Revelry (Taint #1) (4 page)

I keep my hands firmly fisted at my sides while Levi and Ash raise theirs. Debbie doesn’t budge, but then she’s not a band member, so she doesn’t really get a vote. Surprisingly, I see Zed’s arm shoot up in the air.

Debbie scowls. “Seriously, Zed?”

“I think we need this,” he says, but he’s no longer looking at my sister. His gaze is directed at me.

“You know what? I don’t give a shit anymore,” I say, and then fold my arms over my chest and turn to Guidelli. “Are we done here?”

He nods and holds out a hand for me to shake. “We’ll have the paperwork drawn up this afternoon and Miss Jones will bring it over to the studio.”

“Fine,” I say, clasping his sweaty palm in mine and shaking.

I turn and follow Ali out of the room. Once we’ve cleared the door, she turns her fiery gaze on me. “Thanks for that, arsehat. Do you guys even stop to think about the consequences of your actions? Or are you just so fucking entitled that you don’t give a shit?”

“Hey, I’m sorry.” I smile sheepishly, trying not to incite the angry red any further. “I panicked. You were the first thing I saw.”

“Well I hope you enjoyed the view, because you’re going to be seeing a lot more of it from now on.”

Holy shit
. I’d thought Holly was feisty when she got going.

“Look, I’m just trying to apologise.”

“Fuck your apology.” she snaps and flops down in her chair.

Zed comes up behind me and pushes me forward so that he and the other guys can vacate the room. He lets out a low whistle and claps me on the shoulder. Levi must have caught the tail end of Ali’s insults and he ruffles my hair as he passes.
Turd
.

“I gotta say, Coop, I love your spur-of-the-moment decisions,” he says walking backward and grinning like a cockhead. “Tour’s gonna be fucking awesome with some hot tail along for the ride.”

“Shut up, Levi.”

He and Ash follow Zed, Leif and Debbie through the office, past the cubicles of girls staring at them. These women must see celebrities strutting through to Guidelli’s office every day, and yet all it would take is for one of my boys to crook a finger and they’d offer themselves up like lambs to the slaughter. That part of the life still confuses the shit outta me. That’s why Ali’s reluctance to work for us is so startling, and sort of refreshing, in an infuriating way.

“Look, I’ll go back in there and talk to Guidelli. I’ll fix this—”

“Don’t do me any favours,” she says, tossing a stapler across her desk with a little too much force. It bounces off the cubical wall and lands in front of her. She sneers at it.

I hold my hands up in a warding gesture and step back from her desk. “I guess I’ll be seeing you at the studio then.”

“Guess so.”

I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and throw a fifty in front of her. “Bring coffee. We’re gonna need it.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“You said not to do you any favours. This is me treating you like my assistant.” I raise my brows and give her a sarcastic little wave. She glowers at me, and if looks could kill, I’d be a pile of ash well into the afterlife. I take a few steps away and then turn back to face her. “Oh, you might wanna pick up some earplugs. You know, so you don’t have to listen to us rock wannabes doing our thing. It’s going to be a really long night.”

I smile and then casually walk away, winking at one of the blondes hanging out of her cubicle as I pass. She lets out a giggle and I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. I should be used to that, but I’m not. It’s not that I’m humble, or that I think I’m above it, but you have to understand it’s a little weird when grown women start falling all over themselves for something as insignificant as a smile.

As I walk away, I feel Ali’s eyes burning into my back. I’m going to have to keep my head in check with that one.

I
take the paperwork and the tray of coffee from the passenger seat and slam the door with my sneakered foot. I glance at all my belongings piled inside and pray like hell this neighbourhood is secure enough to not have my car and all my worldly possessions stolen. My day has already started out sucktastic.

I have ten dollars in my wallet, a bank account that was stripped bare, and I’d been in my new job for all of a week. I have no savings. Harbour Records wouldn’t pay me until the end of the week, and I don’t have enough to buy a fancy cup of coffee, let alone waste all of the petrol I’d used driving out here. I’d come home late Friday night after spending two hours helping my new boss, Vanessa, file her fucking mess of an office to find my flatmates had moved all my shit out onto the landing with a note taped to the door that read: You missed rent. Twice. We’re keeping your shitty TV. Leave your key in the pot plant by the door.

I wasn’t always this craptastic at life, but after my grandma died, things just went from bad to worse. I lost my job, my boyfriend and my house, all within the space of a month. And just when it looked like things might be finally getting back on track, I get stuck with a glorified babysitting job. What the hell else would you call having to run around after a bunch of “rock stars”?

I may have pushed a little too far with the wannabe remark. I mean their drummer is probably like the Aussie version of Keith Moon, with a serious case of ADHD, and Cooper Ryan can absolutely hold a note. But I won’t kid myself into thinking that rock music is anything like it used to be. That’s why I want in so badly—it’s not like I’ll ever have another chance at getting my foot in the door. This is the one chance I get to do it right and maybe one day I’ll even be in a position where I’ll be making the calls on what makes the next “big” thing. I can tell you right now it certainly wouldn’t be Taint. What kind of name is that anyway? And why does my head immediately go to that one part of a male’s anatomy that I have absolutely no desire to explore?

I head into the studio just on dusk. The first thing I’m met with is Levi’s very muscular, very tattooed back as he pushes a blonde receptionist in against the wall and goes to town on devouring her neck. For a second I stand there, waiting for either one of them to acknowledge my presence. They don’t. So I simply slip past and head into the back.

There are three doors back here, each one containing a viewing window. The first two rooms sit in darkness, but I follow the music, the bass reverberating through my feet and peer through the window at Cooper and his assistant. They’re both facing the viewing window into the studio, and they look as though they’re involved in some kind of argument, but I take a deep breath and quietly push into the room, anyway. If I’m going to be surrounded by these people twenty-four seven I may as well start making an effort so this is as bearable as it can be.

“No, the last thing you need right now is another red-headed bitch clouding your judgment. What were you thinking?” Deb demands.

“I don’t know, Deb; that she was hot and on her knees in front of me. I wasn’t thinking much past the point where all the blood rushed to my cock.”

I clear my throat and everyone turns to look at me. Zed lounges on the couch banging his fists on his chest in time with Ash’s bass and the guide track behind it, the sound engineer glances up from his porn mag, and Deb and Cooper stare at me with the wide-eyed gazes of a couple of kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Deb recovers first. In fact, her turnaround is really very impressive. She looks like she’d make a hell of an enemy. Which, judging by the look on her face, I’m about to experience firsthand.

“Oh look, Coop, it’s your
other
assistant.” Her perfectly painted red lips turn up in a vicious smile and then she stalks towards the door. “If you’re going to fuck this one, big brother, make sure to double bag it.”

He gives her an impatient smile, the kind only shared between people who’ve shared a childhood, and probably know where your most embarrassing photos are stored. Debbie leaves the room and Cooper turns his steely gaze on me.

“I bought coffee, though I didn’t know what kind you liked.” I screw my nose up under his scrutiny. Is he looking for something? Do I have something on my face, or does he always stare at women as if he wants to write songs about their eyes? “Oh, and you should probably know I’m not going to have sex with you. I’d rather choke down this Styrofoam cup.”

Zed quits banging his palms on his chest, long enough to smile at me. It’s kinda creepy when he does that. He’s all tattoos, and platinum hair, piercings and manic excitement, but he looks like a little kid when he smiles. It’s weird, given how many women want to screw him silly.

I glance back at Cooper. He laughs. At first it’s just an incredulous grunt, and then it turns into an all-out, chest-heaving, stomach-clenching laugh.
I don’t know what the hell is so funny
. All I really want to do is just back away from the crazy rock stars and run like hell. But, I need this job, so of course I don’t. I just wait for him to take his coffee from my outstretched hand. When it looks like he’s not going to, I set the cardboard carrier down on the table along with the paperwork from Harbour Records.

“Is that our paperwork?” Cooper asks.

“Yep.”

“Zed, you wanna go get Levi to take a look at this?”

“
Au contraire
, he’s busy with ze busty blonde that goes by ze name of Marie,” he says in a French accent.
He’s so fucking weird
.

“Please?” Cooper asks and gives him a not-so-subtle head jerk toward the door.

“Oh, you wanna talk to Red alone, huh?” Zed rises to his feet. He’s absolutely huge this close up. I don’t know how I failed to notice that earlier. “I get it, just, you know, if you’re gonna fuck her silly sideways make sure you—“

“Out!” Cooper shouts, and Zed sniggers as he backs out the door.

“Look, if you’re gonna be working for us, you should know that the guys are kind of idiots,” Cooper says, folding his arms across his chest as he leans against the wall.

I mirror his posture, but I’m not leaning against anything these men have touched because … ick. Levi has more than likely already had a girl on every square inch of flat surface this studio can boast. “I already gathered that, but thanks for the heads up.”

“I know you don’t wanna be here.”

I roll my eyes.
Really? Whatever gave him that idea?

He frowns, his blue-grey gaze searching my face. “Would you say something please?”

“What exactly should I say?”

“Fucked if I know. Say something about the music. About how the coffee shop was a bitch fight. About how much you don’t want to be here.”