Rock Harder: A Heavy Metal Romance (Slava Pasha Series Book 2)

by A. D. Herrick

  Evie stepped out of the bathroom, her hair freshly blown out and flowing down her back and across her shoulders. Wearing a knee length midi dress with a retro A-line dress with fist sized red roses scattered along the white material. The graceful V-neck displayed her ample cleavage perfectly, just enough showing without being distasteful. Her feet were clad in lace up red heeled sandals, tiny tassels graced her ankles. Evie twirled around, the skirt of her dress flowing out around her, she was a vision. “Your sister has impeccable taste.” She cooed. “Your damn right she does.” I muttered under my breath, striding up to her and taking her in my arms. I pressed my lips against her glossy red ones; they tasted of cherries, causing a groan to escape my lips and my cock to twitch. Evie’s hands came up to cup my face. “You are insatiable.” She whispered along my lips. I gently cupped her ass in my palms. “Only for you.” I nipped at her lower lip. Evie playfully swatted at my shoulder. “Come on, you don’t want to keep everyone waiting.” Her voice light and airy. “Forget them.” I pouted, holding her body flush with mine. She rolled her eyes and wiggled out of my grasp, the friction causing my cock to perk up. “Come on you animal and I’ll give you a treat later.” She cast a coy wink over her shoulder as she strode to the door. My feet scrambled for purchase as I rushed up behind her, pulling her back against my chest. I bent down and nibbled at her neck, my erection pressed between her cheeks. “I’m going to hold you to it.” I promised, before giving her ass a playful smack.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Okay, so now that we are all here, I would like to get a few orders of business out of the way.” Katinka started. All eyes turned, fixed on her dainty frame as she stood up from her seat at the table. She had dragged twelve of us down to the hotel restaurant to the private room she had reserved. “Alright, what do we have to discuss?” I asked contemplatively. I was typically the one who headed our meetings and we never have them before a show unless absolutely necessary as to avoid throwing anyone off their game and to avoid unnecessary conflict before our show.

  Our thoughts should all be on our performance. Most people do not realize everything a performer has to go through to put on a good show. It’s not just about the mental state, but also about all of the bureaucratic bull shit that comes with it, managing the set, crew, coordinating with the venue and all of the public relations we have to go through before a show. There is a lot of red tape, handshakes, along with the hope and prayer that we put on a good show.

  “Shut up Nik and I will tell you.” She said caustically. “I called you all here because I had a few things I wanted to get out to everyone. Tosh and I do not want to tell anyone about the baby until we decide that we are ready to. We want everything to go on as normal. Also I do not want any special treatment. We all know that Evie works in journalism so we ask that you do not mention this to anyone.” She said, looking pointedly as Evie. Evie gave Katinka a thoughtful look. “Katinka, I can assure you that I will never write about anything that I see when it comes to any of you guys. As I have said before, I do not write puff pieces, nor do I write for the Rags.” Evie explained her knuckles white as she gripped the table yet her voice stayed steady and calm. “Evie, I am not implying that you do or that you would. I just wanted to get it out there, same with the other guys. We will be in interviews all day up until the show and I know that it is easy to let things slip.” Katinka explained in earnest.

  I patted Evie on the thigh under the table, reassuring her that I trusted her. Evie’s body relaxed and she finally released the table, her hand going to rest on mine in her lap. “Katinka, is that all you wanted to discuss?” I asked cautiously. “No, I also want to discuss this Elena mess. Nik what do you plan to do about her?” Katinka demanded her voice firm. I huffed out a breath of frustration. Why couldn’t I have a normal break up? Why must everything be so damn complicated? “Tink, I have no clue. I have blocked her number. I have removed her from all of my social media sites and blocked her there as well. I never leak out my agenda so she has no access to it. I really do not know what else to do.” I said exasperated. Evie squeezed my hand, her reassurance gave me comfort knowing she was there by my side and not running when things got messy.

  “Well I guess that is all we can do. Surely she will get bored. I mean we can’t exactly hide where we are on show nights but we can stay under the radar and mix up our hotels, and the duration we will be in each location.” Katinka confirmed. I nodded my head in agreement. “So, are you guys on board?” Katinka asked Kevin and the guys. “Sure, it’s not like it will be any different than we normally do anyways. We can have more fun with it. We could also throw her off the trail in our interviews. Since they will be streaming from the local stations, we can misdirect her. Like say… mention wanting to check out a local hot spot in town when in fact we will be at a hole in the wall pub. Or in Nik’s case, Spa.” Kevin’s jab caused the table to chuckle. He had a point, that was a good way to keep Elena in the dark and to send her scrambling if indeed she was trying to follow me. “Sounds like a good plan Kev.” I praised smacking him affectionately on the back. “Now can we eat? I’m starved.” G said, causing the table to break out in laughs.

  We ate the rest of our meal in comfortable conversation. Evie had work to do so we made plans to meet up after the show. I was sure to leave word for tickets for her and the guys from the Spa to be picked up at the Box Office. We had seven interviews to do today. It was going to be crazy and hectic, but that’s what we lived for. We all strived in the chaos. Three of our interviews we would have with the guys of Dark Tide. And we would all split up in to different pairing combinations for different stations. It was a scheduling nightmare. We had an acoustical performance to do for the local metal station and we would be hosting for an hour with one of the satellite stations. Our last interview was thankfully a show with all eleven of us together. We would be doing a ‘Take over’ in which we would brag and rag on one another’s hits as well as answer questions from fans calling in. The call ins were common, we always got the same questions, people always wondering of what the tabloids were says was true, how true and how did we feel about it. For some reason, people kept circling rumors about Damon leaving the band. To be honest this bothered me. But Damon always took it in stride and reassured the fans that he would be staying and had no intentions of ever leaving. Though I hear his words and never knew him to lie, I couldn’t help but feel that maybe there was some sort of truth ringing in the concerned fans.

  We were feeling good and ready to wrap up our last interview we just had a couple more calls to take before we could set out to the venue. “Caller number twelve, you are on. Who is your question for?” The DJ asked over the microphone. “Yes, my name is Judith and my question is for Nik of Slava Pasha. Nik, how does it feel to know that you have been lying to your fans about having laryngitis when in fact you had cancer?” The woman on the phone named Judith asked accusatory. I paled, my jaw slack, I couldn’t breathe. How did this get out? I scrambled for words. “WOW! What a loaded question? How did this nut job get through our lines?” The DJ said, ending the call with Judith. “We will be right back with Slava Pasha and Dark Tide after this Slava Pasha track featuring Kevin Knight of Dark Tide.” The DJ hit a few buttons, turning off the mic and gave us the signal letting us know that we could speak freely. “Holy Shit!” is all I could say. My vision tunneled the outrage and raised voiced of Katinka and the guys were replaced by the pounding of my heart. I gripped the sides of my seat and bowed my head between my legs, taking slow deep breaths, hoping to god I wouldn’t pass the fuck out.

  As I slowly came back to, I could hear the guys and the DJ still discussing the call from Judith. My obvious freak out just clarified for the DJ that what was said was indeed true. I looked up to see Ivan kneeling in front of me, his eyes locked on mine. “Just breathe bro. Slow and steady breaths. Fuck this Judith. We will figure out who released this and we will figure out a way to fix it.” Ivan’s voice was low and steady, but his eyes told a different story.
He was pissed. “Nik, I hate to ask, but who all knew about your condition?” The DJ asked tentatively. “The people in this room, my doctors, and my girlfriend.” I confessed. My voice shaken, as I realized how small the circle of people who knew was. “I hate to break it to you Bro, but I doubt anyone in this room leaked the info, Doctors are forbidden to release the info. I’m not saying it was the girlfriend but I am just laying the facts as I know them out there. Now I know I don’t know any of the people, but I am looking at it as an outsider.” His voice conveyed his sincerity. “What does your girlfriend do for a living? Has she known long?” He began to ask. I raised my hand to silence him. I had heard enough. She was a journalist. She covered celebrities. I had just gifted her enough ammo to set her career for life. I shook my head and exhaled slowly. I couldn’t let her rule me. I had to look out for myself and my band.

  Looking at Katinka and the guys I posed the million dollar question. “So now what do we do?” The DJ butted in again. “I know you didn’t ask me, but I have been in this business for thirty years. If you want I can give you some advice.” All eyes turned to him. Ivan spoke up first. “Alright Matt, what do you have for us?” Matt sat back in his seat, folding his hands in his lap. “Kevin, you guys put on a benefit concert right? For cancer victims and their families?” Kevin nodded his head. “Yeah, we put on a few shows and donated the money to a few charities that we knew felt would fit our cause the best.” Kevin answered determinedly. “While this doesn’t directly affect your band, you guys will now be attached to the fall out. Are you aware of that?” Matt asked matter-of-fact. “Dude, these are our brothers. Ride or die, always.” Shep reverently. My swelled as the guys all spoke their agreement, to stand by my side because we were family, their tones ardent.

  “Okay, so since we are all on the same team. I suggest you address this head on. You can do it here or at your show. It would probably be best if you did both, as to cover more area. I am not just saying this because I would benefit. I am telling you this because it is best to hit while it’s hot instead of waiting around for the Rags to begin circulating their speculations. You want to get ahead of the story if you can.” Matt said earnestly. I nodded my head in agreement. “Okay, if we are going to do this, we are going to do it all the way.” I told Matt, my eyes focused on Katinka. “Okay, I will put you on after this song finished. You ready?” Mat asked. I nodded my head ready to get this over. I wasn’t sure what I would say. I watched Matt, Waiting for the cue that I was on the air.

  “Welcome back, this is your host DJ Aggro. We are here in the studio with Dark Tide and Slava Pasha. They will be performing here tonight at O2 Academy Brixton for all you Metal Heads out there. Be sure to stay tuned in today to win tickets to the sold out show. In a few moments we will be hearing from Slava Pasha’s lead singer Nik Von. He is taking the time with us to confront any rumors you may have heard. Nik, we had a caller call in and confront you about a very serious accusation. What do you have to say on the matter?” I sat up right in my seat, my elbows resting on the desk in front of me. I leaned toward the mic. My eyes locked on Katinka as I spoke, drawing strength from her. “Ah yes,” I said confidently. “That Judith, God love her. She is good on digging up the gossip. I want to say Thank you to Judith, she gave me the opening I was needing to talk about a very serious situation I was in. Almost a year ago I found out I had cancer of the throat. I was absolutely terrified. Though I wasn’t terrified of losing my career. I was terrified because a few years ago my sister and I lost our mother to cancer. Knowing what my mother went through as well as how it affected my family. My father, my sister and myself, I was terrified to tell anyone. Our father died of a broken heart shortly after our mum passed and I was afraid of how my sister would take it, I did not want to be the cause of her sadness. I didn’t want her to feel helpless in this battle.” I paused and took a sip of water.

  “I found a specialist in oncology and began my treatments. I didn’t even tell the guys in the band.” I let out a long whooshing breath, releasing all the built up tension that had been pinning me down since I found out. Letting all of this out, especially publically was like releasing a huge weight off my shoulders I hadn’t realized was there. I licked my lips and began again.

  “One day the meds were really ripping me a new one. My nose began to bleed, my eyes, even my ears. I was terrified. I just knew that I was going to die in my apartment alone.” I felt Katinka take my hand, she rested her head on my shoulder. Tosha, Ivan, and the guys all came around, laying their hands on my back and shoulder, lending me their strength. This was a part of the story no one knew. No one but me, but if I was going to have to tell the story I was going to tell it all and I was going to tell it my way.

  “I couldn’t walk, I was weak as hell. I knew that if I called 911 that the Rags would have some sordid tale all over the net. I didn’t want my family to find out that way. I didn’t want anyone to. So I crawled into the bathroom. I crawled to the tub and began running the water. When it was full I crawled in and just laid back. I didn’t want to leave a bloody mess all over the house you see. I was laying in the tub, clothes and all. “Pausing I took a breath, my eyes landing on Damon, he held my gaze.

  “You see the one thing about us guys. That I think may people forget. We grew up together, from birth we have been side by side. These guys are my brothers, they are my family. That being said. Damon, the silly bastard, had somehow sensed that something was off. I don’t know what it was. But the bastard knew. He found me there, lying in the tub. He didn’t say anything. He looked me over, grabbed a shit ton of towels and got to work, letting the water out. Wiping away the blood. He pulled my sorry ass out of the tub, stripped me down as if I were a child, dried me off and dressed me in a clean, dry set of clothes. The silly bastard picked me up and carried me to the car. All the while not a word was spoken.” I sniffed and wiped away the tears that ran down my cheek. Fuck putting on a show and acting manly.

  “When we got in the car he turned to me finally speaking he asked ‘Where to?’ and I told him the name of the clinic I had been going to. Damon drove me there, hauled my ass in and sat with me while the doctor ran so many tests I thought I was surely going to die from being poked and prodded. The doctor confirmed that I was having a severe reaction to the medication. The only other option they had was to operate and try and remove the cancer. I didn’t have a choice. I signed everything they laid in front of me.” I bowed my head, gathering strength from my family behind me.

  “Damon stayed there with me, he waited patiently. Still never saying a word. He gave me his strength. After the operation was finished. The doctor made it clear I was not to speak or attempt to use my voice in any way; I was put on a liquid diet and bed rest for at least a week. Damon stayed the night with me at the hospital, still never saying a word. He was a pillar of strength. He drove us back to his place and he called the guys over. Damon filled them in and they all took care of me. When I was finally able to speak, I told them I didn’t want to tell anyone. Not because I was afraid of the media or anything like that. I was ashamed that I had just so willingly given up. That I had let my pride get the better of me. It was a tough pill to swallow.”

  I swallowed hard and took another drink of water before continuing. “My sister didn’t find out until after I begged her to come on tour and cover for me. As you can imagine, that went over like a lead balloon.” I chuckled lightly remembering Katinka’s response. I thought she was going to kill me there on the spot.

  “I had to beg her forgiveness and asked her to help me with the tour. I was so afraid she was going to kill me. But I understood. I had kept something huge from her and I had made the guys keep my secret as well.” Hushed arguments drew my attention. I followed the glaring eyes of my sister and found Evie standing at the window looking in the studio booth. Her face was sullen, her eyes puffy and her face was blotchy. I could see streaks down her face where her mascara had run from crying. I cleared my throat and turned back to the mic to finish my s
tory.

  “While we were on tour I had a checkup with my doctor. At the appointment, my doctor voiced his concerns that the cancer had come back, I was no longer in remission. I felt like my world was falling apart all over again. Only this time I didn’t fall apart. After swabs were taken I rushed back to my sister and told her what I found out. She and Tosh talked me into getting a second opinion before our show in Phoenix. That’s why Katinka took over. I didn’t want to come out and tell people I was out of remission when I wasn’t sure where I was. The procedure required a biopsy so again I couldn’t talk. I though the best way to avoid blasting everything out there was to just tell people I had laryngitis. If it had come back that I had cancer I was prepared to go public. Thanking god, it turned out that I was still in remission. I have been spending every day with my family, cherishing the moments I have with them. I didn’t want to tarnish our relationship with all of the coverage about my cancer. I wanted to take the second chance I was given and to spend it wisely.”

  Matt nodded his head encouragingly, giving me a watery smile. “Nik, Thank you for sharing that with us. You are so very brave. Now I have to ask the question that I am sure is on everyone’s mind. Who all knew that you had cancer?” Pulling my shoulders back I sat up straight. “That is a good question Matt. As you see, the only people that have known are my doctors, my band, the guys of Dark Tide, and my girlfriend.” Matt let out a whistle. “Wow Nik, that isn’t a very long list. The guys of Dark Tide are here with us so I will ask them directly. Guys, did any of you release anything even hinting about Nik’s cancer?” Kevin scoffed. Leaning into their mics the guys all denied having uttered a word. “Nik is our brother. We would never disrespect him that way or betray his confidence.” Evan growled. “I wanted to ask, you know, process of elimination. Though I never thought it was any of you guys.” Matt winked in our direction.