RUTHLESS: The Complete Rockstar Romance Series Boxed Set

by Vivian Lux

  For a second I thought she was going to defy me. But then fear outweighed her fierceness and Rory ran for the door. I sighed with relief when I heard the door shut.

  Johnny Banner was nothing more than a schoolyard bully all grown up. When he saw me standing there with my hands lowered, his face contorted into an evil grin and I knew that he'd finally gotten what he wanted.

  A chance to take me down right here in front of my daughter, my girlfriend, my ex-wife. In front of everyone who had ever mattered to me.

  "Thought you were going to be a pussy and keep hiding!" he snarled. "Seeing as how you sent a woman out to do your fighting for you."

  I looked at Piper. Her face was contorted, her eyes red-rimmed from unshed tears, but I saw no sadness there. What I saw was pure, unchecked rage, that wild, dangerous light in her eyes. If a fight broke out, it would only help her chase her junkie's high.

  I had to stop that too.

  I looked back to Banner. "Let's get this straight," I called. "You've been wanting to kick my ass ever since I called you out for being an abusive ass in front of Piper here. That's fine. But I don't really give a shit what you want." I turned and looked at Lizzy. "I care about what she wants."

  Lizzy was white faced and trembling, two spots of color high on her cheeks the only indication that she was as angry as I was. "I want to know what you think, Lizzy," I said to my ex-wife, the mother of my child. "Is this what you want? Do you want to watch me to fight your new man? Is this what you need me to do for it to be truly over?"

  A small sound escaped her lips. "True," she said, her voice trembling. "I haven't..." She trailed off, looking at Johnny and her expression contained no love and no tenderness. "No," she faltered.

  Banner's eyes blazed at her. "I'm tired of you being half his and half mine. If you're gonna be with me, it's all or nothing. We need to end this."

  "Lizzy," I said gently. "It is ended. It's been ended ever since we realized we were just wasting each other's time. You've moved on and that's okay. If you're happy. That's all I ever wanted. For you to be happy. And it's fine that you were never happy with me." I looked over at Piper. "I'm happy now. I hope you are too."

  "I am," Lizzy said in a small voice. "Sometimes." Then, some of that fierceness that I had admired since the first time we met -- the same fierceness I saw in the way she loved her daughter and hated me -- came back into her voice. "I'm happiest when you're not acting like a dumbass, Johnny."

  I had to hide my grin behind my hand.

  Johnny Banner's reptilian eyes darted from me to Lizzy and then back to me again. "You're a real piece of shit, you know that Truman?"

  I widened my stance a little. "Coming from you, I consider that a compliment."

  Banner sniffed and acted like he hadn't heard me. Fine with me.

  "Daddy?" a small voice called from the door. "Here!" A white T-shirt sailed through the air. I snatched it up before it could land in the dirt and yanked it over my head.

  "Time to go, Johnny," I told him firmly. Then I deliberately turned away from him. "Bye Lizzy."

  I could see her eyes shining from way over here. "Bye True," she said with a sigh. She turned and looked at Piper. "Take care of him, okay?"

  "No problem," Piper snarled, still angry.

  But the second the cars started up again, her face crumpled. I rushed over to her, and pulled her into my arms.

  "True," she sobbed. "Oh my God... I'm so sorry, this was my fault, this was all my fault..."

  I held her close, cradling her head against my shoulder. I rocked her, muttering soothing nonsense until her sobs subsided. Then she pulled back looked at me in utter horror. "I put Rory in danger," she gasped out. Then she looked around wildly.

  Rory emerged from behind my leg. Quick as anything, Piper gathered her up. "I'm so sorry little girl. Thank you for trying to help, you're such a little fighter. I love you, I love you so much," she said kissing her head, right on that special place I loved so much.

  Then she looked at me and her eyes were suddenly clear. "And I love you, True."

  I took her face in my hands, no longer afraid to touch her, no longer afraid she'd shatter under the pressure. She was strong, stronger than she thought she was, but even more than that, she was okay.

  "And I love you," I said.

  If I were a different man, more complicated and thoughtful, someone who read big books and went to college, I might have done more. I might have launched into a speech about what she meant, how she'd showed me a whole world outside of my life and taught me lessons I needed to learn.

  But I'm not a different man. I'm just me.

  So I just said what was true. There's no shame in that. "I love you. I really really love you."

  Epilogue

  Piper

  Rory banged out the last few notes of Ode to Joy in double time. I was about to chastise her to slow down, to find her beat when I realized why she was hurrying.

  Daddy was home.

  I stood up from the bench and stretched. "Good job today," I said. "I think by next week we'll be ready to move to the next piece."

  "Cool," she said, her mouth screwing up to the side. "Maybe something not old next?"

  I grinned at her. "You want to rock out?"

  "Yeah!" she said. Her tooth had fallen out last night and her gap-toothed grin only made her cuter.

  "Okay, I'll see what I can do." I stretched again. Sitting at the bench was making my back hurt. More than normal these days.

  This belly of mine was heavy as fuck.

  I rested my hand on the little shelf and then grinned again to feel the abrupt kick from inside. Rory saw my smile. "Is he kicking? Let me feel!"

  "Right here," I said, pressing her hand into my belly.

  My little rock star performed just as planned, delivering two great kicks right into his half-sister's palm. Her mouth dropped open. "Whoa!"

  "What's whoa?" True set down his guitar case and opened his arms wide. Rory went hurtling into his embrace.

  "He kicked me!" she yelled as she tried to climb onto his back. "My brother kicked me!"

  "Is that right?" True looked up at me, dangling Rory by her ankles behind his back.

  I nodded. "Two solid whacks. He's getting strong."

  He came over and gave me a kiss on the forehead, then dumped Rory on the couch. "Missed you," he said, sliding his hand over my belly. "You've gotten bigger."

  "You've only been on tour a week," I protested. "How could I possibly be bigger?"

  "Has it only been a week? Feels like forever."

  "Yeah," I relented. "It definitely was forever."

  "It's only three more weeks," he said, going to the refrigerator. "And then I'm back home."

  "Til your album goes platinum and they force you out on tour right as I go into labor," I snarked.

  He came back over with the carton of milk in his hand. "You think it's going platinum?" he asked, glugging straight from the carton.

  I wrinkled my nose. "Gross. But yes."

  He allowed himself a proud little grin. "You'd know, wouldn't you?"

  I bit my lip. We hadn't toured for the last album. Zoe had been put on bedrest at twenty-three weeks along and Low refused to leave her side. Which was fine with Rane and Maddie, who finally gave up on trying to plan a big wedding and just went and got hitched at the courthouse. Balzac and Jason were inseparable now, spending most of their time running Jason's new music blog. Keir and Scarlett took the time off to take a long vacation away from the paparazzi and came back disgustingly tan and happy. Jane Doe, flush with the publicity from her guest stint, flew back to New York to slap together another Wrecked album before the buzz wore off. She'd emailed me a few of the tracks they were working on and they were legitimately amazing.

  And as for me, a couple of things had changed as well.

  Where my house used to be as quiet as a tomb, it was now filled with sound. The sound of True as he played his guitar in the studio we built upstairs. The sound of Rory, who lived w
ith us part time, banging away on the piano and composing little jams on her Rory-sized keyboard.

  And the sound of my piano students knocking on the door.

  "Your album is brilliant," I reassured True. "You should trust me."

  He kissed the tip of my nose. "I do trust you." He brushed his hand over my belly and smiled when our son landed a roundhouse kick on his hand. This little guy's cousin was due any day now, and I couldn't wait for them to be just as close as I was with my brother.

  True took a deep breath. "I just need to learn to trust myself."

  I grinned. "Best course of action is always just to listen to me, isn't it?

  He smiled and slid his hand down to the small of my back, right where it was aching. "This is true," he said, digging his knuckles into the knotted muscles.

  I sighed and leaned into him. "It's going to be perfect, True. You're really talented." And I meant it. His album was a beautiful, downtempo blues piece filled with short, skilled tracks without an inch of bloat or fat in them. Nothing showy.

  Just like him.

  "And you're really amazing."

  I grinned up at him. "This is also true."

  He slid his hand down a little further and cupped my ass in his hand. "You know where you're really amazing?" he growled, nipping at my lip.

  There was a knock on the door.

  He froze and sighed and I laughed out loud. "That's my four o'clock lesson," I reminded him. Then I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him. "Hold that thought?"

  "As tight as I can," he murmured, kissing me back.

  "Should I open it?" Rory shouted as the knock came again.

  "No honey," I called. "It's fine. I've got it."

  It was fine. I did have it. No need to test it anymore. It was true.

  THE END

  But not really!

  If you want to read a special, subscriber only epilogue to TRUE: A Rockstar Romance, including a mad rush to the hospital and the story of how True got one of his scars, sign up to my mailing list using this link!

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  BOOKS BY VIVIAN LUX:

  Sons of Steel Motorcycle Club:

  Steel My Heart

  Steel Me Away

  Steel My Love

  Steel My Soul

  Steel Forever (January 2016)

  Rockstar Romance

  JAX: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance

  RANE: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance

  WILDER: A Rockstar Romance

  LOW: A Rockstar Romance

  TRUE: A Rockstar Romance

  The Reckless Falls Series:

  WRECKED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance (January 2016)

  Sports Romance

  FORCE: A Bad Boy Sports Romance

  IMPACT: A Secret Baby Sports Romance

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