The Complete Tempest World Box Set

by Mankin, Michelle

  “Yo, King.” Dizzy bumped my shoulder with one of the two beers he held. I waved them off, and he gave one to Sager and kept the other for himself. “What gives with you and Miriam?” He inclined his head toward the door. “You really serious with Bryan’s sister now?”

  “Totally.” I nodded.

  “That’s cool,” he said. And it was just that easy with him. He had always been the peacemaker in the group. But the acceptance of my relationship with Miriam encountered static when our lead guitarist turned his head our way and tuned into our conversation. Yeah, Bry was a plus minus thing with me and his sister right now. But he would eventually get it. She and I were in it for long haul. He might try to give us more grief, but there was no way he, anybody, or anything else was coming between us ever again.

  “Gentlemen.” War pounded two open cans of Rainier together to try to get our attention. Not a good plan. Shaken, the fizz overflowed onto his hands and the many rings he had on his fingers. He set them aside.

  “We are gathered here today,” he began, but the guffaws of the rest of us drowned him out.

  “Dude, this isn’t a Prince song.” Sager laughed, slapped his knee and almost toppled into my lap. I righted him. He was a few celebratory tequila shots past sober. My fault. We had knocked back some Maestro Dobel toasting our good fortune. Two losers from the wrong side of King County, but somehow we had gotten lucky and done alright. Better than alright relationally. Him with Melinda. Me with Miriam.

  “I know, Sage. But truly I’ve got some important stuff to say. You’re a lucky man. Your woman is hot as shit. She’s got attitude like Alanis Morissette. And a set of pipes like fucking Christina Aguilera. You hit the jackpot. We’re all here and happy for you both. We’re ready to play, too. Even though we’ve gone our separate ways since the last tour, we sounded tight as shit just now. We’re gonna blast the roof off Footit’s. Make some cool new memories tonight. Eat the fajitas King’s mom made. Hang. Party. And get laid.”

  “Stay out of the bathroom for that last part, Diz.” Bryan gave our rhythm guitarist a look. Dizzy gave him the middle finger in return.

  “Wait.” War lifted a metal encircled finger. “I’ve got some more stuff to say.”

  Oh shit. More by our longwinded lead singer.

  “You might want to hear this hombre.” He focused on me, flipping the tail end of his scarf over his shoulder. “It’s on account of your woman…”

  Bry groaned. “My sister has a name, even if Juaquin seems to have forgotten it.”

  “Whatever.” War was not a guy brimming with social niceties.

  “Word is you got some solo shit already laid down. Yeah?”

  “Sí,” I confirmed.

  “First off, I want to acknowledge that many of us have considered branching out beyond the group. Doing our own creative stuff outside of the Tempest collective.” He spread his arms wide and lost his balance. Bry steadied him. It was a good thing we all had experience propping one another up as needed. We would still kick ass on stage even if we weren’t completely sober. “That’s totally cool. Tempest is on the rise. We’re gonna continue to rage and blow the minds of our fans the way we always have etc. etc. But to go the distance. To rise above the fray of the lesser groups out there it’s ok and even beneficial to spread our wings creatively.” He gave me a long look. “So tonight I’m proposing a perspective change. Instead of Tempest focusing on proving our critics wrong, we’re gonna turn things on their head and go forward from here on out to prove our supporters right. You guys with me?”

  “Hell, yeah,” Bryan said.

  “Absofuckinglutely,” Diz confirmed.

  “Bueno,” I added, although I wasn’t really sure what the fuck War was really trying to say with that last part.

  “For sure.” Sager nodded.

  “Great. Set list tonight is three Tempest numbers. The fourth is Juaquin’s ‘Tú eres la única’.”

  “Como?” What?

  “It’s the song I want you to sing,” Sager said.

  “But I don’t have the rights to that shit anymore.” I turned it into La Raza Prima’s label. Jorge wasn’t going to return it. I had already asked.

  “Took care of that for you, brother,” War said, surprising the fuck out of me. “I had some naked pics of his sister Leticia from way back when. He didn’t really want those circulating in public if you get my drift. All your songs. All that Latino rapping, even the love song shit, it’s your property again.”

  Whoa. “I don’t…”

  “A thank you would be sufficient.”

  “Gracias.”

  He gave me a nod. “De nada.”

  “So my idea’s this. Lacey’s gonna do some keyboards on your thing. Bryan’s gonna give you some screech. Diz some guitar. And I’m gonna sit at your kit and do the drums since it’s basic shit on that one. I know your woman will be out there in the audience, and you like to move around a bit. Anything else you might need?”

  “Um, no.” I’d never considered Lace. But she would totally kill it. So would the rest of them.

  “Then let’s get this party rockin’. My woman’s got her bestie in the fold tonight. I need to separate that shit pronto, or they’ll be up all night talking about me and I won’t have a prayer of getting some action.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  Miriam

  “Hey, why aren’t you dressed yet?” Ann poked her head into the spare bedroom where I was standing in front of the mirror in a slip, staring at my bright-eyed reflection and marveling at the fact that I was pregnant with Juaquin’s baby. Our baby.

  “Because I…” I swayed, and the room spun.

  “Holy shit.” She grabbed my arm and got me safely to the bed where I had laid out my dress. “Are you ok?” Her eyes narrowed. She had her glasses on. She hadn’t put her contacts in yet.

  “Ok is not the word I would use.”

  “But you and Juaquin. You’re his woman. You’re together.”

  “We are.” My lips formed a soft smile. He had told everyone I was his woman. His mom. My mom. His abuelita. His bandmates. His bandmate’s women. He would have told his father, too, only he was at home after the bypass. He wasn’t up to big social events yet.

  “Juaquin’s very happy. You’re very happy. Radiant. But…” She trailed off. Her gaze drifted over my features and dipped to note the fact that I had unconsciously placed my hand protectively over my lower abdomen.

  “OMG!” she exclaimed, her eyes popping back up to meet mine. “You’re pregnant!”

  “I am.” I bobbed my head, not having time to brace before she threw her arms around me.

  “This is awesome!”

  “Is it?” I queried.

  “Aren’t you happy to be?”

  “Yes, absolutely. But…”

  “Ah,” she said, putting two and two together. “You haven’t told him. Otherwise there would have been more caveman style bragging.” She mimicked his voice. “This is my woman. She carries my child, ese.”

  A giggle escaped my lips. She was right. He would say something like that. He totally would.

  “When did you find out, and why haven’t you already told him?”

  “Told him what?” my mom asked from the open doorway my sister had been standing in only a moment before.

  “Uh…I…” I trailed off.

  My mother put things together even faster than Ann. “You’re pregnant.” How do mothers do that? She crossed to me and dropped down to her knees on the carpet in front of me. “Oh, my.” Tears sparkled in her eyes just like mine now did. “I’m going to be a grandmother.” She placed her hand over mine.

  “What’s going on?” Mike suddenly appeared in the doorway my mother had vacated. “Who’s going to be a grandmother?” He took us all in. “You’re pregnant!” He shouted. “My bestie’s pregnant!”

  More footsteps rushed down the hall. Alex and Shaina. Lace. April and Melinda. Juaquin’s mom. His abuelita. Same drill. Only many more people. Everyone started talki
ng and filling each other in. I started laughing. We were one big happy family. Ready to be increased by one.

  I suddenly couldn’t wait to tell Juaquin.

  • • •

  One small problem in telling Juaquin. I couldn’t find a moment with him alone. Everyone knew. Everyone but him and the other guys in Tempest since they had already taken the stage when we had all arrived.

  And oh my.

  I had forgotten what it was like for me when Juaquin was with the band, on his riser, pounding the shit out of his drums. His sexy body moving in time to his rhythm.

  Mine responding.

  His arms were wind milling, his thighs pumping, cranking my heat up higher with visual stimulation. As if I needed any more encouragement to be turned on. He spun both his sticks and hit his cymbals to end the set. The crowd around me went wild, and my entire body quivered in response to their fervor.

  Ok, I decided. He was going to have to take me one more time before I told him the good news.

  Then Lace took the stage with all the other Tempest women beside her.

  “We want to welcome a new member to the crew.”

  What the…my heart raced thinking she was going to give away the pregnancy before I had a chance to. I glanced around looking for Juaquin.

  “Well, she’s not new, but she’s new in her role as ‘King’s woman.’ She did air quotes. All the guys in the band laughed. So did a few other people in the audience with me. But where had Juaquin gone?

  “She knows what it means to be one of us already. No pretenses. No perfect princesses in our sister solidarity. Addiction. Anorexia. Domestic violence. We keep it real. We rise above our circumstances with the support of each other and our men. And speaking of men, one of our own, a certain King, has something to say to his queen.”

  Holy shit.

  The crowd parted in front of me. An overhead spotlight illuminated him.

  His gold eyes glittered. They were more irresistible than any sunrise. He was more enticing than any man I had ever known. The band began to play. I recognized the song. He swayed to the captivating rhythm. He tapped his feet to the relentless flamenco-like beat. Without thought or hesitation, I followed his lead, mirroring his movements. He was so tempting, no other would ever do. I had been his at the beginning when it would have been scandalous. I had been his in the in between. I was his now. I would always be his.

  His lips lifting into a smile for me, he glided closer, his jeans, belt and shoes the only thing he wore besides the smile. The denim slid lower as he made his sexy approach. I gravitated closer, noticing the mic and realizing that he was going to serenade me right here, right now in front of everyone.

  “Tú eres la única,” he said. “You are the only one. This is for mi hermano and his bride to be and the woman in front of me who has always been the only one for me.”

  Tú eres la única

  la única mujer

  la única para mí

  You put me high up on a throne

  but I’m so damn alone

  a loser, a lost soul

  without you

  You are the only one

  the only woman

  the only one for me

  You’re back in my life again

  a shining bright light

  a woman like no other

  I’ll make you mine

  The other half, you make me whole

  no longer lost but found

  I’ll never let you go

  You’re my forever

  I tried to pretend

  that the others were real

  that I could forget you

  que podía estar satisfecho, pero…

  Tú eres la única

  la única mujer

  la única para mí

  • • •

  “No talking.”

  “But,” I complained for the umpteenth time since he had dragged me out of Footits. “I have something very important to tell you.”

  “And I told you that you will have your turn after mine.”

  “Please.” I stomped my foot on the fancy carpet and pouted my lips behind his shushing fingers. “I’ve been waiting all night to get you alone to tell you.” I didn’t understand why we had come downtown, to the same hotel on the waterfront where we had spent a night together. But we hadn’t checked into a room. We had bypassed the main hotel elevator and taken another one dedicated to private residences instead. We were on the top floor in front of a doorway at the far end of a long hall.

  “I don’t want to visit anyone,” I grumbled.

  “We aren’t visiting.” He inserted a key, unlocked and pushed open the door. “Go inside.”

  “Why?” I stepped forward.

  “You’ll see,” he explained from behind me.

  And I did see as soon as I passed the entryway, stepped into the massive main living area and read the banner taped onto the seamless floor to ceiling windows.

  “Welcome home,” it said.

  “Our home,” he whispered in an emotion roughened voice, and I spun around, placing my hand over my racing heart.

  “When?” I asked, taking another moment to examine the cavernous space, from the hand scraped dark wood floors to the vaulted ceilings and noticing the professional kitchen opening to the left of where we were standing.

  “I bought it before we spent the night in the hotel part of the complex. I had a key. I had planned to give it to you along with the flan. Some college brochures, too. I’ve been told the University of Washington has a good drama department. It might have been too soon for you then, but I was ready. I’m beyond ready now. I have no life without you in it. Let me give you a new dream. A home here. A family of our own. There are three bedrooms. The master bedroom faces east. We can watch the sunrises together. My family and yours, they’re nearby. I like the idea of you having a support network around for the times I’m away and you can’t go with me. Well, most of your family will be close. Mike will be in LA, but it’s only a two-hour flight away.”

  I put my hands over his lips. “Yes. Yes, I’m ready. Yes, I love it.”

  “Don’t you want to see the rest of the layout before you decide?”

  “I have everything I need right here.” I threw my arms around his neck. “My turn for surprises.” I tipped my head back. “I’m pregnant. That’s why I’ve been having those dizzy spells.”

  “Reina,” he breathed. His eyes wide, he gently set me back and placed his hand over my abdomen smoothing it back and forth ever so softly before he lifted his gaze. It was notably glassy. “Ay Dios mío.” He beamed proudly. “A baby. Our baby. When? How far along are you?”

  “Probably when we were here in Seattle. In this hotel. So this place? It’s perfect.”

  “You’re perfect, Miriam.”

  “We both are.” I allowed. “For each other. And for our baby.”

  EPILOGUE

  King

  “You look tired, Reina.”

  “I am. I guess. I never sleep well without you beside me.” I saw her hand reaching out as if she could stroke my face for real and not just touch the computer screen we had set up in the apartment’s kitchen for video calls. She sighed. I sighed also but inwardly. Missing her, I longed to taste, touch and take her, but I didn’t want to tell her. Inside her still lived the same impulsive girl I had met all those years ago. If I let her see how much my heart yearned for her, she would make sure that desire was met. She would get a last-minute flight. She would meet me in an airport that split the distance separating us. She would let me pull the VIP card. Airport staff would clear the room. I would lock the door. She would strip for me without me having to ask. She had all the sexy moves that said come and take me. And I would. Just like I had on the last Tempest tour.

  Kissed and fucked her with her arms over her head against the one-way glass while our private plane had refueled below us. I suppressed a groan remembering. It would be the shower for me again tonight. Alone. Using that memory for inspiration. Sure th
ere were groupies on the sold out South American tour promoting the all-Spanish version box set of my solo stuff. A shit ton of them ready to bag Mr. Southside. Well, those girls might be willing, but I wasn’t the least bit interested. They didn’t have anything I needed. Only one did. Only her.

  Now, I reached out to the screen. Now, I sighed, too.

  Soon, I reminded myself. Mi mujer in a day’s time. Though I might have to be creative to catch her. She had all the last-minute preparations to make for the project she had been working tirelessly to bring to fruition since she had said yes to me all those years ago after my brother’s engagement party.

  Luckily, she had lots of supporters for what she was trying to do for the community of Southside and an equal amount of help.

  “When will you get home?”

  Home. Another bolt of longing shot through me. Home was wherever she was. More memories. Our wedding. Our honeymoon. Hot night after hot night in our apartment with my chiquita pero picosa in my bed.

  “Mexico City for the first leg. Onto LA in the morning. I should be in Seattle way before you cut the ribbon.”

  “That’s going to be close. Tempest goes on first in the lineup right after that.”

  “I know.” I missed the guys, too. Mi hermano and I had talked on the phone a couple of times this week. He was almost as excited as we were about the doors finally opening, but I wanted to see him in person. The Vancouver apartment he and Melinda shared was two and a half hours away. More like two the way I drove, but it was still too far. Bryan and Lace. War and Shaina. They were all Seattle residents. Mike and Alex had even purchased an apartment in the same building as ours. Besides my brother and his wife, Dizzy and April were the only other couple in the Tempest family living outside the city we grew up in.