by Renna Peak
She seems to be talking more to herself than to me, but I answer anyway.
“Then let’s enjoy the time we do have together,” I say. “You only live once, Sophia. And I, for one, plan on making the most out of it.”
She’s still frowning when she looks up at me, but I see my opening and take it.
“We’ve already caused a scandal,” I say. “We might as well live it up a little. Life’s too short to walk away from the things that make us feel alive.”
She laughs a little at that. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.”
“I go after what I want.”
She smiles, and I feel confident enough to take her in my arms again.
“And even if I never find out what happened last night,” I tell her, “I promise I’ll make it up to you. When we get to Vegas, I’m going to take you on a date you’ll never forget.”
Sophia
He couldn’t say those three little words in the light of day—not sober, anyway. I’m not even sure why I want to hear him say it. He’s made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want more than what we have now. And I can’t say myself why I find myself wanting more.
“What do you say?” He smiles down at me. “Can you handle a few more days?”
I begin to nod, but I turn toward the door when my brother begins pounding on it again.
“Sophia! Open this door! I know you’re in there!”
I pull out of Pax’s arms, starting for the door when he grabs me by the arm.
“Just…don’t. You said you make your own decisions.”
“I do.” I frown up at him. “But I don’t really want the police to come and break down the door.”
Pax drops my arm, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I guess he’s already pulled that one.”
I march over to the door, opening it a crack. “I’m fine, Nicholas.”
His eyes widen—I’m sure he’s surprised I acknowledged him at all, given how he hasn’t seen me in almost a full day. “This is unacceptable.” He tries to push the door open, but I block it with my foot.
“I said I’m fine. You should…go and entertain yourself. Find something—”
“Is he here with you?” He shakes his head. “The drunken fools at the end of the hall said this is his room. I know he’s in there—”
“And why do you care? Really, Nick, you need to go and have some fun. Go and—”
“Go and get myself laid.” His gaze narrows. “Yes, I’ve heard all about it. From you, your boyfriend, his hideous friends—”
“My friends are not hideous.” Pax slides his arm around me, throwing the door open. “Come on in, Nicky. It’s a little kinky, but if you’re just dying to watch us fu—”
“Enough.” I glare up at Pax. “From both of you.” I turn my gaze back to my brother. “We’re going to Las Vegas after the concert tonight. If you’re really planning to play nanny, you’re welcome to join us.”
“I wouldn’t say welcome…” Pax squeezes my waist, grinning down at me. “So I take it that’s a yes?”
I lift a brow, watching him for a moment. “Against my better judgment, I suppose it is.”
“If you had a shred of better judgment, you wouldn’t be with him.” My brother grumbles something under his breath. “I’m only doing this because—”
“I know, I know. It’s what’s best for me.” I sigh. “If you would only listen to yourself—”
“I’d hardly say he is what’s best for you.” My brother glares at Pax. “He doesn’t even care about you. If you had any sense about you, you’d see that for yourself.”
Something twists in my chest. Pax does care about me. He may have been drunk when he said it, but he told me he loved me. He can’t un-say it, even if he doesn’t remember the words came from his lips.
“All you are to him is an easy conquest.” My brother shakes his head. “I wish you could see that.”
“Fuck off, Nicky. Maybe I’m her easy conquest—you ever think of that?” Pax grins. “Your little sister is all grown up. In fact…” He slides is other arm around my waist, pulling my back against him before he rests his head on my shoulder. “She might take me again right now.”
I wriggle from his grasp. “You two…”
“You two deserve each other.” My brother glares between the two of us. “If Father wouldn’t have my head if I left, I’d already be gone.” He snaps his gaze to mine. “I hope you know what you’re doing. He doesn’t care about you.”
“She doesn’t care about me, either.” Pax shrugs. “Meaningless sex, Nicky. You really should try it sometime. It can be pretty amazing.”
My eyes flutter closed for a moment, and I suck in a long breath. I know Pax is just trying to get to my brother, but the feeling of a knife in my gut is the same nonetheless.
“Right. And I’m sure your fiancée will be happy to hear all about it.” He smiles at Pax. “I did just hear you’re getting married to someone else.”
I open my eyes. “What?”
Nicholas shrugs. “The woman who answered the door back there.” He hitches a thumb over his shoulder, toward the large penthouse where the party was held last night. “She told me your boyfriend is engaged.”
“Nice try, Nicky.” Pax slides his arm around me again. “I don’t think Sophia is naive enough to fall for that one.”
My brother knows something. The condescending smile he’s giving to Pax makes me think he’s got something on Pax.
Nick rubs his jaw, his gaze never leaving Pax. His smile widens ever so slightly. “You’re right—pardon me for my error. She said you were engaged. She may not have meant currently, now that I’m thinking about it.”
Pax shakes his head, but I feel him stiffen behind me. “Right. As if—”
“Nice girl, the young woman who answered the door.” He jabs his thumb over his shoulder again. “Still a little drunk, but she did have quite a lot of information.”
“You’re lying—”
“Rider’s girlfriend, is what she called herself. I never did catch her name. But she seemed to know a lot about you.”
Pax gulps. “Then she was lying—”
“You were engaged, she said. And then something happened…” Nick pauses dramatically, rubbing at his chin as he looks skyward. “What was it? Hmm…” He snaps his fingers. “That’s right. I remember now. She said—”
“Go.” Pax shoves me out the door toward my brother. “Just…both of you…go.”
I turn to face him, my brow furrowing. “Pax?”
“Just…just get the fuck out.”
And the door slams in my face.
Pax
Just when everything seems to be falling into place again, Nicholas has to go and screw things up. If he weren’t a royal, I’d have given him a couple of black eyes by now, but I’d rather not end up in the dungeon of some foreign castle.
I sigh and lean against the closed door. How the hell did Melissa find out about all the stuff she told Nicholas? I don’t want anyone to know about that shit. I’ve only told a few people in my life, and…Rider. Fucking Rider.
I throw open the door again, ready to find him and beat him into the ground. To my surprise, Sophia is still standing there. She crosses her arms when she sees me.
Shit. I don’t want to have this conversation right now. I try to close the door again, but she gets in the way, holding it open. I could overpower her if I wanted, but she’d probably get hurt in the process, and I won’t do that to her.
“What’s going on?” she demands.
“Nothing,” I tell her.
“Pax.”
“Why didn’t you run off with Nicky?”
“I’ve spent my whole life dealing with Nick. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” She levels her gaze at me. “But maybe he thought there wasn’t much of a threat considering you just slammed the door in my face. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” I say. “Your brother was just sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
<
br /> “Well, he’s gone now. So tell me what’s going on.”
“Nothing is going on. How many times do I have to say it?”
She can obviously see right through my bullshit. Her mouth grows even more stubborn, and I fight the urge to lean down and suck her bottom lip between my teeth.
“If you don’t mind, I have some business to settle with Rider,” I say.
“About what his girlfriend told my brother?”
“About shit that doesn’t concern anyone else.” I push past her into the hallway. “I mean it, Sophia.”
“How many secrets are you hiding from me?” she demands at my back.
I stop and turn. “Are you saying you aren’t keeping any secrets from me?” I walk back the few steps to stand in front of her. “Have you told me everything about yourself, Princess? Is there anything about your life that you’d rather keep to yourself? No? You don’t see me prying into your past. We’ve known each other less than a month. We don’t owe each other anything.”
“I’m not asking for your whole life story, Pax. But obviously this is upsetting you—”
“Damn right it’s upsetting me.” I run a hand through my hair. “We can talk later. I have some business to take care of.”
I turn and stride back down the hall, toward the suite. Then I pound on the door.
There are muffled voices on the other side of the door. Then a giggle.
I pound again. Harder.
“Damn it, Your Highness!” Rider yells through the door. “How many times do I have to tell you to leave us the fuck alone? I told you where Pax’s fucking room was.”
“It’s not Nicholas,” I growl. “Open the fucking door.”
Another laugh sounds, but a moment later, the door opens. A bleary-eyed Rider grins at me.
“Sorry, man,” he said. “We couldn’t get rid of the fucking guy. I had to tell him where you were.”
I shove the door open with my shoulder, causing Rider to stumble back in surprise.
“What the fuck, man,” he says.
I grab the front of his shirt and shove him up against the wall. “How many people did you fucking tell?”
“What? Let me go.” His fist hurls toward my side, and I dodge them as best I can.
“How many people?” I demand. “You weren’t supposed to fucking tell anyone!”
“Tell anyone what? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Before I can respond, he twists out of my grip, throwing his fist at me again. This time I don’t dodge quite as well. I double over with a grunt, and he grabs my shoulders and pushes me up against the opposite wall.
And then all hell breaks loose. This isn’t the first time Rider and I have exchanged blows, and we’re evenly matched. What he has in raw power, I make up for in speed. Within seconds we’ve gone from slamming each other into the wall to a full-blown brawl. I push him across the desk, knocking the lamp and phone onto the floor. He pushes me up against the window, and I nearly pull down the curtains trying to strike him again. I’m dimly aware of Melissa saying something, but both Rider and I are deaf and blind to anything outside of each other.
I throw him across the sofa, and he’s back up in an instant, fist flying at my face. I raise my own arm, ready to defend or attack, but before I can move someone grabs my elbow. Someone strong.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” says Charlie from behind me. When I blink, coming back to my senses, I realize Jameson is on the other side of Rider, holding him back, too.
“It’s way too fucking early for this,” Charlie says. “This is not how I wanted to be woken up. What the hell are you two fighting about this time?”
“Rider can’t keep his big fucking mouth shut.”
Charlie heaves an exaggerated sigh, and Jameson shakes his head, clearly as exasperated as everyone else.
“I have no idea what the fuck he’s even talking about!” Rider says. He jerks his hand out of Jameson’s grasp. I just answered the door and he attacked me!”
“After your girlfriend blabbed to Nicholas about—” I cut myself off.
“Is that what this is fucking about?” Rider says, rubbing his forehead. “She just asked about the fucking song! And I told her! If you hadn’t wanted people to ask, maybe you shouldn’t have written a fucking song about it.”
Charlie releases me. “You could’ve used a little discretion, Rider. You know how he is.”
“I was fucking drunk! And it’s really not a big deal.”
“It’s a big deal to me,” I say. Out of the corner of my eye, I’m aware of Sophia standing at the edge of the room, and I don’t elaborate any more than that. “Can you just keep it to your fucking self from now on?”
“Whatever,” Rider says. “Can everyone get the fuck out and let me find my pants?”
“Fine.” I turn and stride out of the room. The others follow. In the hallway, Charlie gives me a long look before his eyes shift to Sophia.
“You coming to Vegas?” he asks her.
Her eyes flick to me, then back to Charlie. “I don’t know. Maybe if I’m still invited.”
“Of course you are,” I tell her. “I promised you a date, didn’t I?” And I owe you a lot bigger one after all this bullshit.
Charlie turns his attention back to me. “Try not to kill Rider. At least not until the tour is over.”
“I’ll try. No promises, though.”
Charlie shakes his head as he walks away. Jameson also gives me a look as he returns to his own room.
“Are you still going to tell me this was about nothing?” Sophia says when we’re alone in the hallway.
“No,” I say. “But I am going to ask you to just let it go.” I catch her gaze in mine. “I’m asking you, Sophia. Please.”
Her eyes search mine for a long time. “Okay.”
“Good.” I let out a sigh of relief. “Now let’s just try to forget about this and enjoy this damn tour.”
Sophia
Pax may want me to forget his big secret, but how am I supposed to do that? Beyond the fact that I am not the type of person to just let things go, there’s something so…broken about him. Something just under the surface that’s holding him back from allowing the two of us to have a real relationship.
And I’m determined to find out what that something is.
The moment Pax and his band leave for their rehearsal, I head back for Victoria’s room.
She lets me in, and motions for me to have a seat on the sofa in her sitting area. She takes the chair across from me. “So I hear there was a big fight this morning between Pax and Rider?”
I shrug but say nothing.
She smiles across at me. “If this is going to work, Sophia, you’re going to have to give me some details.” She leans into her chair, her pen poised over her notepad. “Besides, if the band is fighting, it takes some of the focus off you.”
“Does it?” I blink at her a few times. “Fine. Rider and Pax had a bit of a…scuffle.”
“About what?”
“I don’t…” I let out a long sigh. “I’m not sure, exactly. Something about Rider telling a woman about Pax’s big secret.” I tilt my head. “That’s the only reason I’m here—the only reason I’m saying anything at all. Do you know anything about it?”
Her brows furrow together. “Pax has a secret?”
“I…guess. That song—‘The Lost Night’. I guess it has some hidden meaning. I was hoping maybe you knew what it was.”
She frowns, shaking her head. “Pax has always been a pretty private person. There’s really no information about him, even from before Twisted Throne made it big. He lived a pretty quiet life, at least from what anyone can tell. No arrests, no trouble…nothing as far as I know.”
“But…but you’ve been writing about my family for years. You weren’t writing about rock bands. Maybe you missed something?”
It must be the look of desperation on my face that makes Victoria give me a look of pity. She shakes her head as she pulls her phone ou
t, typing something into it. “Give me a second.” Her phone buzzes a second later, and she types something else in. After it buzzes a second—then a third—time, she looks over at me again. “I was just texting with the reporter who covered Twisted Throne when they were coming up a few years ago. She doesn’t know of anything. Maybe…maybe there’s no hidden meaning. Maybe it’s just a song.”
“It’s not. There has to be something—”
“Why does there have to be?” She looks at me for a long moment. “And really, even if there is, if he wants you to know about it, he’ll tell you.”
“He won’t, though.” I fold my arms over my chest and lean against the sofa. “What I’m saying next is off the record, Victoria. I just…I guess I really need some advice. And I need you to not be printing what I’m talking about.”
“Of course.” She sets her notepad and pen on the table next to her and leans toward me, folding her fingers together in her lap. “I’m your family first. I hope you know that.”
I lift a brow, watching her for a moment. I do know that she’s been like an older sister to me, but the fact that she’s also a tabloid reporter—covering me, no less—makes it a bit more difficult to trust her. “I really have no one else to talk to, Victoria. Nicholas…” I shake my head. “He doesn’t understand.”
“He wants to protect you. He thinks…well, your whole family thinks—”
“I know, I know. They think I’m making a huge mistake. A huge, embarrassing mistake. For them. Not necessarily for me.”
“They care about you. They want to do what’s best for you. Especially Nicholas.”
I try not to roll my eyes, but I fail. “Nicholas thinks I’m having a fling with a rock star.”
“Aren’t you?” She gives me a small smile. “I’m not putting it down, just pointing out the obvious—”
“Yes, I am. But it’s more than that.” I frown at her—I’m not sure how to tell her about what happened last night without getting into the gory details.
“But Pax doesn’t seem to think so.” She cocks her head. “Sophia, this is why Nicholas has been trying to protect you. It isn’t so much that he thinks what you’re doing is wrong. He—well, all of us, really—just want to protect you. We don’t want to see you get hurt.”