Reckless

Chapter 29

The others are due to join us in a half hour. I keep staring at Solene across from me on a sun lounger. She’s laying back wearing a strapless crop top and tiny shorts. My eyes are drawn to her flat stomach. I don’t know much about pregnancy progression. I mean, I’m not dumb. I know the facts, but not when she will start showing. For now, she doesn’t look any different.

Sol’s house is only a short drive away from mine and we’ve agreed to meet here before we head to the Quicksilver offices. We’ve talked in circles about the father. She doesn’t want to know him. I’ve tried to appeal to the fact this guy might want to know he has a kid, but she’s been adamant she isn’t in the right head space.

When I offered to do it with Riggs’s help to keep things on the down low, she got quiet, her jaw tensing. Riggs hasn’t been around her since South Dakota. It is clear she doesn’t want to talk about him and after a moment of silence, she shut it down.

I’ll agree to disagree right now, but the more I think about it, the more I put myself in this guy’s shoes. Even if I didn’t want a relationship with the mom, I wouldn’t like to think I had a child I knew nothing about. All I can do is offer her advice and support. It isn’t up to me to decide for her.

Ethan arrives first, letting himself in and wandering out to find us on the back deck. He strips his shirt off, already holding a beer he grabbed from the fridge before stepping out. Solene eyes him over her sunglasses, then reaches to the table next to her and throws sunscreen at him.

He’s tall and lanky, with a swimmer’s body. Much to his chagrin, his features are elfin and a little too pretty for a guy. He has the androgynous look that men and women find attractive. His hair is pin straight and long on the top and sides, but shaved around his ears and the back of his neck. Like his sister, it's almost platinum blonde. A color many people believe the two of them have done at a salon, but it's all natural.

The sunscreen hits his bare chest and falls to the floor. He grunts and rubs his chest.

“A little warning, sis.”

“I can at least make sure you protect yourself against skin cancer, if nothing else.”

“You’re one to talk.”

We all go silent. Ethan looks panicked as his sister looks away from him.

“Shit, sorry, Sol. I didn’t mean that.”

“Yeah you did,” she sighs. “And you’re right, I fucked up.”

“It was an accident,” I say, glaring at her stupid brother.

Ethan walks over, bends down, and kisses Sol’s head. She bats him away, but it isn’t in anger. She’s always quick to forgive him. I’m pissed at that comment, but keep my mouth shut.

“Where’s Paul?” he asks, pulling up a chair and slouching into it.

“You’re early for a change,” Sol points out.

“He’s only flying in for the meeting, right?” Ethan asks. He bends and picks up the sunscreen, popping the cap and rubbing it into his bare skin. He will always listen to his sister.

“Yeah,” I nod.

“We’ve not talked about that,” Ethan frowns in my direction. “You’ve been too busy riding around in your sex van.”

“Shut the fuck up.” I roll my eyes but look at Sol. She rubs her lips together and turns away. You can’t keep a secret in this band.

“What do you think about Paul going off to work on this solo album? I mean, I know he’s talked about it, but I figured it was just talk. I didn’t think he’d go through with it.”

“When has Paul ever said he was going to do something, then not follow through? Especially with music. I don’t think we need to worry,” I tell them. “We have more important things to worry about.” I don’t look at Sol, but hear her sigh.

She rolls herself up and gets off the lounger, walking to the table she grabs a bottle of water from the cooler. Instead of drinking it, she presses it to the back of her neck. When the doorbell rings, Ethan hops up to let Paul in.

“You okay?” I ask my best friend.

“Yeah,” she sniffs, but waves a hand, blinking a few times.

Paul follows Ethan out onto the deck. He’s wearing a jacket, black jeans and a t-shirt. He takes the jacket off and sits down, glancing between us.

“Okay, let’s get this shit out in the open,” he says. “I’m not leaving Reckless Soul. I’m making some different music and putting it out. It might flop, it might not. I may end up going on my own tour, but that doesn’t mean I’m walking away. Can you all stop looking at me like I’ve murdered some puppies?”

“No one is looking at you like that, bro,” Ethan says, sipping his beer.

“Yeah, you are. I know you too well.” He grabs a bottle of water for himself. “So now that’s out there. You can stop worrying.”

At least that is one problem dealt with. Everyone turns to me. Sol looks panicked. I guess hearing Paul say he’s not walking away puts all the strain on her now. She will have to pull out of the band eventually. Even in the short term, she won’t be able to tour with us.

“What?” I ask.

“This chick,” Ethan grins. “Is it serious?”

Might as well be honest. “Yeah. Very.”

“You’re dating exclusively.”

“Yes. I don’t want to be with anyone else.”

Solene looks at me for a long time. The others are quiet. Then Paul shrugs.

“I’m happy for you,” he says. “You look less like you’re one step away from a grave. If that is down to her, great.”

I don’t admit that it is. And I’m offended at his assessment, but to be fair, I didn’t look my best when I wandered out of that hotel in Montana.

“Now we’ve got the issues out of the way. Are we going to go to the offices?” Paul looks at his watch. Him being late has put us on a tighter schedule.

Solene bites her lip. Paul turns to look at her.

“Shit, what have you done? You’re usually the level-headed one,” he laughs, but when no one else does, his face falls. “What?”

“We may have a slight issue,” she wrinkles her nose.

Oh yeah, slight doesn’t even touch the surface.

When we get to the labels offices and explain the situation, the news goes down about as well as we’d expected. As in, everyone is pissed.

I’m glad we met up before we came here because every single one of us backs up Solene. Surprisingly, Paul isn’t mad. He was shocked at first, but he got up and hugged Solene. For a long time, he just held her. I don’t know what he whispered to her, but a couple of tears fell down her cheeks.

Ethan looked as if he was about to get up and ask what the hell he was saying, but he saw what I did. She wasn’t crying because he said something horrible. He’d said something she’d been needing to hear. We’re all one hundred percent together on this.

It throws next year’s tour plans into something of a mess. She is due in March so thinks she can still end out the year as part of the tour.

Fisher calms everyone down but expresses concern about making sure Solene doesn’t overdo it. Begrudgingly, we all listen to him.

He works out when she is going to need to step back, and starts tossing around ideas about who we can invite to join us for the duration of her maternity leave. We don’t want to cancel anymore shows. It isn’t unheard of for other musicians to join tours, even ones in their own bands, depending on where they are with their plans.

When the label reps are appeased and leave, Sol stares at Fisher like she doesn’t know who he is.

Sheepishly, he looks around the room.

“I need to apologize for being a dick a couple of years ago,” he says to Solene. “I was a different guy back then and can admit I came on strong.”

Ethan snorts. “Dude, I was getting ready to rip your dick off.”

Fisher winces, remembering Ethan's threats at the time, but nods, accepting that.

“My sister just had a baby. I’ve seen what she’s gone through. It’s hard. And I’m glad you have the support of the band. And the label. We’ll do what we can to make it run as smoothly as possible.”

After a moment, Solene gives him a tentative smile. “Thank you.”

He isn’t asking about the father, or the fall out that will come if Solene announces she is doing it alone. That’ll come in due time.

He acknowledges her thanks with a nod. We talk a little more about the logistics of Sol’s absence, how Paul’s side project is going to affect things and how I’m getting on with my recovery. He doesn’t say it condescendingly. He wants to make sure I’m keeping up with the therapy appointments.

I’ve not been going to them while with Krista, but her presence has done more to soothe the demons in my head than any therapist ever could.

There is some discussion about Cody, but no one wants to dwell on that. The FBI's White Collar Division, and the label’s law team are dealing with it. The press has died down after my interview aired. People move on. There is always another scandal to report on.

We leave the label offices somewhat dazed by how well it all went. Paul’s flight isn’t for another four hours, so we head back to my place and order food, talking about anything but the band.

Ethan is getting excited about becoming an uncle now that the pressure is off. Sol still looks terrified when we talk about the baby, but it’s more of a natural reaction to impending motherhood than anything else.

Once they all leave, I check my phone. It’s early evening and I know from her schedule, Krista is at the authors' dinner, so I send her a quick text letting her know we’re all happy, and the label is on board with everything. Then, I go take a shower.

I thought being back here was going to make my anxiety spike, but it didn’t happen. I might be alone, for now, but I have a lot to look forward to. We may not be blood, but Paul and I will be that kid’s uncle too. I’m excited to hear the music Paul is creating up in San Francisco.

My mood only gets better when Krista calls. She sounds a little drunk, which is adorable. She’s happy, so I’m happy. I’m even happier when she sends me a picture of her bare legs, the tiniest hint of lace between her thighs.

My dick springs up instantly. She’s such a damn tease. She doesn’t leave me wanting though, well, for her touch maybe, but we get each other off anyway.

I’m surprised the following morning by a text from Luther asking to meet. He says he can be at the house in fifteen minutes. I agree despite it being nine AM, slip into some sweats and head to the kitchen.

A housekeeper comes around to keep the place in order while I’m away. She’s stocked the fridge for me so I happily get to making omelets, something I never would have been able to do before I met Krista.

Luther is surprised when he arrives but accepts a plate and a coffee. We sit at the kitchen counter eating, making as much small talk as Luther is able to manage.

“What’s up?” I ask after we finish the food.

“I didn’t want to bring it up while you were on the road," he starts, then pauses with a frown. "There was a reason I was following you so closely.”

Unease ripples down my spine at the look on his face. I mean, he usually looks like this, but there is something extra in it.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve intercepted some mail. Disturbing messages on blogs and social media. And when we found your phone near the hotel, there were messages on there.”

“My number got leaked? What messages?”

“I can get into the detail of it later if you want, but, it looks like another stalker.”

“Fuck.” I run a hand through my hair. “I really don’t need to deal with this right now. How bad is it?”

“We’re working on it. We were watching out for anyone while you were with Krista, but saw nothing that caused us to believe she was nearby.”

"That's why you were following me? Because you were worried this stalker would find me. How the hell would they find me? No one knew where I was."

"From some things she was saying, it appeared as if she did."

Krista. Shit . Stalkers are notorious for believing they’re in a relationship with the person they stalk.

“We haven't heard anything for a week or two. We think she lost track of you," Luther goes on.

“Think?” I interrupt him and get off my seat. “Luther, thinking isn’t good enough. What if she knew where we were? How dangerous is she?”

He looks as if he doesn’t want to tell me. “Riggs is still in Chicago.”

They’re worried about Krista.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me this before I left her?” I yell.

“Because we felt it best to get you back home, where it’s easier to make sure you’re protected. Then last night we identified her through one of her social media aliases.”

“So you know who it is? Where is she? What about Krista? Fucking hell, Luther," I growl, pacing in front of him. I can't believe he kept this from me. It all makes sense now, the way he was while he was traveling with us. I've seen him alert but he was hyper alert these past few days.

“Riggs is there,” he repeats.

“That’s not fucking good enough. Who is she? Do you have a picture?”

I’m almost tearing my hair out at the roots when Luther pulls out his phone. How could he not fucking tell me I have another stalker? I’m going to fire his ass as soon as this is over. I’m on the verge of punching him when he hands me his phone.

The blood drains out of my face, and my heart stops. I look up at him. “I met her.”

“What? When?” He looks shocked, his back straightening.

“In Minneapolis. In a bookstore. She approached me and… She saw me with Krista.”

I don’t wait for him to say anything else. I’m already running for the bedroom to grab my shoes and a t-shirt. I don’t give a shit about anything else.

“Call Riggs,” I yell at Luther as I come storming back into the room.

“Already have. He’s at the hotel, he’s got his eyes on her.”

Shit, my temper and my fear get the better of me and I lunge at him, punching him hard across his jaw. It hurts like hell, but I don’t care about the pain or consequences, I don’t care about anything but making sure Krista is safe.

"You should have fucking told me!" I yell at him.

Blood trickles from a cut on his lip. I want to hit him again, harder, but he doesn’t do anything to fight back, just clenches his jaw, taking it. It's obvious he feels bad he missed this, and so he damn well should.

"Her safety is more important than mine," I growl at him. "I'll never fucking forgive you if anything happens to her."

I spin away from him, unable to look him in the fucking eyes anymore. I wrack my brains trying to think if I saw the woman anywhere else. Nothing comes to mind. I was too focused on Krista. And hiding my face. I made a conscious effort not to look at the people around me.

“I’ll arrange the jet and get local law enforcement to the hotel.”

“Don’t you dare fucking scare her,” I snarl.

“It will be best to get her to safety.”

“No,” I cut him off.

As much as I want Riggs to grab her and get her far away from that place, I know she will not want to do that. Plus, she’s surrounded by hundreds of people. What could the woman possibly do to her with all those witnesses?

She may not even be there, I don’t want Krista to be afraid. Dragging her away from the convention will do that. My head is torn in two, wanting to protect her and wanting her not to fear me or my lifestyle.

Damn it, her safety is more important than that. I’ve seen firsthand what these crazy stalkers are capable of. I’d never been so fucking scared when I found a woman in my house. She had nothing on her when I found her, but there was a gun in her car. Her crazy plan was to kidnap me, but I got back earlier than she expected. Before she brought the things she needed to take me, she wanted to roll around on my bed in my dirty laundry.

Fuck.

“I’ll call her on the way to the airport. I want her to hear this from me. Then Riggs can go sit at her fucking side. Just tell him to stay close.”

Luther lifts his phone as we hurry out of the front door. It’s going to take at least three and a half hours to fly there and however long it takes to get the plane sorted.

It’s too long, it’s too far away. I might have said it to Luther, but the truth is, if anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself .