Seduction by Song (32 page)

“Take your hand off of her,” Logan says again. “Right.
Now
.”

Romeo adamantly refuses, keeping my hand held warmly in his. “I don’t want any trouble, but you’re out of line.”

“You’re going to
get
trouble if you don’t let my sister go right the fuck now,” Logan snarls.

A moment of silence passes. Romeo doesn’t move, standing strong. He doesn’t provoke Logan any more than he has to in order to defend his honor—and mine—and I respect him for it. I respect him more than I’ve ever respected my hotheaded brother, who wanted the best for our family, but
always
led us to the worst.

“Alright, pretty boy,” Logan says with a growl. “I warned you.”

I open my mouth to tell them to
stop
, but I don’t manage to get even that simple word out before Logan is throwing a punch. His fist clips Romeo in the jaw, causing him to stumble back a step and finally let go of my hand. I barely notice that, though, as I scream, “
No
!”

Neither of them seem to hear me, though, as I’m pushed out of the way. Romeo decks Logan clear across the nose, the sickening crunch of bone on bone indicating that he’s probably broken it. They fight for what feels like
hours
as I scream and scream for them to stop.

There are tears in my eyes by the time Dante and Vince manage to pull Romeo back, while airport security comes to grab Logan.

“Logan, how
could
you!” I faintly hear myself shouting as he tries to lunge forward. “I never want to see your face again! Don’t you
dare
come near me until you accept that I’m with Romeo, for
good
!”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than a few seconds, really, but the damage was done. Logan is dragged away with a security team that saw him initiating the fight.

Tears spill out of my eyes as I looked up to see Romeo’s bruised jaw—and all around us camera phones clicked and snapped pictures for tomorrow’s headline.

Chapter
Thirty-six

Sure enough, the tabloids run the story of the fight the never next morning. I couldn’t help but ask after my brother, though I refused to see him, before we left the airport—he suffered a broken nose and several fractured fingers while Romeo escaped with no more than a bruise sustained from that cheap shot Logan took at him without warning. I left as soon as I made sure Logan was getting proper medical attention—he was an asshole, a terrible human being, but he was still my brother.

“I hate that fucking guy,” Romeo grumbles as I meet him backstage the afternoon before his next show to nurse his bruise, pressing an ice pack lightly to it like I had been doing all day and night. “I’m sorry, but I hate that fucking guy.”

I laugh, wiping at the corners of my eyes as the sound comes out a bit watery. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. God, I—I still can’t
believe
he hit you. I am
so
sorry.”

Romeo shakes his head and pushes my hand holding the icepack down as he can tug me forward and kiss me on the lips. “Nothing you could’ve done to stop it.”

I fidget, wanting that to be true. I couldn’t help but think that I
could
have stopped it. Maybe I should have told Logan off ages ago. Maybe I should have just let go of Romeo’s hand at the airport. Hell, maybe I shouldn’t even be near Romeo—I seemed toxic, after all, getting him into fights and media scandals and concert failures.

“—and concert failures!” someone rants on.

I blink, startled out of my reverie. My eyes widen in surprise when I see Santiago standing right behind me, shouting something straight into my ear.

Fights.

Media scandals.

Concert failures.

All these were things listed by Santiago as why Romeo shouldn’t be gallivanting about with some girl. I look between the two men as Santiago continues to lecture us both while Romeo rolls his eyes in disinterest.

“Look,” Santiago says, finally calming. “You do not love Louise—I understand. But you
cannot
continue like this, not with
her
.”

I flinch. Santiago is talking about me like I’m not even there, but—I suppose that’s only fair.  I did get Romeo into a fight, after all.

“She
did
get you into a fight, after all,” Santiago says. “That is unacceptable.”

I’m about to agree when I suddenly truly
hear
the words.
I
got Romeo into a fight? No—there was only one person to blame, and it wasn’t me
or
Romeo. I stand suddenly, dropping the ice pack that had been freezing my hand.

“Sir,” I say with a boldness that comes out of absolutely nowhere. I almost swallow my own tongue when Santiago turns to me, still frowning. It’s only Romeo’s presence behind me, radiating warmth, that urges me to continue.

I clear my throat. “Sir, I can’t allow you to blame me for the fight. I can’t allow you to blame
Romeo
for the fight. It was my brother who provoked him—he doesn’t approve. The authorities at the airport will be able to confirm this for you.”

Santiago splutters a bit, apparently not expecting such a strong, defiant answer from me. He regards me for a moment in the same way he did the first time we met, as though he had some sort of infinite wisdom that he was judging me with.

Ultimately, he sighs and nods.

“She is quite the girl, Romeo,” he says.

I clear my throat once more. “Excuse me, but I’m right here.”

Santiago looks almost amused this time as he nods in my direction. “Yes. Yes, I suppose you are. Sit, please.”

It doesn’t sound like an order—for once, I don’t think I would have obeyed if it
was
one. Instead, it comes out sounding like an invitation, so I take my seat while he stoops down to pick up the ice pack I dropped, pressing it into my hands again.

“You are a good girl,” he says to me in a tone that once again reminds me of my father. “You treat this boy right. Perhaps I do not approve of
everything
that is going on here, but—you are happy?”

I nod, unable to contain a small smile as I glance back at Romeo.

“And he is happy,” Santiago says with a great deal of certainty. He straightens once more and tips his head in a shallow bow to the both of us. “I will deal with the media. You children behave, now.”

And with that and a flourish, he’s gone. I blink back at Romeo, wondering if we’re still in trouble, but he’s cracked a grin and seems truly happy just as Santiago said.

“Don’t worry about that old man,” Romeo says as he reaches out, tugging me into his lap abruptly. “He complains, but he’s paid more than enough to take care of a few media scandals.”

I laugh, more in surprise than anything, as I settle on the couch next to Romeo, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. “So that was his stamp of approval, then?”

Romeo nods, his eyes softening. “I’d say so—I’m glad for it, too. He may not be my father-in-law for much longer, but he’ll always be a father to me. Perhaps even more than he is to Louise. He’s a hard ass, don’t get me wrong, but he knows what he’s doing.”

I nod, too, and drop my head to Romeo’s shoulder. “Did I ever tell you that you have my father’s blessing, too?”

“Well, then
we’re
just meant to be,” he says, only half-teasingly as he noses at my jaw. “You know, you
also
never told me about this badass side of you. Is it just my imagination or is it growing?”

I laugh, flushing red in the cheeks as I bury my face against the crook of his neck. “Oh,
God
. I’m so embarrassed—I
never
speak against my elders.”

“Maybe you should, more often,” Romeo says before he presses a kiss to my temple. “Like I said, I love new Erin—so long as my tender, sweet, submissive Erin stays the same.”

I smile and loosen my grip on him, sliding off of the couch and down to the floor at his feet. I settle my head down on his knees, looking up at him with something that was unmistakably love in my eyes as he strokes my hair.

“That Erin will always be yours,” I say. “Forever.”

Chapter Thirty-seven

Romeo has to take off for rehearsal before his show. He leaves me reluctantly with promises of
later.
I spend some time backstage getting to know the roadies that travel with the band. A few of them whisper behind my back when they think I can’t hear, and my whole body fills with warmth when I
do
hear them saying, “Christ, that dame’s a class act. She’s an angel next to that
Valdez
woman.”

Although I didn’t truly delight in hearing others trash talk Louise, I couldn’t help but beam with pride knowing that they liked me. I was feeling more and more at home in this place, on this tour. Of course I would have to go back to school eventually, but it was nice knowing that there would always be a family here that I could visit.

I’ve managed to convince the guys backstage to let me help distribute some water among the crew members since they refused to let me move any heavy furniture when the girls suddenly appear, rushing in with tight hugs for me.

“
Oof
!” I laugh, hugging them back as tightly as possible. “Guys—I can’t believe you’re here! I mean, I can believe it, obviously—.”

“You’re rambling, babe,” April says.

I roll my eyes, miming the motion of zipping my mouth shut.

“We had to give our statements to the police,” Maddie says quietly. “Logan’s in the hospital now, but they’re taking him in on assault as soon as he’s patched up—
then
we couldn’t get backstage because—.”

“—
somebody
acts like a crazed fangirl,” Juliet finishes helpfully.

Maddie blushes. “I do
not
!”

“I’m not even going to bother arguing that one,” April says under her breath before wrapping an arm around my shoulders to steer me out towards the stadium. “Dante got us in. Now we’re breaking you out. Front row seats, center stage? Sound familiar?”

I laugh and link my arm through Juliet’s, who immediately takes Maddie’s hand. We all head out to our seats together, buzzing with excitement as though it was our very first night here. I knew that we’d done this several times already, but something about this night felt different—perhaps I simply needed to hear it from someone to truly believe it.

I was happy.

Romeo was happy.

We were happy together.

Just like that first night, there’s a man grumbling behind me about having to come to some sissy concert with his girlfriend. There’s a floodlight shining right in my eye.

But none of that matters as soon as Romeo takes the stage. As the crowd erupts into cheers behind me, I cheer along with them—for him, and for us.

The woman Romeo chooses for tonight’s rendition of “Why I Need Your Love” is a heavily pregnant middle-aged woman who practically swoons throughout the whole song. I can’t help but smile at the smile Romeo is able to bring to her face as he croons those beautiful verses to her, whisking her around the stage in a slow dance, careful of her condition. The girls disappear during the break before the encore, returning with some merchandise that they insisted on purchasing even though I was
sure
Romeo would be happy to score them a few scarves for free.

As the lights dim once more, Romeo launches into the first of the two songs of the encore. I sway along to the music, a catchy beat that gets everyone moving, until the song draws to a slow close. I wait, along with every other person in the audience, with baited breath for the start of the next, and final, song.

A huge silence stretches out over the next few seconds, though, and I blink a few times when I realize nothing is happening. Could there have been a real technical malfunction this time?

As though to answer my question with a definitive
no
, Romeo appears at the center of the stage, bathed in a huge spotlight.

“Ladies and—
ladies
,” Romeo says, drawing a wave of laughter out of his crowd. “Tonight I’d like to close with a very special song. Never heard before, this is
You Make My Heart Beat
. I wrote this on the road one night when my heart escaped to Fort Lauderdale, and I’d like to invite the lucky lady it was written for up on stage with me—Erin, would you do me this honor?”

I feel my jaw drop as a huge cheer goes up throughout the stadium. This has
never
been done before. Romeo has never called
two
girls up on stage before. My stomach fluttered with nerves and excitement as Romeo extended his hand down to me, walking right up to the edge of the stage. The girls push me forward, urging me to take Romeo’s hand.