Chapter Eleven

Chapter ElevenStanding in the foyer the following Tuesday morning, I eyed my grandmother carefully. “You’re sure that you’re going to be okay without me?”She flapped a hand. “I’ve told you a thousand times, I’ll be fine.”Her reassurances didn’t much help, though, because the memory of her lying on the carpet unconscious kept springing to the forefront of my mind every time I went to pick up my luggage.“I’m a grown woman, you know,” she sassed. “You’ve left me alone to attend events before.”But she hadn’t been mildly diabetic back then. “You’re absolutely positive? Because I’ll wangle out of this concert if not.” I’d be gone a week since it was one hell of a flight to London and I had some engagements scheduled prior to the concert, including a photoshoot and a radio interview. I’d also want to enjoy a day of rest after the weekend was over.“No, you will not. You’re the headliner act, you can’t pull out and I wouldn’t want you to.” She took my hands in hers. “I know you worry about me, I love you for it, but I’ll truly be fine right here. Your friends assured you that they’d stop by to check on me every day, remember? It wouldn’t surprise me if Kaiser occasionally came over as well.”“Still, I feel uncomfortable not keeping an eye on you when you’re diabolical.”“Don’t you mean diabetic?”“No, I mean diabolical. You get up to all kinds of stuff when left to your own devices, and you’re always shameless about it.”She jutted out her chin. “I regret nothing.”“That’s my point.” Hearing a loud buzz, I checked the video feed on the wall-mounted intercom. “Here’s my ride.” I opened the gates, allowing the limo to enter.“I thought it might be Kaiser coming to say goodbye,” she said. “I take it he called you instead, then?”I shook my head. Throughout the morning hours, my friends had all sent me ‘Good luck with the concert’ messages. There’d been nothing from Kaiser, though. But then, I hadn’t thought there would be. He still didn’t contact me by phone unless it was to discuss Vault arrangements.Her brow knitted. “That’s odd.”“Why? I’ve told you a billion times that what he and I have is purely casual.”“Casual, my wrinkly old butt. That man has feelings for you, Inaya. He might not show it well, but he does.”I let out a soul-deep sigh. “I’d like to believe that, Grams. I really would. But other than the fact that he shows up here so often, what evidence do I actually have of that? The dude doesn’t even hug me. He’s never once said or done anything that would imply he cares for me.”“There’s no way anyone could not adore you.”“Just because you love me doesn’t mean that others will. You got it into your head that you could push me and Kaiser together, and I know you meant well … but I honestly wish that you hadn’t tried.” The longer our arrangement remained, well, an arrangement, the more it became clear that nothing would come of it … or it would have done so by now.Lines of distress etched into Judy’s face. “I just want you to be happy.”“And I am. He would have enhanced that ‘happy,’ yeah. But not being in a relationship with him doesn’t detract from it.”Judy rested a hand on my arm. “You don’t need to have others in your life to be content, I know that. But if you wander through life alone, it will eventually eat at the contentment you’ve found. Yes, you have me. But I won’t be around forever. You have your friends too, but they have their own lives. You have your career, but it won’t keep you from being lonely. Don’t be afraid to—”The doorbell rang.I swallowed. “That’ll be Adrian.” Opening the front door, I looked up, up, up and smiled at my bodyguard. “Hey, good to see you.”He gave me a curt nod. “Inaya.”“How’ve things been going with you?”“Can’t complain. I’m alive, aren’t I?”I snorted. “Dude, you so complain. Especially about taxes.”“Everyone complains about taxes.”While he grabbed my luggage, I turned back to Judy and said, “I have to go. I’ll call every day. Remember to take your med—”“You don’t have to worry on that score, I promise,” she assured me.I gave her a tight hug. “Love you.”“Love you too, darlin’.”Heading for the door, I added, “Try not to set anything on fire.”“I only did that once.”“Once was enough.”Outside, I felt my smile falter at the sight of the limo that my manager, Derrick, had informed me he’d send. Because the vision made me think back to my first night with Kaiser at the—No, I wasn’t going to think about that.After a quiet car ride and a long-ass flight in a private jet, Adrian and I finally arrived in London. A limo was waiting for us at the airport, again courtesy of Derrick. The car took us straight to the hotel.Adrian exited the limo first, and the chauffeur grabbed my luggage out of the trunk for me. I slid my sunglasses on, grabbed my purse, and kept my eyes straight ahead as we crossed to the hotel. Inside the reception area, I checked in at the front desk—my suite had been booked by Derrick under an assumed name, as usual.If anyone recognized me, they didn’t approach. It was my hair that often gave me away, since the deep-red color wasn’t exactly subtle, nor were the streaks of purple and black. But we made it to the empty elevator without being delayed.It was just after Adrian pressed the button for the top-tier suite that three more people entered the elevator—a guy as burly as Adrian, a suited blond male that had PA written all over him … and none other than freaking Camila.Oh, heaven and hell.She did a double-take on seeing me, and pure indignation flashed in her eyes.I braced myself for a rant, but she sharply pivoted on her heel, dismissing me. That was a surprise. It was also a relief. I had no tolerance for the type of drama she liked to cause. And, considering she’d pressed a button for one of the higher floors, this wouldn’t be a short ride.The shiny metal doors glided closed moments later, and the elevator began to ascend. Which was when Camila whirled to face me, her lips flat. Wonderful. It was really too much to hope for that she’d keep her mouth zipped, wasn’t it?“Your boyfriend’s not with you?” she snarked, both pissed and smug. “Oh, right. I forgot. The tabloids ran with that story, but his PR people insist you’re only friends. As does he in the messages he sends me.”Like I’d believe he’d take the time to communicate with her. Or that the antisocial shit would ever claim that anyone was his friend. And of course he and I had told our PR people to brush off the rumors and play it off as if we were pals. We couldn’t exactly tell the world about our arrangement, could we? But I supposed I couldn’t blame her for believing the ‘they’re friends’ claims—she wasn’t a member of The Vault.“Camila,” drawled the blond beside her, his eyes going wide.Both bodyguards tensed, and each sidled closer to the woman they were assigned to protect.Camila sneered at me. “I suppose you thought that being the infamous Inaya Rose would make him want more. How sad. I warned you that he was only using you to hurt me—nothing more. You wouldn’t listen.”I looked at her PA. “Is she always like this?”“Don’t you speak around me.” She shoved at her bodyguard when he tried planting himself in front of her. “I have a few things to say to you.”That much was obvious. I slid my sunglasses up to rest on my head and gave her a bored look. “I cannot begin to tell you just how uninterested I am in hearing anything you have to say. You’re no one to me.”“But I’m someone to Kaiser,” she said, that smug smirk kicking up a notch. “Someone important.”A snicker popped out of me. Important? “Hmm, would we really say that? Really?”“Yes, we would. He loves me. He won’t acknowledge it right now because he’s still hurting, but that will change in time.”“If you say so.”“I do say so. Because it’s a fact.”“I honestly don’t believe you deal in facts, but I really don’t care either way.”She perched a hand on her hip. “You’re simply bitter because your attempt to reel him in didn’t work out.”“The only person in this elevator feeling bitter is you,” I said. “And you know what? I can understand why it would bite that you lost him. He’s a great guy. Easy to fall for, just like you once pointed out. But I don’t believe you love him. You wouldn’t have done what you did if he truly meant anything to you.”“You don’t have the first clue what went down between him and me.”“Oh, I do. I know everything. And my opinion is that you fell for his music first. You built him up in your head to be your idea of the perfect partner. You decided you wanted a taste of his fame; wanted to share in his spotlight. So you sought him out. But then you came to see that he wasn’t the person you’d expected.”Camila’s eyes flickered.“You probably thought that you could mold him into who you wanted him to be. Or maybe you just didn’t care so long as you could have the other things you wanted from him.”“You’re way off base. You know nothing.”“I could be wrong,” I allowed. “But I don’t believe I am. Because if I was in your position, if I’d messed things up with Kaiser the way you did, the last thing I’d do is bitch at the person who makes him smile and laugh and come really, really hard.”“Fucking whore.” She tried launching herself at me, but her bodyguard held her back while my own slid in front of me.Leaning around Adrian to meet her gaze, I continued, “Yeah, the ‘friends’ claim wasn’t a lie. Our PR people left out the words ‘with benefits.’” The elevator came to a smooth stop. “And if you really begrudge him any level of happiness, you don’t love him. Never did.” A ping sounded, and the metal doors parted.Camila’s companions ushered her out of the elevator, ignoring her protests. She began ranting at me again, hurling all sorts of juvenile threats.When the doors glided closed once more, I exhaled heavily.Adrian turned to me, his brow creased. “You all right?”“It would take way more than a bratty display like that to shake me up.”“Physically, yes. But emotionally? I don’t know.”“You mean because of the stuff she said about Kaiser using me?”“It couldn’t have been easy to hear.”I snorted. “She tells herself that stuff because it brings her comfort. It isn’t true. He has no time for her.”Determined to put the whole thing out of my mind, I settled in the luxurious suite, had brief phone calls with both Derrick and Judy, indulged in a long shower, and then got ready for bed.As I put my cell on charge, I checked my notifications, hoping to see a message or missed call from Kaiser.There were none.But it seemed that I had several missed calls from my publicist, along with many unread messages from my friends in our chat group. Sitting on the plush chair inside the bedroom, I decided to check in with my friends first and opened up the app.Izzy: What the hell did Camila say to you, Inaya?Briar: Need me to smack that bitch up?Cat: Shit, the video’s gone viral.The bottom fell out of my stomach. Video? What video?It only took a quick internet search for me to find my answer. Tight knots formed in my gut. Someone had sold the elevator video footage to a tabloid.Oh, God.The footage had no audio, so no one knew what got said, but there was plenty of speculation. While most agreed that Camila and I had been fighting over Kaiser, some thought that it was merely a PR stunt.Rubbing at my throat, I jumped to my feet. Would he think that it was a stunt? Would he believe that I’d taken a page from Peyton Court’s book and decided to stage a verbal fight with one of his exes?He might. Kaiser was a man who expected betrayal from the women in his life.I knew one thing for certain. He would. Be. Furious.He liked his private life to remain as private as possible. No one outside the Vault was supposed to learn of our arrangement, but our involvement with each other had been ‘outed’ to an extent by the photos that were taken of us at the hospital. Rumors and reporters had been on our asses ever since, and I’d kept feeling as if it would take only one more thing to make him declare that he was done.A video of his ex and his Vault play partner quite clearly arguing with each other wasn’t going to wash down well with him, because he’d have to share in the publicity.Shit, shit, shit.It was right then at that very moment that it struck me. Hard. Like a bolt of freaking lightning.I loved him. Not simply Kaiser Wolfe the rock legend—that was only one side of him. I adored every side, every layer, every topping. His bluntness, his implacability, his curtness, his somehow-sexy arrogance, how he was so authentically himself and didn’t change his personality to suit anyone.My feelings for him were nothing close to a teenage crush. They were deep and true and real and now I was fucked. Because I had only one option.I’d have to exit our arrangement.That was if he didn’t do it first, of course. I suspected he’d beat me to it due to the damn footage. Much as it would hurt to watch him walk away, I wouldn’t wish for him not to. I wouldn’t lament it. There was simply no way I could be in a mere arrangement with someone I loved.That wasn’t a conversation we could have now, though. It needed to be done in person. But we did need to have a whole other conversation, thanks to freaking Camila. I wanted to assure him that it was no stunt.My hand trembling, I tried calling him, bracing myself for … well, I didn’t know what to expect. He had a temper, but he wasn’t a shouter. Still, he would likely be somewhat chilly, wouldn’t he?I didn’t get to find out for certain, because my call didn’t get through. Either his phone was off or he was in an area with a shitty signal.I spat out a string of panicked curses. Fuck Camila. Fuck her sideways.I made a quick call to both Derrick and my publicist. Both were furious with the hotel, since one of the employees had evidently sold the video. They assured me that they’d handle it but, really, the damage was done, wasn’t it?It didn’t help that none of my subsequent calls to Kaiser got through. Eventually, I stopped trying and simply left him a voicemail asking him to call me back.Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I reopened the chat group, finding more messages from my friends asking if I was okay.I typed: Sorry for the delay, I had no clue that the video was leaked to the press until I saw your messages. I had to call Derrick and my publicist to get right on it.Three little dots rippled on the screen, and then more messages swiftly began to appear.Izzy: My mum saw it before I did, she gave me a heads-up. Are you okay?Cat: Wish I could give you a hug right now.Briar: I don’t know who I’m more pissed at—Camila, or whoever leaked the video.I could happily punch the piss out of who sold it, but my anger didn’t mostly lie with them. I’m fine, just want to cut a bitch up. I’m personally more pissed at Camila. If she’d kept her mouth shut, this wouldn’t have happened.Izzy: What did she say?I gave them a rundown of the conversation, adding: If our bodyguards weren’t so quick to intervene, she probably would have slapped me when she tried lunging for me.Cat: That hoe. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had a hand in making sure the footage found its way to the press. It would be a stupid move, but she’s petty that way.No arguments there.Briar: Is Kaiser pissed?Chewing on my lip, I replied: Probably. I haven’t spoken to him. He isn’t taking my calls. I’m hoping he doesn’t think I’ve pulled a Peyton.Briar: Shiiiiiiit yeah she had a scrap with one of his exes, I forgot about that.I typed: It wasn’t a real fight. They staged it to drum up some publicity.Cat: Seriously? I’d like to think he knows you better than to suspect you’d ever do something like that.So would I, but it didn’t matter either way, did it? We had no future. And what we did have would fast come to an end. Even if he does, I’m thinking he’ll still choose to bow out of our arrangement now.Izzy: Why?I replied: The internet has blown up with news of the footage. He won’t want any part in all that media attention, but it’ll still touch him. He’ll resent that. He’ll pull away. No more coming to my house, no more even pausing his car outside my gates, no doing anything that could feed the fire.Briar: You don’t know that for sure. Don’t be so quick to think he’ll walk.Well if he didn’t, I would. But I didn’t say that. I didn’t even want to think about it, let alone discuss it. Plus, there was a chance that they’d convince me to stick it out; to give him time to come round to the idea of ‘more,’ and I didn’t trust that I’d be able to hold out against them.After finishing my conversation with my friends, I made one last ditch attempt to call Kaiser. The phone rang. And rang. And rang.He didn’t answer.Well fuck you, too, asshole.It was tempting to text those exact words to him, but I slung my phone on the mattress instead.Right then, I recalled the first time I’d come across Camila. She’d turned up at his home when he’d refused to take her calls. What was it he’d told her?“You’ve got nothing to say that I’d wanna hear.”Apparently, that now also applied to me. And I didn’t believe it was purely because he was pissed. My guess was that he didn’t want to talk on the phone because he’d decided to end our arrangement and wanted to do it face-to-face.Fine. Whatever. It didn’t matter.Okay, that was a barefaced lie. It totally mattered. But I wasn’t going to mope about it. No. I was a big girl. I could handle it. It wasn’t like I hadn’t always been braced for the moment when our arrangement would end—it had been an inevitability from day one.I’d never let a man fuck me up before—physically, or emotionally. I wouldn’t do it now either. No. I was going to pour my mental energy into something else; I was going to concentrate on the very reason I was in London: The concert.As the days went by, that was what I did.I followed the schedule Derrick gave me. I gave interviews. I attended the photoshoot. I threw myself into my rehearsal. I talked and laughed with fellow artists, always dodging questions about Camila. I never once allowed my focus to waver.I’d been braced for Peyton to throw in her two-pence worth, but she merely sneered at me from afar every now and then. My own ex, however, didn’t keep his distance.On first bumping into me, Heath gave me a quick hug and then said, “I’d ask if you’re okay after what happened in an elevator with a certain someone, but I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about it.”I offered him a weak smile. “You guessed correctly.”He glanced around. “Kaiser not with you?”A few people had asked me that. I told him exactly what I’d told them: “Regardless of what the tabloids like to print, we’re only friends.”Twisting his mouth, Heath gave a slow nod. “All right. I’m sensing you don’t want to talk about him either.”“Your gut instincts serve you well.”He chuckled. “Then let’s go eat and catch up.”Every night, I called Judy to check on her. We’d sometimes talk for up to an hour. She never once mentioned he-who-must-not-be-named, and neither did I. Though she did have a nice, long rant about Camila, claiming she was going to invest in a voodoo doll.The concert finally began on Friday afternoon. I had a blast. Killed every song during my forty-five minute slot. And I couldn’t have been more psyched or humbled to have headlined such an event.On Saturday evening, I was sprawled on the bed in my suite watching a movie when the hotel phone began to ring. I muted the TV, leaned over to the nightstand, and then picked up the receiver. “Hello?”“Speak to this guy behind the desk and tell him to let me up to your suite.”Shock stiffened my muscles. That … no, that wasn’t Kaiser’s voice I’d just heard. He was not here in London. He wasn’t. “Uh, what?”“H-hello?” came another male voice.“Yes?” I hesitantly drawled.“Good evening, Miss Rose. I’m sorry for disturbing you. Mr. Wolfe would like to see you, but he’s not on your pre-approved list of visitors.”Oh God, he was here. He was actually here. Sitting up straight, I swallowed. “It’s okay. He can come up.”“You’ve been approved, Mr. W—” The line went dead.I set down the receiver and then put a hand to my churning stomach. I couldn’t decide if it was a good sign or a bad sign that he’d come. I couldn’t properly think at all. My brain was scrambling to fully absorb the situation.I edged off the bed and, not willing to answer the door in only my underwear, slipped on a robe. Oh sure, he’d seen me in less, but that was under different circumstances. And I’d feel too vulnerable and exposed talking to him while partially uncovered.It wasn’t long before the bell rang. “Moment of truth,” I muttered as I made my way through the suite. I pulled open the front door and … Dammit, he looked good. Real good. And utterly furious.My gut clenching, I licked my lips. “Kaiser—”He barged past me, stalking right into the suite. “I am so fucking pissed right now.”I closed the door, exhaling heavily. “I see that.” I folded my arms, feeling defensive. “You came all this way to yell at me?”“Yeah, I did.” He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it on the nearby chair. “And I expect an apology.”I bristled. “I’m not at fault—”“Of course you’re at fault. Don’t act like you’re a victim here. This is all on you.”I gaped. “You can’t be serious.”“Do I look like I’m anything but serious right now?”“I didn’t do shit except get caught up in a sticky situation.”“Sticky? That’s what you’d call it?”I inched up my chin. “I won’t take the weight for what happened. If you want to believe that I’m to blame, fine. If you want to think that I played some part in orchestrating that scene, go for it. All it proves is that you don’t know me at all.”His brows drew together. “What the fuck are you talking about? What scene?”“The squabble I had with Camila obviously.”“Well it isn’t what I’m talking about. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about that.”“Then what is it you’re demanding an apology for?”Seconds ticked by as he stared at me, his face a mask of intensity. “I don’t miss people.”I felt my head twitch a little. “What?”He prowled toward me, anger in every step. “I don’t miss people. I don’t care if I don’t hear their voice for a few days. I don’t feel uneasy that they’re near one of their exes. I don’t worry that they’re going to cut me loose after one of my exes gives them shit in an elevator.”Feeling my lips part in stunned surprise, I let my arms slip to my sides.“An arrangement. That was all we were supposed to have. It was all I wanted. You changed that. I don’t even know how, you just did. And now I’m in goddamn London because I didn’t like being away from you.” He glared at me, his nostrils flaring. “No, don’t smile. There’s nothing to fucking smile about.”Oh, but there was. There absolutely was. A lightness in my stomach, I let out a huge breath. “I missed you, too.”He hooked one hand around my nape and yanked me to him, tucking my face into the crook of his neck as his other arm came around my shoulders. “I did not sign up for this when we agreed to an arrangement, Inaya.”Feeling my smile ramp up, I slid my arms around his waist. “Me neither. But you can stop pinning the blame on me, I didn’t do anything.”“Wrong. You made me care about you,” he said so simply, so bluntly … oblivious to the delight fluttering in my chest. “That means you’re to blame for this.”“Well, you made me care about you. So maybe we’re both partly at fault for the position we’re in.”“No, it’s just you.”I gently nipped his throat. “Are you gonna keep sniping at me, or are you going to kiss me already?”Fingers delved into my hair and snatched back my head. “What I’m going to do is fuck you until you feel wrecked.” His mouth crashed down on mine.I moaned into the kiss. It was hard, hungry, wet, and pure male domination. It felt like he was staking his claim with his mouth alone.He angled my head and thrust his tongue deeper, a frustration in his grip on my hair … as if he couldn’t get enough. Neither could I. Arching into him, I clung to his shoulders, needing more.My heart beat frantically in my chest, slamming against my ribs. Hell, it had been racing since he’d made his gruffly spoken declaration. One that still held a surreal quality.He’d missed me. He’d worried I would cut him loose. He’d flown across the globe to see me. And no, I was not yet emotionally handling that he’d claimed to care about me. It wasn’t something I’d ever expected to hear.I pulled at his tee, and he helped me yank it off. I slid my hands up his chest, needing to touch him; to reconnect. He was hot and sleek and solid, and I’d missed the feel of him under my hands.He ragged open my robe in such a sharp, aggressive movement I was surprised that nothing tore. He shoved it over my shoulders and down my arms before flinging it aside in a hard snap of movement. As if the garment had offended him by being a barrier between his skin and mine. He whipped off my bra next. Then literally ripped off my panties.He palmed my pussy, slipping a finger between my folds. “Wet,” he rumbled.Of course I was wet.Kaiser backed me into the wall, so much banked heat in his eyes. “This is gonna be fast. Rough.” He tore open his fly, letting his cock spring out. “And you’re going to take it.”He curled his hands underneath my thighs, hoisted me up, and kept my legs spread wide as he lined up his cock with the entrance of my pussy.I gasped at the feel of the thick head pushing against my inner walls, stretching them, demanding entry. I gripped his broad shoulders for purchase and—Kaiser yanked me down just as he punched up his hips, ramming his fat cock deep with a hoarse growl. “Mine.”He roughly powered into me with heavy, upward rolls of his hips. His pace was furious. Feral. Exquisite. Delving a hand into his hair, I wrapped my free arm around his shoulders and held on for the ride.He licked at a spot on the side of my throat. “I’m gonna leave my mark on you right here. Where everyone can see it.”The thought of it, of him branding me for all to see, made my inner muscles clench and ripple.He groaned, upping his pace. “Yeah, you want that.”I wanted everything from him. Everything. And, through some unexpected twist of fate, it seemed like I might just get it. Well, not the teenage fantasy of marrying him. He seemed to have very unflattering views about marriage. But he wanted a relationship, not merely a casual arrangement. That was good enough for me.His hold on the underneath of my thighs became tighter, his breathing turned harsher, and his thrusts became more devastatingly brutal.I scratched at his scalp, feeling my core heat and clench and spasm. “I’m gonna come,” I warned him.“Yeah, you fucking are.” He tilted his hips slightly, grinding against my clit as he pounded, stabbing an amazing spot inside me with his cock. “Inaya,” he murmured, his smoky voice thick. “My Inaya.”Yes. His. And hearing him say it shoved me into a blinding, explosive orgasm that whipped through my muscles, bowed my back, and trapped a scream in my throat—the pleasure so overwhelming that I wouldn’t have been shocked if actual tears sprung to my eyes.Kaiser pinned me more firmly against the wall as he snapped his hips upward harder and faster, positively merciless as he chased his own release. Then, biting into my throat, he buried his cock impossibly deep and exploded.The strength seeped from every muscle in my body as my orgasm subsided. As his teeth disappeared from my neck, I slumped forward, settling my head on his shoulder. Neither of us moved for long moments, trembling and panting.His death grip on my thighs gentled as, finally, he pushed away from the wall. He carried me to the bedroom and lay me on the mattress. After shedding his shoes, jeans, and socks he joined me.“In case it wasn’t clear,” he began, “our arrangement is over. You’re mine now. Deal with it.”Struggling to catch my breath, I blinked. “Deal with it?”“Yeah.”Be still, my heart. I rolled onto my side to face him and asked a question I’d meant to pose at him earlier. “Did you ignore my calls because you were angry over the whole missing me thing?”He frowned, clamping his hand around my hip. “I didn’t ignore them. I just didn’t answer or return them.”“How is that not ignoring them? And why was your phone switched off at one point?”“No sooner had that video of you and Camila gone viral than I started getting constant calls from my people, her people, my old bandmates—it went on and on. I got sick of it. I put the phone on silent mode. But then I got tired of watching the damn screen light up, so I switched it off for a while.”“And you didn’t return my calls when you switched it back on because …?”“I thought about it. But I told myself that it wasn’t necessary; that we were only in an arrangement; that we could talk when you got back.” He threw me a sour look. “I listened to your voicemail about ten times. Needed to hear your voice.”“You’re blaming me for that as well?”“Yes.”I shook my head. “You’re unreal at times.” I paused. “You honestly don’t care about the video that’s now online of me and Camila arguing?”“No. But I thought you might.”“Why?”“When it comes to us, I’ve done nothing to be worth the shit you’ve recently dealt with. Camila, the video, the endless amount of headlines … It could make anyone think fuck this.”I drifted my fingers through the light sprinkle of crisp blond hairs on his chest. “I wasn’t thinking that. I figured you would be, though. Of course, if you’d only answered your phone, we each could have cleared a few things up.”“Still on that?”“Never left it.”He gifted me an irritated look. “Forget about that. What I want to know is if you’re okay after that stunt Camila pulled.”“That was nothing. She’s a prized idiot. I’m obviously annoyed that the footage ended up in the tabloids’ hands, but what’s done is done. No sense in whining about it.”“Judy did assure me that you’d be fine.” He gave me a humorless, flat-lipped smirk. “She also repeatedly said that your ex would be there for you if you needed someone to talk to. Oh, she always added that you and Harry are only friends, but the thought of him nearyou still made my blood boil. And she knew it. That was why she kept mentioning him.”I felt my lips quirk. “On a side note, his name is Heath, not Harry. As for Judy … I’d say she was, in a roundabout way, prodding you to do exactly what you did. Fly over here and stake a claim.”He grunted. “Yeah, I got that. She’s not the most subtle matchmaker. I learned that when she pretended to feel faint outside my house.”I stilled. “Wait, you knew she put on an act?”His brow furrowed in offense. “Of course I knew.”“Then why did you let her into your home?”“I wanted to see how you’d react. I wanted to know if you were in on it. It was obvious that you weren’t. You looked embarrassed as all shit.”I gaped at him. “But you told me that I owed you for helping her.”“So?”“So you played me.”He shrugged. “Don’t know why you’re surprised. You know I’m an asshole.”Well yeah, there was that. I sighed. “At least you admit to it.”“She told me a little something else as well.” He twirled a lock of my hair around his finger. “She said she lied when she told me that you once had a crush on one of my old bandmates. Of course, I already knew that; I could tell by the confused look on your face that day in my kitchen. But what I didn’t know until she told me yesterday … is that you had a little thing for me when you were a teenager.”I cringed, a tingling heat sweeping up my neck and face. “Oh, God.” Unable to look him in the eye, I shoved my face into his chest. “See, this is why she can’t be left unsupervised.”“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush,” he said, a note of humor in his voice. He gave my ass a gentle squeeze. “I like that you once had a crush on me, baby. I like it better that my music inspired you.”“I’m gonna kill her.”“Why are you embarrassed? I told you that I wanted to fuck you the first time I laid eyes on you.”“That’s not the same. You didn’t kiss posters of me.” Or write me letters or have daydreams about me.“I did jerk off thinking about you on quite a few occasions. Does that help?”Surprise had me lifting my head and meeting his gaze. “It does make me feel a little bit better.”Tugging me closer, he scraped his teeth over the bite on my neck. “I like this. Don’t let the makeup artists cover it up tomorrow. I want you to walk out on stage with my mark on you.”“Uh, yeah, no. I’ve got enough publicity chasing me. I don’t need to add to it by flashing a damn hickey.” Before he could argue, I asked, “Are you staying for the last day of the concert or going straight back home?”“I’m leaving when you leave.”“You’re not pissed at me anymore, then?”“Oh, I’m still pissed. You weren’t supposed to be important to me. I’m used to being on my own. I like it. But I like being with you more. And you’re gonna feel the sting of that, because I won’t give you even the tiniest bit of space. So that smug smile you’re wearing won’t last long.”I doubted the latter. He could have no idea what his angry, gruffly spoken confessions did to me. “You’ll have to give me space sometimes, taking into account what our work schedules are like when we’re not having downtime,” I pointed out.He idly lifted one shoulder. “You’re on tour, I’ll go with you. I’m on tour, you’ll come with me.”“Oh will I now?”“Yeah, you will. Got a problem with that?”I inwardly sighed. God, he was a demanding bastard at times. “Would it matter if I did?”“No.” He rolled me onto my back and draped his body over mine. “I want in you again.”“Well. maybe I want to talk instead and—” I sucked in a breath as two fingers thrust deep inside me. “Jesus, Kaiser.”He hummed. “Missed this pussy.”“Missed your cock.”“Good, because it’s about to pound into you until we both come again.”Like I’d complain.