Relentless (Skulls Renegade Book 4)

by Elizabeth Knox

  It’s right as I’m really getting comfortable with talking to them that the music comes back on, the introduction to a song that I’ve only ever sung with one person, a song that I haven’t sung in a while.

  Like a ghost is haunting me, I hear his voice. It sends chills down my spine, and anger courses through every vein in my small body. I have never felt rage so fierce and steady, and yet here it is, all bundled up for the person who somehow managed to get himself on this stage with me.

  I calmly turn around, knowing who I’ll see when I look, and just like that, I’ve come face to face with none other than Zac Depp, my ex-boyfriend from the depths of Hell.

  Chapter 18

  Sometimes you have to give people a taste of their own medicine.

  -4uquotes.com

  Butch

  “How the fuck did he get on stage?” I hear the roaring voice of Rocky which causes me to re-direct my immediate attention. Slash and I can’t have our eyes exactly on Bellamy because of the logistics with the stage, so we stay backstage and watch her from a camera with the monitors right next to us.

  I see a man on stage with her and quickly realize it isn’t Jase when he whizzes by me.

  “Evie! Where the FUCK is Evie?” Jase snaps.

  Slash and I exchange a quick glance, knowing whatever this is – it isn’t good.

  “Dammit to hell. I’m gonna get arrested for manslaughter tonight,” Rocky huffs, starting up the stairs. I don’t think. I quickly follow him, and I hear Slash’s boots hitting the metal stairs right behind me.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Slash asks. I’d love to tell him – but I don’t know either. The only thing I know for sure is that two of the guys she runs around with looked like they were gonna pop a coronary with whoever this guy is on stage with her.

  “Zac is on stage with Bells,” Rocky roars, glaring at Slash and me.

  “Who the fuck is Zac?” Slasher asks, genuinely not knowing. At this rate, I’d love to know who Zac is.

  “Hmm. Let me think about that. Zac is the asshole who leaked Bellamy’s photos to the press, you know, her nudes that only he had access to. Yep. That’s Zac, the bastard that keeps threatening to expose her.”

  I’d almost forgotten what she’d told me, about her ex trying to ruin her career. This was that ex, and on top of it, I’d completely forgotten about her nudes leaking. It happened a bit ago and seems to be happening to so many celebrities. How did I not put two and two together? Damn.

  “You’re not going to kill him,” I tell Rocky, he gives me a “yeah, right” look, and before he speaks I elaborate, “You’re not going to kill him because I’ll make sure I get to him first.”

  The grin that slides across this redneck’s face tells me that he and I are about to be good damn friends.

  We get to the back of the stage, the three of us staring out onto it. By the angle we’re at, the audience can see us all. Our eyes are dead set on Bellamy, watching every move she makes – and more importantly, every move he makes. I start to take a step forward when Slash puts his hand out in front of me, instantly causing me to stop. “Don’t.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I ask, irritated. The only thing I want to do right now is dart across that stage and plummet the asshole until he can’t even sing Kumbaya.

  “I’m with him. Are you kidding us right now?” Rocky adds.

  Slash looks at the two of us, the most serious look I’ve ever seen come across his face. “She needs this. Trust me. If she’s struggling, we’ll go – but she fucking needs this.”

  I take a step back, thinking about what he just said to me. He could be right, you know. Maybe she does need this. As far as I know, she hasn’t seen her ex in ages. This could be a way to confront him about what he’s done. This could be closure. Shit, this could be so many fucking things right now.

  I barely hear feet hitting the stairs behind us and glance back, seeing Jase, Syd, and even that bastard Miles who none of us fucking like.

  “Why aren’t any of you fucking doing anything?” Jase hisses at the group of us.

  “Cause Mr. Serious over here thinks Bells needs to have this moment with Devil Dude,” Rocky grumbles, “…and he might be right.”

  “We should be out there, helping her…shouldn’t we?” Syd asks.

  “No. She deserves whatever is coming to her today,” Miles adds, and that’s it. I knew I was going to punch someone today, and I thought it was going to be Zac, but nope. Miles is first on my list. I whip my fist around and slam him so hard in the face it knocks him back. Luckily, he grabs onto the railing of the stairs, or he would’ve taken a nasty tumble. When he rises to look at me, I notice my ring caught a bit of his face, and he’s now bleeding. That makes me feel good. I want the bastard to hurt, after all, one punch is taking it lightly on him.

  “I’m glad you did that, ‘cause I wouldn’t have stopped,” Rocky mutters, the rest of the guys agree with a round of mmhmm passing through their lips.

  “Well, what’s the game plan here? What are we doing?” Syd asks.

  “Hells Bells is gonna do what she does best,” Rocky says as we all stare at him with confused looks dragged across our faces.

  ***

  Bellamy

  This is not real.

  I’ve tuned out everything that’s come out of his mouth, not able to understand what’s happened. How did he even get here? How did he get this far…

  This is just some fudged up sort of dream. No – nightmare. This is a nightmare. Never would I dream of Zac being on stage with me, that would be something that happened in my deepest, darkest nightmare. Yep. I am totally asleep right now.

  No way in h-e-double hockey sticks is this real.

  Nope. Nope. Nope.

  I blink hard, hoping that if I internally count to three he will magically disappear and be gone, but nope. He’s still here.

  Crap.

  The music continues to play, as he makes slow steps towards me. No. No way am I singing this song with him. Right before I was discovered and signed, Zac begged me to be a feature on one of his songs, and I mean he begged me. I told him no because I didn’t want people to automatically assume I was band-wagoning off his success. It is exactly what it looked like too. Now I think he knew exactly what he was doing. Zac is the most manipulating and calculating man to walk this planet, and I was the dumb girl who fell for him – I was the girl who thought I could change him, even though a leopard never changes their spots. My naiveite killed me and sent me straight here to the hell that stands before my very eyes.

  Nope.

  Not happening, asshole.

  I glance up at the booth where the sound techs are positioned. They control everything to do with the sound for the show, and sometimes even the lighting. My buddy Kenny has been working with me on a new number, a new cover that I’ve been too chicken shit to try until our last show. Right now? Well. It’s the perfect freaking time to start it.

  I put my hand above my eyes, taking away the brightness from some of the lights shining on me and glance up, seeing if I can spot him. I should’ve known that I couldn’t spot him being so far away, but he and I have been practicing communication. I don’t have any sort of walkie talkie that connects up there, so I’m stuck with hand signals.

  I spell out the letters “S O L” over and over again until I hear the music is stopped. That’s my proof that the bastard heard me, and boy is Zac in for a ride.

  You might be thinking that “SOL” stands for shit outta luck, and for Zac, that definitely fits the bill. It’s also the initials of the song I’m going to sing.

  The music pumps through the speakers and the lights begin to change. I hear the roar of the crowd as they recognize the melody, and instantly I’m smiling. This could not be more perfect. Damn, I’m going to enjoy this.

  I sing my own rendition of Selena Gomez’s ‘Same Old Love’ changing the lyrics so that they apply more so to my relationship with Zac. I tell the story about how he tore me to pieces, his lies an
d deceit, and worst of all, the betrayal that I never expected.

  Selena and I both have something in common, we don’t put up with bullshit. That’s exactly why this song is perfect, especially right now.

  Through the beat I strut down the stage, leaning down and touching the crowd’s hands. What not many people knew is that I’ve been practicing choreography. I needed to if I was going to keep touring, there was no way I could be a boring Betty.

  I step back, adding a few of the moves I’ve been taught recently that matched up perfectly with music. Right now, this gave me the confidence to keep learning choreography. It was a dick move for him to show up here and try to throw me off my game. Funny how the tides have turned and now he’s the one being showed up.

  As I finish singing the audience screams and roars, clapping away.

  This, right here, is what tells me that I’m doing something right. If I wasn’t a good singer or a good performer – no one would ever applaud me. Every single thing that Zac said to me after the single released and hype began to build up surrounding my talent was a lie. Every time he told me I was only getting somewhere because of him, every single time he told me that I didn’t have what it took to make it in this business. I seem to be doing pretty damn fine, don’t I?

  The music cuts and the lights turn from pink to the normal white that shines down upon us every night I sing.

  “Have you missed me or what?” Zac chuckles, grabbing my arm forcefully. He tugs me towards him and the next thing I know he’s trying to slam his lips down onto mine. I duck, hear the thumping of boots and sneakers, basically hearing my ‘cavalry’ come to rescue me. Taking a step back, I see Butch, the rage that is evident throughout his face. In line behind him come Slash, Rocky, Jase, and Syd. It’s no shocker to me that Miles couldn’t give a rat’s ass.

  Butch grabs onto Zac’s collar, glances to me and back to Zac quickly. “Do you see her? She belongs to me. Mine,” he snarls.

  I should be offended that he claimed me like a piece of property, that he flat out said I belonged to him like a lost puppy. But I’m not. I’m melting, figuratively and literally, the caveman just said what he wanted.

  He told me everything I’ve wanted to hear for the past couple days.

  He wants me.

  Chapter 19

  I want this. I want us. I want you.

  Forever.

  -Loveable Quotes

  Butch

  It all passed me by like a blur. One second Bellamy and I were on stage, and the next thing I know I was walking down the stairwell with her in my arms. It’s almost as if my body went into some all-out, autopilot, protection mode. When I realize what I had done, I jolted, pausing for a second, almost anticipating Bellamy to fight me, to argue….to do something, anything; but she didn’t. Her legs were wrapped around my hips, and her head was pressed against my shoulder. She may have acted like everything was fine, but nothing was fine with her right now, and I damn well knew it.

  She may have killed it on stage, and basically gave a big fuck you to him, but she’s the one left with the mind fuck – not him, and I hate that. I fucking hate it.

  I grab my phone from my pocket and text Slash as I walk through the venue. Bellamy is snuggling into me like a child, searching for a safe haven. “Sugar,” I mumble softly, glancing down at the girl in my arms as I take step after step towards the back exit of the venue.

  “Wait. Where are you taking her?” I hear the blonde Australian chick asking me, and I turn slightly where Bell and I are both facing her. What’s her name? Eve?

  Bellamy loosens her legs and drops down to the floor, walking a couple of steps towards her manager and close friend. “What the hell happened tonight, Evie? How did Zac even get past security? How did this happen…I was completely caught off guard!” she screams. I can hear her pain through every word she speaks. Tonight, was by no means easy for her. I’ll make sure I do everything that I can to turn this night around.

  Evie starts to speak, and then slams her mouth shut, staring at Bellamy the entire time. I can tell she’s guilty, but of what, I’m unsure.

  “What did you do?” Bellamy asks her, horror evident in her voice.

  It doesn’t take me long to figure out that Evie had a hand in what happened tonight onstage. Figuring out the why is difficult for me, then again, I don’t understand the music industry. It’s uncharted territory for me.

  “I did what was best for you,” Evie answers boldly, face unwavering, eyes steady on Bellamy. You couldn’t cut the tension in here with a freshly sharpened steak knife.

  “What exactly did you think was best for me?”

  Evie chews on her bottom lip nervously before she speaks. “You were beginning to fade out of the spotlight. That isn’t good for several reasons, one of them being your impending record. Do I like Zac? Hell no. I fucking hate the arsehole for everything that he’s done to you, but him coming out on stage tonight was dramatic, it caused a scene and ultimately, this is your rise back to the top.”

  “You’re supposed to be my friend. How could you invite him to come on stage with me after everything that he’s done?” Bellamy asks, shocked.

  “I am your friend, but I have to be your manager before your friend. I have to make the hard decisions for you sometimes, and this was one of them. Now, I know you didn’t like it, but you handled it flawlessly, and the press is going to eat it up. Especially with how you ignored him and gave the audience a killer performance. They will LOVE it!” As Evie speaks, with every word her eyes get brighter and brighter. I don’t think she realizes what she’s done tonight.

  Bellamy glances back to me and then looks to Evie, I can see her facial expression, the hurt that is slowly dragging over her features. “You may be my manager, but you’re wrong, you don’t have to be my manager first. You need to be my friend above all else. I trust you with so much, and with one action you just destroyed every bit of trust I had with you.”

  The next thing I know, Bellamy is grabbing my hand and leading me towards the sign marked ‘Exit’. I stick close to her, reveling in the fact her hand is entwined with mine. Something about this girl pulls at me. I still can’t put my finger on it.

  We walk out into the cool late October air, a gust of wind blows, and Bellamy shoots off. I call out to her and she turns back to me, smiling, the lights lining the parking lot illuminate her features just enough, so I can see. “Catch me if you can.”

  ***

  Bellamy

  It’s taking everything inside of me not to cry right now, not to break down into a million pieces like I want to. Evie betrayed my trust, she brought that monster onto the stage with me…the person who has taken every chance that he could to hurt me in some way. She invited that onto my stage.

  The amount of pain that I feel right now is unreal, and the disappointment that follows is just as horrible.

  I feel nothing, and yet I feel everything. Every awful feeling going through my body is on hyperdrive, and even though I’m trying to distract myself being fun and dandy with Butch, it’s not exactly working.

  I play around, darting out of Butch’s sight as quickly as I can, hoping that making a fun game out of this will help me not focus on everything that I’m thinking right now. After all, I can think about this later – I don’t have to think about this right now.

  As I run and dart around I weave in and out of the tour buses and the tractor trailers, I giggle, and I know that I’m doomed the second it slips past my lips. I love to have fun, but I love to win even more.

  “Gotcha!” Butch laughs, grabbing me from behind and pulling me against him. I feel his beard scratching against the back of my shoulder, the chill of the cold weather making me regret my outfit choice – I suppose a short cocktail dress wasn’t the best decision for performing tonight. Butch flips me around to face him, pushing my torso against the cold metal of the tractor trailer behind me. “You can try to run away from me, Sugar. But we both know that you won’t get far,” he growls, peering over
me with a cocky grin dragging across his face and the only thing I wanted to do was to bite his bottom lip and let him have his caveman way with me. Why couldn’t I, though? What if Butch was exactly what I needed right now?

  No, that’s silly.

  Or is it?

  “You think too much, you know that?”

  “Yep. Everyone tells me…all of the time, in fact,” I admit, I just can’t help it. I over-analyze everything, it’s just part of who I am.

  Butch wraps his arm around my neck, gently rubbing his thumb over the center of my throat. Inching his face closer and closer to mine until our lips are almost touching, I look up into his eyes as he speaks. “You better stop doing that, Sugar, especially about all this nonsense. Save that beautiful mind for stuff that matters.”

  “Why are you always so nice to me?”

  “You damn well know the answer to that,” he grumbles, pressing his lips to mine as he sucks my lip into his mouth and bites down slightly. When a moan slips out, he’s putting his knee between my legs for me to open up, and I do. I can feel his breath hot in my mouth, and as his free hand pulls up the front of my dress I feel the cool air exposed to my heat.

  I hear him slide his zipper down and feel his hardened cock against my thigh, I can’t help but hitch my breath at the contact. I always do when it comes to him. He has a way of making me feel exhilarated and nervous beyond belief at the same exact time. In all honesty, I’ve never felt that ever with another man.

  Butch moves my panties to the side and slides himself inside me in one movement. I moan as my body adjusts to his size. He is the full package with the full package, length and girth, enough to give any woman a long night of multiple orgasms, and boy do I plan on benefiting from that as much as possible. The man knows his way around the female body, that’s for sure.

  “Oh, fuck!” I scream as he slams his cock again and again inside me, rubbing my G-spot over and over again. He’s just found the quickest way to make me come in record time. “I’m-. Jesus Christ….”