Chapter Sixty
CHAPTER SIXTY
GEMMA
Every few trailers, I’m pulling her into the shadows to kiss her. It takes all of my restraint to get us all the way back, to not find somewhere closer that I know we won’t be heard just so I can hear her say it again as I slide my fingers inside her.
She loves me…
God, I forgot everything in that moment.
Bonnie Miller…
I blow out a breath when we eventually reach our private space, and I’m thankful to get there before I lose all control.
She loves me…
The concert was exhausting—exhilarating, but exhausting nonetheless. I’m sore everywhere, in desperate need of her healing touch. All I want right now is to fuck her, shower, and then fuck her again. I want her in my arms so she can recap how she felt on the stage. I want to hear her excitement when she talks about playing her song live and the response the crowd met her with.
Seeing it for myself was one thing, hearing her talk about it is something entirely different. If she’s even half as excited as she was telling me about the album plans, it’s worth staying up and losing sleep over.
We can always sleep in tomorrow.
I take her hands into mine and pull her off the steps just to kiss her one more time before we go inside. Her back hits the siding as our lips meet. I think my heart skips a few times at the languid feel of her tongue raking against mine. My hands press to her cheeks as she pulls our hips flush, and I groan into her mouth when her nails scratch my skin.
God, I need her undone.
“Get your ass in there before the rest of this festival gets a show,” I breathe, kissing her neck after.
I reach under her skirt and pinch her ass, and she squeaks approvingly as she steps out of my arms, bounds up the stairs, and opens the door.
It doesn’t even dawn on me that it’s already unlocked.
She turns into my arms by the door, her smile pressing to my lips. I’m blind… fixated on the passion in her kiss, the way she pins her body against mine. My back hits the counter as she wraps her arms around my neck. Her confession is fresh— too fresh to bring myself out of this dream and into our reality. I’m too enamored by the feel of her lips and body against me to discern the dim lights, the quiet television, or the dark figure sitting on the couch.
And neither does Bonnie.
“You know…”
Every muscle within me freezes.
“I was betting the two of you would be fucking in that little room back there,” he goes on.
Motherfucker.
I pull away from Bonnie’s lips as slowly as she does, eyes opening to see the same horror reflected in her gaze that I know is in mine.
Rad …
Rad is in our trailer.
“Pretty damn disappointing that I couldn’t just take care of you without all the…” He gestures to the air with his hands. “Bullshit,” he adds, sighing.
Tears already prick Bonnie’s eyes.
She’s shaking.
“Still… Here we are,” he says. “Hi, ladies. Did you miss me?”
I haven’t moved my hands from her face, haven’t dared to shift away from her.
My gun… Shit . It’s under the bed, along with every other weapon I brought with me just in case.
Still staring at her, I case the room in my mind, trying to remember what all is here—glass bottles, fire extinguisher, headphones, pens—
Knife .
Bonnie squeezes my wrists. I twist my head a fraction, heart beginning to pound as Rad rises to his feet.
Fuck… He has his own gun.
I slowly begin to move my hands to hers, and as I shift, Rad lifts the gun.
“Nothing fucking funny,” he says, and I finally look at him.
His blond hair is messy, eyes bloodshot and paranoid. The security tee he’s wearing isn’t the same as the venue’s shirts. It’s from a few years back, the fabric pilled and faded. I don’t understand how he’s here, even more confused as to how the hell he got a gun in here.
The number of permits I had to show to get mine here was a nightmare.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” he says.
I kiss Bonnie’s knuckles and whisper, “I love you,” before stepping in front of her. My hands release hers and bend at my waist, showing that I have nothing in them.
He isn’t going to hurt her.
I’ll gladly take the bullet today if she’s safe.
I got to love her, and if that was all the time I was allowed to hold her in my arms…
“How did you get past security?” I ask.
Because I need to know who I missed.
He tugs on his shirt. “You think an old t-shirt is going to matter to a bunch of old guys scared shitless of what happened at Radio Eleven?” He scoffs. “All they cared about was that I looked like I could fight.”
“They didn’t look very hard, did they?” I peer toward the weapon. “And the gun? How did you get that in here?”
“Benefits of causing an uproar,” he says. “They didn’t think twice about not letting me inside—not after I got the guy they wanted on the ground.”
“What a fucking hero,” I mock.
I’ll kill them.
“Let Bonnie leave,” I go on. “This is between you and me, right? I’m the bitch who killed your friends. I’m the one who drugged you at the bar the night you overdosed. Everything you’re blaming her for is on me.”
His eyes bulge at the admission. He straightens his lax elbow, teeth grinding.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?”
I chuckle to try and hide some of the fear coiling through me. “Oh, you still didn’t know? I thought you’d figured it out by now. Blue wig. Masked woman actually interested in you… You were so busy bragging about yourself, you didn’t see it. Though, that’s what you always counted on with the others, right? They wouldn’t notice until they woke up the next morning in your bed?”
Bonnie grips my waist.
“How were you hoping Bonnie would wake up, huh?” I ask him, rage rising. “Were you betting someone would find her on the bathroom floor after all of you were done? That she’d be so scared she wouldn’t ask for a kit at the hospital? Or maybe you were hoping once she was terrified of the road, Young Decay would come crawling back to beg you to be their drummer again?”
“The little cunt deserved it,” he sneers, gaze shifting to Bonnie. “You deserved worse.”
I shudder to keep my rage from becoming irrational. My legs bend slightly, heels digging into the floor. I’m ready to pull her to the ground the moment he decides to shut his trap. I can give her time to get to the steps. I can lunge at him, make him shoot the ceiling—
“Let her leave,” I say. “Last time I’m asking nicely.”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do? Hit me?” he asks, chuckling.
“Should we ask your friends?” I say, and his smile falters. “What about Patrick? Maybe he can… Oh, that’s right. He had his throat cut out by some vigilante, right? Let’s see. Lance? Aw. I hear he looked really cute deep-throating that gun before it blew off. And… hm… what was the other one’s name… Travis? Oh—” I snap my finger. “—Trevor, that’s right. I was told he made an adorable rag doll.” I tilt my head, my insides rifling at the look on his face.
“Who did I miss?”
“You fucking bitch,” he sneers. “You don’t know who you’ve fucked with. The money you just lost—”
“No? Tell me,” I say.
Because I’m all ears.
Tell me who is coming after us next.
“You put their entire band in jeopardy,” he says. “If you hadn’t been nosy. If you hadn’t interfered—”
“You what? ” I almost shout. “Would’ve been happy getting your dick wet? Returned to the band like a hero? Exploited them out of thousands of dollars to pay off your gambling debts? Or, no, did you just want to get back in the band so you could help Damien traffic women? Is that how you were paying off your debts?”
Rad’s mouth snaps shut. His weight shifts. He’s fuming and grasping for his next words, and I’m trying to keep it together as I realize I fucking nailed him.
Holy shit.
I was right.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” he says.
“So, that picture on Jeff’s desk wasn’t of you?” I ask. “The car who picked you up after the strip club wasn’t part of his old crew?”
“You don’t know anything,” he repeats.
“Then tell me,” I say. “You like to run your mouth, get the blame off of you. Tell me who I should be after instead.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re going to be dead in a few minutes anyway.”
I scoff. “Yeah? Let’s fucking find out.”
I shove Bonnie back and lunge at Rad before he has a chance to recoil. My hand slips around the gun. I push him backward, gun toward the ceiling. We’re falling. Just when I think the gun is going to go off, I wrestle it free. It falls to the ground behind us, and hell breaks loose.
It’s a scramble of kicking and shoving, punching and ramming. He’s fucking strong—much stronger than any of his friends. My fist strikes his face, but he bulldozes me backward, striking me in the jaw.
Motherfucker—
The iron tang of blood touches my tongue. I brace my hands on the ground, hearing him get up behind me. My leg thrusts out to kick him. It sends him flying into the hallway wall, grunt echoing in the place.
I look up to find Bonnie staring wide-eyed at me with the gun in her hand.
“Run,” I tell her. “Run, Bonnie.”
“No, I’m not leaving you,” she argues. “You think I took all of those lessons for giggles—”
“No, Bonnie—”
“ Gemma! ”
Something hard strikes the back of my head. My knees hit the floor. I can’t see. Stars and lights blind my eyes. I glimpse Bonnie’s pink-streaked hair flying by me. There’s a noise, the sound of her scream, her yell, her cursing. Rad shouts.
I have to get to her. I have to get to Bonnie.
Reality slowly unravels as I force my feet flat on the ground. I pivot, and as I grab onto the table to steady myself, Bonnie falls into my arms.
Blood.
There’s blood on her mouth, her nose.
He hurt…
He hurt her again …
And something within me snaps.
“Run,” I whisper. “Run.”
I practically toss her toward the door, attention entirely on the bastard who just won’t fucking stop. God, I wish I wasn’t so wobbly. What the hell did he hit me with?!
My eyes fix on him. I swing, lunging in his direction. Everything is a blur around me. I can feel his face, his stomach, his ribs—all coming into contact with my fist. My head throbs . Shit, if he hadn’t got that cheap shot off, this would be over. He’d be on the ground dead. She would be safe.
Instead, I’m struggling.
Arms wrap around my waist. Blood flies from my mouth. I’m suddenly off the floor. Bonnie’s shrill scream curdles my blood. I see her move, watch her run at him, but he kicks her away.
And suddenly, I’m thrown into the windows.
“Gemma!”
My entire body collides with the wall. The blinds skew and rip. I roll downward, body hitting the table and then the floor. I fall flat on my face, and as darkness tries to overtake me, I glimpse Bonnie on Rad’s back, trying to strangle him. I flop the second I get my hand under me, unable to pull myself up.
Bonnie…
I have to get to her.
The floor vibrates with the noise of her crashing to the ground. Another voice joins the commotion. Her scream seizes my insides. One last breath leaves me. Darkness swarms.
“Bonnie…”
And somewhere in the distance, the piercing blow of a gun sounds off.