Chapter 1
SERA
It'sNew Year's Eve and we're at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for an MMA fight, a charity gala, and a night of paradise with my husband, Cage.
“Where are our seats?” I ask Cage.
“Ringside, of course.”
“Please say not the first row. I don’t want any blood staining my dress,” I tell him. I don’t mind blood on my jeans when I’m taking care of business but not on a ten thousand dollar Donna Karan dress.
Cage leans in over me from behind, his breath whispers against my ear. “It won’t matter. Your dress will be off very soon.”
I turn and see those eyes have gone black. “Mmm, promises, promises,” I tease.
“I always deliver on my promises, my darling Fee.”
I turn more so I can meet his lips. It’s just a press of our mouths together, but it ignites the spark that always burns for my husband. He pulls away too quickly for my liking.
“Let’s go find our seats,” Cage says, steering me down the aisle in the arena.
I knew MMA was popular but I had no idea it was like this. The main event tonight is Gavin “The Ripper” Jones versus Johnny “The Bone Crusher” Rodriguez. Falling Down is going to play Johnny’s entrance music. Falling Down consists of five guys: Jesse Kingston on lead vocals, Ben Kingston on lead guitar, Kennedy Caldwell on rhythm guitar, Ethan Ashcroft on bass guitar, and Xander Mackenzie on drums. Cage Nichols, my husband, produces and manages Falling Down. He also produces and manages Blush, the band I’m in.
How we all met is a long story, but I’ll try to condense it for you. Cage works with my grandpa, Giovanni Russo, in our “family business”. Lucy, my sister and Jesse Kingston’s wife, and I fell for Cage seven years ago after we moved to LA from Chicago. Lucy was chasing an acting career—one that she was pretty much forced into by our mom—and I chose modeling.
Lucy had a schoolgirl crush on Jesse, watching as Falling Down won some music show and went on to make it big. At the age of seventeen, when we were in the Chicago airport waiting to catch our flight to LA, we met Jesse. In the short amount of time we had to spend with him, Lucy and Jesse clicked on a whole other level.
But she was too young, being seventeen to his twenty-three, and Jesse wasn’t ready to settle down.
As luck would have it, we ran into them again six years later on the set of the making of the new Falling Down video. As Lucy and I both were very successful at our chosen careers and we loved music, Cage hired us to dance in various music videos over the years. This one he kept secret, and when Lucy and I were playing their instruments on the faux stage, they caught us.
That was the beginning for Lucy and Jesse—and that’s what inspired us to form Blush. Lucy’s lead vocals, I’m lead guitar, Jace Warner (a lifelong friend) is bass guitar, Meggie Melody (also a lifelong friend) is rhythm guitar, and Trace Styx (one of the biggest names in drummers) is on drums for us.
Jesse and Lucy got married one drunken night in Vegas. That was epic! Their story is just as epic. The story of Lucy and Xander searching for the "real" Elvis is priceless.
Xander'swife(we just found this out), Tera, is here and so is Ben's wife, Nicole. She met Ben when she was working as the Blush Baby—though he didn't give in easily. Nothing about Ben Kingston is easy. Well, except for his possessiveness. That's on a hair trigger.
Jace, his soon-to-be wife, Summer, and Jace's daughter, Kadence, didn't come along. They're celebrating their first New Year's Eve as a family. I think that's what Meggie and Trace are doing as well since they're not here either. It's kind of weird and nice at the same time not having the entire gang together at an event.
"They're all set up?" I ask Cage.
He nods. "I checked in with them earlier."
I snort. "No, youstopped byearlier, Mr. I-have-to-make-sure-things-are-done-the-way-I-like-them."
One side of his mouth tips up in a smirk. "You love that about me."
"I do. I love everything about you." I love my husband more than I ever thought I could. He is the other half of my soul.
His eyes darken. "You can show me just how much soon."
I rub my thighs together. Just that look gets me hot. "We have the gala," I say, almost pouting.
He runs a finger along my jawline and over my lips. "We won't stay long. We'll make our appearances and go to our suite."
"Mmm," I purr, leaning in to the hand now cupping my cheek. "I love how you think."
"Let's sit," Lucy interrupts. "They're getting ready to introduce the fighters." Tera follows behind her and we take our seats—third row.
