Love Evolution (14 page)

Besille
’
s eyes flashed malevolently and with a gloating expression on his face that made Marcus exceedingly nervous, he said,
“
Show the pictures up on the screen.
”
Marcus turned to look, a premonition causing his stomach to drop precipitously.
“
We wanted to ask you about this guy you have been spending all your time with,
”
Besille ended in a condescending tone.

Marcus stared up at the pictures of him with Avery, totally ambushed. One was at the sushi bar when Avery had tripped and Marcus had caught him. Another one must have been taken on the walk to Japa Dog when he
’
d put his arm around Avery. The last one was just yesterday at the caf
é
with both their heads bowed down together.

He hated the paparazzi.

Besille wasn
’
t finished yet.
“
Word is this same guy has been seen going up to your apartment every day this past week. The Enquirer online is running a story suggesting that maybe you have,
”
he made air quotations with his fingers,
“‘
flipped sides
’
since Veronica.
”

Marcus came straight out of his chair and grabbed a hold of the lapels on the front of Besille
’
s designer suit. Somehow Stephen intervened before Marcus did any real damage.

Besille only slightly perturbed, could barely contain his glee, having hoped to instigate just such a response. He motioned for his cameraman to come in and get a tight shot. The ratings were going to be huge when they aired this segment tonight.

“
He
’
s not worth it, Marcus. Stand down, man,
”
Stephen said.

Marcus nodded stiffly, letting go of the much shorter man and pushing him away with disgust. He spun on his heel and stormed off the set.

Stephen watched him go then turned back to Besille.
“
You are totally ludicrous, man. You must be really desperate for ratings to pull crap like this. That guy,
”
he pointed to Avery on the screen,
“
is Brutal Strength
’
s new lead guitarist, Avery Jones. I warn you. If you run even a second of this insinuating garbage, you will hear from our attorneys.
”

CHAPTER 15 

After the meeting, Avery had stayed at the studio working through lunch and dinner. She had just gotten back to the hotel and was starving. As she picked up the phone to order room service, she heard a knock at the door.

“
Hey Avery.
It
’
s Trevor. Let me in.
”

She opened the door with a smile.
“
Hey, when did you get in town?
”
The smile slid off her face the instant she saw Trevor
’
s worried expression. He walked quickly past her, grabbed the remote off the coffee table, and turned on the television.

“
Stephen called me before he left Besille
’
s set. You
’
re
gonna
want to see this.
”

The television came on, Marcus
’
face filling the picture as Besille narrated.
“
Our bad boy of rock, Marcus Anthony, would not elaborate further on how things are between him and Miss V. He did have quite the response, though, when questioned about the nature of his friendship with Brutal Strength
’
s handsome new lead guitarist Avery Jones.
”

Avery watched silently as pictures of her and Marcus flashed across the screen. She sagged onto the couch, putting her face in her hands.

“
Oh, man,
”
Trevor exhaled.
“
It
’
s worse than I thought. Stephen warned them not to run this crap
,  but
I guess they figured the ratings were worth the risk of a lawsuit.
”
He flipped off the TV, disgusted, and turned to Avery.
“
What
’
s going on between the two of you?
”
he demanded. 
“
Does he know?
”
 

She shook her head numbly, staring back at the blank TV.

Trevor took a seat on the couch next to her.
“
What was all that, then?
”
He reached over, tipping her chin back to look in her eyes.
“
Don
’
t think I haven
’
t noticed how you look at him.
”

She shook her head, looking away. Had it been that obvious? From the beginning, she had felt a gravitational pull toward him, but it was much worse now. She was shamefully addicted to his smile and took far too much delight in his praise. She missed him when they were apart, and her thoughts were constantly consumed with him.

“
I know. I
’
m sorry, Trevor. Looks like I
’
ve made a real mess of things. What am I going to do?
”
 
She raised regret filled eyes to his.

He adjusted his glasses.
“
Hey, I don
’
t blame you kid. I get that he
’
s a good looking guy and that you two have a real rapport. When I came up with this plan, I never imagined something like this would happen.
”
He cleared his throat.
“
I
’
ve got a call in to Beth. She
’
ll know what to do. She
’
s an expert at spinning this kind of stuff. It
’
ll all work out.
”
He patted her hand.

Avery stared at him incredulously, not buying it. This Besille thing was only a symptom of the underlying problem. All the lies were twisting tightly together into a noose that would hang her. She wished she had never gone along with this scheme in the first place. Not an option now, unfortunately. 

Avery loved him. She
’
d known for quite some time now. No going back. A pity, for the love she had for him was a fragile, one sided thing. Her heart, her hopes, her career, the whole thing would come crashing down around her when she told him the truth. Marcus would never forgive her. Her deception would be just one more devastating personal betrayal, one that would also damage the reputation of his band. There seemed to be no way to unravel this tangled knotted mess she
’
d made without repercussions, no matter what she did.

Avery remembered what Marcus had said a couple of days ago about letting your actions define you. The past couldn
’
t be undone, so she would just have to do whatever she could to mitigate the resulting damage. It was past time for her to take control of her own life and give Marcus back his.

Her feelings for Marcus were irrelevant. She could and would bury them deep down inside. Knowing him and knowing how important his music was to him, she resolved to help him complete the remaining songs for the album- hopefully, by the weekend. It would be her parting gift to him. 

She planned to tell him the truth while they were on Vancouver Island for the holiday. His family would be around to give him their support. That should give Beth a couple of days to find a substitute guitarist before Brutal Strength
’
s scheduled appearance on the Grammy nomination concert. Being the public relations guru that she was, surely she
’
d be able to fix things for Marcus and the band. After the concert, the band could find a permanent replacement for her. 

Decision made, she leaned over and kissed Trevor on the cheek. He glanced up at her, surprised.
“
Thanks, Trevor, for worrying about me. You
’
re right, it
’
ll be ok,
”
she placated, knowing it wouldn
’
t be ok, especially not for her.
“
I
’
ll be more careful how I interact with Marcus from now on.
”
  

“
Ok, good.
”
He stood up.
“
Don
’
t worry so much, kid. I love you, you know. I
’
m always here for you.
”

“
I love you, too.
”
She hugged him. As soon as the door closed behind him, Avery straightened her shoulders and pulled down her shirt, pressing her lips tightly together.

Determined, even though her throat was tight, she picked up her cell and scrolled to Beth
’
s number.
“
Beth
…
yeah, it
’
s me
…
No.  I
’
m good.  I know
…
it
’
s ridiculous. Marcus
’
reputation is what I
’
m worried about
…
Yeah
…
Hey, I had an idea. Could you get me an interview tomorrow with someone big? One of the national morning shows maybe
?
…
Yeah, a real shark feeding
frenzy
. Why don
’
t we chum up the waters a bit? Here
’
s what I have in mind
…”

*****

Avery
’
s cell phone rang just after she
’
d nodded off. Seeing Marcus
’
picture flash up on the screen, she slid open the phone and answered in a raspy voice,
“
Hello.
”

“
Hey. It
’
s Marcus. You sound tired.
”

“
Yeah, hard night.
What
’
s up?
”

“
You see the Besille thing?
”
 

“
Yeah,
”
she glanced over at the clock, not wanting to deal with this right now.

“
What a load of crap, huh?
You see why I can
’
t stand the guy
…
Hey, I know we planned to work today
…
but
listen,
I don
’
t want you going outside the hotel by yourself this morning. I
’
m betting the press has figured out where you
’
re staying and are camped outside. I
’
ll send Ray over. He
’
ll pick you up in the lobby.
”
She started to protest, but he spoke before she could.
“
No arguing. Ray says he
’
ll meet you by the elevator to the parking garage. See you in a bit.
”
 

*****

“
You were right about the paparazzi,
”
she told him as she stepped out of his elevator.
“
When we went through the lobby, we could see the front of the hotel was swarming with reporters.
”

Avery didn
’
t mention the unsettling interaction that had occurred with an overzealous female fan in the lobby. After stopping to sign an autograph for the woman, she had been shocked when the lady made a suggestive comment and slipped a piece of paper to her with a phone number on it. Seriously, could her life get any weirder?

“
I
’
m really sorry, Avery.
”
He smiled apologetically, shrugging his shoulders.

“
For what?
”
This was all on her as far as she was concerned. 

“
I shouldn
’
t have reacted the way I did with Besille. It made a story where there wasn
’
t one,
”
he sighed, raking his fingers through his hair.
“
The guy knows how to push my buttons.
”
 

“
I don
’
t know how you deal with it.
”

“
Obviously, not too well, if yesterday was any indication.
”
He grimaced.
“
Like it or not, you are in the spotlight now.
”

“
It
’
s ok. I feel kind of detached from it all. The press doesn
’
t really know anything about me.
”

“
Yeah, you just have to keep reminding yourself,
it
’
s
all garbage. They think they know who you are because they know about you. I hate having my image defined by them. I
’
m hoping Beth can work her magic on that.
”

“
If anyone can, she can.  I
’
m glad she
’
s on our team.
”
 
Avery looked pointedly toward the kitchen.
“
Hey, you got any coffee? I
’
m beat this morning. I need some liquid energy.
”
 

Marcus nodded and laughed.
“
Way ahead of you, I just made a pot. I
’
ll get you a cup.
”

Seated on the sectional across from him, a blessed mug of caffeine cupped in her hands, she peered up at him from underneath her copper bangs.
“
I was wondering if we could try to finish up the songwriting for the album this week.
”
 

Marcus raised his eyebrows.
“
In four days?
”
 

“
Four and a half if you count today,
”
she countered with a smile.
“
We already have three in the can. We just need seven more really.
”
She nudged his foot with her own.
“
Come on, old man, afraid of a little challenge?
”
While she could do the lyrics on her own, the music would be a real struggle without his help. She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

He glanced at her suspiciously.
“
Why, Avery? What
’
s the rush all of a sudden?
”

She should have known he wouldn
’
t make this easy.
“
I just figured we
’
re on a roll right now, and it would be good to get it out of the way. So we can focus on other things, right?
”
She finished in a rush, staring down at the rug.