Wicked Surrender (Hollis Brothers Book 3)

by Linda Verji

  EPILOGUE

  Los Angeles. Exactly one year later.

  “You’ll do great!” Zeke soothed as he watched London pace the length of her dressing room. As usual her uncommon beauty struck him hard in the chest. As if to enchant him even more, she’d enhanced it with gleaming makeup to match her blue-streaked hair. To top it off, she’d paired an edgy leather top with super-snug leather shorts that clung to her every curve, and knee-high boots. Sexy. But he shoved his enchantment aside. Tonight was an important night for her, too important for him to get distracted by his attraction to her. His job was to make sure she didn’t go out there and faint.

  She turned to him with anxiety gleaming in her eyes. “What if I they don’t like me?”

  “Everyone likes you, sweetheart.”

  “What if I fall off the stage?”

  “You’re not going to fall off the stage.” His lips curving upwards in a slight smile, he teased, “Well - not unless you’re planning to jump up and down like a deranged rock-star.”

  “No. I won’t be jumping.” She bit her lips nervously and folded her arms over her breasts. “But what if someone tears my top and I give the world a peep show of my boobs like Janet Jackson?”

  Her actions and words drew his gaze to the low-cut neckline of her top and the way it revealed the tops of her delectable breasts. It took everything in him to drag his eyes away from the delicious sight and back to hers. “No one will tear your top.” He paused to lift his eyebrows. “Unless you and Jackson have planned something.”

  Jackson had replaced Enzo as the band’s fifth member and London’s co-singer. Last Zeke had heard, Enzo was in some kind of dysfunctional relationship with London’s former housemate, Farah. Hopefully, the girl could handle crazy.

  “No. No. Jackson and I haven’t planned anything.” London drew a shaky breath and rubbed her arms. “God, I didn’t know I’d be this nervous.”

  “It’s understandable.” Zeke rose from the seat by the mirror to close in on her and take her hands in his. Her hands were colder than he expected indicating just how nervous she really was. Rubbing them with his, he said, “This is your first major concert, baby, and being a little nervous is expected. But you’re going to do great.”

  She looked up at him worriedly. “You think so.”

  “I know so.” He led her towards his former seat, sat down then guided her to sit on one of his thighs. “I’ve watched you guys work your asses off these past months. You’re ready for this.”

  He really believed they were. After dropping Vicker, the group had gone ahead and started scouting for another label. It was a well-timed start too because he and London were currently headlining every gossip magazine in the country and trending on social media.

  The backlash from his dating London had been just as bad as he’d expected. Intrusive articles denigrating London, paparazzi ambushing them constantly and making up stories from thin air, white supremacists starting campaigns about how America was going to the dogs, strangers constantly psycho-analyzing them on social media and TV and acting like they knew them personally. He’d hated it all. But for London, he would’ve done it over and over again.

  Fortunately his and London’s infamy had also brought some good. It had given the Xin Monsters the publicity they needed to launch their band. Even before they started approaching record labels, they already had fans sharing their videos online and generally making them famous. Their current record label had actually picked them on their first try. Sure this label wasn’t Vicker but it was good enough. Their debut album had flown off the shelves the moment it was released, and one of the album’s singles was currently holding the number one spot on the charts.

  Zeke had also reaped some benefits from all the publicity. At London’s prodding and despite his misgivings, he’d published his book. He wasn’t surprised that Edge of Madness had shot right to the top of the best-sellers’ list. He was however surprised that so many people liked it, or that he even had hardcore fans (his mother certainly wasn’t one of them). The book had even been optioned for a movie. Who’d have thought?

  As expected the business was somewhat affected. An influential group involving Christian mothers had started a campaign to stop people from booking rooms at their hotels because apparently Zeke was promoting immorality. He didn’t even know how they’d gotten a recording of one of London’s phone-sex calls, but they’d really kicked up some major dust. Even pulled in some support from some senators.

  The zenith of all that dust-kicking was when Zeke had had to withstand a roasting over the coals from LGH’s Board. Surprisingly, his mother had come to his defense, shutting down any questions with a firm ‘that’s his private business’. He suspected that she was also behind the barrage of articles picking apart the ‘perfect’ lives of the leaders of the campaign against him and London. But she’d never acknowledge it.

  Still, he’d put in his own efforts to minimize the damage by using his contacts in the media to start a counter-campaign, showing just how hard London had worked to emerge victorious from her tattered beginnings. Fortunately London was willing to play ball with him and was a star in interviews. By the time she was done with the media rounds, she was the poster child for a rags and riches tale. Together they were the poster couple for love crossing boundaries. Through it all, he and London had stuck together.

  If someone had told him a year ago that he’d be this in love, that he’d love someone as much as he loved London, he would’ve laughed. Impossible. She’d brought so much light and happiness into his life that sometimes he thought he was dreaming it all. Then he’d see her smile, hear her voice, touch her - and realize that this was really his life now.

  “London.” A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. “Thirty minutes to curtain.”

  “Oh, God.” London’s hand flew to her throat. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

  “You’re not going to throw up.” He tugged her hand from her throat then turned her chin towards him so she was looking at him. “You’re going to go out there and sing your heart out, just like you always do. Nothing’s going to go wrong with your dress or the stage, and your fans are going to love you.” He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers lightly. “And when you come back out I’ll be right here waiting to tell you that I told you so.”

  She studied him worriedly for a long minutes then she smiled, truly smiled, the kind of smile that made his heart turnover as she said, “You always know just what to say. Thank you.”

  He responded with a wiry twist of his lips. “Feeling better.”

  “A little.” London fell quiet for a moment before she cupped his jaw. “You know how important you are to me, right? How much I love you?”

  Her words squeezed his heart, yet made it expand at the same time swallowing against the constriction in his throat. He nodded. “I know.”

  “I never would’ve been able to do this -” She gestured around the tiny room packed with makeup, dresses and mirrors. “- any of this without you. You make me so strong that sometimes I’m scared that if you ever left me I’d break.”

  It was the same way he felt about her; like she held in her hands an important and highly fragile piece of him that he couldn’t take back – didn’t want to take back. Yet if she ever chose to let that piece fall, he’d fall too. His arms tightened around her, held her closer as he declared, “I’m never going to leave you.”

  “Are you sure?” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “There are so many other women out there who are more beautiful than me, more-”

  “But I don’t want any of them,” he cut her off softly. “I don’t love any of them. I love you, London. None of those other women makes my heart pound the way you do. None of them makes me look forward to tomorrow like you do. None of them makes me crave more-” He stopped speaking realizing that he’d revealed more than he intended.

  But she caught it. “More what?”

  He raked his mind for a way to postpone this c
onversation. Yet for the life of him he couldn’t figure out how – or why. This wasn’t exactly how – or where he’d wanted to do this, but impatience was biting at his nerves. So he inhaled a slow steadying breath then said gravely, “I wanted to do this after you got off the stage tonight, while we were celebrating your success.”

  “Do what?” She eyed him warily.

  He held her gaze steady in return as he lifted her off his lap. When she was standing up, he dropped to one knee. Immediate recognition of what he was about to do flared in her eyes.

  “Zeke.” Her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes widened in shock. They widened even further when he pulled a small, black, velvet box from the pocket of his jacket and flipped it open to reveal the diamond-topped ring gleaming inside.

  He spoke softly, “I love you, London, and I don’t think I could live without you in my life permanently. You’re my lover, my best-friend. But I want you to also be my wife and the mother of my children. Will you marry me?”

  He’d rehearsed this speech a thousand times, even run it by Shakira to make sure that London wouldn’t think that it was too sappy. But now seeing the utter shock on London’s face, he wasn’t sure that he’d said the right words. He held his breath and waited for her to say something but all she did was stare at him.

  “Last call, London. Fifteen minutes.” Someone knocked on the door. London’s eyes flew to the door then back to him.

  “Last call, London,” Zeke teased – or at least tried to. He tried to smile at her but his whole face seemed frozen with terror that she might refuse him. His heart thrummed in rapid nervousness as he watched her swallow.

  “Yes,” she whispered. At first he wasn’t sure she’d even answered him. But then, her lower lip quivering, she repeated that sweet word. “Yes.”

  “Yes?” he asked, just to confirm.

  “Ye-” Even before she completed the word, he was slipping the ring onto her finger. He kissed the ring now settled in its rightful place before looking up at her only to find a tear slipping down her cheek. He didn’t need her to tell him that it was a tear of happiness, because that same happiness was ballooning inside him, filling him up.

  Grinning widely, he rose to his full height then lifted her by the waist until they were eye-to-eye. “I love you, London.”

  “I love you too.” She smiled mistily before her lips met his.

  The kiss was full of poignant passion, tender, ardent yet it felt different somehow. It felt richer, deeper, sweeter because it was a sign of a new beginning, a new phase to their love. And he couldn’t wait to forge ahead into it with her. Zeke wrapped his arms tightly around London and firmed the kiss, surrendering fully to her love.

  After a long passionate moment, she tore her lips away from his. He opened his eyes to find her glaring at him.

  Pulling his brow in a frown, he asked, “What?”

  “I hate you.” Her words were just as jarring as the punch she shot at his shoulder.

  “Hey!” He protested, pulling back his head to give her a mock-annoyed look.

  “You just ruined my concert,” she complained. She rested her head against his shoulder with a dreamy sigh. “Now all I’ll be thinking about when I’m up there is where I can find bridesmaid dresses that are uglier than the ones Shakira made us wear, and how I can stick your mother in the kiddy table without looking like a bitch.”

  The room echoed with Zeke’s laughter. God, he loved this woman.

  Yup! It’s over. It’s really over!

  Did you enjoy the book? I hope you did. If you did, please help me spread the word by leaving a review on Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo or your retailer of choice.

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  What’s Next?

  Now, that all the Hollis brothers have their own happy endings, it’s time to move on to something new. I might do a little something for Tony from Wicked Temptations (Misha and Danny’s story) later, but in the meantime I just started a spin-off featuring Misha’s cousin, Aiko. Aiko’s story is The Bridal Candidate and is perfect for those who love sexy, arranged-marriage romances.

  If you’ve read it or would like information about my other books, then you should join my Reading Group. Joining my Reading Group will ensure that you’re the first to know about new releases, discounts, free or exclusive offers. You could also become one of my Advance Readers; which means getting new books ahead of everyone else.