Love Rock'ollection: The Brutal Strength Rock Star Trilogy, books 1-3

by Michelle Mankin

  “We are all set to go, PR wise, that is,” Beth decided as she looked over her calendar. “We have the song up. It’s available for download already. We hope to film the video this week, and we’ll release it on the band’s website, YouTube, and iTunes as soon as it’s edited. Oh, and BS’s name is on the short list of bands being considered to close the Grammy nomination show.”

  The band members murmured approvingly.

  “Ok, now one last thing about the video.” Mary quieted the guys down with just a look. “Beth and I were thinking of filming at the Palladium. Our plan is to keep it simple. You guys are awesome live performers and we’d also like to introduce Avery to the fans in that kind of setting.” Mary looked around the table. “Does that sound ok with everyone?”

  “Sure,” JR said.

  “Sure, why not?” Dwight agreed.

  Marcus glanced at Avery, who had been silent throughout the whole meeting. “What do you think, Ace?”

  “I don’t know. I’m good with whatever everyone else decides,” she said noncommittally with a shrug.

  “Avery, you’re a member of this band now, same as all of us. This is going to be your debut performance. Tell us what you really think.”

  Avery smiled. She so appreciated Marcus putting her on equal footing with the rest of the guys. “Well, you know, I really like the garage band montage Sony put together for the Foo Fighters’ latest album, and I was wondering if we could do something similar?”

  Beth and Mary exchanged glances. Everyone in the industry was familiar with the project. There had been an essay contest for Foo Fighters’ fans, and the band played mini-concerts in the winner’s garages. Footage from each performance had been spliced together and used as a very effective marketing tool.

  “I love that idea, Avery.” Marcus smiled encouragingly at his new guitarist before looking at Mary and then Beth, “What do you think? Would that be possible?”

  “It’s a great concept,” Beth responded. “Reality show formats are very popular right now. I like the concept of a rock star meeting the common man. I’ve got to admit it’s very appealing.”

  Mary leaned toward Beth. “Can you put something together real fast? Maybe use a local radio station to bring some fans in for a live performance?” She tapped her fingers on the table as she thought out loud, “But where would we get a place to film in on such short notice?”

  “Hey, hold on,” Marcus interjected, rubbing his chin. “We’re all heading to my folks’ place for the Thanksgiving break. We have a barn on the property that we used for rehearsals when we were first starting out. We could do it there. Would that work?”

  “Love, love, love it!” Beth exclaimed enthusiastically. “Back to your roots, too, and all that. I’ll make it happen.” She came around the table, knocking knuckles with Marcus and punctuating the gesture with a pantomime explosion. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.” Without pausing, she waved and left the room. “See you guys on the flip side.”

  “Guess this meeting is adjourned then,” Mary pronounced after reminding Marcus not to forget his afternoon appointment with Besille.

  As they filed out, Avery mused out loud, “Carter Besille. Wow.” Having gotten so comfortable hanging out with Marcus, she’d almost completely forgotten how famous he was. “Why do you dislike him so much?”

  “Don’t be impressed with that talk show clown, Avery. He’s not what he appears to be. To the public he might seem witty and clever, but he’s just a snake in a thousand dollar suit.”

  “Ok.” Obviously there was some history there that she had missed. She was curious but given Marcus’ dark expression she decided not to ask him to elaborate.

  As they walked together down the corridor he patted her on the back. “Hey dude, I’m just the current flavor of the month. After this single comes out, all eyes are going to be on you.”

  Great. That’s just wonderful, she thought. With that kind of increased publicity and scrutiny, someone was bound to recognize her. Well, luckily it wouldn’t matter much longer because Campanella would soon have his money.

  The expiration date on this disguise was drawing near. Only now, instead of being relieved, she actually dreaded the inevitable conclusion. Marcus was a friend now. One she desperately wished could be more. One she couldn’t afford to deceive much longer. He was not going to react well when she told him the truth. She inwardly winced, recalling Beth’s imaginary mushroom cloud.

  MARCUS AND STEPHEN were waiting in the network’s greenroom when a studious looking twenty something toting an iPad came in and informed them, “Besille’s ready for you.”

  Walking next to Stephen, Marcus followed the sweater vested aide to the set. Dreading this interview more than most, his stomach was already clamped in a tight knot. He had learned to be wary of the media early in his career, which was why he liked having Stephen along on these junkets. That way if the details of the interview got twisted, he had someone to back up his version of the story.

  Marcus sat in the stage chair as instructed. He noticed Besille right off. The suntanned Ken doll was just off set loudly yucking it up with one of the cameramen. After they shared a laugh, Besille’s expression turned serious. He said something, and the man nodded. Marcus guessed he was explaining which camera angle he wanted for the interview.

  Besille was a conceited, pompous peacock, always preening in the front of the camera. Over the years, Marcus had watched him move steadily up the network ladder over the backs of those much more qualified. Besille’s charm was only skin deep though. Marcus saw right through his pretty boy veneer.

  Besille strutted onto the set and took his seat. “Hey there, Marcus. Long time no see. How was the food in rehab?” He smirked.

  Marcus forced his grip to relax on the armrest of his chair. The guy was baiting him. He had been down this road before, though. He wasn’t a rookie anymore.

  Just off the set, Stephen leaned forward. “Keep you cool, Marcus,” he muttered.

  “Yeah, it’s been a while,” Marcus replied, intentionally ignoring the jibe. He took the offensive instead. “We agreed in advance that this would be a brief interview. Is that going to be one of your questions?”

  Besille’s eyes narrowed. He motioned to the production manager to begin filming. He turned away from Marcus and spoke directly into the camera. “We’re on location in Vancouver, British Columbia with Marcus Anthony the lead singer of Brutal Strength.” He placed his hands in his lap and learned toward Marcus. “Everyone wants to know about your recent inpatient treatment for drug abuse. A lot of people say that success came too easily for you, and that you can’t handle the pressure. Care to elaborate?”

  “Clearly, I screwed up.” Marcus turned toward the camera. “I let a lot of people down.” He sat back in his chair as the camera pulled in for an uncomfortable close up. “I’m just so grateful to my family for confronting me and making me get help, and to my fans for their understanding and continued support.”

  “Yes, you are extremely fortunate.” Besille’s tone was blatantly insincere. He smiled, flashing his sparkling whites directly into the camera while smoothing down his perfectly styled blond hair. When his arrogant gaze slid back to Marcus, he continued, “How are things between you and the darling Miss V? Rumor has it that the breakup with her was the catalyst that led to your dramatic downward spiral.”

  Marcus’ mind flashed back to the previous year when JR had introduced him to Veronica, Miss V as she was known to the public. She was JR’s cousin, an up and coming singer back then on the local nightclub circuit. A knockout, she had immediately caught Marcus’ eye with her long straight raven hair, golden eyes, and voluptuous body.

  Marcus had fallen hard for her. He had convinced himself that Veronica felt the same about him. They started spending all of their time together. Veronica loved to go to the big record label parties where drugs were readily available. Weed, pills, coke, whatever you wanted. V convinced him the drugs would loosen him up and help with his music. He was
skeptical but she could be oh so persuasive, and before he knew it, he had been hooked.

  Dwight had tried to warn him that Veronica was just using him and his contacts to feed her habit and get a break into the industry, but he had stubbornly refused to believe it. When V’s career started to skyrocket, she had broken it off with him, proving his brother right and leaving him with nothing but his newfound addiction.

  Besille only had it partially correct. Marcus knew now that the wheels had started coming off the moment he met Veronica.

  Putting his regret behind him, Marcus answered Besille with the official statement he and V had agreed upon. “Veronica and I will always be good friends but we found it too difficult to maintain a relationship while we were both on the road.” Wanting to be done with the interview, he discreetly tapped two fingers to his cheek, reminding Besille he only had one more question left.

  “Put up the pictures on the screen.” Besille’s eyes flashed malevolently. Nervously, Marcus turned to look, knowing he was going to regret it.

  “We wanted to ask you to comment about this interesting…guy you seem to be spending so much time with lately.” Besille tone dripped with innuendo.

  Totally ambushed, Marcus could only stare as the monitor flashed through pictures of him with Avery. One was at the sushi bar when Avery had tripped and Marcus had caught the guitarist. The look on both of their faces made Marcus exceeding uncomfortable. Another one appeared to have been taken on the walk to Japa Dog when he’d put his arm around Avery. The last one was from the café in Stanley Park. It showed Marcus and Avery with their heads close together. They looked like a couple. A romantic couple.

  He effing hated the paparazzi.

  But Besille wasn’t finished. “Word is that this same guy has been seen going up to your apartment every day this past week. The Enquirer online is running a story suggesting that maybe you have,” he made air quotations with his fingers, “‘flipped sides’ since Veronica.”

  Marcus lost it. He came straight out of his chair and grabbed a hold of the lapels on Besille’s designer suit. He shook the man hard, but somehow Stephen intervened before Marcus could rearrange his smug features.

  Besille seemed unfazed. He continued to smile widely as if he could barely contain his glee. He even motioned for his cameraman to come in closer. “The ratings are going to be huge,” he crowed puffing out his chest.

  “Eff it!” Marcus tried to get around Stephen. The peacock needed some feathers plucked. Better yet some limbs.

  “He’s not worth it, Marcus. Stand down, man,” Stephen insisted.

  After a moment, Marcus nodded stiffly. He shot Besille a murderous glare. “This isn’t over,” he promised before spinning on his heel and storming off the set.

  Stephen watched him go then turned back to the talk show host. “You are totally ludicrous, man. You must be really desperate to pull crap like this. Not only that, your research crew sucks. That guy,” he pointed to Avery on the screen, “is Brutal Strength’s new lead guitarist, Avery Jones. And I’ll warn you now. If you run even a second of any of this speculative garbage, you’ll hear from Black Cat’s attorneys.”

  AFTER THE BAND meeting, Avery had remained at the studio working through lunch and dinner. She was starving by the time she finally got back to the Sutton. As she picked up the phone to order room service, she heard a knock at the door. She sighed in frustration, but hopped up to answer it.

  “Hey, Avery. It’s Trevor.” His voice traveled through the door as she peered through the peep hole. “Let me in.”

  Food forgotten, she greeted him with a broad smile. “Hey, I missed you. When did you get in town?” Her grin flattened as she took in the serious expression on Trevor’s face.

  He strode quickly past her, grabbed the remote off the coffee table, and turned on the television. “Stephen called me before he left Besille’s set.” Her agent’s urgent tone made her empty stomach churn. “You’re gonna wanna see this,” he finished ominously.

  Marcus’ face filled the screen as Besille narrated. “Our bad boy of rock, Marcus Anthony, wouldn’t elaborate further on how things currently stand between him and Miss V. But he did have quite the response when questioned about the nature of his friendship with Brutal Strength’s handsome new lead guitarist Avery Jones.”

  Avery watched silently as pictures of Marcus and her flashed across the screen. Afterward, feeling a little sick, she sagged into the couch with her face in her hands.

  “Oh, man,” Trevor exhaled. “It’s worse than we thought. Stephen said he warned him not to run this crap, but I guess the network figured the ratings were worth the cost of a potential lawsuit.” He flipped off the TV in disgust before turning to Avery. “What’s going on between the two of you?” he demanded. “You look pretty tight in those pictures, even to me. Does he know you’re a woman?”

  She shook her head numbly, still staring at the blank TV.

  The couch dipped as Trevor settled in next to her. “What was all that about then?” He reached over and tipped her chin back, searching her eyes. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you look at him.”

  Avery shook her head, avoiding Trevor’s inquiring gaze.

  Had she been that obvious all along? From the beginning, she had felt a gravitational pull toward Marcus, but it was so much worse now. She’d become shamefully addicted to his smile. She took far too much delight in his praise. And she craved his company, her thoughts constantly consumed with him.

  “I know. I’m sorry, Trevor. You’re right. It looks like I’ve made a real mess of things. What am I going to do?” She raised regret filled eyes to his. “How can I ever make this right?”

  “Hey, I don’t blame you kid.” He adjusted his glasses. “I get that he’s a good looking guy, and that you two have a real rapport. When I came up with this plan, I never imagined something like this happening, though.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve got a call in to Beth. She’ll know what to do about the Besille problem. She’s an expert at spinning that kind of stuff. The rest will all work out in the end.” He patted her hand.

  Avery stared at him incredulously, not sharing his blind optimism. Not for a minute. The Besille thing was just a symptom. The underlying problem was far worse. All the lies were twisting together into a noose that would hang her. She wished that she had never agreed to go along with this scheme in the first place.

  But that type of thinking was pointless. She had to deal with the consequences of her actions, even if the personal cost to her, namely, losing Marcus’ friendship and his respect, was a higher price than she ever wanted to pay.

  Marcus would never forgive her. Her deception would just be another devastating personal betrayal, and one that would also damage the reputation of his band. There seemed to be no way to undo the mess she’d made without unpalatable repercussions, no matter what she did.

  Avery admitted to herself that she had fallen in love with him. She had known for quite some time how deep her feelings went, but hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it. The love she had for him was fragile and one sided. The truth would destroy her heart, her hopes, and her career. Everything.

  Avery remembered Marcus’ words about actions defining you. He was right. The past couldn’t be undone, so she would just have to do whatever she could to mitigate the damage. It was past time for her to take control of her own life, and give Marcus back his.

  Her feelings for him were irrelevant. She could and would bury them deep down inside. Knowing him and how important his music was to him, she resolved to help him complete the remaining songs for the album, hopefully by the coming weekend. It would be her parting gift to him.

  Avery decided to tell him the truth while they were on Vancouver Island for the holiday. His family would be around to give him their support afterward. That would also give Beth a couple of days to find a substitute guitarist before Brutal Strength’s scheduled appearance at the Grammy nomination concert. Being the public relations guru that she was, surely she’d
be able to fix things for Marcus and the band. Then after the concert, the band could go about the process of finding a permanent replacement for her.

  Avery leaned over and impulsively kissed Trevor on the cheek. He looked surprised. “Thanks, for worrying about me. You’re right. It’ll be ok.” It probably would be, just not for her. “I’ll be more careful how I interact with Marcus from now on.”

  “Ok, good.” He stood and his expression softened as he studied her. “Don’t worry so much, kid. I love you, you know. I’ll always be there for you.”

  “I love you, too.” She hugged him. As soon as she closed the door behind him, Avery straightened her shoulders and pulled down her shirt, pressing her lips tightly together so they wouldn’t tremble.

  Determined, she picked up her cell and scrolled to Beth’s number. “Beth… yeah, it’s me… No. I’m good. I know… it’s ridiculous. Marcus’ reputation is what I’m most concerned about… Yeah… Hey, I had an idea. Could you get me an interview tomorrow with someone big? One of the national morning shows maybe?… Yeah, I know. They’re a bunch of sharks. But what the heck, why don’t we chum up the waters a bit? I think you might like what I have in mind…”

  AVERY’S CELL PHONE rang just as she started to nod off. Marcus’ picture flashed up on the screen. She slid open the call. “Hello.” Her voice was as dry as a dirt road after a drought.

  “Hey. It’s Marcus. You sound tired.”

  “Yeah, hard night.” She’d hadn’t even slept. “What’s up?”

  “You see the Besille thing?”

  “Yeah.” She glanced at the clock. She wasn’t ready to deal with this right now. Not with him. Not when she was so exhausted and unprepared.

  “What a load of crap, huh? You see why I can’t stand the guy, I’m sure… Hey, I know we planned to work today…but listen I don’t want you going outside the hotel by yourself this morning. I’m betting the press has figured out where you’re staying and are camped outside. I’ll send Ray over. He’ll pick you up in the lobby.” She started to protest, but he spoke before she could. “No arguing. Ray says he’ll meet you by the inside elevator to the parking garage. See you in a few.”