Love Notes (Rocked by Love #1) (15 page)

"
Why
have you
been one?"

Luke shoved his hand
through his hair. "Audrey Pierce."

A line formed between his
sister's brows. "I don't understand."

"I thought we had
something, but she had other thoughts…" He glanced at Zander, then shifted
back to Irisa. "When Jayne laid into me today about not running that
errand, some things she said really hit home. I figured out of all people, I
could talk to you about it, and about Audrey, so I called you…"

"And I bit your head
off and didn't even listen to you." Eyes widened, she reached for him, but
then pulled her hands back into her lap.

He shoved his hands in
his pockets and shrugged. "Seth stopped by after that and suggested we go
to the bar to cool off before the interview, but as I sat there, I got angrier
and angrier, and, well, you know what happened then."

"I'm sorry I wasn't
there for you. It won't happen again." She grasped his hand.

A stormy sea of emotions
swept across his face. "I know it hasn't seemed like it, but I don't want
to hurt the band."

"We're good now,
man." Landry patted him on the back. "We yell, we fight, we throw
punches, then it's over and done, until the next one."

She pressed her lips
together and regarded them for another moment. "If I stay, what if Excite
makes good on their threat to pull you?"

Getting kicked off a tour
wasn't unheard of, regardless of the size and popularity of the band. Zander
smirked to cover the sudden unease skating through his system. "Do you
know how much money they'd risk losing if they did that?"

Luke nodded at him.
"I say we call their bluff."

After all that had
happened, and the guys agreeing to stick together and support his sister, he
couldn't have their tour snatched away. He'd fight with everything he had
before he'd allow that to happen.

His sister rose to her
feet. "So what do we do?"

"We storm the
castle, together." And maybe they'd be able to heal the damage to their
bond.

"You mean show up at
Excite? I hate the idea of throwing myself on Oliver's mercy, especially face
to face." Irisa's features twisted like she'd downed a shot of bad-tasting
medicine.

Zander touched her arm.
He'd get rid of Oliver. "You're not asking that jerk for anything. We're
going to the top. We're flying to Vance's house in Vegas." Vance DuBrow,
Excite's president, would see them even if Zander had to beat down the old man's
door. No one made threats to his sister.

"Now? It's eleven
thirty."

"Threatening to pull
us off the tour was a stupid move, and he's going to see how much." Zander
grabbed his phone, hoping to see a text or call from Jayne. Nothing. "I'll
make the reservations for the flight and text you. Go home and pack a bag. Get
some sleep, or hell, come over and crash at my place. We'll leave from my house
in the morning."

"This is crazy.
We're going to show up at his home on a Sunday, uninvited?"

"He asked for it.
Let's get out of here." Zander led the way toward the exit. The Fury was
his
band. No one else would tell them they were done.

The guys had taken him up on his
offer. Luke sprawled on his couch, Brendan sat on the floor with Shredder,
tapping beats against the coffee table, and Landry lounged in his recliner.
They were laughing and joking, but more subdued than normal, polite and
careful, like they were almost afraid to say something that could be taken the
wrong way. Considering how long they'd had problems, he couldn't expect things
to return to normal immediately, especially not with their careers hanging by a
steel string.

At dawn, everyone piled
into his car. He hadn't slept well at all. Jayne was being stubborn, ignoring
his calls and texts. He'd been tempted to go to her place and break down the
door, forcing her to listen to him, but that wouldn't have solved anything. She
believed she was doing the right thing for him.

Damn it,
she
was
the right thing for him. He had to make her understand.

All during the drive and
the flight, his thoughts kept drifting back to Jayne but Irisa's continued
silence puzzled him, as well. After arriving at his house the night before,
she'd gone immediately to the guest room. He knew she was feigning sleep behind
her dark sunglasses during their travels. When they climbed into the rental car
in Vegas, he snatched the glasses off her face.

She made a grab for them.
"Hey."

"What's wrong?"
He held them away from her.

Brendan leaned forward in
his seat. "You were too quiet during the trip. What's up?"

Her mouth tightened.
"I told Dom I couldn't see him anymore."

"Why?" If he
had to kick Torres' ass on top of everything else…

"Because the band
needs my full focus. Everything that went wrong happened while I was distracted
by my relationship with him."

Shock straightened his
spine. "You're kidding, right? We were fighting before you got involved
with him."

She shook her head.
"But all the really bad stuff occurred afterward."

Luke lowered his
sunglasses, blue eyes serious. "We're all adults. We're responsible for
our own actions. None of the stupid things I or anyone else did were your
fault."

"But I might have
prevented disaster if I'd been paying more attention. I can't help feeling
responsible. I could've prevented the bar fight. I would've gone to the
interview."

"Can't guarantee
that." Brendan, always the peacemaker, gave her a smile. "You
could've been in the restroom when the first fight started, and you could've
missed the interview if you'd been sick. No matter what you do, there's no way
to make sure everything will be smooth. You're allowed to have a personal
life."

Zander nodded. "You
were happy with Dom. I'd rather see you happy than resenting us down the line
because you missed out on something good with him."

"No. I need to make
sure nothing else goes wrong. I need to be in my usual
all band, all the
time
mode."

He handed over the
sunglasses. "You were popping meds because of your
all band, all the
time
mode. I was an idiot for not seeing it. Maybe I'm a perfectionist with
music, and you are with, well, everything. But we all should've insisted on you
sharing the workload, no matter how hard you fought to manage it all
yourself."

"You guys have to
handle the music and the fans, and you get so caught up in it and lose track of
everything else… And Brendan's even worse with remembering about being on time
for things, and Luke and Landry—"

Raising his brow, Landry
held up his hand. "Luke and I aren't helpless. We're not as lost in our
own world as Zander."

"Hey, I managed to
handle the flight and car for this trip, didn't I?" Leaning forward, he
cuffed the back of the bassist's head. "And I didn't say things would be
perfect. If something gets messed up, it gets messed up. That's why you also
need an assistant. Someone like Jayne who double-and triple-checks
things." He glanced at Luke. Hurting his friend was the last thing he
wanted to do. "But maybe not actually Jayne—not right now, anyway."

Luke turned toward the
window. "Don't let me stand in the way. I'll deal with it…better than I
did before."

He hoped so. Jayne
mattered to him, more than anyone ever had. He loved her. Choosing between
Jayne and his band would be painful, awful. He didn't want to lose them, but he
couldn't lose her.

Irisa nudged Luke's
shoulder. "Any news on Seth?"

He nodded. "Griffin
texted me. Seth's awake, and going to do a lengthy rehab stay once he gets out
of the hospital."

"I'm glad he's okay.
Hopefully he'll get the help he needs." She patted his arm, then twisted
toward Zander. "So what are we going to say to Vance, anyway?"

"Leave it to
me." He rolled his shoulders as the massive estate came into view.

He'd been to Vance's
house a few times before and had made friends with the security guard. After a
few minutes of small talk, the guard waved them through. Vance had granted the
all-clear for his biggest client. The son-of-a-bitch acted like he was king.

"Let me do the
talking." Zander followed the guys out of the car. Together as a unit,
they ascended the stone steps.

The front door swung
open. Vance DuBrow stood before them. His slicked-back hair, tinted glasses
perched low on his nose, and scowl were at odds with his colorful golf attire.
"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

Zander took the older
man's sneer with a nod and crossed his arms over his chest. "When you have
your lackey tell my sister that she needs to resign from being band manager or
you're going to kick us off the tour, you can bet I'm going to have a problem
with that."

Luke flanked Irisa's
other side. "We all have a problem with that."

Vance gestured for them
to come inside, and they crowded into the foyer. "I've always liked you
guys, but lately you've been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons."

"Lately, we've had
some extenuating circumstances." Landry stood shoulder to shoulder with
Luke and Brendan stepped up beside Zander. Solid support and a united front..

After nodding at the
drummer, Zander turned his gaze to their host. Money drove Vance's every
decision. Channeling his anger, Zander aimed for the man's bank account.
"Here's the thing, Vance. We're a package deal. My sister stays. I'm sure
you thought about the money. If you kick us off, you can expect the fans to be
pissed and for sales to fall. But if you're ready to do that, then we're ready
to part ways completely."

"You can't walk
away. You owe Excite one more album."

"Then throw together
a greatest hits collection for all we care. You won't get any new music. If
you're so ready to wash your hands of us…" He shrugged and let the threat
hang in the air.

Lips pressed together,
Vance stared at them for a long moment, stroking his chin.

Zander widened his
stance, meeting old man's stare with matching intensity. "I expect you to
be straight with me. Have those extenuating situations you mentioned been
cleared up?"

Zander glanced at the
guys. They could pull off the rest of the tour. They nodded and his sister
answered, "Yes."

"Do I have your word
that nothing else will happen?"

Irisa stepped forward and
Zander followed suit, ready to back her up. "You've known us for ten
years. That should count for something."

Ten years. Too damn long
for them to lose all they'd built up. Too damn long to let anything come
between them. Yeah, they needed a break, but not a
break up
. Zander
rolled his shoulders. One tour out of all those years couldn't sink them. Yeah,
they'd been stupid. He didn't expect Vance to be sentimental. The man looked at
the bottom line and money won out over anything else.

Vance gave them a slight
nod. "All right. Then you can stay on the tour."

Half of the battle won…
Zander raised his brow at Vance. "With Irisa."

"With Irisa,"
Vance confirmed.

Zander laid his hand on
her shoulder. He'd promised to help ease her workload, and Vance had the power
to remove one of her biggest headaches. "One more thing. I don't want us
to have to deal with Oliver anymore."

"Why?"

"He oversteps a lot,
and he makes my sister uncomfortable. I'm not okay with my sister being
uncomfortable."

In the corner of his
vision, his sister smiled and the tension in her shoulder eased. 

"Fine. Done."
Vance glanced at her, and then his gaze spanned the rest of the group.
"Anything else?"

"We didn't eat on
the plane." Brendan flashed a smile and Zander laughed. "I'm a little
hungry."

Irisa stifled a groan.
"Brendan, we're not making Vance feed us. We'll get something at the
airport." She extended her hand to Vance. "Thank you."

He nodded and returned
the shake. "I expect a decent report on the next show."

"You'll get
one."

"Then get outta here
and earn your pay. Your rock'n roll dramatics made me twenty minutes late for
my tee off."

When they returned to the
car, Irisa hugged him. "No more Oliver. I think that deserves it's own
celebration. Thank you for doing that for me. For the first time in years, I
won't cringe when I deal with Excite."

"Hey, you look out
for us, I'm just returning the favor. No one fucks with my family."

They arrived at the
airport an hour before their flight. Zander and Luke grabbed coffee for the
group while Irisa, Brendan, and Landry went looking for breakfast. After
securing seats for the others, Zander settled into an uncomfortable chair
across from Luke and stared at the steam rising from the cup in his hand.

He'd helped save his
band. The guys were getting along much better. Things would have been perfect
but he still didn't have Jayne.

Luke nudged Zander's
chair with his boot. "Call her. Tell her to come back."

Zander swallowed a
mouthful of coffee, then balanced the cup on his knee and regarded his friend.
Luke looked like hell. "Are you really going to be okay with that?"

Slouched in his chair,
legs kicked out in front of him, Luke nodded. "I'll deal with it, and I
won't be an ass this time. She's important to you, and I don't want her hating
me or refusing to see you because of me."

He'd never forget Jayne's
teary-eyed, defeated expression. "She'll need a lot of convincing before
she'd agree. If she even agrees."

A light sparked in Luke's
eyes. "I have an idea."