Staged (Exodus End World Tour, #3)

by Cunning, Olivia

  Nine

  Roux fingered the rather ratty slip of paper she couldn’t bring herself to throw away. She’d been incredibly busy for the past week with tour preparations and rehearsal after rehearsal after rehearsal. Iona was an incurable perfectionist, and she was determined to turn the rest of them into perfectionists as well. Roux had therefore found it easy to put off calling Steve while she was playing Baroquen’s set list until her fingers were numb and singing harmony until she went hoarse. But they couldn’t very well rehearse without their drummer, and Jack had all but kidnapped his wife and taken her somewhere for a few days’ rest before they headed off on tour. Lily hadn’t protested her abduction at all. And Roux had been envious. How great would it be to have a husband who looked after your well-being and took you away from it all when you were stressed-out beyond your limits? Roux sighed. That would be fantastic. She drew her finger down the center of the scrap of paper and over the number that she decided was too late to call. She’d missed her window of opportunity. He had probably already forgotten about her. Not that she was thinking Steve would make a great husband like Jack, but he was a worthy distraction—an off-limits but worthy distraction. She sure could use a distraction right about now. The closer their day of departure, the more nervous she became. It didn’t help that Iona was constantly snapping at everyone that they weren’t ready.

  A key fumbled in the front-door lock, and footsteps approached Roux where she sat at the battered dining table.

  Raven.

  Roux knew the sound of her gait. She’d always had a strange ability to recognize a person by their step. The ability had started when she’d been young and had dreaded the sound of her father returning home after a night of drinking. She could usually even predict by the amount of his stumbling whether he would yell or hit or just pass out. As a child, she’d known the footstep of every person who’d lived in their apartment building as well and had naturally expanded her talent to include the safer footfall patterns of her sisters and Mama after she’d been brought into Mama’s fold.

  Roux palmed the phone number before pretending to examine the tour schedule in front of her. Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia. By the time her eyes read Germany, her heart was thundering with excitement.

  “Pack a bag,” Raven said. “We’re going to Boston.”

  Fear gripped Roux’s throat, and her breath caught. Her gaze snapped up to read Raven’s expression, which didn’t hold the concern Roux had anticipated. Mama Ramona wasn’t exactly young anymore, and while she was in relatively good health, Roux couldn’t help but worry about her. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yeah. You look like a raccoon that’s been punched in both eyes.” Raven grabbed Roux’s chin and turned her face toward the light. “How long has it been since you’ve had a decent night’s sleep?”

  Roux winced. “How long has it been since we signed that tour contract?”

  “I figured as much. Going home for a few days will do you good.”

  A trip to the enormous brownstone—home—sounded like heaven to her, but . . . “Iona will never go for it.”

  “It was her idea, actually. We’re all going. Well, except Lily, who’s probably making love to her gorgeous and considerate husband on a beach somewhere, the cow.” Raven’s eyes rolled upward.

  Roux chuckled and rose to her feet, heading for the corner of the room where three sets of bunkbeds and several mismatched dressers were situated. Their studio was basically one big room, though they’d put up a few strategic screens to separate spaces; there really wasn’t any privacy to be found except in the tiny bathroom.

  Both she and Raven had their bags packed before Iona, Azura, and Sage entered the apartment ten minutes later.

  “Did anyone call Mama and tell her we were coming?” Iona asked, looking almost as exhausted as Roux felt. If they were in such bad shape before heading out on tour, what would they be like in three months?

  “I sent her a text,” Raven said.

  “She doesn’t use text messaging,” Iona said.

  “She replied with a middle finger emoji,” Raven said with a laugh. “I’m assuming she meant the thumbs-up, but you never know with her.”

  “Maybe she’s glad we finally moved out and really does want us to fuck off,” Roux said. The woman had enough on her plate without four uninvited visitors showing up out of the blue.

  “If she doesn’t want us to visit, I’ll sleep in some guy’s dorm room at Parkline,” Azura said, referring to the music college they all had attended at one time or another. “If I don’t get out of New York for a few days, I’ll go insane.”

  “I’m with you,” Sage said, heading for her bunk and yanking an overnight bag out from under it. She tossed it to Azura and pulled out a second bag.

  “Just let me call her,” Iona said, and retrieved her cellphone from her pocket.

  By the smile on Iona’s face, it was obvious that Mama was more than happy for them to visit. Roux could hear the occasional exclamation in Italian from the woman she couldn’t wait to see in five or six hours, depending on traffic.

  “Raven said you sent her a middle finger emoji,” Iona said, grinning as she teased Mama.

  “What?”

  Roux could hear her clearly.

  “Let me talk to her,” Roux said, a hand extended toward Iona’s phone. “You need to pack.”

  “Roux wants to talk to you while I pack,” Iona said. “Yes, I’ll drive carefully. I promise. No, Kyle isn’t coming, but he might show up while we’re there.” Iona laughed. “Yes, I remember the rule about men in the house. Here’s Roux.” She handed her phone over and hurried off to find her bag.

  “Hi, Mama, how have you been?”

  “Ah, mi tomato,” Mama said, and Roux laughed. That nickname used to embarrass her, but now she loved it because Mama was the only one who still used it. “Iona is keeping you busy, yes?”

  “How did you guess?” Roux watched their unstoppable band leader, who was currently packing with careful precision. Sage and Azura were randomly tossing stuff into each other’s bags, figuring they’d be sharing living quarters in Boston just as they did in New York.

  “It’s Iona!”

  Roux pictured Mama shrugging her shoulders as she spoke.

  “Are you able to eat well? I wonder will rock stars have food for you on this tour.”

  Roux smiled, remembering how Mama had always gone out of her way to make sure Roux’s plate was meat free, which usually meant she’d had to prepare something special just for her. Mama never once complained, and until recently, Roux hadn’t realized what a bother that must have been for years.

  “Don’t worry, Mama. I’ll eat just fine.” The memory of a yummy plate of eggplant lasagna and some fine company raced through her thoughts. “These rock stars know how to take care of a lady.”

  “They probably try to get you drunk. You can say no. Don’t be afraid to say no, mi tomato. You can be too polite sometimes. Just say no.”

  “I’ve already run into that situation.”

  “Aaaand?”

  Roux could easily picture Mama’s assessing stare. “I said no.”

  “What did he say to that?”

  “How did you know it was a he?”

  “Mi tomato’s beauty will draw the attention of all men.”

  Roux snorted. “Uh . . . he wanted to know why I don’t drink.”

  Mama was quiet for a moment, and Roux could practically feel the woman’s enormous heart and immense empathy reaching through Iona’s phone to tug at her.

  “And did you tell him?”

  “I did.”

  “Did he leave you alone then?”

  “Actually, no.” She glanced over her shoulder to see if any of her sisters were paying attention. The three packing were too busy trying to squeeze into the bathroom for toiletries to pay her any mind, and Raven was fiddling with Facebook on her phone. “He gave me his number.”

  “Oh. So you are seeing him now?”

  Mama k
new Roux had a hard time trusting anyone, especially men, and those who offered her alcohol in particular.

  “I haven’t called him. Too busy.”

  “But you like him.”

  “I don’t know.” She suddenly felt much younger. Like junior high age, when she’d gone to Mama for all her boy advice. “It’s been a week since he gave me his number. Don’t you think that’s too long?”

  “You have to call him and see.” There was a loud crash on Mama’s end, and Mama shouted, “Oh, Caroline be careful. You’ll cut yourself.” To Roux she said, “Have to go. See you soon.”

  “Love you, Mama.”

  “To the stars and back.” Mama had always said the moon wasn’t far enough away to encompass the depth of her love.

  Roux ended the call and nibbled on her lip. Maybe it wasn’t too late to call Steve. She had an excuse. Not a good one, but she did have one. It was sort of legitimate. But what would she say to him? And why oh why had she waited so long?

  “Problem?” Raven asked.

  Roux snapped out of her Steve-trance. “What?”

  “You got off quick.” Raven nodded toward the phone in Roux’s hand.

  “I think Caroline broke something.”

  Raven chuckled. Their youngest sister—no, Margaret, their newest sister, was younger—was notoriously clumsy. “Figures. So who have you been too busy to call?”

  Roux pinched Raven’s arm. “Were you eavesdropping?”

  “Obviously.”

  “Snoop.”

  “Cow.” Raven poked her in the shoulder. “Spill, or I’m asking Mama.”

  “She doesn’t know him.”

  “It’s Steve Aimes, isn’t it?”

  Dammit. Raven knew her too well. “No,” Roux said. “Just drop it, okay?”

  “You have Steve Aimes’s number and you haven’t called him,” Raven said very loudly.

  “Steve gave you his number?” Azura asked, poking her head out of the bathroom.

  “You haven’t called him?” Sage peeked over Azura’s dark head.

  “Stop it.”

  Iona shook her head. “Don’t you know how to take an opportunity when it’s offered to you?”

  “He just wants to get in my pants,” Roux said, though she wasn’t convinced that was his only agenda.

  “Exactly,” Iona said.

  “You’re the one who told us not to sleep with guys on tour!” Roux reminded her, which was the main reason she hadn’t called him. That, and she was sort of a coward when it came to matters of the heart.

  Iona smirked. “We’re not on tour yet.”

  Roux tossed Iona’s phone at her. Luckily, she caught it. “I can’t believe you! You made us pinky swear!”

  Iona shrugged. Maybe her exhaustion was making her lax in her rules. “Not on tour yet,” she repeated.

  “You should call him right now,” Azura said.

  “And let us listen in,” Sage added.

  “Hell no,” Roux said. For the first time in over a week, she didn’t want to talk to him at all.

  “Why did he give you his number?” Iona asked, her face screwed up in confusion. “I thought he hates keyboards.”

  “Maybe.” Raven grinned. “But he definitely likes the women who play them.”

  Roux shot her a look of warning. Raven was the only one who knew about her short adventure in Steve’s hotel room, and so far she’d kept the secret, but Roux could tell she was about to spill all.

  “Something happened,” Azura said, hurrying over to sit on the back of their worse-for-wear plaid sofa, her feet on a threadbare cushion. She settled her elbows on her knees and her chin atop her clasped hands and waited for the show to begin.

  Roux had no plan to be the afternoon’s entertainment.

  “I keep having this strange memory of being carried in the arms of a tall, handsome man with long dark hair and exotic eyes,” Azura said. “And being in a limo with you and him. And a bucket of vomit.”

  So she did remember that night.

  “No idea what you’re talking about,” Roux said, turning her back to Azura and reaching for her bag. She slung it over one shoulder, ready to hit the road, but no one else moved. “We’d better get going before rush hour.”

  Traffic was always a nightmare, but it extended into all seven layers of hell after three p.m.

  “Was Steve in the limo that took you guys home?” Sage asked, scrambling over the back of the sofa to sit beside Azura. Roux could imagine them hauling out a big bucket of popcorn to share while they watched her squirm beneath their magnifying glass.

  Roux shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “He carried me to bed, didn’t he?” Azura asked, squirming with excitement as her drunken memories wriggled free of her subconscious. “I thought I dreamt that, but—” Her eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh God. Did I really puke in front of him?”

  Roux could not keep a lid on that precious morsel. “Oh yeah, you definitely puked. Three times if memory serves.”

  “I didn’t get any on him, did I?” she moaned.

  “No. You hit the bucket.”

  “Thank God. So . . .” Azura pinned a laser-focused stare on Raven, because everyone knew Raven knew all of Roux’s business. “Did she do the nasty with him?”

  “Azura!” Roux stomped one foot.

  “Little Miss Goody-goody?” Raven snorted and then shook her head sadly. “Nope. She made him order her a vegetarian lasagna, ate it in his room, and fucking left him with a hard-on.”

  Mouths wide, Azura, Sage, and Iona all gaped at Roux.

  “How do you know he had a hard-on?” Roux snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Raven rolled her eyes. “He had one before he even got you alone in his room. It’s not like I wouldn’t notice a schlong that big seeking its freedom from pants that tight.”

  “You guys are the worst,” Roux said, swinging toward the door, her bag bouncing against her back as she marched forward.

  “She did kiss him, however,” Raven said.

  Ugh! Sisters!

  “You didn’t even give him a hand job?” Iona asked, falling into step behind her. “Too cruel, Roux. Too cruel.”

  “We talked, okay? He was . . . nice.”

  “Nice!” Iona laughed as she followed Roux down the steps. Roux could hear the rest of her sisters finally vacating the apartment. They were talking over each other about hand jobs on first dates. “If Steve Aimes was being nice, you were doing it wrong.”

  Roux paused on the landing and turned to look up at Iona. “And that’s why he gave me his personal number, right?”

  She turned and flounced down the steps, smiling at her small victory.

  “Hey, little sister,” Iona called after her, “I’m the band’s vocalist. I’m the only one allowed to drop the mic.”

  Roux found her victory to be short-lived, as there was no way to spend five hours in a van with four obnoxiously nosy women and not end up calling Steve just to get them to leave her the fuck alone.

  Ten

  Of all the worst fucking timing. Steve had been waiting for this call for years—so maybe it had only been a week—but there was no way he could answer while sitting across from his cruel ex-wife. And there was no other word to describe her unless it was ball-busting, demonic, evil, heartless, and too damned beautiful for her own good. So, with an internal moan of agony, Steve silenced his cellphone, somewhat contented by the knowledge that even though he’d missed Roux’s call, he now had her number and could call her back after the hell on earth he was currently experiencing ended.

  “Was that important?” Bianca asked with an alligator-like grin, nodding toward the phone he crammed into a pocket.

  “You know nothing is as important as you are,” he said.

  Her brown eyes brightened. “Took you long enough to figure that out.”

  What did she mean? He’d always done his best to show her that she came first in his hectic life, but he didn’t want to discuss that
now. That would start an argument, and they’d never get to the point of his visit. How had Zach talked him into this again?

  “You know why I’m here,” he said.

  “Because you missed me?” Her silky black hair slid across her cheek as she tilted her head flirtatiously.

  Less and less, he admitted to himself, but yes, at the beginning it had been hard. “Are you working with Sam Baily?” he asked.

  She flinched, her hand sliding across her desk to pick up a pen, which she began to click repetitively. Steve’s instinct was to push her before she collected her story or whatever it was she was thinking about so hard, but one benefit of marriage was getting to know a person’s habits and reactions. Bianca clicked her pen when she was stalling for time, which meant she was fabricating some lie, but he also knew that if he pressed for information before she settled on her story, she’d react with that volatile temper of hers. One that he used to enjoy watching explode back when he’d been under her spell. While he waited for Bianca to open her mouth, he wondered why Roux had suddenly decided to call him. He was sure it was because the North American leg of Exodus End’s tour had finally ended. She did seem like a stickler for the rules, and that rule she’d spouted about not being able to date a musician on tour . . . Well, he wasn’t on tour for the next two weeks. They could do a lot of damage to each other in two weeks.

  “You’re thinking about a woman right now,” Bianca said, fire in her gaze.

  The smile Steve hadn’t realized had spread across his face turned bitter. “It isn’t you.”

  “Of course it isn’t.”

  “And since your tabloid continues to insist that I’m gay, wouldn’t I be thinking about a man?”

  She chuckled. “Is that why you’re here? Your overinflated ego couldn’t handle a little rumor?”

  “You know Zach and I are only friends.”

  “Friends become lovers all the time, Stevie.” She laughed.

  God, he hated that laugh. It no longer carried joy, just cruelty. He also hated being called Stevie, and she fucking knew that. “You know that’s not the case, but that’s not why I’m here. How the fuck are you tangled up with Sam Baily?”