Chapter 11 Rosalie
ROSALIE
Iadjusted my skirt and blew out a breath.
“I like your hair,” Cas commented. “Did you finally wash it today?”
I snorted at him and eyed his bright blue hair. “Maybe. I like your hair. Did you dip it into toilet water?”
He snickered at me. “It’s Hex’s fault. He had me bent over the toilet railing into me.”
“Man, fuck off,” Hex muttered. “You and your stupid fantasies. Go read your romance novel.” He threw a paperback at him, which was definitely a romance novel.
I raised my brows at that.
Cas shrugged. “I saw in a forum online that I’d be the perfect book boyfriend, and I was compared to this dude.” He held up the romance novel. “Figured maybe I could pick up more chicks this way. They like the sweet, sensitive sort.”
“Which you’re not.” Bane mussed up Cas’s hair. “You chew with your mouth open and pronounce the T in often. You also don’t wear underwear.”
“They chafe.” Cas looked at me and shrugged. “You know how tight my pants are.”
“You’re so weird,” I muttered, shaking my head at him as he grinned widely. I could always tell myself he was kidding, but I knew Cas. He was definitely not kidding.
“Head in the game,” Anson said, coming to stand next to us as we stood waiting for this YouTuber to come into the room. They had a couch for us to sit on, and one of the crew members led us over to it.
“Bishop, we need you here,” the man said, gesturing to the end of the couch. I sat where he indicated and looked at Anson, who watched with a tight-lipped expression. Klaus and Ryder were standing along the edge of the room, and more security was stationed outside.
The guy set my band up around me, with Cas sitting on the arm of the chair and Bane taking a stool and perched behind the couch.
Anson eyed the setup and nodded before he backed away as the YouTuber came into the room.
He was about my age, and he really looked the part of a rocker. I didn’t watch his channel, but Anson told us he was a big deal.
“Hey, guys,” he greeted us, sitting in the chair next to the couch. “I’m Feris. Sorry I was late. I was trying to scarf down some breakfast, and traffic was a bitch.”
“You bring any for us?” Cas asked.
The guy winced. “Sorry. I probably should have, man. My bad. Next time?”
“You better,” Cas said, grinning. “Rosalie gets hangry.”
I rolled my eyes at him, forcing out a small smile.
I got along really well with my band, but today I was so preoccupied with worrying about everything that I couldn’t focus on the room.
I caught Ryder on his phone before he went to Anson and whispered something into his ear.
Anson nodded. He didn’t seem panicked, though, so I breathed out and ratcheted my smile tighter onto my face.
Evan stayed behind despite having planned to come with us. There were so many paparazzi outside the hotel that he decided Ellis needed him too. I loved that about him.
I assured him I’d be fine after the guys did, but I knew he was worried.
“You guys good?” The guy behind the camera called out.
Feris looked at us, and we gave him a quick nod. They counted down to recording, and that was it. We were off and running, discussing the tour, dates, our favorite venues, and what we had planned for the future of our music.
It was going well. Easy. Laid back. I relaxed further as we talked.
I knew we were nearing the end of the segment because we’d been given a heads up to the number of questions he was going to ask us, and I’d been silently counting them down in my head because all I wanted to do was get back to Evan and Ellis.
I had to prepare for my show tomorrow, too.
For that, we always went to the venue and scouted around before going inside.
Anson typically met with people there to discuss security and related matters.
I just wanted to get this damn tour over with so I could relax for a few months with my family.
“So, Rosalie, on a more personal note, how are you?” Feris asked.
“Um, I’m OK,” I replied.
“I’m talking about after the blood incident. We all saw it happen, and I think all your fans out there, and I can safely say we were pissed and want justice.”
I glanced at Anson, who took a step forward. He was always vetting the questions interviewers had for us, and apparently, this one hadn’t been pre-approved.
“Well, I think like any job, you have your ups and downs,” I said, wanting to answer before Anson stormed the area. “I have a great team, a great band, and we just see it as another Thursday night.”
“So no worries?”
“None.” I looked to my band.
“We’re not worried,” Bane said. “You get a crazy prick for every artist at least once a year. We’ve gotten ours out of the way for the year.”
Anson paused and gave a quick nod.
“Well, I want to thank you guys for hanging out with me. It’s been awesome, and I’m so excited to hear the new album and anything else you want to release for us. Rosalie, the duet with Riley Parker is fire, and the music video? Legit. One final thing.”
I breathed out, keeping the smile fixed on my face.
“Rumor has it you’re doing a music video with Fabian Henry and dropping a new single. How true is it?”
I looked to Anson. We were allowed to promo this. He gave me a quick nod, so it would seem he’d approved this question.
“That is true, mostly,” I said. “We’re actually releasing two new singles. As for Fabian, I was really excited to work with him on this. He’s a good friend and an amazing actor. I think everyone will love the single and the video. I can’t wait to debut it in Boston for our livestream.”
“Will Fabian be there?”
“Nope, you already asked your final question,” I joked. “But I will be singing it live for the first time tomorrow night, so in a way, yeah, he will be there.”
“OK. Just… want to tell us the name of the song at least?”
Anson gave me a quick nod.
“The video and single are called All I Needed Was You. The second new single we will debut is called Tears You Apart.”
He grinned at me. “There you guys have it. We’re going to see something really awesome soon, and Bishop will be performing two new singles tomorrow night.
If you haven’t picked up Bishop’s album Dark Romance, then what the hell are you even doing?
” He laughed as he held up our album. “Out now. Bishop is on tour and playing here in Boston tomorrow night. The show is sold out, so it sucks to suck. Get better next time. This is Feris, and I’ll see you guys next time. ”
“Bye.” I waved at the camera with the guys.
“We’re out,” the camera guy said.
I exhaled and got to my feet.
“I’m sorry about that one question,” Feris said awkwardly. “I just wanted the fans to know what was happening. We can cut it if you want.” He looked to Anson, who moved forward to stand with us.
“No. It’s fine. Keep it. It’s probably a good idea if people know everything is good. The video uploads tonight?” Anson eyed Feris.
“Yep. They’re already editing it. We should be good for an upload this evening. Segments are usually live by eight tonight.”
“Perfect.” Anson nodded for us to go.
We said our goodbyes to Feris and his people before Anson and Ryder flanked me, with Klaus walking ahead of us.
We left the studio, and I caught sight of Dante directing some of the security on where to go. Everything was good. We’d only encountered one photographer, and luckily, Dante had scared him off by flashing his knife.
Anson had snarled at him not to do that, but Dante didn’t care and said he’d do it again and maybe actually stab the guy.
This entire thing was a lot of work.
Ben pulled up with our SUV, and I got inside, Klaus, Dante, and Anson following. Ryder went with the band in a separate SUV, and we headed back to the hotel.
“That went well,” Klaus commented, eyeing me.
I nodded. “It was good. I liked Feris. He’s nice.”
“He’s insanely popular,” Anson said. “He gets several million views on each of his videos when he uploads. He promised to show some live footage of you guys. I gave him a couple of tickets to the show tomorrow so he can do a follow-up video.”
I smiled at that. Anson always gave away tickets to keep the promotions going. He liked to have connections, and the label loved him for it. He was probably the one who single-handedly made my career. When I’d told him that, he’d laughed and kissed me, citing it was all me.
The guys talked while we rode back to the hotel, and I scrolled on my phone.
I stared down at a news article with Enzo. The picture they used showed him staring at the camera, a gun in his hand, his all-black suit in place.
I hadn’t seen a recent picture of him in ages.
He looked good. Really good.
Dark. Ruthless. Lethal. Terrifying. His fingers had tattoos on them now.
He looked… amazing. All grown up. The boyish face was now gone and replaced by someone who looked like they’d shoot you before you could answer their question, and knowing Enzo, that’s likely exactly who he was now.
I glanced at the guys as they went over plans for tomorrow’s show and how Anson needed to head to the venue.
I directed my attention back to the article.
Lorenzo De Luca Secures Major Government Weapons Deal
I skimmed the article to find out he was developing some high-tech stuff the government wanted. He was getting paid millions for it. Hundreds of millions of dollars.
I guess he was finally at the top just like he’d always wanted.
It made me wonder why he even bothered heading his mafia syndicate.
Hell, for all I knew, he didn’t. It wasn’t like I had insider information.
I knew Dominic was still in the life because of Klaus and his connection to Levin, and sometimes Anson spoke to Dominic on the phone, but that was it.
We didn’t speak about the horsemen. In fact, I hadn’t spoken to Dominic in nearly three years, and Dante definitely didn’t answer my questions.
“How does that sound?” Anson’s voice broke into my thoughts.
I darkened my phone screen and looked at him, feeling my cheeks heat. “Um, how does what sound?”
“I’m going to go over to the venue with Klaus. Dante is going to stay with you, Evan, and Ellis,” he said.
“Oh. Yeah. That’s fine. It’s good,” I mumbled, looking out the window at the passing scenery.
“You OK?” Dante asked, leaning in to speak softly to me.
“I’m fine,” I muttered as the guys went back to talking.
“It’s my experience that it hurts less when you don’t look.” Dante nodded to my phone.
I said nothing, opting to stare down at the device where I’d just seen Enzo’s handsome face.
“Don’t run back to a place you escaped. Memory lane is great to walk down, but don’t make the mistake of living there, sister. You won’t find home, only heartache.”
I nodded and forced myself to smile at him.
“And don’t lie. You don’t have to fake with me.” He squeezed my hand. “You’re better off now. I promise you are.”
“I know.” I caught Anson’s eye as he watched me and Dante’s exchange. He cocked his head at me, but I only gave him a slight shake of my head.
The car stopped in front of the hotel, and I blew out a breath as I looked out the window to see all the photographers still standing outside, waiting.
“Damnit,” I groaned. We’d made it out safely this morning because we’d left so early, but it looked like the return plan had some major suckage.
“They’re at the back and side doors too,” Anson muttered, stuffing his phone into his pocket. I assumed Ryder had reached out to tell him.
“Why don’t we change hotels?” Dante asked. “This place has shit room service anyway. I can book us a new place in a minute flat.”
Anson looked at Klaus.
“I think it’s a good idea. We can just get the hell out of here and book it under a different name,” Klaus said.
“I booked it under a different name already, but I’m open to trying something new.” Anson looked at Dante. “Do it. Book something. We need a big bed, though.”
Dante went to work, his fingers flying over his phone screen. A moment later, his phone pinged, and he smiled.
“Got it. Take us to The Swan,” he said.
“The Swan?” Klaus raised his brows at that. “What the fuck is that place?”
“You’ll see.” Dante gave instructions to our driver, who moved us easily through the crowd before we were back on the road.
“What about the band?” I asked, noting they’d stopped at the hotel and were getting out.
“They’re going to get their stuff,” Anson said. “They’ll leave out the side door tonight and meet us at this place. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get the hell out without incident.”
“What about Evan and Ellis?” I pressed. “We need to go back for them.”
“It’s safe,” Klaus said. “No one knows who he is. He can walk in and out without them looking twice at him. As far as anyone knows, he’s just a guest at the hotel. Plus, he has Trix with him. They look like a cute little family just trying to get out of the place.”
I nodded glumly before pulling up Evan’s number on my phone. I sent him a quick text.
Rosalie: I’m sorry. I want to come back for you.
His answer came almost immediately.
Evan: Baby, don’t worry. We’re fine. We’re playing dolls, and we’ll leave once things quiet down. Dante sent the address. We’ll see you in a few hours. Be my good girl and smile, OK? I love you.
Rosalie: I love you too. Kiss Ellis for me.
Evan: Of course. See you soon, baby.
I darkened my screen and went back to looking out the window. I loved my life, but I also hated it.
Seemed to be a recurring theme I had.