had everyone the most curious was Angelo.
Giovanni was somehow keeping word of his involvement in the mafia under wraps, but people recognized the lethal predator caged under Angelo’s beautiful exterior. It fascinated and terrified them.
So, of course, a lot of OG fans believed he was the reason Bellerose had been having so many issues lately. “I need to make a statement,” Jace said a few days after we’d returned from the shooting field. We were all but pacing the living room, about done with being trapped within these four walls. I mean the sex was amazing, but we were also prisoners, and that had to end. “Angel should be back in less than a week,” he continued, “and if we can’t lose the media circus around us, there’s no way we can enact our part in his rescue.”
“Is that a good idea, bro?” Rhett asked. “Won’t a statement only add fuel to the fucking blaze?”
Jace’s jaw was set tightly as he squeezed his eyes closed. “It’s a risk we have to take,” he finally said. “If we don’t say anything and let the speculation continue, then it’ll keep growing. A statement might get at least our most loyal fans backing our story, and they’ll push the narrative for us, then.”
“Yes,” Grayson agreed. “I think this is our only option now. It’s too dangerous for us to make a statement in public, but we can post across our social media and get the word out that way.”
“Run it by Brenda,” Rhett added, but Jace interrupted him.
“Fuck Brenda. She’s not one of us. I’m done running things through others. This is our band. Ours. No one fucking else’s. Andwewill make the best decision for Bellerose.”
He caught my eye, and I shot him a gentle smile. Some of the fire died out of him as he strode across and dropped down beside me. “What do you think, Rose? Should I make a statement?”
The stranglehold this guy had on me was dangerous. The simple act of conferring with me before making a huge decision told me that he valued my opinion. “What if I said no?” I checked.
Jace examined my features for a few extra seconds. “Then I wouldn’t. You might not have been in the public eye as long as we have, so you definitely see things differently than me. You would see the negatives that I can’t and let me know if you truly thought I shouldn’t do it.”
Grabbing his hand, I held on tightly as I said, “I think you should make a statement. It’s time for Bellerose to step out on their own and do shit their way. It’s the best way for the band… and you all. Being controlled almost got us all killed. I sayno fucking moreof that shit. We’re done being puppets.”
He kissed me fiercely, and I was surprised enough that by the time I was about to return the kiss, he was already up and heading for the soundproof room with all the computers and equipment where they did their recording. The room at Grayson’s wasn’t huge like the one at the old farmhouse we’d been in, but it had enough space for them to make media statements and such.
“I’ll make the statement on my own,” Jace said over his shoulder, “so no one questions where Angelo is if only the three of us appear. But I’ll run it by you all first.”
“No need,” Rhett called back. “We trust you to speak for us on this matter.”
“We do,” Grayson added. “Let’s start changing the narrative now.”
