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“When.”
“When what?”
I arched an eyebrow. “You saidifI work with him. I saywhen.”
“Ahh, atta boy. Exactly.” Kai grinned and dropped his arm from my shoulders as he looked back out at the stage, where Viper pulled his thin black tee up over his head, wiped off his chest, then threw the shirt out into the crowd.
It was like watching a shark attack as the swarm of men and women dived for the prized item, arms flailing, possibly pulling hair. There was no way that shirt wouldn’t end up in scraps, but hey, more to go around.
That frenzy right there was going to sell millions of books.
I smiled to myself as I unbuttoned my suit jacket and shrugged out of it. I could do this. Enjoy the show, win the deal, and make my mother’s publishing company even richer.
As I turned to lay my jacket over my seat, I felt the heat of someone’s stare, and before I could remember who was standing in that very direction, I looked up.
Drew Edwards was watching me.
Even from several feet away I could see those dark sapphire eyes peering out from beneath the brown locks that had fallen across his forehead. He’d been favoring a devil-may-care shaggy style for years, probably thinking it made him look more charming and less threatening when he wheeled and dealed.
Out of nowhere, Drew dropped his gaze down my body, giving me a full-on once-over. When his eyes landed on mine again, a smile curved his lips, and it wasn’t a friendly one. It was one I knew all too well, full of devilry and plans to fuck someone over to get what he wanted.
A knot formed in my stomach.
And then the motherfucker winked.
Game. On.
3
DREW
“WAS THAT HUDSON Montgomery shooting daggers at you the whole show? Damn, does the guy ever wear anything but a suit?”
“Not if he can help it,” I said, following along with the crowd as we filed out of our row. Out of curiosity, I found myself glancing over to where Hudson had been standing, but he was already gone.
Figured. I couldn’t believe he’d even deigned to come out with the rest of us peons, since this was so not his scene—but that, along with the alarm on his face when I’d winked at him, told me exactly why he’d been at a Fallen Angel concert. Which meant I needed to get backstage ASAP.
“Time to haul ass, Liam. Try to keep up.”
As we reached the aisle, I pushed and weaved my way through the crowd heading in the opposite direction of where I needed to go. Up ahead, crew members were already rushing to pack up the stage, even though the show had just ended less than two minutes ago. Normally that would mean I was already too late, since musicians tended to rush into waiting cars as soon as they ran off the stage. But I’d heard through my source that the band had a late meet-and-greet after the show, and after scoring a couple of those passes, I planned to take full advantage of my time with the guys.
Well, with one guy in particular—Viper.
His team had done a great job of teasing every big-name publisher, and then refused to take any calls. That would normally piss me off to the point of indifference, but I wasn’t about to let this one get away. Viper’s story had the power to make ourentirefiscal year. This wasn’t just any story, it wasthestory, the one people would be talking about for ages. After all, Viper wasn’t just an amazing musician and a huge part of one of the biggest rock bands in the world. He was also a queer icon, and now one half of the most mesmerizing couples that had ever graced entertainment magazines. But before he’d met his fiancé, Halo, he’d been a wild child, one with so many tantalizing secrets that even I was dying to get a peek at them.
So this “get”? It wasn’t just professional—it was personal.
Stopping at the gate, I flashed my backstage pass at the beefed-up security, and he sized me and Liam up before begrudgingly letting us through. This happened about five more times before we finally made it to a hallway backstage, where a step-and-repeat had been set up for photos. It was more casual than I’d assumed, with a small group of VIP fans waiting their turn…and Hudson standing off to the side.
It was comical to me that a suit like Hudson Montgomery thought he could handle someone like Viper. They weren’t in any way compatible. Hudson was all structure and following the rules, and Viper was the hellion who wanted nothing more than to break them. They’d end up killing each other during the editing process, so really, I was doing them both a favor by being here to offer my services.
Beside Hudson, the guy he’d come with, Kai, caught my eye, and then he shook his head and leaned in to whisper in Hudson’s ear. Instantly Hudson straightened, tensing up, before slowly turning his head my way. A scowl twisted what I used to think was such a beautiful face. He had those clear blue eyes that at one point felt so easy to fall into, and those pouty lips had been made for teasing my own apart. But that was a long time ago, and now all his eyes did was shoot daggers my way.
Guess he thought getting a deal with Viper would be easy. I wasn’t about to let that happen.
Knowing the best way to throw him off his game was to get under his skin, I inclined my head for Liam to follow, and then we strolled Hudson’s way.
As I sidled up beside him, I couldn’t help the smug smile on my lips. “I’ll be damned, that stick up your ass looks even bigger from this angle. You might want to remove that before your pitch.”
