Pieces of Me (Midnight Steel Trilogy Book 1)

by Lori J. Nelson

  “Laz, that may be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. Now, what are you going to do with it?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why I need your help. It’s worthless if she doesn’t hear it. What should I do?”

  Ethan thought for a moment. “Call the guys, we need to get this ready for the stage.”

  “Wait. What are you talking about?” Alek was confused. “Are we performing?”

  “Now that you’ve gotten your head out of your ass and as long as Davey can still function, I think we are. I had an offer come to me that I was going to turn down, but it just may be the perfect venue for you to fix your love life. Listen to this…”

  Ethan laid out for Alek the plan he had and how it would work to bring him and Corie back together. The more Ethan talked, the more Alek realized that it may actually just work. They both agreed it was worth the shot, so Alek got on his cell and started calling Tony and Davey, while Ethan called their manager to talk about the show they were wanted for in New York. It was a longshot, but it was better than drinking himself to death.

  Chapter 17

  Corie was glad that her short overnight trip to Boston was finished and she was almost home. A lengthy soak in her big bathtub was on her agenda for the night. It had been a long monotonous drive back home, and she couldn’t wait to relax. She and DeeDee, her publisher, had met halfway between New York and Maine to iron out the final details and book tour schedule for her latest novel, called “The Secret.”

  The book was due to come out next month, so they were finalizing what marketing the agency had planned along with a dozen other details that always needed to be attended to every time she published a book. It had taken everything in her to finish the story of Olivia and Grayson. It was so personal to her…it was her and Alek’s beginning, but not their end. They didn’t get the happily ever after ending that her characters did. They got nothing.

  Even if Corie wanted to completely forget about Alek, she couldn’t. This book was going to be a constant reminder of what they shared and lost. One part of her didn’t want the book to sell, but DeeDee assured her it was her best manuscript yet. And it had to be since she had put every ounce of her heart and soul into it. She had often cried during the writing of the last half of the story. It had been impossible not to.

  Then there was the subsequent tour that followed every new book publishing. Typically, she enjoyed talking about all of her books and the new characters she was introducing. However, this time was different. She loved Olivia and Grayson, but they also showed her what she had lost. Corie wished she could be as forgiving as Olivia was. She just didn’t know how.

  However, it wasn’t just the novel. Everything still reminded her of Alek. She missed his touch every night. The Keurig coffee machine that he loved was still on the kitchen counter, as she couldn’t bring herself to put it away. When she gathered the eggs each day, she remembered him singing to her hens. Even Matilda seemed more ornery with him gone. It had been four extraordinarily long months, and he was still dominating her thoughts. But he had broken her trust, and that was something she still couldn’t get past no matter how much she loved him.

  Even Kelsey thought she was unreasonable. The only two big arguments that they ever had were both involving Alek. Kelsey had completely changed her mind about him. Like DeeDee, she tried to get Corie to see it from his point of view. *Sure, he was wrong not to tell her he was a world-famous musician, but think about why he did it. Kelsey kept hammering at her with that until Corie couldn’t take it anymore. It had been at their monthly dinner at the Black Squirrel last week. Someone had picked a Midnight Steel song to play on the jukebox. Corie may not have been familiar with their music before, but she certainly was now. In the quiet of her lonely farmhouse, she listened to everything they had ever put out. The second Ethan’s voice spilled out the speakers, her eyes filled with tears.

  “Corie, why are you doing this to yourself?” Kelsey asked her.

  “Because I can’t trust him.”

  She remembered Kelsey rolling her eyes at her and saying. “Have you never made a mistake? I didn’t realize that you were so totally perfect. So Alek fucked up! Yes, it was a big one, but he didn’t cheat on you. I just don’t understand why you are so damn hard on him? My God girl, he loves you!”

  Corie had it with people telling her how to live her life. If she wasn’t going to forgive Alek, that was her business, not anyone else’s. “And I love him too, but that’s not enough. What good is love without trust?” Corie saw that Kelsey was going to say more so she held up a hand to stop her. “Enough! This is my life and even though you are my best friend, butt out!”

  She threw money on the table to cover the bill and stormed out. That was three days ago, and she hadn’t talked to Kelsey since. She would, but even after all this time, the pain of losing Alek was still too raw for her.

  Now with the turn to her long driveway finally in sight, she was still thinking of him. The tree that his car had hit was just to her left. The brush had grown up so much that she could barely make out the dent the bumper had left on it. Corie pulled onto her road and stopped her Tahoe. She stepped out of the SUV to collect the mail that had accumulated from the last few days and sighed. The mailbox was new. She had it put in as soon as the ground had thawed since Alek had knocked the old one down when he went off the road. Everything came back to Alek.

  Corie took a deep breath before opening her mailbox. “Get a hold of yourself girl. It’s been months, and he’s probably already forgotten about you. It’s time to forget about Mr. Rock Star.” As she pulled a large amount of mail out of the box, she kept talking to herself. “You live a quiet, somewhat boring life up here, that’s what you have chosen for yourself. He is the exact opposite. With people like him, it’s one party after another, and they go to bed at dawn. You can barely make it past ten o’clock most nights. It would never have worked. Never.”

  She tossed the mail on the passenger seat and headed home. It took two trips to get everything into the house from her time in Boston. She had also used it to shop for a few new outfits for the book tour that was coming up.

  Everything was unpacked before she finally settled in the kitchen with a hot cup of her favorite Earl Grey tea. The pile of mail was staring at her where it had been dumped on the table. After the long drive, the last thing she wanted to do was go through it. “I’ll compromise,” she said to herself. “I’ll sort it, to get rid of the junk mail and go through it more thoroughly in the morning.”

  The mug of tea was put aside as Corie started to look through the mail. There were the typical bills and advertising fliers, but two envelopes caught her eye. One she easily identified as a royalty check. Those were always extremely welcome and would get deposited in the bank right away. The second one intrigued her with its thick, high-quality envelope and the absence of a return address.

  Corie grabbed a knife out of a drawer and slit open the top of the envelope. She then sat down and unknowingly fortified herself with another sip of tea before pulling the inside card out. It was an invitation.

  One that completely took her by surprise.

  Her hand shook as she read it. She was invited to a special performance of Midnight Steel. It was in three weeks at the Webster Hall in New York City, and all proceeds would go the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If she attended, there would be a one hundred-thousand dollar donation made in her name. What got to her the most was the two words handwritten at the bottom.

  “Please come.”

  It was Alek’s handwriting.

  Her heart wanted her to go, yet her head told her there was no reason to. There was no point in going because they had no future together. Corie doubted, no matter what Alek said, that he would be happy with her sedate, quiet lifestyle and she knew it wouldn’t last. He would get bored quickly with her and her farm. And on the other hand, she wasn’t the rocker chick type. She doubted she even owned anything made of leather. But Alek was playing dirty. He knew a donation to a kid’s
foundation, and one as large as it said would be in her name was hard to resist. If she didn’t do it for herself, could she do it for the children?

  Since it was still a few weeks away, Corie knew that she didn’t have to make up her mind right away. But the card in her hand also let her know that he hadn’t forgotten her. He hadn’t moved on.

  She wondered why he wanted her there. If she went, could she resist him? Deep down, Corie wanted to forgive him, but she wasn’t sure that she actually could. She didn’t trust herself to make the right choice because she had chosen so poorly in the past. Wasn’t Jeremy a perfect example of that? And now Alek. Except, Alek didn’t cheat on her like Jeremy did. They both lied and broke her trust, but Alek never cheated on her. But then again when did he have time to? The few months they were together, they were barely away from each other for any amount of time. So who knew what the future would have held for them.

  Corie sighed knowing it wasn’t fair to paint Alek with the same betrayal brush that she did Jeremy. She just wished she could be more understanding, but sometimes the reasons why didn’t matter. She didn’t care why he lied to her about who he was, just that he had lied.

  The house phone rang surprising her. Corie got up and glanced at the incoming number on the phone, it was Kelsey. It was time to make up with her best friend.

  It was only a few days before the concert when Corie finally made her decision on whether or not she was going to New York. She was gathering eggs and feeding her chickens when she made up her mind. She wasn’t going to go. While in the coop, she was having a running conversation with herself and Matilda. The large hen always watched her with her small beady eyes the whole time she was inside. The odd thing was, anytime she mentioned Alek’s name, the chicken would squawk at her. It was like she was missing him too. If she went, she didn’t trust herself to be able to say no to him. Staying away was the safest option for her.

  She was reaching into a nest to grab an egg when a sound had her stopping for a moment and listening. It was a car coming down her long drive. Since she wasn’t expecting anyone, Corie was very curious to see who it was. She locked the henhouse door and carried her basket of eggs with her to the front of the house. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the car. It was sleek, black, and expensive and she had seen it before on that day her world fell apart. The same sexy, confident man stepped out - Ethan Madden. What did he want with her?

  “This is a surprise,” she said to him as she nervously dusted the dirt off her old jeans. As much as her heart belonged to Alek, Corie couldn’t deny how handsome Ethan was. He was dressed the same as last time. All in black…t-shirt, jeans, and boots. She, on the other hand, had her oldest and rattiest clothes on. He looked better than on his cover of last month’s People Magazine as the “Sexiest Man Alive.”

  Ethan lowered his sunglasses and smiled at Corie. “I’m taking it as a good sign that you aren’t throwing me out of here.”

  “I have no reason to do that, Ethan. I don’t have a problem with you. C’mon inside and I’ll get us something cold to drink.” As calm as she tried to look, Corie was shaking on the inside. What was he doing here? Did Alek send him? Why didn’t Alek come himself? She was so confused and nervous that the basket of eggs almost landed on the floor instead of on the kitchen counter. Corie took a breath before pouring them each a glass of lemonade.

  When she turned, she found Ethan leaning on the doorframe. The sexy smile on his face had the butterflies she already had in her stomach getting worse…much worse. “Sit down, Ethan. Please.” She said as she placed the glasses on the kitchen table before pulling out a chair to sit in.

  Ethan put his sunglasses down as he joined her at the table. He took a sip of the lemonade before he asked her how she was.

  “I’m just fine, why do you ask?”

  “I’m glad, and I asked because I was worried about you after we left that day. I’m sorry Laz hurt you. He was stupid and wrong, but I get why he did it.”

  Corie still wasn’t sure what Ethan was doing here. He barely knew her to be worried about her, so it wasn’t making sense. “Forgive me, but why are you here. I appreciate the concern, but we barely know each other. Did Alek send you to talk to me?”

  She watched a smile come across Ethan’s handsome face. His expressive green eyes locked onto hers. For a brief moment, she was lost in them. His charisma was overwhelming.

  “No, Luv. He has no idea that I’m here. I thought we should talk before the concert Saturday,” he told her.

  “Talk about what? I’m sorry to be so blunt, but what happened between Alek and me, is really none of your business. And I’m not going to the concert.” This was getting weird to her. What did Ethan think they needed to talk about? Corie took a sip of her lemonade and silently vowed to stay strong.

  “I agree this is between the two of you, but I’m just asking you to hear me out. Laz has been my best friend since I was a young boy. We got into this business together, and we’ve been living our dream for years, or so I thought. But this past tour, something in him changed. He still loved being onstage, but off of it, he was a son-of-a-bitch to live with. He wasn’t happy, but I thought he’d get over it. We have more money than we could ever spend because we are part of the best fucking band on the planet. Every musician’s dream of sex, drugs and rock and roll was ours…minus the drugs. Except for Davey, but that’s another long story.” Ethan saw Corie roll her eyes at him.

  “Laz and me, we never did the drugs. None. Being onstage was enough of a high for us, but the sex, that was a big part of the world we lived in. Different city…different women.”

  “Really? I don’t see how you telling to me about all the women you two were with is helping.” Corie could not believe that Ethan as bringing this up. There was no way hearing about Alek’s past women was anything she wanted to hear about.

  “Let me make my point, and maybe you will understand then. Okay?” When Corie nodded her head, he continued. “There is no hiding the fact about the life we led. But halfway through this past tour, an almost eighteen-month tour, he changed.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile. “I didn’t, but he did. Laz was no longer looking for women each night. He preferred to go back to the hotel by himself. He was grumpy and was barking at everyone. Then the last night of the tour I found him drinking alone in a room full of people, I asked him what was going on. He told me he was ready to just go home. I didn’t see how unhappy he was, but I knew something was really off with him. The next day, he was gone without a word to anyone. I never told him, but that scared me. I had no idea why he would take off in the middle of the night.” Ethan paused for a moment before going on. He had been seriously concerned about his friend which escalated when he never answered any of his texts or voicemails. It was like Laz has vanished.

  “He finally answered his cell one day, and I couldn’t believe the relief I felt knowing he was alive. I thought I had lost him forever…I really did. We talked a little that day, and quite a few times after that, but not until I found him at your place did I understand why I heard a different man talking to me on the phone.”

  “How did you find us?” Corie interrupted.

  “Through the GPS on his phone and having contacts that could help me track him. We had band business that couldn’t be ignored, and even though there are four of us, Tony and Davey let Laz and me handle the contracts, details, and that type of stuff. We do everything equal, except the songwriting royalties. Laz and me write the songs, but we still give the other two a small percentage. That’s only fair,” Ethan explained.

  Corie realized she was getting a deeper understanding of both Alek and Ethan. “Some would say that the writers should get it all.”

  “And many do it that way, but not us. The four of us started this band when we were seventeen…almost twenty years ago and we still go by the terms we set up on a bar napkin the night Quincy Harris discovered us.

  “You’re good guys,” Corie said smiling at Ethan. S
he realized that she really liked this man. Not many people would come all of this way to try and help out a friend. Especially with her living in the middle of nowhere.

  “Thank you, Luv. But to get back on track, it took weeks for me to get it out of him why he left Montreal that night. Do you know what he said?”

  Corie shook her head no, not trusting herself to speak.

  “He was lonely, Corie. Said he wanted to come off stage and find someone waiting for him. For Alek. Not Laz, the amazing guitarist, but Alek, the man. All these women we meet are good for a night or two, but never anything more. He wanted a real relationship. He wanted to fall in love, and he found that with you.”

  “But why didn’t he tell me who he was?”

  “Put yourself in his shoes. When you found him he was dizzy, sick, and in pain. He thought he was going to die in that car. All he knew about you was that you saved him. He told you he was Alek because that’s who he wanted to be. He was ready to leave Laz behind, and in fact, he had already done that when he left the hotel that night. Then everything changed as he got to know you. You saved him in so many ways, I’m not sure you even understand,” Ethan told her.

  Corie was thoroughly confused. “What do you mean?”

  Ethan was glad he had her interest piqued. This was really good. “Well, you saved him in the car from freezing to death and risked your life to get him back to this house. Then, he got sick, and you nursed him to bring his fever down, right?” Corie shook her head in agreement. “And you had no idea who he was. You risked your life for a complete stranger, and that makes you an incredible person. Not many people would have done that.”

  “I would like to think anyone in my shoes would have done the same thing. I couldn’t leave Alek out there to die.” To Corie, it was the only option she had, but Ethan was right that not many people would have done what she did for someone they didn’t know.

  “I would like so to too, Luv, but I bloody well doubt it. I will be forever in your debt for saving his life. He’s my best mate, and I can’t imagine him not being around. But there’s one more thing. You made him realize that there is someone out there that will love him for him, not who he is or the size of his bank account, but him….Alek.”