Unstoppable (Fierce) (2 page)

“
Thought you won when you walked out the door, thought you’d leave me begging for more. Thought I’d be alone night after night, thought I’d never give up the fight. Wanted to kick my love to the curb, now there you stand with your arm around her. I got news for you fool, I’m nowhere near done. You left me, but I’m the one who won. I’m here!
” I screamed, and all the girls screamed back. “
I’m here! You can’t keep me down. I’m here!
” I held out the mic and they responded, “I’m here!” “
And you’re the one who keeps sniffin’ around. I’m here!
”

“I’m here!”

“
You’re the loser and there’s the door. I’m here!
”

“I’m here!”

“
I don’t need you anymore!
”

All the girls in the front row pumped their fists as they sang the rest of the song with me. After my performance, Jace took the stage, which I thought would make a few groupies up front swoon with glee. He sang his song first,
before slowing it down a bit as he played to the front row. “Sexy crowd,” he said with a wink. “It’s cold out here, but I think we can heat things up. What do you think?”

I could barely hear over the roar of the crowd. When the band launched into “Baby, Say My Name,” the sexy Dreaming in Blue hit, I thought some of the
fangirls might literally go up in flames… especially when Vanni strutted out front for the second verse. The audience was putty in their hands. “Make it Happen,” was next, and I joined them on stage with the rest of Dreaming in Blue. After that, Vanni and I sang his latest hit, “Only Forever Will Do.”

Jace and I were able to leave the stage to the headliners at that point, and we escaped back behind a privacy curtain backstage. He pulled me into his arms the minute we disappeared out of sight. His body was hard, warm and welcoming
. “God, I’ve missed you,” he growled as he bent for a kiss. I was the first one to deepen it, which made him moan deep in his throat. “I don’t think I can wait two weeks. Find a way to meet me tonight.”

“She’s busy.”

We both turned to see Eddie as he walked through the curtained entrance. I jumped from Jace’s arms as though we’d been caught, even though Eddie was very much aware of my ongoing relationship with Jace. Eddie used the opportunity to pull me closer to him, taking me into the crook of his arm possessively. “It’s our first New Year’s Eve as husband and wife,” he said with an evil little smile. “We should ring it in the right way, eh, babe?”

I blushed as I looked away from Jace. I knew that Eddie was doing this to hurt him, and I couldn’t bear to watch.

“First and last,” Jace answered confidently, which made me glance his direction. He leaned back against a table behind him, crossing his arms in front of him. He was in no way threatened by Eddie, and he didn’t bother hiding that.

“You think so?” Eddie asked as he pulled me tighter. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. Since he’d taken to the party scene, he was drinking almost every single time I was thrust into his presence. It was as distasteful as he was. “It’s not your ring she’s wearing on her finger, is it?”

Jace just smiled. Only he and I knew that the ring that branded me as a married woman was his, and not Eddie’s. I belonged to him, no matter what Eddie had to say about it. “Things change,” was all Jace said. He glanced over at me. “See you onstage,” he said, referring to our encore to usher in the new year. He glared at Eddie as he strode past us, leaving us alone.

Eddie just laughed, keeping me in a vice grip. “Always got to make a fool of me, don’t you, Jordi?” he asked.

I wriggled away. “About like you coming onto that TV host? You’re the one who keeps popping up in every tabloid as a cheating man whore.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me back. “Maybe if my wife would give me some every once and a while, I wouldn’t need to.”

I had to laugh. “You don’t want me, Eddie. Don’t pretend you do.”

He tried to pull me closer. “You’ve always been my favorite piece of ass. Didn’t you know that?” he crooned as he crooked his finger under my chin.
“So compliant. It’s like having a very rich, very live blow-up doll. You just lay there and let me do what I want.”

I pushed him away. “Those days are over, Eddie.”

He laughed as he walked over to the table and poured himself another drink. “Oh yes. I forgot. Your hit song. ‘I’m here,’” he openly mocked. He glanced over my ample frame. “Like anyone could miss you.”

“Explain to me how you can come onto me in one breath and insult me in the next.
Because I don’t get it.”

“A little piece of paper says you’re mine to do with as I choose. When you get out of control, your husband gets to put you back in you
r place. Sometimes you need to be insulted. Sometimes you need to be fucked. It’s not that complicated.”

“You’re an asshole,” I hissed.

He grinned. “I’m a man,” he corrected. “Don’t get mad at me. I didn’t make up the rules.”

I turned to leave but he crossed the two feet between us in a flash. He grabbed my wrist so hard I thought me might leave a bruise. “Don’t act so high and mighty, baby girl. You’re the one planning a four-month fuck-fest with your part-time lover while you all go on tour. Are you going to add Vanni to the dance card, too? Make a real fatty free for all and get his wife, too.”

I pushed against him. “You’re disgusting!”

“And I’m all yours,” he said as he used his other hand to grab a handful of hair. “Let’s go onstage and ring in the
New Year right, eh, Mrs. Nix?”

He pulled me out of the tent and toward the stage. I stumbled behind him as I tried to keep up, trying like hell not to draw attention to us as we joined the band, Andy and Jace up on stage for the countdown to 2012.

I was shivering from anger, and a little bit of fear, as I stood there in the unforgiving circle of Eddie’s arms. He glanced down with an expression as sweet as sugar. “Cold, baby?” he asked as he drew me closer. “I’ll warm you up.”

My eyes met
Jace’s. I could tell from his clenched jaw he was having a hard time not intervening. I gave a very slight shake of my head. As horrible as Eddie was, his releasing those tapes and splashing Jace and I over every sleazy tabloid and Internet site would be way worse. This just affected me, I wasn’t about to risk Jace’s career too. I could handle Eddie. I had for the last few months.

We counted down as the ball began to drop, and when the first notes of Auld Lang
Syne began to play, Eddie’s mouth crushed down on mine. His whiskey-soaked tongue forced through my tightly clenched lips as he pulled me even closer.

I resisted the urge to wipe my mouth when he finally ended the kiss, as well as glaring at him for forcing such a despicable public display of physical “affection” onto me against my will.

I couldn’t wait for January 13.

CHAPTER TWO

Seattle, Washington

January 13, 2012

The first stop for the
Fierce
/Dreaming in Blue tour was Seattle. Randy Hewitt, the rocker from our competition, took the place of bassist Iain Wallis in the band, as Iain returned home to England. His touring days took a backseat to his growing family, so Vanni had long pegged Randy to fill the hole in the band. Since Randy was an accomplished musician who could play lead, rhythm or bass guitar, it was a natural fit.

It was also a boost for Ra
ndy, who had placed eighth in the competition. He had participated on the show for exposure, but in his mind he was a musician, not a star. He really wanted to jam more than take center stage. Because of this, he got along well with classically trained Yael Satterlee, Dreaming in Blue’s lead guitarist, who was more about the music than the fame. Randy slipped quietly in the background, leaving the spotlight for those of us who had always wanted it.

Since
the top three finalists of the show all got star billing with the Dreaming in Blue tour, it had been the gig all of us were eyeballing as we battled to win
Fierce
. Dreaming in Blue was still a mega-selling band that could pack arenas, so that meant maximum exposure for any artist lucky enough to get a spot in the show. Fortunately for the tour, the top two finalists were those Vanni would have picked regardless. Jace, who had crafted his brand to be the sexy rock star despite his soft rock beginnings, was a no-brainer. Since Vanni had practically adopted me like a baby sister, I was sure to land a spot regardless of where I finished in the show. The only real surprise was Shelby Goddard. She was more a pop star than a rock star, but honestly I couldn’t have been happier that she got to go along with us. Shelby, Jace and I had formed a rather unique camaraderie as we performed together week after week. She was, in fact, one of the dearest friends I’d made throughout the process.

The only complication
I could see it was the fact she was blindly in love with Jace. They had shared one kiss months ago, when Eddie had forced me into the engagement from hell, but Jace had never encouraged her romantic feelings beyond that. That didn’t stop her from harboring a crush that had not dimmed over time, which was painfully obvious when we all met for rehearsals on January 9
th
. She practically jumped into his arms, overjoyed to see him again.

I tried to get him to see that she was crazy about him, but Jace shrugged it off. He figured since he hadn’t encouraged her, there was really no need to worry about
it.

But Shelby did see herself as one of the “three musketeers,” so it was next to impossible to wedge any real time alone with Jace while she was on tour with us. This was especially true because she believed my marriage to Eddie was a real one, and envied that I had found my “happily ever after” with a boy all the girls at home had wanted.

Worse, I knew that she and Eddie had formed a friendship over the last many months, so anything I did with Jace would be reported right back to Eddie. It was yet another complication I didn’t need, especially after the fiasco on New Year’s Eve.

Eddie had been content to leave it at the New Year’s kiss on stage, letting me return to my hotel room while he tried to
worm his way into the pants of that TV host. I guess he succeeded, because he hadn’t returned by the time I checked out the next day. I flew back to Los Angeles to prepare for the tour, and I hadn’t seen him much since. He went home to Iowa to visit his folks, which meant I could hang out with my friends if I had any downtime, which I really hadn’t.

Even more frustrating, neither did Jace. We were constantly being pulled in different directions. I was definitely looking forward to some quality time now that our jobs had forced us together instead of apart. I just had to find a way to get around Shelby.

I felt like a shit even thinking that way. She’d been nothing but kind to me, and being around her reminded me of hanging around my childhood best friend, Bree. Since I grew up an only child, the “sisterhood” that we had created between us was something that I treasured.

But Jace was my heart. I could no more deny him than give up breathing. I was aching every single day of rehearsals, needing to be with him again. He decided that he wanted to wait until the night of our performance. It was Friday the 13
th
, and it was his way of thumbing his nose at fate. Plus, it would be the only real downtime we’d have as we prepared for our first show.

“I want to savor you,” he said against my ear as we hung back stage watching Shelby practice her song. His body was hard against me, rubbing against my full hips. It was making me crazy, but we both already knew that sexual tension would make our performances sizzle. We got to do our romantic duet, and I was the one who introduced
Jace’s entrance. I sang a Bonnie Tyler hit, belting out powerfully about how much I needed a hero. Nothing could have been truer. It was a bombastic tune that was made even more thrilling by the pyrotechnics and Jace’s entrance on his motorcycle. His engine would rev with the thundering of the drums until he exploded through a ring of fire, coming to a halt downstage where I waited.

He once again impressed me with his fearlessness. Despite being an amputee, he was ready to test his physical limits whenever there was an opportunity. I knew it would cement his branding as a rock star. It was so alpha male it made me a little giddy, too.

When the groupies in the audience realized he was going to soon make an appearance, their excitement nearly tore the roof down. By the time he burst through those flames and skid down front, we went from being the feature act to star billing. He did his set of songs and then introduced Dreaming in Blue the same way he had in New York. He sang, “Baby, Say My Name,” and the audience went wild. They knew that their idol, Giovanni Carnevale, was not far behind.

When Vanni ran through the middle of the aisles of the arena, shirtless and dressed in his trademark leather pants, I thought girls were actually going to pass out. Jace then joined us backstage and we watched the master put the screaming crowd under his control. Even though I knew he was hopelessly committed to his wife, he made each and every girl feel special in the crowd. I knew Jace would have to learn how to pull that off, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. I’d definitely need to corner Andy one day and see how she did it, sharing her man with the world without fear.