With Vengeance

by Brooklyn Ann

  The phone was silent for practically an eternity.

  “So,” Kinley finally asked, her voice quiet. “Does he still make your lady parts quiver?”

  “Yes.” More than ever. “But I’m still confused and kinda irritated that he didn’t tell me he was IT Guy.” Kat sighed. “But I also don’t think he’s keeping it secret for nefarious reasons.”

  Kinley snorted. “Nefarious. You’re such a nerd.”

  “No, I mean it.” Kat leaned against the deck railing and peered down at the trees. “He’s been nothing but kind to me since I got here. Like I said, when my car broke down, he towed it to his house to fix it, he cleaned his house and made up a nice room for me, and when I accidentally ate a pot cupcake—”

  “You what?”

  Kat sighed and backtracked, explaining what had happened. “Anyway, he felt so bad, and when I had a panic attack he sent the other guys away and held me and comforted me and…he kissed me.” Saying it aloud made her chest tight with exhilaration.

  “Holy shit!”

  “Yeah, but then he stopped and said we couldn’t do it, not in my condition.” Part of her cursed that chivalry as much as she admired it. “And since then he’s been acting like nothing happened.”

  “Hmmm.” The sound of Kinley’s pacing halted. “So, you have the hots for Klement Burke, and I always thought you had a connection with IT Guy because you spent so much time chatting about stuff other than the website.” She paused a moment. “Dude, it’s like you have a crush on both Bruce Wayne and Batman!”

  Kat laughed. “Now who’s a nerd?”

  “My point still stands.”

  “When you put it that way, it is a good point.” Having IT Guy and Klement at the same time in the same body seemed like the best of both worlds. Although, she didn’t really have him. He was still pretending their kiss never happened.

  “So what are you going to do?” Kinley prodded.

  Kat shrugged, even though her friend couldn’t see. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just going to wait for now and see if he’ll tell me.”

  “I think you should talk to him.”

  Kat sighed. “I know, but what if he gets mad?”

  “What the hell does he have to be mad about? You didn’t keep any big secrets from him,” Kinley practically shouted. “Jesus, Kat, you need to quit being so scared of confrontation.”

  “I know,” she agreed, a bit sullenly. “I’ll talk to him about it as soon as the right opportunity comes.”

  “Wimp.” Kinley snorted. “Anyway, I gotta go. I need to upload my post about Thrashfest. The record company donated tickets for us to have a giveaway.”

  “Oh my God, that’s awesome!” Kat almost told her goodbye, but then she remembered what Klement had asked. “Hey, you didn’t tell anyone that I’m in the studio with Bleeding Vengeance, did you? Or Quinn?”

  “No, why?”

  “Klement thinks that maybe an angry fan is tampering with my car and fucking with Cliff.”

  “Wait, your car was tampered with? And what do you mean someone’s fucking with Cliff?” Kinley’s voice was strident with alarm.

  “Oh yeah, I didn’t get the chance to tell you. Someone put sugar in the tank. We also found out that someone slashed my tire. And someone sent Cliff a dead cat.”

  The phone was silent for an endless moment. “Whoa. That’s fucked up.”

  “I know.”

  “No, I mean seriously.” Urgency leaked from the phone. “You guys should call the cops.”

  “Klement did,” Kat assured her. “Unfortunately, there’s not much they can do without any leads, but they’ve been sending a patrol car by his house and the studio regularly.”

  “Okay, that’s good. You should stick with Klement and the guys. To hell with his weird hidden identity, this is more important. And don’t go anywhere alone until the bastard who’s messing with you is caught.”

  Pure fear laced Kinley’s voice, and Kat understood. After being poisoned by a jealous roadie and suffering online attacks, who could blame her?

  “I will, don’t worry,” she promised her friend. No way in hell was she going anywhere without Klement.

  Kinley’s relief was palpable. “Good. I expect a full update when I see you at Thrashfest.”

  Kat blinked. “What? How did you know they’re going to let me play?”

  “Because they would be crazy not to. And because Klement owes Quinn big-time.” Kin laughed. “But now that I know he was our IT Guy all along, I get why he was so quick to accept you as payment of the debt.”

  Kat grinned, pleased that Kinley had come to the same conclusion.

  They said their goodbyes, and Kat paused before going back into the house. The weight on her shoulders was much lighter after talking to Kinley. Now she was completely reassured that, whatever the reasons for Klement’s keeping his identity secret, he must have good ones. And she would indeed follow Kin’s advice and stick close to him. With his kindness, intelligence, and strength, he made her feel safe.

  Leaning out over the deck railing, Kat closed her eyes and came to a decision. Eventually she’d muster up the courage to confront him about his secret. But just in case he reacted badly, there was something else she wanted to do first.

  ***

  Klement frowned as he watched Kat scrub the air-cleaner housing.

  She’d been quiet and, well, twitchy all day. At first he’d thought she was mad at him until he came downstairs with Cliff and Rod. She’d given him a brilliant smile that warmed him to his toes. A smile that made him feel like they were the only two people in the house and they hadn’t seen each other in ages instead of only minutes. But once they were back in the garage to work on the car, she was just as shaky and quiet as she’d been that morning.

  Maybe his talk about the dead cat and the possible connection to the creep who’d messed with her car triggered the anxiety. Although he hated seeing her fear and revulsion about the news, she needed to know what was going on.

  He glanced back at her, and she looked up and then quickly averted her eyes. The awkward silence was making him twitchy.

  “How did your talk with Kinley go?”

  Her face turned bright pink. “Um, okay.”

  “Did you tell her about your car?”

  “Yeah. And she and Quinn have kept quiet about me working for you guys. She’s really freaked out about me and Cliff being stalked.” Kat peered up at Klement through lowered lashes then added quietly, “She said I should stick close to you.”

  His body agreed wholeheartedly, though it wanted a different sort of closeness than Kinley was suggesting. “Yes, you should.”

  Kat’s dark eyes met his, and her lips parted a moment as if she were about to say something, and then they closed. “Do you think we’ll have the car going by tonight?” she finally asked.

  Klement shook his head. “No, we still have to wait for that injector to come in. Also, we have to replace that tire. You don’t want to be driving on these roads on that spare. It’s bald as shit. For another thing, I want to check out the layout of the studio’s security cameras so we can figure out where you should park.”

  “Okay.” Only a touch of disappointment laced her voice before she perked up. “So I’m riding with you again tomorrow?”

  He nodded.

  She seemed pleased with that prospect, at least. Some of his tension abated at the sight of her smiles and the return of the comfortable kinship they shared, and so he said, “I’m starving. Let’s go get washed up and figure out dinner.”

  They went into the house and entered the kitchen. As they rounded the corner, Cliff turned from rummaging in the cupboards. His dark gaze swept Kat’s oil-stained clothes and blackened hands, and he smirked. “I liked what you were wearing last night better.”

  Klement bit off a retort, while Kat gave Cliff the finger then wandered to the sink to wash her hands. Klement silently cheered her confidence then joined her, reaching for the bottle of dish soap.

  By t
he time they’d washed up, Cliff pulled a tray of taquitos out of the oven. They all sat down and devoured the meal with the righteous hunger of a hard day’s work.

  Cliff glanced over at him. “Did the cameras you planted in my car yield up anything?”

  Klement shook his head. “Only one guy walked by, and he was too far away to tell whether he was scoping out the car or just passing through.”

  “So my car’s safe then?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. I just know you weren’t followed last night.” Klement broke a few pieces off of one of his taquitos and fed them to the cats at his feet. “So, like I said before, keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

  Kat rose from the table with an empty plate and put it in the dishwasher. “I’m gonna go shower and do some more work on the website.”

  “Ooh, can I watch?” Cliff said.

  Without blinking, Klement reached across the table and punched him.

  “Ow!” The singer rubbed his arm and looked up. “What the fuck, man?”

  Klement didn’t answer. He left the table and headed up to his office. He needed to get that update done with Kat.

  Scooping up his laptop and phone from the desk, he then went back down to his grow room where she wouldn’t be able to hear him. Setting the laptop on the table next to the clones, he turned off the ventilation fans and opened up his email. Sure enough, there was one from Kat asking to schedule a call. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he dialed her number.

  “Hi, IT Guy.”

  He frowned. Her voice sounded…off. Was she mad that he hadn’t gotten back to her quickly enough?

  “Sorry it took me so long to call. Are you ready to run that update?”

  “Sure,” she said crisply.

  He logged in to her site and did his thing, but she remained quiet instead of offering up their usual flowing conversation and banter.

  “Are you okay?” Klement asked. “You seem kinda down.”

  “I’m fine. Just really immersed in my new job.” Again, however, she sounded doubtful.

  “They’re not working you too hard, are they?”

  “No!” She sounded unnaturally defensive. “I love it, I really do.” Sincerity rang in her voice. “I’m just trying to focus on doing my best. And I have a lot on my mind.”

  He didn’t like the uncertainty radiating from her. His instincts screamed to fix whatever was wrong, but his common sense knew that was a bad idea. “Anything I can help with?”

  Unbelievably, she laughed. At least that was a cheerful sound. “Actually, you probably can, but I need to figure out some things on my own before I bother you with them.” There was another heavy pause. “But now I gotta go. I need to practice if I’m going to be stage-worthy.”

  “I know you will be, Kat,” Klement said fervently. “I believe in you.”

  “You have no idea how much that means to me. Bye, IT Guy.”

  But even the goodbye sounded uncertain, like she’d wanted to say more.

  The next day at the studio brought a return to Kat’s unbalanced demeanor. Several times she messed up her riff and they had to start over, and Klem grew dizzy at the myriad emotions playing across her face: humiliation, self-scorn, and determination. After the sixth take on the first song, he threw off his headphones and gestured for her to follow him outside.

  She was shaking like a leaf as she met him out in the rear parking lot. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  “Relax, you’re not in trouble.” Unbidden, his fingers kneaded her tense muscles, willing her panic away. “Take some deep breaths and tell me what’s going on.”

  Her mouth opened and closed a few times as thoughts raced visibly across her face. Finally, her shoulders relaxed. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry, I just need to focus.”

  “There’s definitely something.”

  “Yeah, but it’s…” She broke off, and the blush returned to her cheeks. “I’ll tell you later, okay?”

  An embarrassing thought came to him. What if she was having lady problems? If so, he was being a complete ass for prodding her. But he’d always been relentless in figuring out his bandmates’ issues so that he could help them fix whatever was bothering them. “That’s fine. Do you feel okay to go back in?”

  “I think so.”

  He gave her a reassuring smile and patted her on the back. “Good. And I think you’re going to nail this song this time. I know you can do it.”

  “I’ll try. I’m sorry I’ve been screwing up so much today.”

  Was it his imagination, or did she lean into his hand?

  Cliff and Rod waited in the small lobby nursing coffees. Thankfully, they didn’t look annoyed with Kat. Wise of them, because if they had Klement would be the first to point out their own past fuckups.

  “Did Klem give you a hard time?” Roderick asked.

  Kat shook her head. “No.” She glanced at him. “Though at first I thought he was going to fire me.”

  “Nah, everyone has off days. One time I came into a session still drunk from the night before and barfed all over the microphone.” Cliff laughed. “Klem was pissed! But I’m still here.”

  Kat laughed. “Well, I better get back to work.”

  With a look of fiery determination, she went back in the recording room and pulled her guitar strap over her shoulders. Klement followed, returning to the recording booth, and his pep talk must have worked because she nailed the song in the very next take. Still, it took four more to get the next song to his satisfaction.

  “I’m sorry, guys,” she said as they all headed out of the studio an hour past the time they’d expected.

  “Not to worry,” Roderick said.

  “Maybe you just need a drink,” Cliff suggested. “I know I do. Do you want to go out to The Hellion with us tonight?”

  Kat cast Klement a quick sideways glance before shaking her head. “No, I want to do more practicing on tomorrow’s songs.”

  He frowned. Did she not want to go out because he wasn’t going?

  The ride to the tire shop was fairly quiet, aside from a brief argument about who would pay for her new tire, which Klement won.

  “As I’m the one who hired you, I am responsible for what happens to you here.”

  She frowned as he paid for the tire, but she didn’t protest. Then they picked up some Chinese takeout on the way back to Klem’s house, which the rest of the guys were grateful for.

  Cliff and Rod took off for the Hellion, and Kat went to her room. Klement’s heart sank a little. He’d hoped she’d want to practice with him upstairs. Fighting disappointment, he went to his office and checked his emails. There was one from Kat to her IT Guy, thanking him for his help with the update. That was all.

  Even as he shook his head at the ridiculous thought, he wished he had an excuse to call her again. She was just down the hall, for Christ’s sake. His pulse sped up a moment when he heard her door open. Had she changed her mind? Then he heard the shower.

  Closing his eyes, he was unable to stop imagining rivulets of water running down her naked body. Clenching his teeth, he closed the email window and opened up the security camera footage to see if he could clarify the license plate of that car any further. It would take some serious finagling.

  After about an hour of shifting pixels and adjusting highlights, there was a soft knock on his office door.

  “Come in,” he called, pleased to be pulled from the tedium. But his breath halted when Kat entered. She was wearing a filmy robe that framed a black lacy negligee. Klement’s hungry gaze devoured the curves of her breasts, the outline of her body, tantalizingly visible through the lace.

  “When you asked what was bothering me,” she announced, “I said I’d tell you later.”

  He didn’t remember rising from his desk and crossing the room. He suddenly stood over her, their bodies inches apart.

  “What—?” He broke off, mouth dry from desire.

  Her liquid dark eyes met his.
“I want you to kiss me again, Klement.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Richard’s eyes narrowed as he joined Cliff at the booth. “Are you drinking sangria?”

  “Yeah.” The singer smiled. “I was in the mood for something sweet.”

  That’s a girly drink, Richard thought, but he didn’t dare say it aloud. “My ex drank those fruity things.”

  He paused. Was Cliff drinking Kat’s drink because he’d hooked up with her?

  “Man, you look all pensive and shit all of a sudden,” Cliff complained. “She must have done a number on you.”

  Richard nodded. “I was nothing but good to that girl, but not good enough.” He considered bringing up his suspicions about Kat cheating on him after the Bleeding Vengeance concert, but he decided it would be too risky.

  Cliff clinked their glasses together. “I hear that. My voice and guitar are enough to get me almost any woman I want, but not enough to keep them.”

  A pleasant buzz settled over Richard as they exchanged woman woes. With good booze, good conversation, hot chicks, and great music in the background, he found himself happier than he’d been in months. Cliff wasn’t a bad guy, he realized. Suddenly, he felt like an ass for sending him that dead cat. It wasn’t Cliff’s fault that Kat was a faithless slut. He wouldn’t do anything else to Cliff, he decided, and immediately felt better for it. Maybe they could even be real friends. Maybe he should quit bothering with Kat, too. Cliff would eventually find out how worthless she was, and hell, the look on her face when she found out that he was buddies with the band might be worth it. Maybe he could even take her spot as the guitarist for Bleeding Vengeance.

  Richard quaffed his drink and cast an appreciative eye on a smoking hot bitch dancing to the music of the band. Maybe all he needed was to get laid.

  He nudged Cliff. “Hey, check out that hot piece. We should have some fun.”

  The singer frowned. “Her name’s Diane. I tried to hit her up last week but she wasn’t interested. She just went through a divorce.”

  “So?”

  “So she’s not interested in dating anyone right now.”

  “Who says anything about dating? I was thinking we could tag team her in the restroom.”