Rock Hard: BAD Alpha Dads

by Abbie Zanders

  But they didn’t care about him. Was there anyone left who did?

  His mom had loved him, but she was gone. Alice had once, or so he believed. Carly should, simply because he was her father, but maybe he had been wrong about that, too. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure he had loved his father. Maybe at one time he had, before he was old enough to understand just how little his father had cared about him and his mother. If he had, it had been lost to time and the struggle to survive.

  Maybe he had been wrong about a lot of things.

  Rex raked his hand down his face. Well, one thing was certain; he wasn’t going to get any answers by sitting in this room. He needed to find Carly. Chances were, when he did, he would find Alice with her.

  Maybe, if he was lucky, he would find himself again, too.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I don’t remember going anywhere like this as a kid.” Johnny readjusted his sunglasses, looking around the open air, stately interior of the resort.

  “That’s because we weren’t geniuses like Carly.” Unmistakable pride tinged Alice’s voice. “This is the kind of thing that happens when you reach the upper echelon of high school academia. These kids are the rock stars of the scientific future.”

  Dozens of high school age kids moved through the breezeways, laughing and talking. Some were in bathing suits and heading toward the pool area. Others, dressed more conservatively, were gravitating toward some of the conference rooms. Carly wasn’t among either group, but Alice wasn’t surprised. Though brilliant, Carly was a social introvert when it came to dealing with kids her own age.

  “Are you sure she’s here?” Johnny asked.

  “Positive. Carly wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  The well-dressed gentleman at the reservation desk offered a polite smile of regret when they approached. “If you were hoping for a room, I’m afraid we are completely booked.”

  Alice offered a polite, friendly smile in return. “We are a bit late in arriving. I believe our daughter has already secured a suite.”

  “Her name?”

  “Carly. Carly Løve.”

  The man tapped a few times on the touch-screen before him and smiled. “So she has. The VIP suite in the North Wing. Welcome.” He snapped his fingers for assistance and a young bellhop appeared out of the shadows.

  The young man led them out of the lobby. The furtive glances he gave Johnny along the way suggested he recognized, or at least suspected, who he was. That theory was confirmed when they reached the suite.

  “I’m a huge fan,” the bellhop said reverently.

  Johnny flashed his megawatt smile and slipped a hundred-dollar bill into his hand. “I appreciate that. But let’s keep it our secret, shall we?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Alice was chuckling as they stepped inside. A quick look around the posh suite revealed Carly’s things, but not the girl herself. Johnny found a schedule of events left out and showed it to Alice.

  “Knowing Carly, she’s soaking in everything she can, probably from the shadows,” Alice said.

  “What now?”

  “I think we should stay here and keep things as low key as possible until Carly returns.”

  “Agreed, as long as we can order room service.” Johnny picked up the remote and stretched out on the sofa with a feline arch.

  “You just ate on the plane!”

  “I’m a panther. I eat a lot.”

  Her lips quirked. “I thought panthers were sneaky.”

  “That, too. We’re sneaky, and we eat a lot.”

  They didn’t have too long to wait. Carly came in about an hour later, squealing when she saw them. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “You didn’t think we’d miss the finals, did you?” Alice returned Carly’s fierce hug with one of her own then pinned her with a stern look. “Even if you didn’t see fit to tell us.”

  “I was afraid you’d tell me not to come. You know, after you took me back last time.”

  A fresh wave of guilt washed over Alice. “I’m sorry about that, kiddo.”

  Carly nodded, her expression one of a much older soul. “I know, and I get it. I’m just glad you’re here.”

  “You didn’t tell your dad where you were going though, did you?”

  “I tried, I really did, but that puss in heat he’s got now wouldn’t let me anywhere near him.” Her shoulders lifted and fell in an elegant shrug. “And it’s not like he’d come anyway. He probably doesn’t even realize I’m not there.”

  Alice exchanged a look with Johnny. “About that ... he does know.”

  “He does? How?”

  “I’m sorry, Carly. I thought I’d surprise you in Chicago, but you weren’t there. Rex caught me in the suite.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “He knows?”

  “He knows you aren’t there, but not where you are or what you’re doing. He’s worried about you, Carly. You need to let him know you’re okay.”

  Disbelief clouded her young features. “He doesn’t care. He wishes I’d never been born, or at the very least, that my mother hadn’t died so he wouldn’t have to be saddled with me.”

  Carly went into her room and closed the door. Alice immediately followed, unwilling to let the conversation end there. “Rex cares.”

  “He has a funny way of showing it.”

  “Can’t argue with you there,” Alice agreed. “But he does care, in his own way.”

  Carly snorted softly. “Like he cares for you?”

  It was a direct hit, one that Alice couldn’t deflect. Rex’s apathy toward her hurt as much now as it had then.

  “I’m sorry, Alice,” Carly said quietly. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Alice summoned a weak smile and searched for the words to explain something even she failed to understand completely. It might have been easier had Carly not been so astute. “That’s a completely different situation. I was just his PA. You are his daughter, and he wants you with him. If he didn’t, you wouldn’t be.”

  When Carly opened her mouth to speak, Alice held up her hand. “Let me finish. I’ve known Rex a long time. Long enough to know he doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to. He might not qualify for Father of the Year, but he does ensure you have the best of everything. If he didn’t care, why would he do that? If he didn’t want you around, don’t you think it would make more sense to set you up in a boarding school somewhere?”

  She let Carly process that for a minute, then added, “Rex doesn’t think like everyone else. That’s part of what makes him such an amazing artist. His world is his music, and everything else—with the exception of you, Carly—is superfluous. That might not be ideal, but it should mean something. Just think about that, okay?”

  Alice got up and went back into the living area. Her hands were shaking as she poured herself a drink. Everything she had said was true. She truly believed that, deep down, Rex loved his daughter in his own way. Unfortunately, it was also a reminder that she would forever be in the “superfluous” category.

  Johnny patted the seat beside him then wrapped an arm around Alice as she leaned against him. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, of course.” And she was. Sort of. She had a great job, an amazing friend who had proven time and time again that he would do anything for her, and she had her health. Once her heart accepted the cold, hard truth and stopped mooning over a certain lion, she would be golden.

  She pulled out her cell phone and tapped out a text to a familiar number. Then she hit send, turned off her phone, and tossed it onto the counter.

  “What did you tell him?”

  “That Carly is fine and we’ll meet up with him in Boston in a few days.”

  “That’s all?”

  Alice nodded. Her conscience had demanded that she let Rex know Carly was okay, but there was no benefit in saying any more than that. This was Carly’s time to shine, and Alice was going to do everything possible to make sure the next few days were drama free.

  Chapte
r Fifteen

  Rex stared at the small screen, reading Alice’s text again. No details. No location. No information other than his daughter was okay and “they” would meet up with him at the Boston stop of the tour.

  “They” probably included Alice, Carly, and that fucking panther. What did Alice see in him anyway?

  The warning crack of the protective cell phone casing made him ease his grip on the device. Every time Rex thought of Alice working so closely with that guy, his blood boiled. Alice didn’t belong with him. She was a lioness. She belonged with her own kind.

  She belonged with him, goddammit!

  Now the panther thought to move in on his daughter, too? Oh, hell no.

  He tried calling the number again, and again, it went immediately to voicemail, just like Carly’s. He roared for Valerie then remembered he had fired her self-serving ass.

  He stalked over to his drummer’s room and banged on the door. “Styxx! Open up, man.”

  The bleary-eyed cheetah opened the door a crack. “Dude, what the fuck?”

  Rex pushed and entered without waiting for an invite. “Is there a way to locate someone if their phone is turned off?”

  Styxx rubbed his eyes. “How the hell should I know?”

  “You went to MIT, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “So, you should know this tech shit.”

  The guy was not only a phenomenal drummer, he was smart as fuck, too. For some reason, though, he didn’t like to acknowledge that, and for the most part, Rex and the rest of the guys respected that. But this was different. Locating Carly took precedence over Styxx’s closet geek issues.

  “Come on, dude. It’s important.”

  Styxx sighed. “Who are you trying to locate?”

  “Carly.”

  With a feline stretch and a couple of audible neck pops, Styxx asked the obvious. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just go and knock on her door?”

  “It would if she was there, smartass. She bailed in Dallas.”

  That got the cheetah’s attention. “No shit?”

  “No shit.”

  “Well, I hate to break it to you, dude, but unless you installed a GPS chip in her phone, a tracking app isn’t going to work if the device is turned off.”

  Rex didn’t know if Carly’s phone had a GPS chip or not. Alice used to deal with all that shit, getting Carly whatever she needed. Unfortunately, she wasn’t picking up her phone, either.

  “Fuck.”

  They were silent for a few moments, then Styxx asked, “What’s she using for cash? Does she have plastic?”

  “Yeah, Valerie said I should get her a card.”

  “Then go online and check your activity, man. If she’s using it, it’ll tell you where and when.”

  “You’re a fucking genius, you know that?”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Styxx looked irritated by the compliment.

  “Can you show me how to do that?”

  Styxx stared at him. “Seriously?”

  Rex shrugged. He paid people to do that shit. Why would he need to know? He told his drummer as much.

  “So, get Valerie to do it.”

  “I fired her.”

  “Yeah? About fucking time. That chick is toxic.”

  Apparently, Rex hadn’t been the only one to reach that conclusion. It just seemed to take him a little longer, which pissed him off.

  “You didn’t say anything.”

  “Like you would have listened.”

  Before Rex could respond, Styxx pushed forward. “Got your card?”

  “In my room.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Once in Rex’s room, it only took a few minutes to get the info. Room and dining charges for the last two nights were at the top of the screen. A couple more clicks and Rex was looking at an upscale resort just outside Phoenix, Arizona.

  “What is she doing out there?”

  “Something to do with school.”

  Styxx looked closer and whistled. For a brief moment, a rare and unexpected light appeared in his eyes.

  “Carly made the finals of the North American National STEM competition? That’s some impressive shit, dude. What did she do her paper on?”

  Rex blinked. He had no idea. He didn’t even know what STEM was. “I don’t know.”

  That bright light faded. Styxx’s apathetic persona returned. “Right. Anything else?”

  “Nah. Thanks, man.”

  “You sending someone for her?”

  That would certainly be the easier route, but this wasn’t a task he trusted to anyone else. He had already decided to take care of this one himself. “No.”

  Styxx nodded then scratched the back of his neck. “So ... I gotta ask ...”

  “Yeah?”

  “After you get Carly, are you going to go get Alice, too? Shit’s not the same without her, and neither are you, you know?”

  Yeah, Rex knew. But Alice was the one who had walked away and decided to set up shop with that fucking panther.

  “She made her choice.”

  To his surprise, Styxx laughed. “You mean Johnny?” He shook his head. “Do us all a favor, Rex. Get your head out of your ass before it’s too late.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  Styxx just shook his head again as he walked out the door. “I’m going back to bed,” he said from over his shoulder. “You need something else, go roust someone else.”

  Rex stared at the door in disbelief. He was torn between getting answers or getting his ass in gear. Since he had less than twenty-four hours to fly out to Phoenix, get Carly, and meet up with the guys at the next stop, retrieving Carly won out.

  One of the benefits of being Rex Løve was that, when he snapped his fingers, people came running to do his bidding. One phone call to the VIP concierge and he had a private jet fueling up and a limo on the way. Another call to the hotel manager and he had secured Chuck as his personal security for the short trip. The stone-faced Chuck didn’t give any indication how he felt about that one way or the other, but the kind of cash Rex was offering made it hard to say no.

  Once they were in the air, Rex sat back and took a breath. Now that he knew Carly was safe, anger was slowly edging out the worry. Anger at Valerie for trying to come between him and his cub. Anger at Carly for making him chase her down. Anger at Alice for abandoning him in the first place.

  Because of them, he was flying cross-country in the middle of the night instead of getting some much-needed rest and well-deserved pampering. Had anyone stopped to consider how their selfish actions affected him?

  Apparently not. As usual.

  Fronting one of the most successful bands in modern history wasn’t easy. Sure, he had been born with superb looks and incredible talent, but he was more than just a pretty face and a great voice.

  Wasn’t he?

  “Get your head out of your ass before it’s too late.” Styxx’s words from only a short while earlier came back on a repeated loop, demanding his attention. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Had Styxx been talking about Alice? Carly? Or had he been referring to something with the band?

  Admittedly, things hadn’t been going smoothly, but they were still okay ... weren’t they? Every band experienced a few bumps in the road occasionally; it was just the nature of the beast. They were still touring, still selling, still on top, even if they weren’t as high up as they once were.

  Clearly, they had some adjustments to make. When he got back, he would call a band meeting. It had been a while since they’d had one of those. He wanted to hear where the other guys’ heads were.

  Other than performing together and doing the occasional promo, they really didn’t talk much anymore. Rex had his own bus, his own suite on tour. Even studio time had become a separate thing. The band went in and laid down their tracks. Then Rex went in and added his when it fit his busy schedule.

  Maybe that was part of the problem. At one time, they had been really tight. Everything ha
d been about the music, and they had all shared the same burning desire to make it big. Now that they had, things had changed.

  It was still dark when they touched down in Phoenix. A waiting car whisked them to the resort. Rex knew they were in the right place when he saw all the signs promoting the event in and around the lobby.

  “Science, Technology, Engineering, Math,” he murmured, glancing over one of the posters. At least he now knew what STEM stood for.

  The skinny human male working the reception desk wasn’t very helpful at first, adamant that there were no rooms available. He changed his tune damn quick, though, when Rex produced the black card that matched the one on the account and told him he already had a room.

  His cub had good taste, Rex thought as he and Chuck made their way across the lobby, now equipped with key cards of their own. The resort was nice. Classy. Quiet in the predawn hours. Only staff were up and about, preparing for the day.

  Delicious, mouth-watering scents wafted their way from the large restaurant off to the left. Stomach rumbling with hunger, Rex made a slight detour, placed an order, and slipped the kid in the funny white hat a hundred bucks to bring it up to the room asap.

  All was quiet in the VIP suite when they let themselves in. A small light burned in the kitchenette, enough to ascertain that the living area was empty. Two bedrooms flanked the common sitting area.

  Rex’s nose told him that they were in the right place. Alice’s subtle scent and Carly’s sweet adolescent spice hit him first. He inhaled deeply, wrinkling his nose in distaste when he picked up the panther’s funk as well.

  Rex’s territorial urges surged, causing his claws to extend. Thankfully for the panther, his scent led to one bedroom and the females’ to the other. If Prowler and Alice had been in the same room ... well, Rex wouldn’t have been responsible for his own actions.

  “What now?” Chuck asked.

  Rex settled himself on the sofa and yawned. He could be a dick and give them a rude awakening, but he was tired and hungry.

  Opting for a brief catnap while they waited for the food, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Now, we wait.”