Twisted Rhythm: A Dark Rockstar Romance (Twisted Rhythm Series Book 1)

by Lexxi Chase

  “Bongo, come,” she ordered and the big male ran to her.

  She waved her stick, ordered him up, and he effortlessly jumped the fifteen feet to sit complacently where he was told.

  “Not good Amanda,” Tyler chastised. “You look like you’re just learnin’ the ropes.”

  “Fuck off,” she finally lost her cool. “Anyone can have a bad day.”

  “Yeah,” he said, “but most don’t risk not livin’ through it.”

  “Cute,” she snickered, “The cats weren’t that bad.”

  “Get ‘em raised up,” he directed and she turned her back on him.

  “Yup, that’s the plan.”

  One by one, she had the cats rear up on hind legs. Only Zuru hesitated for a few moments before complying but otherwise, Amanda noted gratefully, this segment of the practice went all right. She brought Mohan and Mocombo off their perches to stand side by side before her and then orchestrated Bongo, with a lioness in front and behind him, to run circles around them.

  With ease that set Rachel gasping, Amanda executed a perfect front walkover that ended with her standing triumphantly on Mohan and Mocombo’s backs. Smiling as she raised her arms triumphantly in the air, she leapt sideways off them, yelling for all the cats to break routines, and ran with them all together to their holding pens.

  “Holy fuckin’ God,” Rachel gasped breathlessly.

  All mishaps were forgotten in her visitors’ eyes. Tyler wasn’t nearly as forgiving, however, and immediately entered the cage and ragged on Amanda.

  “What’s up with you?” he sniped angrily.

  “Nothin’. Just tired today,” she shrugged her shoulders casually and backed away.

  He glanced at her guests disapprovingly.

  “What?” she prickled. “Like a huge, half-plastered screaming audience in Vegas isn’t more distracting than my sister and friend. Don’t fuckin’ look at ‘em that way.”

  “What way?” he jabbed, but she refused to let the burgeoning argument continue and took off towards them.

  “Come meet ‘em,” she beckoned loud enough for them to hear and he could think of no way out.

  “My sister Rachel,” Amanda smiled, “and my friend Wade.”

  Friend indeed, Tyler winced inwardly, and nodded his head at her guests. Is the air thicker than concrete, Katelyn wondered, and aptly jumped up from her chair and asked everyone what they wanted to drink. By the time she returned with bottled refreshments, the lions were gone and Wade and Rachel were huddled together whispering intently. Tyler and Amanda were consulting with her handlers at the holding pens.

  “Get the tigers,” she said, and Alvirez and Marcus ran off to get the cats.

  “Gimme some orange juice,” she motioned to Katelyn just as her cell phone chimed with a text outside the rehearsal pen.

  Dear God, let it finally be Jake, she prayed, rushing to retrieve it, barely acknowledging Katelyn as she grabbed the juice from her hand. With her head suddenly throbbing and her heart smashing erratically in her chest, she brought up the message. From Jake, but nothing close to the type of reply she’d been hoping for.

  U need a fuckin chance to explain? I believe ur explanation goes as follows: 1.Wade 2.Zack 3.Jake. Or is there some other motherfucker I don’t know about yet to bump me outa number 3?

  Sarcastic bastard, she whispered, and quickly texted him back.

  Plz don’t be like this Jake. I can’t stop thinkin about u. I wasn’t gonna sleep w/ Zack! I’m goin crazy right now in rehearsal. Havin trouble workin the cats.

  Oblivious to Tyler glaring at her, she anxiously tugged and twisted on her ponytail and remained transfixed on her cell. Thankfully, Jake honored her with a quick response this time.

  Wade enjoyin the show? He thinkin bout how he’s gonna enjoy u later?

  “Prick!” she screamed and everyone stared at her.

  No one had to be Einstein to guess she was conversing with Jake. She was in the midst of texting him when his next message came in.

  Careful. Don’t wanna get yourself too hot & bothered. Wouldn’t wanna get yourself killed.

  “Come on Amanda!” Tyler screamed. “Tigers are waitin’. Forget what your priority is here?”

  “No!” she yelled back at him, angrily tossing her cell onto a towel draped on top of a folding chair. “Jesus Christ, can’t anyone gimme a break here?”

  She stomped back into the rehearsal pen and ordered Alvirez and Marcus to release the cubs first. Safari, Sumatra and Tonga bounded over to her, crashing carelessly into each other in excitement as they arrived pouncing and leaning on her waist and legs.

  “I woulda fell over,” Rachel laughed, elbowing Wade’s arm.

  “Where’s the hoop?” Tyler yelled. “They could use more practice with that.”

  Amanda bristled, “You said they were fine with it the other day.”

  “Yeah, so? Doesn’t mean they can’t use some fine tuning.”

  He stormed into the pen, casually pushing the tigers out of his way as he reached Amanda. They disagreed and bickered for a few minutes as everyone watched and finally, tossing his arms in the air, he walked away.

  “Your show,” he conceded. “Excuse me for tryin’ to help you make it a success.”

  He slammed the gate on his way out and stomped over to the rest area, not looking at anyone and kicked the ground discontentedly with his boot. Just wonderful, he thought, none of the cats are completely ready for the new act and as uptight and distracted as Amanda is right now, she’s likely to flop at best, get herself killed at worst. Just what the hell am I doing here, he asked himself and glared at Wade sitting so confidently in front of the pen, then remembered Wade wasn’t even Amanda’s main distraction. She’d obviously been texting and arguing with Jake.

  As Amanda worked the cubs through their jumps and rollover routines, Wade leaned towards Katelyn.

  “What’s the hoop for anyway? What is it?” he asked.

  “Like a huge hula hoop,” she explained. “In flames. They jump through it for her.”

  “Whoa,” he marveled and Rachel gasped.

  “That’s nothin’,” Katelyn bragged. “Near the end of the show, Kontikki, their mother, jumps through a larger flaming hoop...with Amanda on her back.”

  “Jesus!” Wade blurted, not knowing when he’d been so impressed.

  It took much more to impress Tyler however, and he continued ragging on Amanda just about every chance he got. Complaining about the cubs’ playfulness during their practice, and afterwards, nitpicking over Seh-Khan, Sahara, Kontikki and Kahari’s every nuance and move under her direction.

  “Is he always such an ass?” Wade asked and Katelyn shook her head.

  “He’s usually super nice and helpful. He really knows his shit. I got no idea what’s up with him today.”

  Amanda did however, pondering to herself she knew just what Tyler’s problem was. Problems. Plural, she corrected herself, wondering who bothered Tyler more these days. Wade or Jake. Whatever, she told herself, not feeling remorseful or guilty in the least. She and Tyler were a long time ago, their casual romantic “relationship” no more than a fleeting distant memory in her past. Except for the odd remark or dig, she’d been sure he was basically over it. I sure don’t need his shit today, she thought.

  Marcus and Alvirez wheeled in the steel post with sidebar and aerial silks and Amanda had the tigers, except Kontikki, move off to the sides of the rehearsal pen. She climbed the twenty foot high silks confidently as Wade and Rachel gasped, and began running through some of the more difficult moves of her aerial routine as she ascended and spun.

  Lucky I’m not afraid of heights, she appreciated, then glumly remembered who and what were on her mind today. Dammit, she chided herself, this is so not the time to lose concentration, and she struggled in vain to focus on the silks, the height and her acrobatic routine.

  “Much higher in her show,” Katelyn explained, “and she does way more aerial acrobatics without the post in her way. The silks ha
ng from the ceiling onstage and she kinda does a stripper pole dance thing but the pole is the silk and she swings it out really far, all over the place.”

  “And I quit gymnastics,” Rachel laughed.

  No fuckin’ wonder she’s so flexible, Wade gloated inwardly and sighed. As everyone watched in amazement, Amanda went through a mini diluted version of her aerial acrobatics routine, swinging the silk wide and wider until the air hissed with movement far above her visitors’ heads.

  “Keep it tight,” Tyler yelled as she executed a near perfect drop and backward arch still suspended in the silk and swinging in the air.

  It’s the ending I have a little trouble with, she remembered, and intently climbed to the top of the silk to practice her dramatic descent. Fuck, if Jake could see me now, she gloated, and the wishful thought stabbed at her heart as a grim reminder of his stubborn absence. But Wade’s here, she partially recovered, and my sister too. And, wrapping and positioning herself in the silk, she consoled herself, if nothing else, Jake will hear about the exhilarating finale to her new and most dangerous show.

  “Nail the descent,” Tyler screamed.

  “Really Hitler?” she sniped condescendingly but in her renewed anger lost her grip and focus as she cartwheeled down.

  “Come on Amanda,” he screamed again. “Way too choppy. Way too awkward. One more time and get it right.”

  Shit, now even Katelyn was thinking, he sure is one hell of an asshole today. Like we really need another one of those around here, especially now. Holding her breath with growing concern, she watched Amanda ascend the silk and prepare for her breathtaking tumble routine down.

  Kontikki, positioned below and waiting for Amanda to land on and straddle her, watched with widening eyes as her mistress once again wrapped herself in the silk to begin her descent.

  “Fast and smooth,” Tyler yelled just as Amanda began her drop.

  Damn she thought, can’t he shut the fuck up, but it was too late to regain her focus and she plummeted down. Rather than cartwheeling and spinning horizontally down the rope while doing the splits, she got her right leg tangled and in her rush to re-secure her positioning, she accidentally untangled herself, totally lost her grip and screaming, crashed fifteen feet to the ground.

  Chapter 17

  Zack wandered aimlessly throughout his penthouse suite in Palace Tower at Caesars Palace hotel. They’d originally been booked for a stay at The Mirage but at the very last minute, as their limo neared the west side of the Strip, Jake had unwaveringly insisted there was absolutely no fuckin’ way he’d be staying anywhere on this planet that housed big cats. So Tank had scrambled like a condemned madman to find them another place and they ended up here, just beside The Mirage.

  Not like accommodations meant dick all to Zack. Pouring himself another stiff one, he resumed his pointless pacing, walking aimlessly because there was no one to call. Not a soul left to reach out to. He was merely a second tier figurehead in his band, a hollow place marker until Jake decided on his replacement. A lingering castoff allowed to remain because of tonight’s gig on their ever blustering tour.

  But how long will I be here, with Steel Demon, Zack agonized and absently brushed long blonde locks from his eyes as he gazed mournfully out the window. Four days off after tonight’s show gives Jake way more than enough time to lasso at least a temporary replacement. My time’s up, Zack lamented discouragingly. From the ultimate and most revered and infamous rock band in world history to nothing, oblivion, a side note, a washed up “has been” in the blink of an eye.

  “Fuck,” he groaned dejectedly.

  Why did I have to be so fucking stupid? Not like I thought for a split second that Amanda really had the hots for me, not like I believed Jake would take the news well. I should have thought things out, he told himself. Should have thought a little harder and considered my own vulnerable ass in the tangled mess known as Amanda.

  “Christ...”

  He sucked back his double shot of rye and poured another before flopping down on the bed near his TV. Swiveling it to face him, he absently flipped through channels, carelessly unaware of what was offered for his viewing pleasure. Until familiar words rang in his ears.

  Beast Mistress. He alerted and straightened, fumbled hurriedly with the remote to find and go back to that channel. It was CNN with a special news report.

  It’s not known at this time, the stoic reporter said, exactly what occurred at the Wilder estate but unverified sources have given CNN unconfirmed information that 911 was summoned to the property shortly before 3 p.m. this afternoon. Amanda Wilder, well known as the Beast Mistress for her flamboyant and death defying big cat shows, is scheduled to debut her latest show at the Luxor in Las Vegas just two days from now.

  Zack gasped as photos and videos of Amanda rotated and filled the split screens surrounding the news anchor. Amanda’s dazzling on stage performance. Amanda cuddling with and training her lions and tigers. Amanda with Jake. Oh my God, Zack started and leaped off the bed. Someone’s got to tell Jake. He snatched his cell off the side table, scrolled to Jake’s entry in contacts, then froze.

  “Fuck,” he murmured, “Doesn’t need to hear this from me.”

  He scrolled to Tank’s number and tapped dial. But could barely speak when Tank picked up.

  “Somethin’ happened to Amanda,” he screamed. “Call Jake. Turn on fuckin’ CNN now!”

  “What? Hang on there bud. Take a deep breath. Can hardly understand a word you said.”

  “Amanda!” he screeched. “All over CNN. Somethin’ happened. Call Jake.”

  This time Tank deciphered his babbling.

  Rushing to his TV to flip channels, he said, “Calm down Zack. Hang tight,” and hung up the phone.

  Left to his own conjectures and devices, Zack stood shakily in front of the television, then crumpled weakly onto the bed. His ears were buzzing and his breath came in gasps as he followed the speculative reporting on the screen.

  This just days after Wilder posted on Twitter, calling for a showdown between her on-and-mostly-off-again boyfriend Jake Steel of Steel Demon and Wade Brandon, believed to be an ex-boyfriend of hers from Conroy, Texas, where she’s from.

  “Oh God,” Zack moaned.

  Like they really need to bring this shit up now. Isn’t it just like press to shovel the dirt, anything to hype an already explosive story. I have to find out what’s going on, he anguished, but how? I’m not exactly in anyone’s good books right now and if Amanda’s been talking to Jake she and everyone around her must hate me about as much as he does, maybe more.

  I’ll risk it, he suddenly decided, finding courage inside what he knew was his remaining affection for Amanda, despite the circumstances and what she or anyone else might think and believe. He took a deep breath and dialed Katelyn, realizing his hand was shaking and sweating as he clutched his phone. Straight to voicemail. He shuddered. She’d never have that thing off unless there was something extreme.

  “Fuck no,” he muttered.

  What if Amanda was dead?

  In his room, Tank was going through his own anguish staring at the TV, watching countless videos and photos of Amanda shifting in and out of focus on split screens.

  Unverified reports just in. Unconfirmed sources are saying that Wilder may have suffered an accident during rehearsal for her upcoming Las Vegas show and that she may have been injured, perhaps seriously, by one or more of her big cats.

  The rotating photos and videos suddenly faded and were quickly replaced by new ones. Ones Tank recognized from five years ago. They’d inundated news networks around the world and plastered virtually every major newspaper, magazine and entertainment blog reporting on Jake and Amanda’s so-called final incident. Jesus, Tank thought, like Jake’s going to want to see any of this again, now, when no one even knows whether Amanda’s alive or dead.

  Wilder was critically injured five years ago during what was then dubbed as the final incident between herself and Jake Steel. She suffered massive
internal and external injuries, including broken ribs and bones, a fractured jaw and internal bleeding after allegedly being physically and sexually assaulted by Steel. Steel was charged with forcible confinement, sexual assault and attempted murder and found not guilty, receiving only probation after a guilty verdict was returned for aggravated assault.

  Four days ago Steel posted this telling photo of himself and Wilder in Portland, Oregon where he’d just performed a concert as part of his current Metal Injection tour. Although Steel Demon is slated to play Las Vegas this evening, sources haven’t been able to confirm whether he is indeed in that city or whether he was at Wilder’s estate this afternoon and possibly involved in this latest incident.

  Jake’s Twitter photo with Amanda loomed large on the screen and, seeing enough, Tank tossed the remote, rushed out of his suite and raced down the hall to Jake’s room. Christ, I don’t want to be Jake right now, he thought. I don’t even want to be myself, giving him this news. God knows what he’ll do, how he’ll take it if anything serious happened to Amanda. Cringing as he knocked, he thought, Jake will go absolutely ballistic if Amanda’s dead.

  ***

  Wade ran his shaking hands through his long hair and, leaning forward in the hospital’s waiting room chair, placed his head between his legs. The room was spinning, he couldn’t stop shaking and was seriously close to throwing up his lunch. This fucking can’t be happening, he thought. This just can’t be real.

  “Wade, you OK?” Rachel asked anxiously, seated in the chair beside him.

  “Not really,” he muttered but didn’t raise his head.

  “It’s been over an hour. Let’s go outside and get some air.”

  “No,” he insisted. “They might come and tell us something.”

  “I’ll tell Kathrine, I mean Katelyn, where we’re going,” and she jumped up from her chair.

  Katelyn and Tyler were seated only rows away from them, at the opposite end of the waiting room. Tyler had refused to sit anywhere in Wade’s vicinity and Katelyn had morosely sat down beside him to await word.