Raw: The Ultimate Mc Collection (140 page)

I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair.  Clearly, this was going to be an interesting gig.

****

The limo crawled through the crowd of frantic fans at the exit, some of them attempting to peer into the back seat, hoping for a glimpse of Jett.  

“This is fucking insane,” I said to Jett, as we sat in the backseat.

“It’s always like this.  Insane is a good word for it,” she replied.  She seemed to take it in stride, and I wondered how someone got used to something like this. 

We sat alone in the back of the limo, our thighs touching as we looked out the window.  Jett had poured herself a drink as soon as King closed the door of the car.  Now, she was sipping it and somberly watching the crowd stream by us.  As we made it onto the road, we began moving a little faster, and I was thankful when, after a moment, we had gotten past the suffocating crowd.

“So this is your life now, huh?” I asked. “What a trip, Jett.  Did you ever think it would turn out like this?”

“No, I didn’t.  My mom sure did, though.  After you left, she decided the singing and dancing lessons I was taking had worked well enough, and she made me audition for that ridiculous television show.  You know, Double Trouble?”

“Yeah, that’s the one where you have to sing and dance at the same time?”

“Yeah. Mom was obsessed. I let her push me, I wanted to please her.  She was awful if she didn’t get her way.  So I auditioned.  I never expected they would put me on the show.  But they did.  It was torturous.  Politics.  Back-biting.  Everyone was so greedy and nasty to one another.  I never expected to win, but I did.  And then everything happened so fast after that.  Sony gave me a record deal, and I thought Mom would burst from happiness.  It was fucked up from the beginning though.  They wouldn’t let me record my own songs, they insisted on telling me what to sing, and exactly how to sing it.  They told me how to do my hair, what to wear, what to say.  It was like I was their robot.  I hated it.”

“Damn, I had no idea, Jett,” I said, looking into those gorgeous green eyes as the world flew past the window behind her.

“Yeah, it sucked.  I didn’t want to do any of that bubblegum shit anymore, and when my contract was up, I refused to sign  another one.  Mom was pissed.  My manager, Seth, was pissed. Everyone thought I was crazy.  So, I told them all to fuck off and that I was quitting.  No more playing at all if I couldn’t play the shit I wanted to play.  By then, they were desperate, and they agreed to let me do one album of all my original stuff.  I think they did it just to humor me, because they thought it would fail.  But it didn’t.  I sold ten times more of that second album than all of the previous ones combined.  I got my way.  I got to be me. But now? It’s been years, and while I don’t have them forcing me to wear dresses and dye my hair blonde, they are forcing me to keep going.  The schedule is grueling, and never-ending.  I’m fucking tired, and I would give anything for a vacation.”

“So, why don’t you take one?”

“Guilt. The one thing the suits are right about is momentum.  You gotta keep the bus rolling, or the whole machine stops.  If the machine stops, hundreds of people would be without jobs.  They all rely on me to keep going.”

She sighed heavily, and leaned her head against my shoulder.

“It’s nice you’re here, Colt.  It’s nice to have a friend around.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” I replied, putting my arm around her and pulling her in close.

I kissed her forehead gently and she closed her eyes.

****

The crowd outside the hotel was almost worse than the one at the venue.

“Motherfucker!” I said, as we drove up to the front doors.  People were everywhere, pushing and shoving each other to get a glimpse of Jett, yelling for autographs or asking her to pose for photos, and on top of all of that, there was the paparazzi, dozens of men and women with huge cameras with even bigger flashes going off in our faces as we pushed past them all to get into the lobby.

I shielded Jett as best as I could, and wondered where the hell the Rex was.

We were whisked up to her room quickly on a private elevator, and within minutes, we were alone in the most luxurious hotel room I had ever seen. 

“Welcome to the penthouse,” Jett said. “I have a room for you reserved on the floor below.”

“Well, that was wasteful,” I said, as I strolled around the suite, taking it all in.  Everything was dark wood and chandeliers, and my leather boots sank into the plush white carpet with every step.  I was almost tempted to take them off, sure there was probably some motorcycle grease on the bottom of them somewhere.

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

I turned to her, and she watched me silently as I strode over to her, peering deeply into her eyes.

“Do you really think I’m going to be leaving you alone?” I said quietly.

She smiled softly, and shrugged.

“Alright, well, um…there’s only one bed.”  She looked almost shy, but I could see right through her.  If she thought we were going to be having sex, she was wrong.  Was she trying to seduce me?  It wasn’t going to work.  Fuck, it had better not work.  I had spent years fantasizing about Jett, but they were boyish dreams that I had no business revisiting.  The Jett in front of me now needed much more from me than a good fucking.

“Jett, you brought me here to do a job.  I’ll sleep on the couch.  A bed isn’t necessary.  If Crazy Jack got into your room once, then he’s planning on doing it again.  So, leaving you alone isn’t an option for me.”

“Oh,” she said, curtly turning away from me. “I see. Yeah, you’re right.  Business.”

“Yeah. So, um, where is Rex anyway? I thought he would be here.”

“Normally, he would.  But I sent him to do something else.  I figured if you’re with me, that’s enough.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.  With the amount of people still chanting your name outside, we might need more than one person.  I’m beginning to think I may need to call the club to send me another guy.”

“Well, we can figure it out later.  I have to get ready for this party tonight first.”

“What kind of party will this be?” I asked.

“Suits.  Lots of suits.  Industry people.  It’s going to be really fucking boring.”

“Oh,” I said, the heaviness of my cut on my shoulder reminding me that I had never worn a suit in my life. “I think I might be overdressed then.”

Jett’s laughter echoed through the penthouse.

“Oh, they’re going to love you, Colt,” she said.  “You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“You like to stir up trouble, don’t you, little one?” I asked.

“Maybe a little,” she replied.  “Honestly, I just think people need to loosen up a little, that’s all.  I have to make an appearance, but we don’t have to stay all night.  We’ll bolt early.”

“Okay, excellent. What’s the security going to be like?”

“You know what? You should talk to Rex, in fact, he should be here any minute.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Ah, I bet that’s him now.”  She headed straight to the door, her hand on the doorknob before I could stop her.

“Hey! Wait!” I said. “You should let me do that.”

She laughed again, stepped back, and gestured at the door.

“All yours,” she said, bowing slightly. 

I opened the door to a pissed off Rex holding a suit bag.  He shoved it in my arms, and turned to Jett.

“Anything else, miss?”

“Yes, Rex.  Thank you.  Come in, Colt here would like to talk to you.”

Rex grimaced, looked at me, and reluctantly stepped into the room.  

“What’s this?” I asked, holding out the bag.

“Your suit for tonight. I sent Rex to get it for you.  I hope I got the size right,” Jett said with a mischievous smile.

“Suit? Fuck…” I said.  

“Yep.  Now, you boys talk while I go get ready.  Hey, Rex, did you ask Sam about my leather jacket? I still can’t fucking find it.”

“Yes, ma’am. She said she looked everywhere. She even called the last three hotels we stayed at, and nobody has seen it.”

“Goddammit,” Jett muttered, as she walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

Rex and I squared off after I put the suit bag on the couch.

“So,” I said, rocking back on my heels, sizing Rex up.  He was a big guy, but he didn’t seem menacing or threatening in the least. He was like a big, grumpy, bear.  He looked like the worst he could do to a person would be to hug them to death.

“So,” he echoed, doing his best to give me an intimidating stare. “You know, Jett doesn’t do the security hiring. Her manager, Seth, is my boss. I work for him. Not you.”

“Oh, yeah? I hear you, man. But the way I see it, since it’s Jett’s body that needs protecting, Jett is the one that should say who’s doing the protecting.”

“Maybe so, but it doesn’t work like that,” he said, crossing his arms over his massive chest.

“Well, I think it does.  How about this, Rex?  I’m not trying to step on your toes or take your job away.  We’ll work together.  Just the sheer volume of people around makes me think she needs more than just one person watching over her. Especially if someone was able to make it into her room to leave a fucked-up note.”  I raised an eyebrow, looking right into his eyes pointedly.

“Yeah.  I don’t know how that happened.  Jett, well…she’s a little too trusting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she likes to party.  Sometimes, things get a little out of control.”

“Okay, but isn’t it your job to make sure she’s safe at all times?”

“Yeah, but…look, man, you don’t understand. I have to sleep, too, you know? And Jett? She gets wild and then she doesn’t listen. She’ll bring complete strangers to her room, stay up all night long, and there’s nothing I, or anyone, can do to stop her.”

“Tell you what, Rex.  You just keep doing your job, and I’ll do mine.  We can play it by ear.  Now, my intention is to stay by Jett’s side until we can ensure she’s completely safe, and until that happens, I’m not going anywhere.  What can you tell me about this guy anyway? Are the police involved? What’s going on with trying to find Crazy Jack and stopping him?”

“Well, I’ve been kept in the dark about that, Colt. You’ll have to talk to Seth, Jett’s manager.  He’s the one in charge of all that.”

“Will he be at this party tonight?”

“Oh, yeah. He wouldn’t miss it. Jett’s his bread and butter.”

“I see. And yours, too, huh?” I asked.  He squinted his eyes at me.

“Yeah, I guess so.  I’ll be waiting in the hallway until Jett’s ready.”  

After the door closed behind him, I walked over and unzipped the bag.  The black suit was sleek and expensive looking.  The inside label told me it was made by Armani, and I whistled under my breath.  

Did she really expect me to wear this shit?

****

The party was in full swing by the time we reached the hotel ballroom.  Jett was right.  Suits everywhere, along with perfectly made up trophy girls dripping diamonds on their arms.

I groaned without realizing it, and Jett laughed and squeezed my arm.  

“You look amazingly handsome, Colt.”

I grimaced, pulling at the tie Jett had helped me put on.

“I don’t feel so handsome.  This shit is uncomfortable.  I prefer leather,” I said.

“Me, too!” Jett said. “Unfortunately, my favorite leather jacket is MIA. I could just kill Sam for losing it,” she said, looking up at me. 

She looked incredibly beautiful, and I told her so.  It was nice to see the soft smile spread across her face.

“Thank you, Colt, you’re a sweetheart.  Just one hour, then we’re out of here,” she whispered, before turning away from me and greeting a couple to her right.

After the first one, they kept coming.  Everyone wanted to meet her, tell her about the first time they heard her sing, and how much they loved her.  It was painfully awkward to stand there listening to them go on and on.  I felt sorry for Jett having to endure it, but she did so gracefully, politely smiling and feigning interest skillfully.