by Dana Delamar
“I hadn’t.” Daniel stared at me. “The lead singer requested you personally. Actually, he said he wouldn’t agree to the retreat if you weren’t the one facilitating it. So you see, Sky, the fate of this band rests on you. If they don’t resolve their issues before the world tour is set to begin, it’s all over, and a lot of people will be hurt. Needless to say, a lot of money has been invested in this band and the tour.”
Rod had requested me? Insisted on having me brought into this? It made no sense. Rod had only tolerated me because it got him closer to Dev. Dev was the one who’d liked me, but Rod was the one who’d asked for me?
“I-I don’t—” I pushed out of the chair and began pacing Daniel’s office. Could I do this? The last time we’d all been together, I’d gotten my heart broken. Hell, I couldn’t even listen to their music without bawling. It had been three months, and I was only beginning to feel okay again, like maybe my heart was only bruised instead of broken.
No. It was asking too much.
I stopped in front of Daniel’s desk. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
“We could make it worth your while, Sky. There’s a million-pound bonus if you succeed.”
“One million?” I dropped into my chair. The amount was staggering. I could save my company with that money, I could hire staff, take on bigger contracts. I could finally prove to my parents that my MBA from Berkeley Haas in Management of Organizations had been worth it. That I was meant for more than just working in a shop on the beach that sold surfing gear and souvenirs.
On the other hand, one million pounds, although an obscene amount of money, couldn’t guarantee the success of my business. It didn’t even guarantee TI’s full support. Other than whatever they’d be paid for having arranged for me to contract through them, they had no skin in the game. Maybe Daniel and the label thought reuniting King’s Cross was a lost cause and wanted to hire me as their scapegoat for when everything went to hell.
I looked around Daniel’s office, at the promo photos on his walls, at the view of the ocean. This would only work if he was all in as well.
“I have a counter-proposal for you.” When I was certain I had his undivided attention, I said, “Let’s split the bonus and go into business together.”
Daniel’s brows rose. “You want to be a partner at TI?”
“Yes. If this goes well, TI could expand, add a new corporate service. With your contacts and my expertise, we could build something really useful. Add in TI’s experience with event planning and we’d be sought out by every major business for leadership retreats. Not to mention—”
Daniel grinned.
I blushed to the roots of my hair. “Sorry. I got a little carried away.”
Rising from his seat, he chuckled and came to sit on his desk in front of me. “No, no. I like how you think. It’s a great idea. I’m fairly certain I can convince my partners to yield five percent of their stakes, so if this worked out, you’d have fifteen percent of TI.”
“Fifteen percent.”
“Plus half the bonus.”
This was my chance. The best opportunity I’d probably ever have, and so not what I’d anticipated when I’d received Daniel’s call yesterday.
But could I do it?
Could I get involved with Dev and Rod again without destroying myself? And was I good enough to save King’s Cross?
If I could keep myself emotionally closed off from them… That would take care of my first concern, but the second remained. How could I get them to resolve their differences when I couldn’t even imagine what had shattered their friendship?
“Do you know what the problem between Rod and Dev even is?”
Daniel leaned back and picked up his notebook. Reading off of it, he said, “Their manager says the best they could figure is that something happened between them about three months ago. Around the time that you facilitated some activities for the band when they started working with Reeling Records. They took a week vacation and when they returned, things were pretty cool between them. They continued to work together, doing a few performances and hiring a new guitarist at the label’s insistence, but things have only gotten worse. Apparently, two days ago, after a photo shoot in London, Rod snapped and tried to quit.”
I didn’t understand this. When I’d left them, they’d looked so in love. What had happened after I left, and how could I get them past it?
In the week we’d spent together, that kiss, that hug, was the only time I’d seen them be physical together. It had seemed so natural, so right. If any two people were meant to be together, it was Dev and Rod. So why weren’t they?
If I could figure this out, I’d be able to resolve their issues. Was their sexual connection, that love that I’d seen between them, my way in? Was I to be the bridge again?
Could I be the bridge again? It would mean doing things the same way we had in the past.
My heart squeezed.
I met Daniel’s gaze. “If I agree to this, you need to understand that my methods are going to be unorthodox and somewhat unprofessional. Maybe unethical too.” I looked away. “I would never do this with any other clients, but I know these guys.”
“Know them?” Daniel’s jaw tightened. “In the biblical sense?”
“Yes. If you don’t agree with what I’m going to do, we shouldn’t even try this. I think I have an idea what the problem is, and if I’m right, anything another facilitator would do won’t come close to working in this particular situation.”
Daniel set the pad down on his gleaming desk. He inclined his head slightly. “Whatever you have to do, I’ll support you. This could be a really big opportunity for TI, and if you fix the band, it will be good for them too.”
I stood and shook his hand. “A win-win all around.”
Especially for me, as long as my stupid heart didn’t fall for the siren song of my two hot British rock stars all over again.
Chapter 2
ROD
The caravan of my King’s Cross bandmates and roadies left the small town of Temae, home to the only public airport on the island of Moorea, and headed onto a narrow two-lane road that appeared to circle the island. I rested my head on the seat back and stared out the window at the breathtaking scenery.
Water diamonds glittered in the high sun for miles on the gently rolling waves of the South Pacific. The place was a goddamn tropical paradise, but I knew it would be a torturous stay. A repeat of the last three months.
So why had I agreed in the first place?
I was riding by myself, not eager to speak to anyone in the band or crew, much less that cocksplat Nigel, or any of the support staff from Total Indulgence. And that included Sky.
Yeah, I’d asked for her, insisted I wouldn’t even do this damn thing without her.
Because she was my last hope. My last hope for connecting with Dev. The three of us had worked before, maybe we could work again.
But now that we were all here?
The whole thing felt like a damn mistake. A fool’s errand. A flat-out waste of time.
Because there was no way to fix this, was there?
Not if Dev wouldn’t bend.
My mobile rang and I ripped it out of my pocket. Anything to distract myself from the inevitable answer to my question. I picked up the call without even looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Rod? It’s Mum.”
I smiled at the sound of her voice. “Miss me already, do you?”
“Now don’t be getting an even bigger head than the one you already have.” The humor in her tone settled me. Mum had always had that effect on me, all those times she’d comforted me when my arsehole of a father had lashed out at us with his mouth and his fists, when even though I’d been the oldest of my siblings, I’d still been too young and puny to defend them, myself, or Mum. The only good thing to come of all the troubled times both before and after the scumbag had left was the unshakeable bond between Mum and me.
“Everything all right then?” I asked.
She sighed into the phone. “You know I hate to bother you when you’re working.”
“You’re never a bother, Mum,” I said and meant it. Next to Dev, my mum and my siblings were my top priority. I’d drop everything in a heartbeat for them, and they knew it. I made sure they knew it. My dad had been a shithead, and we were all better off with him out of our lives. Still… his departure had left a hole. An empty spot where the man who’d fathered us should have been.
“You’re a darling to say so, Rod.”
“Come on, Mum,” I coaxed her gently. “Spit it out.”
“It’s Jonah.”
At fourteen, Jonah was my youngest sibling. Born less than a year before our old man took to the hills, he’d never known life with a father, even an abusive prick like ours had been. I’d always thought he’d be the golden one in the family. The one with no scars, but I’d been wrong.
“What’s the lad got into now?”
“The school rang this morning. Jonah earned himself a suspension.”
My hand tightened on the mobile. “A suspension. What for?”
“Punched a boy. Broke the lad’s nose.”
“What?” My brother was small for his age. It made him a wizard at football, but he tended to shy away from anything physical.
Tony must have heard the worry in my tone. Over the years, he’d got close to the Taylor clan. His eyes locked with mine in the rearview mirror. I shook my head. “Did he say why he did it?”
“Won’t say a bleeding word about it, no matter how much I prod.”
“You think I should talk to him?”
“Would you?”
“Of course. I’ll ring him right now.”
“Thank you, Rod. You’re the best son a mother could have. I love you.”
My cheeks heated. “I love you too, Mum. And don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”
“I know you will.”
As soon as I ended the call, I dialed Jonah’s number. He answered on the second ring. “Well, that didn’t take long,” he said, with maximum teenage attitude. “Mum didn’t need to get you involved.”
“I’m your big brother, aren’t I?”
“So. You’re not my dad.”
I certainly wasn’t, but I was the closest thing he had to one. I ignored his jibe. “What’s going on, Jojo,” I asked, using his childhood nickname.
“A boy was taking the piss out of me. Wouldn’t shut his gob even after I asked him politely, so I shut it for him.”
“What was he going on about?”
There was a pause, a sigh. What sounded suspiciously like a sniff. “Nothing.” Jonah’s voice cracked.
“Hey, come on now. You know you can tell me anything.” My life, the “Hot Rod Circus,” as Dev liked to call it, was an open book. I didn’t hide anything about myself from my family, and I expected the same of them.
“He said some stuff about…”
A pregnant silence filled the line. And I filled in the blank. “About me.”
“Yeah.”
This had happened to some degree or other with my middle brother, Thomas, and our sister, Kaitlin, but I’d been younger then, less well known, and more importantly, I’d been there to handle it with them. Shit. Another fucking reason I shouldn’t have come here. Jonah needed me.
“I’ll come home.”
“No!”
His sharp reaction took me aback. “No?”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean it that way. You know I love hanging with you. I just meant that I’ll handle it. I don’t need my big brother swooping in and saving the day like some sodding superhero. I’m not totally helpless, you know?”
“I know.”
“I’m getting to be almost as big as you, anyway.”
I snorted. “You know what they say about weeds and water.”
“Sod off.”
I laughed. Tony took the Range Rover over a steep hill and I glanced out the window, catching a glimpse of Mount Tohivea in the center of the island. Jonah would love it here. “Tell me what the lad said.”
“It’s not important.”
“It upset you enough to punch the prat, yeah?”
Jonah huffed. “Fine. He said you were nothing but a flaming faggot who couldn’t write a good song to save your life. He said Dev Stone was the brains behind King’s Cross, and you were just a pretty face.”
“He said I was pretty?”
“Rod.”
I cracked up at his tone. “Listen, kiddo. We both know the truth. It doesn’t matter what some fourteen-year-old twat thinks of me.”
“It rankled.”
“I know. But you can’t go around getting into punch-up with every knobhead who tosses a nasty word in my direction.”
“Okay,” Jonah said in a small voice. He sounded like he was three years old again.
“Is there something else?”
“No.”
Maybe I was looking at this wrong. Maybe Jonah wasn’t protecting me, but rather himself. “Are you ashamed of me, then?” Just asking the question opened a wound in my chest. I didn’t care about anyone’s opinion of me, unless they were family. And Jonah’s opinion mattered.
“Of course not!”
The knot in my stomach eased somewhat. “Not even a little?”
Jonah blew out a breath and I heard some rustling as though he’d flopped back onto his bed. “I’m not ashamed. I’m proud. It’s just sometimes a little part of me wishes things could be otherwise. I love you, Rod. But having you for a big brother can be… difficult.”
“What? Are you saying that having an out and proud pansexual brother who is also the sexy lead singer for the biggest band to hit the UK since The Beatles and whose face is in the tabloid rags on a weekly basis isn’t as easy as falling down?” I joked.
Jonah chuckled. “Don’t think much of yourself, do you?” Judging by his tone, he seemed to have relaxed.
“I’m a pain in the arse and I know it, Jonah. But just as you can fight your own battles, I can fight mine. I am who I am, and anyone who doesn’t like it can fuck right off. What’s important to me is you, Kaitlin, Thomas, and Mum.” And Dev. My heart constricted at the thought of losing my best mate. “Next time that boy or anyone else says something about me, just say, yeah, he’s all that and a bag of chips.”
Jonah’s laughter roared over the phone line. “Picked that expression up when you were in America last summer, did you?”
Fucking Damon. The Yank bastard was rubbing off on me. “Something like that. Anyway, you get my meaning? You’re smart, Jonah, and school’s important. Don’t let some silly prat sideline your dreams. And I’ll do what I can to ease your troubles.” I scratched my chin. How could I possibly do that though?
“Rod?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t change.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I know I said it was hard to be your little brother, but I don’t want you to change. Don’t tone it down, don’t do anything differently.”
I sat in stunned silence. If I toned down my persona, it would help my family and my relationship with Dev. It was something I’d thought a lot about over the last few months without Dev. Even if I could do it though, I’m not sure I would. What I’d told Jonah was the truth: people could take me as I was or not at all. It was up to them.
“Thank you,” I told him softly.
“You’re welcome.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“We good now? You won’t get into any more trouble? Because if I have to fly over there and tweak your ear myself, I will.”
“We’re good, Rod. Now go concentrate on writing some awesome songs for your album and tour. I can’t wait to hear them.”
“Is that right?” I knew Jonah loved King’s Cross, but I wasn’t above fishing for a compliment.
“You know I’m your biggest fan, you wanker.”
“Little shit, is that any way to talk to your betters?”
“I don’t talk that way to my
betters.”
“Oh ho! Someone’s getting too big for his britches.”
He laughed again. “Thanks for calling, Rod. Maybe knowing you were half a world away made me anxious.”
“I’m only a ring away. Call me anytime. I can hop on a plane and be back in London in a matter of hours.”
We ended the call with a promise to keep in touch every day while I was on Moorea. As Tony continued to drive around the island, my thoughts returned to Dev and Sky and the fortnight ahead of us. I feared I’d made one of the biggest errors of my life in giving into the pressure from Nigel and Sonic High Records. Having the three of us in close proximity was bound to stir emotions, bring back memories. Unearth regrets perhaps best left buried.
What the fuck had I been thinking?
The Range Rover heaved over another bump in the dirt road we’d turned onto and by the time Tony stopped the vehicle and announced, “We’re here,” my mood had soured.
This was going to be a long, awful stay. And I’d be leaving the band by the end of it. Because there was no filling the chasm that had opened up between me and Dev.
“About bloody time,” I grumbled and opened the door. The tropical heat and humidity were a slap in the face after the air-conditioned comfort of the vehicle. I looked around at the supposed “resort” we’d been booked into. A bunch of thatched-roof bungalows flanking some larger buildings greeted me. “Rustic” was the word that came to mind.
Sky approached. “So, Rod, ready to get to work?”
Her lovely voice washed over me, and I flinched. Bloody fucking mistake.
I jammed my hands in my pockets. “Where’s the fucking hotel? I can’t live in some straw hovel. And what about our music? Is there even electricity?”
She crossed her arms. “There’s electricity. And a rehearsal space. In fact, that’s where we’re all headed next.”
The heat in her words made me feel like crap. I ran a hand through my hair. “Listen, Sky, I—”
She raised her hand. “Save it. Just get your gear and get going. We’ll talk when you’re ready to be civil.” She turned on her heel and walked off, arms still crossed, back stiff.