Kiss Me Deadly (14 page)

“Indianapolis, we only have two more songs for you. I’m going to do a cover of my favorite song, and then finish with an acoustic song. Yeah, but first, let me say for me and my guys, it’s been an absolute pleasure rocking with you. Thank you for being our first big show, for your support. We do have some merchandise. Stop by and take a look, find us after our show.” She signaled for Midian to drop the beat and turned on the sass with Kiss Me Deadly.

Damn, she was a natural at including the fans in a popular older song, encouraging them to sing along with her, while she played guitar. Her passion and joy filtered through. In the back, Midian kicked up the beats, hitting his tom, the cadence of his sticks amped the crowd.

“Can’t take your eyes off her, huh?”

“Never could.” He caught Jacob watching her and strode over to him.

“Bro?” Garrick warned.

Jimmy shrugged off the authoritative tone of his brother. Jacob met him halfway. “I don’t like the way you look at Sam. You’re here in a capacity to step in if there’s an issue. Not here to moon over what’s mine.”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job.” Jacob stepped into his face and smirked. “If she belongs to you, why did she have her tongue shoved down my throat the other night? Oh, that’s right. You
wish
, she belonged to you.”

“There a problem?” Shea stepped in.

“Nah, just showing rent-a-cop his place and to stay away from Sam on a personal level.”

“In your dreams, dick. When she tells me to back off, I’ll back off. We’re done here.” Jacob turned his back, crossing the backstage.

“Man, stop pressuring her. We all know ya’ll belong together. Let the fake cop get his jollies looking at her.”

“It’s the way he looks at her that sets me on edge. Fucking perverted opportunistic dick.” Jimmy blew out a breath and gazed out at the stage. Sameera quieted the fans down, deciding to finish with her acoustic guitar and the song about them. Perfect Storm. The lyrics haunted him, caused his own demons to come to the surface of his skin. Watching her band connect with the fans continued to blow his mind. She may have thought he’d never seen her perform in her symphony, but he had countless DVDs of her on stage. Those moments didn’t compare to seeing her peel off her shy skin and embrace her talent. He had to give props to the guys in Final Regret for urging her to try something new, something undiscovered. The last chorus of her song tapered off and the music stilled.

“Indianapolis, thank you for coming out tonight! It’s been a pleasure. Are you ready for Crimson Rage? I know I am.” He watched her blow the fans a kiss and leave the stage with Vin, Major and Midian right behind her.

The stagehands moved past them onto the stage to break down the platform and pack up their equipment, to make room for his band.

“OMG! That was amazing. I’d hug you, but I’m sweaty and you are all ready to go on.”

Garrick pulled her in for a hug. “No worries, we’ll all be sweaty soon too.” He kissed the top of her head. “Good job, kid. All of you.” He clapped the guys on the back. “Damn good first show.”

“Meerkat.” Jimmy slinked his arms around her waist, stealing her from Garrick. She turned in his arms and locked her lips to his. “Thank you.”
Take that you dick cop
. He wound his hands in her hair and carried them to a private room for their own private celebration. His vixen tugged at his shirt, peeling it off and jerked the button of his jeans off. Jimmy slipped his hands into her shorts and peeled them from her body. A ripping sound brought a chuckle from them both. “I’ll replace those.”

The heat from her dripping wet core on his fingers tantalized him for a taste. Her hands slid his dick. If she didn’t stop he’d blow before stuffing her hot channel.

“Fuck me, Jimmy.”

“That book is teaching you some things, huh?” He lifted her legs around his waist and slid home in a solid thrust. Sam anchored her arms around his neck and ground on him.

“Umhm. Couldn’t wait until later, to wound up right now. Promise me we’ll finish this in bed? I don’t want to make you late. Fuck me hard.”

“Aren’t you full of surprises.” He breathed into her neck, trailing his tongue over her exposed skin. Jimmy braced her back to the wall. “Ask and you shall receive.” She nipped his neck eliciting a savage growl from him. Satin folds wrapped around his cock promising to suck his seed, but not before he gave her the hard screw she requested. Skin slapping against skin filled their small lover’s cove. She murmured his name in gasps as he drilled home.

“J.J.” She drenched his cock in cream. Jimmy sucked on a patch of her neck, leaving a red bite mark. Her flesh worked him with aftershocks. Locked up, he came hard, his hands dug into the globes of her ass.

“Tonight we finish this the right way.” He kissed a path up her neck to her lips. “I want to sample every inch of you. We better get back out there.” He yanked the rest of her panties the rest of the way off and stuffed them in his back pocket. “For luck.”

Sam laughed as he let her feet touch the ground. He picked up her shorts and helped her into them. Spotting a paper on the floor, he picked it up and noticed his brother’s handwriting. “Sam?” he asked in confusion as he scanned the page, reading the letter in full. Crushing agony seized his heart. The paper fell from his hands when he looked at Sameera, her face filled with tears. She knew he despised secrecy.
Fuck.

“Jimmy, I can explain.”

“How long have you had a letter for me from him?” Forcing himself to turn away from her to compose himself took all his will power. He righted his clothes and took a deep breath. “How long, Sam, have you lied to me?”

“J.J., I haven’t lied to you. This guy from his team brought me the letters a year ago. At first, I wanted to give them to you but I wasn’t sure you could handle reading what he wrote, not after the binge you went on after the funeral. I never read your letter, it’s still sealed.”

“Show me now.” He stomped out of the room with her trailing behind him.

“You don’t have time to do this now. After the show, please. I don’t want you to go on like this.”

“Garrick, I’m heading to the bus for ten.”

“All right. Everything is almost set up. The guys are out there tuning the guitars for us and staging our set list.”

“Move it, Sam.” Jimmy dashed for the bus, thankful it was parked underground in the private lot a few minutes away.

“I’m sorry.”

“We’ll talk in the bus. Not here where everyone can fucking hear every word.” He dragged her to the bus, passing Jacob along the way. “Bro, don’t even think to step in.”

“Sameera, everything good?”

“We’re fine.” Jimmy noted the panic in her voice. She didn’t trust him not to blow up and destroy shit. He swung open the door and jumped over the jump seat, blazing a trail to the back of the bus into her room.

“I didn’t want to hurt you or make you mad. I just didn’t know how to give it to you or how to bring up I had it. I planned to though on this trip.” She stepped into the room behind him and wrapped her hands around his waist.

“Don’t touch me right now. I’m not in a good place, Sam. Get the letter.” Sameera wiped her tears and moved toward the cubby holding her luggage. She pulled out the suitcase and unzipped the top pouch, pulling out a manila envelope. With shaky hands, she handed the parcel to him. “Jimmy. Please forgive me.”

“I used to think we were above the bullshit and secrecy, Sam. We’ve got so much history. But this, is big. Please go back inside. I’ll be in as soon as I’m done reading. I need to be alone.”

“Okay.”

She swallowed hard. He fought the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her quivering lips. How he wanted to take her hurt away while struggling to get a handle on his own. He ripped open the top and pulled the sheet of paper out, and was transported back in time.

Bro,

All I can say is fuck, to begin with. My soul breaks knowing what you’re going through right now. Know this and find some peace. I chose this life to make an impact, to honor family, God and country. Not for the man who sired me and raised you. I never agreed with how he treated you for Mom’s mistake and tried my hardest to protect you and make sure you knew you had a role model to show you the way, until you found your own. And you blazed your own trail, aspired to greatness that I am more proud of than you realize. At times I wanted to be there to share in your success, instead of reading on the web or watching your band accept awards and hit the number one billboard spot for rock. At times I felt the need to drag you back home and kick your ass when things soured and you disappeared into a bottomless bottle.

Too many missions and years away put a wedge between us. Forgive me, brother. Forgive me for Sam. Not loving her wasn’t an option. Watching her struggle after the passing of her parents killed me. I watched the light drain from her eyes and saw the shell of a young woman she became. Helping her through her grief saved a part of me. She became the sunshine in a world of hell, when I was at my lowest, taking night terrors away and caring for me. Would I have married her? Hell yeah, without a doubt.

What you don’t know, is Sam planned on breaking off our engagement. I don’t think she knows, I knew, but I did. I’d rather her not know that I knew, but won’t ask you to lie to her if it comes down to it. My reasons are for her protection. I don’t want her thinking I went into this mission with a hazy mind that resulted in my death. I want her to be happy. I want you to be happy.

Carpe Diem, bro.

Take charge. Go after our girl. Cherish her. Make beautiful babies with her. Give your son my name, it’d be the greatest honor you could bestow on me, knowing my name lives on through our line. Don’t waste a second of the blessing of another day, in the arms of your soul mate. All the success and accomplishment mean nothing with no one to share it with.

Thank you for saving our mother from that emotionally sadistic husband and giving her something I wasn’t able to. A new start free of his manipulation and secure premises for her to build herself back up again. She is a bitter woman who doesn’t deserve your help or support. That alone speaks even more of your character. That you are able to swallow that and be the better man gives me hope that you can move on past the hate I know consumes you. Forgiving her doesn’t mean forgetting. Forgiving is for you not her. I love you, brother, through it all, your success and failures, because of who you were and who you’ve become. You save more lives than you know with your strength and inspiration through your music. You are the best brother a man could ever want or have. I’m watching over you, always.

Remember my last words. Carpe Diem, bro. I can’t say those two words enough. Life is short. Grab it by the balls, live hard, love deep. My gift to you is my medal of honor, because the honor is all mine in having you as my baby bro.

Jimmy forced himself to fold the paper, slip it back in the envelope and take out the present his brother gave him. He fingered the gold five-pointed star surrounded with Valor inscribed and Minerva’s head surrounded by the words United States of America. Each ray of the star a green oak leaf, with bar engraved The Congress to Sgt. First Class Miles O’Riley. Running his fingers over each inch of the medal gave him a sense of peace, a semblance of closure. Miles was wrong, he was the one held in esteem for being the best of brothers. Jimmy tucked the medal in his pocket, wanting his brother to share in his performance tonight.

On the way out of the bus, he met Sameera. Right now he couldn’t think about her, or them. First he’d play, then he’d handle their situation. He knew she hurt and wanted a sign that everything would be okay. And he knew deep down it would be, just not at the moment. Flipping on his signature glasses, he headed up to the stage to play the show of his life with his boys, to honor his fallen brother.

“You okay, bro?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s rock this shit.” Jimmy stepped out on stage, and lifted and kissed the dog tags around his neck, like every show, in homage. The crowd went wild and Jimmy fell into the place music took him to. Played for the crowd, and his brother.

“Indianapolis, how the hell have you been? It’s been a year since we’ve been back. Thanks for surviving the rain earlier today to spend time with us. Thank you for your support. Without you all we are nothing. Ya’ll on the back lawn in all that slippery mud, let’s get rocked!” Garrick belted out the first line of Depraved Indifference, and then moved from center stage, giving Jackson room to stand in front of new faces. While Shea screamed into the mic, he banged his head in time with the drum beat performing his solo next to Jimmy. The crowd ate up the energy and threw it back tenfold. They followed up with their new song, Twisted Vengeance, written by Shea, then teased the women in the audience with Rhapsody and Last Chance sung by Jackson.

Jimmy shook his head at all the ladies screaming Jackson’s name. “You are a god,” he yelled into the mic and began the chords for their song, Powerless. Jackson strutted past him to get in a dig, play a riff for the ladies and wink down into the audience.

The song hit its climax and crashed down with the final beat from Shea. Jimmy let his fingers fly teasing the crowd with his musical genius, and blended harmony between he and Jackson, then hit his final stance.

Garrick grabbed his jug of water and took a swallow. “How the fuck ya’ll doing back there?” He raised a shot of liquor. “To all our soldiers out there protecting and serving, and those who have protected and served in any capacity. We thank you. We love your sacrifice and fuck we love you all period.” He tossed back the shot. “We’re bringing you something new to the table. Take a ride with me and the guys. Hollow was written by Jimmy. We know lyrics get leaked. If you know the words sing with us. Hell, follow the prompt on the screen we’ll toss’em up.” On each side of the backdrop two plasma screens lit up with the lyrics. Garrick sung the lyrics with the gravelly voice the women screamed for. Jimmy watched in awe as the fans sung what he’d created.