by Ann,Brooklyn
For a moment, the two women’s eyes met. Then Laura-or-Lauren’s gaze flicked to Dante and then back to Shayna. The woman’s face was full of envy and a touch of regret. But then Shawn turned to her and said something in that scolding tone that never failed to turn Shayna’s stomach, and Shayna was unable to feel any triumph. She only had pity for the woman who would now be subjected to his bullying.
They all filed back into the courtroom. Shayna studiously ignored the news reporters, knowing it was only a temporary reprieve.
Dante held her hand tight, imparting his strength as the judge read his verdict.
“From the evidence gathered, it is revealed that if the defendant were to pay the plaintiff half of her royalties earned during the time of their marriage, the total would add up to approximately twenty thousand dollars.” The judge adjusted his spectacles. “However, the defendant signed away property, joint income, and assets totaling over ten times that. It seems to me that if this case is pursued it would only be fair for the parties to renegotiate a fair distribution of said assets.”
He glanced at Shayna and coughed. “And, as for the issue of Ms. Gray’s mental capacities at the time the divorce agreement was signed, they wouldn’t change the fact that the plaintiff did indeed sign said papers.”
“But I didn’t know that—,” Shawn sputtered.
The judge silenced him with a level stare. “Mr. Jones, there is sufficient documentation here to prove that you were aware your former wife was receiving royalties. It is your own fault that you were not paying attention when you signed your joint tax returns. Thus, besides providing the novelty of a celebrity appearance”—his irritated gaze implied that Dante’s appearance was anything but—“you wasted the court’s time.” His gaze encompassed the rest of the room. “I hereby order this case dismissed. Mr. Jones is required to pay court costs within ninety days.” He tapped his gavel. “Court is adjourned.”
Dante gave Shawn an evil smirk before taking Shayna in his arms.
Time vanished. Shayna savored the bliss of his embrace. Unfortunately, that embrace ended too soon as they made their way out of the building and were intercepted by a reporter. Shawn was already ensconced with another down the hall, speaking heatedly as Laura-or-Lauren looked on with an increasingly worried expression.
“I’m with the Portland Press,” the reporter said to Shayna, cradling an iPad and stylus in her hands. “I was hoping you’d like to say a few words about the case.”
“I’m just glad it’s over,” Shayna told her. “As for everything else, I have no further comment.”
Dante gave her an approving nod. Feeling like a pro, she took his hand and walked away.
A new mob greeted them outside the courthouse, despite the fact that there were only two news vans parked there. Most of the masses were…fans? And to Shayna’s surprise, the majority of them were her fans, if the books in their hands were any indicator.
Dante held up his hands, also clearly surprised. “I had nothing to do with this, I swear. When it comes to you, I’m done with surprises.”
After so many years of her mother and ex-husband trying to convince Shayna that she was worthless, that no one would ever truly care about her, she finally fully accepted the fact that they had lied. Her work was important and her readers did care. Lots. At the sight of the smiling women holding copies of her books, being an author had never seemed more rewarding.
Although Shayna wanted nothing more than to be alone with Dante, she couldn’t turn away from the kind words of the multitudes of women approaching her, nor refuse their shy requests to sign their books. Several people were there to ask for Dante’s autograph as well, and Shayna looked up from her pen for a moment to smile at a leather-clad metal fan and a prim middle-aged woman mingling cheerfully on the courthouse lawn. Judging from the heat in their eyes, Shayna was betting they would continue their discussion privately later. It seemed she and Dante’s union might have an impact on the metal-music and romance-reader cultures.
Shayna’s fans formed a protective huddle around her while Dante said a few words to the reporters. Shayna sighed. Soon she would have to learn how to handle these sorts of things herself. Her heart swelled in gratitude when they acted as an honor guard while she and Dante made their way to her car. Cheers echoed around Shayna and Dante as they got inside.
Shayna glanced at Dante as she drove off. “How did you get here?”
“I took a cab.” He fixed her with an intent stare. “This was a fast trip. I bought you a plane ticket back to Sacramento for Friday if you want to come with me.”
Her heart soared. “I’d planned to anyway—to get the pillowcases full of my stuff that the airport’s holding, and to talk to you to see if you still wanted to be with me.”
“Of course I still want to be with you,” he said as the cab pulled up to the hotel and they got out. “When you didn’t answer my calls, I was afraid that you were done with me. That you wouldn’t let me come up here and help you with the trial.” He frowned, his expression suddenly foreboding. “I can’t believe my agent didn’t give me your message. Maybe I need to find another one.”
“No,” Shayna protested. “He was only looking out for your best interests. For all he knew, I could have been some crazy, lying groupie—or we could have broken up and I was looking to get back at you. This mix-up was all my fault.”
Dante’s vengeful look vanished as he chuckled and shook his head. “I still can’t believe you took my pillowcases.”
They laughed as they entered the hotel and took the elevator up to her room.
“Yeah, it’s not the first impulsive, idiotic idea I’ve had.” She sobered. “I’d honestly thought that you’d be too busy getting ready for your tour anyway.”
“About the tour…” Dante gave her a mischievous grin. “I know I said I was done with surprises, but I have one more for you.” He pulled out his wallet and took out a folded sheet of paper. “I meant to give you this when I came home from the recording studio, but I suppose a lot of trouble could have been avoided if I’d not kept it secret.”
Shayna frowned as she unfolded the paper. It was a list of his concert dates and locales coinciding with romance conventions and bookstores available to do signings.
Her eyes widened. “You want me to come with you on the tour?”
He nodded. “I’d meant for you to come with me all along, and I thought you knew as well but were just scared.” He frowned. “And then your mother called and I—”
“Oh my God,” Shayna interrupted in shock. “My mother called? She usually never calls. It gives her an excuse to nag at me for not calling her.” She stopped, the implications of Dante’s words becoming clear. “Wait, what did she say to you? And what did you say to her?”
Dante sighed. “Well, I was hungover and in a shitty mood, so I kind of ignored most of the vitriol. The basic gist was she assumed I’d thrown you out of the house and was importing a harem as we spoke.” He gripped her shoulders with a horrified look on his face. “Good God, Shayna, how did you survive growing up with her?”
She chuckled. “I ask myself the same question every day. How did you survive your encounter with her?”
“I asked her if she considered the possibility that I could call her Mom someday and suggested that we may pay her a visit.”
Shayna’s jaw dropped. “You didn’t!”
Dante nodded, smiling wickedly. “We don’t have a show booked anywhere in Montana, but I’m sure I could have that arranged. Besides, you said you’d take me to pick huckleberries sometime.” He shrugged and sat on the bed. “Anyway, about this…” He pointed at the list she held. “All you need to do is call your publicist and let her know which of these you’ll be able to do and they can help you set things up.”
Shayna thought he couldn’t surprise her more, but this statement proved her wrong. “You talked to my publicist?”
He nodded. “The acknowledgements section in your book helped.”
Her brow rose s
lightly as her agent’s words suddenly made sense. “Has your boyfriend said anything about the tour yet? My husband and I got tickets to the show in Vegas. I was a metal-head in my day, you know. Maybe you can see about getting us backstage passes.”
“God, I feel so stupid,” she said finally. “Judy even asked me about the tour, but with the lawsuit and the way the guy at your recording studio talked to me, I almost thought she was making fun of me.”
Dante frowned. “You were under a lot of stress. Still, we really need to work on your confidence.”
He’s right, her childish inner voice said.
We’re getting better, the strong voice retorted.
Shayna nodded at Dante and couldn’t help asking, “Are the groupies that bad?”
“Not as bad as they used to be. Still, they can get a little overzealous at times. But there is one way we can fend them off.” He seized her and pulled her onto his lap. “You can be my groupie,” he said, nibbling on her neck.
Before she could melt in his arms, the strong voice made itself known again. “Only if you’ll be my groupie at the romance conventions.”
He laughed as he removed her jacket. “Are men even allowed at those things?”
“Yeah, but they’re usually outnumbered.” She leaned over, him, brushing her breasts against his chest as she picked up his list. “This one will have a historical costume ball. If you don’t come, I’ll be stuck dancing with the topless cover models. Then again,” she teased, “maybe that won’t be too much of a hardship.”
“I’ll show you a hardship,” he growled as he gripped her hips and ground them against his. Then he took her lips in an all-consuming kiss and there was no more to say.
Or so she’d thought. In moments they’d pulled off each other’s clothes, but when Dante saw the small rainbow tattooed just above her right hipbone, he sucked in a sharp breath.
“It made me think of that song you sang to me,” Shayna whispered, then she gasped as his tongue flicked across the tiny bands of color.
His smile eclipsed the vivid hues. “Shayna Gray, I love you.”
He entered her in one smooth thrust. “I love you,” he repeated.
Shayna clung to him, her eyes welling up with tears of joy. “I love you too, Dante Deity—Rock God.”
Hours later, when they were panting and replete, Shayna ran her fingers through Dante’s hair. Her heart continued to thud in awe of her new happiness.
“Thank you, Dante,” she whispered.
“For what?” he asked sleepily.
She smiled. “For giving this romance author a real happily-ever-after.”
Epilogue
Shayna stood beside Kat and Kinley, behind one of the sound engineers, watching Dante and his band take the stage after Rage of Angels took their bow. To Shayna’s surprise, after a long talk with their lead singer Dante had forgiven the band and allowed them to join the tour. Her heart fluttered at his nobility and kindness as she fixed her gaze on him. He looked so beautiful and godlike that she couldn’t believe he’d been snuggled up with her only this morning.
As the crowd roared and Dante’s rich voice filled the arena, Kat laughed at the blissful look on Shayna’s face. “No one will ever do it quite like him.”
Shayna grinned and admired Kat’s gorgeous engagement ring. Her band and Klement’s, Bleeding Vengeance, had played the last set, and Klement had shocked everyone when he nudged the singer away from the microphone and publicly proposed to her.
Kinley nodded. “Yeah, but Quinn’s voice will always be my favorite.”
“Duh,” Kat said before turning back to Shayna. “Are you still taking notes on the show?”
Shayna nodded and held up her notebook. Kat and Kinley ran a heavy metal fan website and had hired her to be a guest blogger, along with Quinn’s little sister. She’d learned a lot about a journalist’s perspective, which had improved her posts on her own author website.
Truly, her relationship with Dante and her involvement in the metal world had wrought unfathomable results to her career. She’d toured countless cities for book signings, and this weekend they’d also be attending a romance convention. Her appearances gave her more opportunities not only to interact with her readers, but also to overcome her shyness. Now that confident voice came consistently from her mouth instead of remaining in her head. That left more room for her book characters to talk to her.
After Dante finished the opening song, she cheered along with the crowd. He turned to give her a heart-melting smile before returning to the microphone.
“This next song is a new one I wrote, inspired by an awesome book I read. I dedicate it to the author, Shayna Gray.”
He looked back at her again and winked at her startled expression as a medieval style guitar melody played. Then Dante’s velvety voice poured forth like warm rum. He sang of a knight whose lands had been seized and how he’d taken up a lute and become a minstrel, though never losing sight of reclaiming his birthright and the heart of the woman he loved.
Shayna gasped. He’d written a song about her book! Tears filled her eyes as she watched him raptly. Was it possible to fall even deeper in love with him?
After the set was finished and Dante lifted her into his arms and claimed her lips in a mind-bending kiss, she concluded that it was.
“Did you like my song?” he asked.
“It was incredible,” she breathed.
“Good, because I’m going to perform it at the costume ball at the convention tonight.” He chuckled as she gasped. “If pictures get out in the metal magazines, I’ll probably get teased, but I don’t care. Your publisher thinks it will be brilliant.”
“I think you’re brilliant.” She caressed his cheek.
“Well, I couldn’t let Klement be the king of romantic gestures.” He pulled her into his arms. “Not when I’m with a romance author.”
Thinking of Klement’s proposal, Shayna wondered when her own was going to come. Rosa had asked Dante if they were engaged yet when she texted him about his mail and told him which rooms she’d dusted while they were gone. Dante had read the text aloud to Shayna with a secretive smile.
“Not yet,” he’d said before texting her back.
He kissed her one more time before heading backstage to greet his fans and sign autographs while Shayna posted pictures of the concert on Facebook and Twitter.
Finally it was over. As Dante led her out to their rented car to head to the convention, she couldn’t help but think of the first concert where they’d met. How far they’d come.
He stopped so suddenly that Shayna almost tripped. “Son of a bitch,” he whispered.
Shayna followed his gaze to see Quinn’s sister, Chrissy, getting into Bleeding Vengeance’s tour bus with none other than the lead singer, Cliff Tracey, who was reputed to be a total manwhore.
Dante continued to glare at the bus. “Quinn’s going to be furious.”
“Are you going to tell him?” Shayna asked.
“The old me would have,” he said. “Now I think I’ll let him handle his own business. I’m occupied with you.” He grinned. “Besides, Chrissy’s a grown woman—and who ever knows how this sort of thing will work out?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Formerly an auto-mechanic, Brooklyn Ann thrives on writing romance featuring unconventional heroines and the heroes who adore them. An author of historical paranormal romance in her critically acclaimed Scandals with Bite series, urban fantasy in the cult-favorite Brides of Prophecy novels, and contemporaries in the Reader’s Choice Award–Winning Hearts of Metal series, she provides love for the broken and strange.
She lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with her son, miscellaneous horror memorabilia, and a 1980 Datsun 210.
ALSO BY BROOKLYN ANN
The Hearts of Metal Series
Kissing Viciöus
With Vengeance
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