by Erin Osborne
“We have a new singer. Her name is being left out right now, but she kills it,” Diesel says.
“Where is she?” a reporter asks.
“She couldn’t be here today, but she’s excited to be in the band and I can’t wait for everyone to hear her sultry, smokey voice when she’s on stage,” I answer.
“When is the album dropping?” the same reporter asks.
Isabella takes this as her cue to jump on stage and take over Onyx’s chair. She jumps in with the answer and smiles like the cat that ate the canary. While I want to leave the stage and this farce of a press conference behind, I know I can’t. We can’t take any bad publicity or having rumors swirl around about the shit going on with the band and our manager. Honestly, it’s my issue with Isabella, not the rest of the guys. So, I remain seated in my spot and grind my teeth as the press conference drags on.
As soon as it’s over with, I don’t linger the way Isabella likes us too. I leave the room as fast as my feet will carry me and run to my car. My need to get to my girl is the only thought on my mind. Isabella’s voice calls after me and I completely ignore the bitch to find out what’s going on with Onyx and why she wasn’t at the press conference today.
Yeah, she said she wasn’t going to go to it but late last night had changed her mind. She understands it’s part of the business and she needs to do it. But why she changed her mind back, I’m not sure. There are so many questions I want to ask her and she’s the only one who has the answers I need.
I squeal tires out of the parking lot and make my way toward home. The sooner I get there, the sooner I can lay eyes on Onyx and talk to her about things. If she’s nervous about a press conference, I’m not sure how she’s going to handle being on stage in front of thousands of people. And that’s just the small venues.
It takes me over an hour to pull into our apartment complex and park next to Onyx’s SUV. As I walk around her vehicle, I feel the hood and it’s cold as ice. She hasn’t been anywhere. I run inside and skip the elevator so I can take the stairs up to our floor. Once I’m at her door, I pound on it.
There’s music playing from inside and I can hear it blaring through the thick front door of her apartment. It’s turned down before I hear her padding to the door. After a few minutes, she opens the door and I glance up and down her body. Her cheeks are flushed and her hair is a mess. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was fucking someone, but I know Onyx isn’t like that. She must be doing something else to have her looking a mess like this.
“What’s wrong?” she asks me, stepping back to let me in.
“Nothing. I was trying to figure out what to pack for the road and I’m not sure what the hell to bring,” she answers.
I walk farther into her apartment and see it’s wrecked. There’s clothes, shoes, and other stuff littering every available surface. Laughter bursts from me and I take in her look of being overwhelmed. My laughter instantly dies and I pull her into my arms.
“What happened today?” I ask her.
“What do you mean?” she questions.
“I thought you were gonna come to the press conference?” I ask her again.
“I got a message saying it was cancelled. So, I figured I’d start packing,” she answers.
“Who messaged you that?”
“Isabella.”
I fucking knew it. “Okay. Well, the press conference wasn’t cancelled. We went on without you, baby. I took care of it.”
She nods her head, but I can see the tears filling her eyes. This is what she’s been afraid of happening since joining the band and Isabella showing her nothing but contempt. It’s not all in her head and I’m going to have to find a way to put a damn stop to it.
“It’s okay, Onyx. Please, don’t cry,” I tell her.
“I’m sorry. I just keep messing things up,” she answers, brushing her tears away.
“This is not on you,” I tell her, pulling her in for a kiss.
We spend the rest of the night cleaning up her living room, eating takeout for dinner, and just cuddling on the couch. Before it gets too late, I head over to my place even though it’s the last place I want to be. Onyx is still a wreck and I want to take her pain from her, but there’s nothing I can do for now. Instead, I have calls to make and I have to pack my bag for tour. Six months is a long time to be on the road again, but that’s what Isabella and the record label set up so that’s what we’re doing.
Chapter Seventeen
Onyx
TODAY IS THE day I’ve been dreading more than anything. We leave for tour today. I’ve packed my clothes and made sure I’ve got my phone and charger. I don’t think I’ll need anything else, but who knows. I’ll be able to get whatever else I need on the road. I’m not even sure if I’ve packed the right damn clothes for tour and Knight was no damn help at all.
As soon as I’m done zipping my suitcase up, there’s a knock on my door. I walk to it and look through the peephole to see Knight standing there with a bag slung over his shoulder. He definitely packs light.
Opening the door, I let him in with a shy smile. Since the night I gave him a blow job, I can’t stop thinking about it. About having his hard dick in my mouth again and wondering what he’d feel like sliding in and out of my body with the piercings lining his dick. I’ve never seen one pierced before and I cringe inwardly at the thought of him tearing me in half with the size and the piercings.
“You almost ready to go?” Knight asks me.
“Um, I think so,” I answer, looking around my place.
The two suitcases I packed for clothes, shoes, make-up, and hair things are sitting behind my couch with my wallet on top along with my phone and charger. I walk through the place to make sure things are off and unplugged before meeting Knight back in the living room. He grabs my suitcases and leads me from my place. I lock the door behind us and we head down to my SUV. It has more room and we’re picking up Diesel and Damon too so we need it for their things.
Knight and I are silent as we ride the elevator down to the ground floor. My nerves keep ratcheting up higher and higher as I realize by tomorrow night I’ll be on stage in front of a large crowd. It’s one thing to sing in a studio or my own apartment, but it’s something completely different to sing in front of a crowd of people I don’t know.
“It’s gonna be fine,” Knight says, taking my hand and lacing our fingers together as he drives my SUV out of the parking garage.
“You’ve got experience doing this, I don’t. I’m nervous as hell. I keep messing things up and I don’t want to do that on tour with you guys. You have a huge fan base and I feel like I’m gonna take it all away from you,” I answer him honestly.
“If fans leave us because we added you to the band, then they weren’t fans I want to have. You make us sound amazing and they’ll love you,” he tells me.
I don’t say anything as I turn my head to look out the window as he drives to Diesel’s place to get the brothers. Our ride remains filled with silence as Diesel and Damon load their bags in the back and then climb in the back seat. I tried to move in back, but Knight wouldn’t let me go so I had no choice but to remain in the front seat.
By the time we pull up to the bus we’ll be living on for the next six months, I see Isabella standing outside looking at her watch as if we’re late. I really wish she weren’t riding on the bus with us, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m not going to be able to relax as long as she’s in my vicinity. I’ll always be worried about the next thing she’s going to do to make me mess things up again.
In the back of my mind, I realize it’s my fault too. I should know better than to just take her word for things. Instead of just believing whatever message she sends me, I can ask Knight or one of the other guys. Instead, I have believed her and let her make me feel this way. The same way my dad makes me feel.
“It’s about time you got here,” Isabella says once Knight parks the SUV and we all pile out.
“We’re early and it’
s not like the bus can leave with all of us getting here together,” Knight mouths off to her as I try to slink back against the SUV and become invisible.
Unfortunately, I have my hair up out of my face with a tank top and cut off shorts on so there’s no hiding for me today. Knight and the guys told me to dress comfortable because the bus is our resting spot on our way to the first stop of the tour. The guys that are surrounding me are wearing lounge pants and tee-shirts instead of their normal jeans and stuff. Hell, no one has anything in their hair either. It’s weird to see them like this.
“Still, we should’ve been on the road already,” Isabella says, not hearing the warning tone to Knight’s voice.
I hear him mumble under his breath as he pulls our bags from the back of my SUV. When I go to pull mine from his hand, he hands me the wallet I left with them and my phone charger, taking my suitcases and his bag to the bus. I catch up with him and we get on the bus. As I look back, I see the nasty look covering Isabella’s face and directed right toward me. I’m never gonna win, not with her.
Knight has me follow him to the back of the bus. On the way, I take in the plush looking couches lining the middle of the bus, the cupboards Memphis and Byron are already rifling through, and the larger than normal bathroom with a full shower and mirror above the sink. Just after the bathroom, there’s six cots set up for the band to sleep in and then a room at the absolute back of the bus.
We walk into the back room and Knight shuts the door behind us. I can hear Isabella pounding on the door when he flips the lock. She’s yelling something at him through the door and I want to laugh because she sounds like a damn banshee, but I reign it in and keep my mouth shut as Knight leads me to the large bed taking up most of the room.
“What’s wrong with her?” I ask him once we’re sitting on the bed.
“This is usually where she sleeps. This time, I’m taking over this room with you,” he tells me, shrugging his shoulders.
“Oh. I can sleep out there, Knight. It’s not a big deal to me,” I tell him, not wanting to cause any more problems than I already have.
“Nope. This is our tour and the only reason she ever got this room in the first place is because she was the only female on the bus. That’s changed now and we’re going to have this room. The guys are fine with it,” he assures me.
I nod my head and lay back on the bed. It’s almost as comfortable as my bed and I can feel myself drifting off. It doesn’t help when the bus begins to move and further lulls me into dreamland.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep, but I wake with a start when there’s a loud knock on the door to the room. Knight is wrapped around me and he slowly begins to stir as the pounding continues.
“The fuck?” he asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Wake the fuck up,” Diesel says. “We’re stopping for dinner.”
I sit up in the bed and pull the hair tie from my hair, letting it cascade down my back. Knight runs his fingers through it and I moan when he gently massages my scalp.
“Keep doing that and we won’t be getting off the bus for dinner,” he tells me, turning my head toward him.
Knight pulls me in for a deep, lingering kiss as the pounding starts on the door again. Reluctantly, he pulls back from me and gets up while sliding his shirt down his toned body, blocking it from my view. When he opens the door, filling up the doorway so no one can see inside the small room, I hear Isabella’s voice.
“That’s my room and I’d like it back,” she roars out.
“No, it’s not your room. This is our tour, our bus, and the only reason you had it until this tour is because you were the only female on board. This is the room I’m sharing with Onyx. If you don’t want to sleep on the bus, you can fly from one spot to the next and stay in hotels. Alone,” Knight tells her. “I hear one more word about this shit and you’re off the bus. Permanently.”
“I don’t know why you’re being like this, but this isn’t you,” she says, trying to push him out of the way.
“This is who I am. You want to keep being a bitch and treating Onyx like shit, I’m only going to get worse. Wicked Angels is a job for you and nothing more. Not a single guy on this bus has touched you and you have no right to any of us. You’re our manager and I can find another one with one fucking phone call. Someone who won’t make a member of our band feel like shit because of them. One more chance is all you got,” Knight tells her as I see another shadow join the party at the door.
“Knight, let’s get some food and then work on the set list for a bit,” Damon says. “Isabella, go get your dinner. We know you’re not going with us to the burger joint, so we’ll meet you back here.”
“I’m going with you,” she says.
“No, you’re not. You don’t eat burgers and fries. We’re going in to order our food and heading back to the bus. There’s a sub place just down from it. You’ll be able to see us from there. Besides, we’ve got security with us,” Damon says, trying to calm her down.
I listen as she stomps from the bus and I know things are only going to be worse for me. Damon sticks his head in the door and offers a smile to me as I get off the bed and throw on a hoodie from one of my suitcases. I’m not sure if it’s warm or cold out and I feel like I need it for the added protection.
Knight laces our fingers together and we all leave the bus with five members of the security team following us. The men surround us and walk with us the block and a half to the burger joint. We’re not all in the door before one of the customers recognizes Byron and starts to rush him. The security team stops her, but it causes the rest of the customers to stand up and pay attention to us. I pull my sunglasses down over my eyes and avert my gaze allowing my hair to cover my face.
As we walk to the counter, I have Knight on one side of me and Diesel on the other side. Our security team surrounds our back so no one can get close to us. We all put our food on one bill and Knight pays for it while I head over to get napkins, straws, ketchup packets, and some salt. I’m not sure what they all like so I grab handfuls of everything.
When I go to turn back around, there’s a painful pinch at my head before I’m yanked around. Not only am I spun on my feet, but I’m tripped up. Everything I grabbed is tossed as I try to reach onto anything that will stop my dissent to the floor. There’s nothing I can reach though.
“You don’t belong here. I’m not sure why you’re with the guys, but back the fuck off,” a young woman with bleach blonde hair shouts in my face.
“I-I-I . . . ” I try to stutter something out as Knight rushes to my side and pulls me into his arms.
At the same time, the security team pulls the woman from me, my hair in her fingers and ripping from my head as she continues to spew vile words toward me. Knight turns my head into his chest and I let a few tears slip free. This is not what I signed up for at all.
“Baby, I’m so fucking sorry that happened,” Knight murmurs in my ear so only I can hear him.
I feel the heat of his body and several more after a few minutes. When I’ve finally gotten myself composed again, I pull my head away from him, wipe my tears away, and get to my feet. The rest of the guys in the band are standing in a circle around me and you can barely see me among them because they’re all so much taller than me.
“You good?” Diesel asks, his voice softer than I’ve ever heard before.
“Yeah. Just scared for a minute,” I answer.
Looking up, I see the woman in handcuffs and police surrounding her. Knight is talking to one of the officers as he keeps looking at me. I turn my back on everything and grab the napkins and everything all over again. It all went flying when the woman pulled me.
Diesel and Damon don’t leave my side as Byron, Tyson, and Memphis grab our food order from the counter. When I turn around this time, an older woman is rushing toward me. She’s dressed in the same uniform as the other employees and I hold a hand up to Diesel when he goes to stop her.
“Ma’am, I’m so sorry abo
ut this. Is there anything I can do? Do you need me to get a doctor or take you to the hospital?” she asks in a rush.
“I’m fine,” I reply softly.
“Let me get your money refunded to you. And I’ll get you some extra food,” she says, turning and rushing back toward the counter of the store.
Knight finishes up with the officer and walks back to my side. He wraps an arm around me and I look over his shoulder to see Isabella standing there with a smirk on her face. She sees me looking at her and makes her face go blank again. After one more lingering look at Knight with his arm around me, she turns on her heel and heads toward the bus.
“Baby, we’re gonna eat and then take the rest of the night for us,” he tells me.
“No. There’s the set list to go over and I want to know if I’m gonna be expected to be on stage for the entire show. Or just the songs I’m in,” I tell him, rubbing my hand up and down his chest. “These people aren’t going to win.”
“That’s my girl,” Knight responds. “Let’s go.
The manager of the burger joint brings Knight’s money back to him and hands us three more bags of food. Memphis’s eyes widen in delight and he grabs the bags, holding them to his chest like they’ll disappear if he doesn’t keep them close. I laugh at him and make the rest of the guys turn their attention toward him. They all join in on the laughter with me.
“Let’s get back to the bus and back on the road. I want a few hours tomorrow with Onyx so we can explore before sound check and the show,” Knight says as we all thank the manager and leave the restaurant.
Once we’re back on the bus, Isabella never mentions seeing the incident and the guys don’t say a word about it either. We all eat our food in almost silence. I’m eating a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake while the guys eat something similar to me. Isabella turns her nose up at me as I wolf down my food and toss my wrappers aside.
It doesn’t take long to go over the set list, which Isabella tries to add her two cents to, and then Knight leads me back to our room. As soon as I step foot in the room, I know my things have been gone through. Clothes are tossed all over the room and more than one pair of my shoes are busted. My jaw drops at the mess before us while Knight is pissed as fuck.