Rocked Down & Out (Rocked #11) (8 page)

"I'm here to see Matthew Daniels. He's expecting me." I felt a twinge of guilt, even though it was only kind of a lie.

"Name?"

"Ellie Martin."

He checked his list and stepped out of my way. "Go ahead, Miss Martin."

"Thank you." I tried to walk down the hallway with confidence, but I was so nervous I had to settle for just not tripping over my own feet. My phone beeped and I pulled up the new message. Thankfully, it was Matthew's response to my text, telling me where to find him and his bandmates. I checked my camera and headed to the end of the hall where the makeshift "hospitality suite" was.

I knocked softly on the door and then pushed it open and went inside, holding my breath. To my left there was a doorway leading into a bedroom. The door was open a crack and I could see Becca talking on two phones, seemingly at the same time. In the living area ahead, Joe was standing alone with his arms crossed, tense enough that I could see it this far away. To the right there was a dining table loaded with food and drink, where Rick and Matthew sat together, not speaking.

Matthew's eyes lit up, but his face was still pale when he saw me. "Hey," he said.

"Hi." I averted my eyes from Rick's angry glare. "Can I borrow you for a second?"

Matthew smiled. "Of course." He got up and met me in the middle of the room. After taking my hand, he led me to the bathroom and shut the door behind us.

"Are you okay?" I asked, whispering.

"I don't know." He hugged me and kissed the top of my head.

"Well, first thing's first, here's your prescription. They said to take it with food."

He sighed. "Shit, I forgot all about that."

I pushed the bag into his hand. "I'm sure, but take them, okay?"

"Yeah," he said absently. "I guess you've seen the big news."

"Uh-huh. Um… do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. "Not really."

"I'm sorry," I muttered, feeling ashamed of what I was about to ask him.

"Not your fault. We should change the name of the band to Drama Defiled, the way things have been going."

I laughed a little. "Never a dull moment. It sucks, I know…" Looking up into his tired eyes, I couldn't do it. Couldn't ask him to see if the band would talk to me on camera. It was too insulting after everything we'd been through. As I wrapped my arms around him, and felt how upset he was, for a moment I didn't care about my job at all.

"I'm glad you're here with me," he said.

I was about to speak when there was a soft knock on the door, and Becca's voice called out from the other side. "Guys, we need you both out here."

Matthew squeezed me for a second and then opened the door. I followed him out into the main room to see Joe and Dex sitting on opposite ends of a sofa, and the door to the suite closing behind someone.

Rick was standing in the middle of the room. He looked over at us. "Hundreds of beds in this hotel and you two are screwing in the bathroom?" He sounded too exhausted to even get annoyed with.

Dex stood up, scowling. "Can we get on with this?"

"Should I leave?" I asked no one in particular.

"No," Becca answered, coming over to put her hand on my arm. "Do you have whatever gear you need to do an interview with the guys?"

"Yeah, I do. But it can wait for a better time."

Joe barked out a harsh laugh. "Haven't you heard? Better get us all together while you still can."

I looked around, baffled.

Becca sighed. "Ellie, we need you to record the band and upload something as soon as possible. I know that's not the agreement, but you'd really be doing us a favor. We need to address this story before things get out of hand and since you're here, the management team figured this was a perfect opportunity." From her tone of voice, I could tell she thought it was anything but perfect, but as always, she did her job.

They were asking me to tape them talking about the rumors of Joe's solo album. It was exactly what I needed professionally and the last thing I wanted personally. But I had to follow her example, and do my job. So, with sweaty hands and a dry throat, I nodded.

Awkward didn't begin to describe the footage I shot of the band over the next half an hour. Becca briefed me quickly so I could have a few questions ready, but we all just wanted to get the interview over with. I explained the few different setups I wanted and then said I was ready to start. After getting Joe positioned alone and the others together behind him, I set the camera and stood next to him.

I had to clear my throat a bunch of times before I could speak without croaking. I did a quick intro and then got right to it, hoping my face didn't betray my true emotions. "Joe, right now it seems like the whole world is talking about this so-called contract. Can you tell me what's going on?"

He nodded and smiled, but the expression didn't reach his eyes. "It's crap, Ellie. This is my band. This is where I sing, where I write. I don't have any idea what that record contract is, but it isn't mine. I haven't signed anything like that. I haven't thought about signing anything like that."

"So you're saying it's a fake?"

"I don't know. I mean, it might be a mistake or, I don't know what else. I can't say what it is, just what it isn't."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "It's no secret Dream Defiled has had a rough year. Is this yet another thing adding stress to your lives?"

Joe looked intently into the camera. "Things go wrong in life. And we're a lot luckier than most people. I can't explain this story, all I can do is tell the truth. I'm not leaving my band. I'm not leaving my brothers. Someday something might be big enough to break us up, but this isn't it."

I had no idea if he was telling the truth or not, but hid vehemence made me want to believe. "Thanks, Joe. You guys have a show tonight, do you think these rumors will affect that in any way?"

"No. Our fans know us. And when we get on the stage, everyone will see that Dream Defiled is stronger than ever. We'll let the music speak for itself."

"Thank you. Next I'd like to hear from the other members of the band…"

Dex stepped forward and put his hand on Joe's shoulder. The smaller man flinched almost imperceptively but covered it by returning the gesture.

"Dex, as the other founding member of the band, what do you want to add?"

He shrugged. "Not much, love. But whoever is trying to start trouble is gonna get trouble right back." His voice was almost too smooth for the words he was saying.

"Those sound like fighting words," I replied, hoping to get more out of him.

"I guess they are. We're not perfect, any of us. And we fight with each other. But in the end, we always fight for each other, too."

I smiled. "Can't get much clearer than that." Falling into the rhythm of work made me feel better and I managed to even get few words out of Rick and Matthew on tape before we ran out of time.

By the time Becca motioned to me that we had to stop, everyone seemed calmer, if not happier. Not that I could blame them. Preposterous rumors were nothing new for the band, but this one was just plausible enough to be true, and, I imagined, that was exactly the point. A break up now, in the middle of the delayed tour wouldn't be surprising, but it would be huge news. And it would all but guarantee a fully sold out run. Looking around the room I wondered if I was the only one wondering where the story had come from, and if it was meant to hurt or help the band.

I wrapped up with all of this swirling around in my mind and thanked the guys for their time. Becca gave them an hour for lunch before heading over to the venue for tonight's show. I hung back for a minute, thinking about spending that time with Matthew, but all four of the guys were talking and I figured they could use a little bonding time. I said my goodbyes and headed back to my hotel room.

Once I was alone downstairs I uploaded the footage from my camera and sent it off with some notes. I checked the
HSTV
website and there was already a huge banner touting my "exclusive" response from the band, and I rolled my eyes, but was kind of pleased.

With a few minutes to kill, I surfed some gossip sites and found the original file of the alleged contract. It looked legit to me, but that definitely wasn't my area of expertise. I shot off an email to a colleague to see if they could research the issue for me, if it was common for a contract to be drafted without the artist's knowledge.

I was running through a long list of emails I needed to answer when my phone rang. I glanced down at the screen and was shocked. It was Steven, and I picked up after a moment of hesitation. "Hi."

"Hey, little sis." He sounded nervous, which made me sad. "You busy?"

"Always, but I guess I can spare a minute for you." I said it playfully, trying to pretend it didn't sting that we were uncomfortable talking to each other.

"How kind of you." He coughed. "I should have called before."

"It's all right." The two thousand miles between us felt like two billion.

"No, look. I owe you an apology."

"Steven…"

"Please," he said softly. "Let me get this out. You know how pig-headed I am, and that I never say I'm sorry. But you're my sister. My only family and my best friend. What I did was wrong, even if it was for the right reason. No matter how I felt, we're a team, and you gave your word, which I should have respected."

Tears stung my eyes. "Thank you. I'm sorry I got so mad."

"Hell, you've always been a bitch, shouldn't have surprised me."

I laughed. "Asshole."

"Always." He chuckled. "Okay, one more thing before I vomit from all this niceness."

"Yeah, get on with it. I'm way too important to sit here talking to you all day."

"Shut up, brat. The other thing I wanted to say is, I'm proud of you. I've been checking the site every hour and you're killing it out there. Camera work is shit, but that's not your fault."

I got up and paced back and forth in front of the window. "Yeah, well, I do the best I can on that front."

"Your best is terrible, but I assume you're getting someone new?"

"Yeah, today, actually. But they'll never replace you."

"Better not. Anyway, I'll let you go. But keep in touch, okay?"

"Of course. We're family, stuck with each other."

"Unfortunately," he joked. "Smell ya later, brat."

I giggled and then rolled my eyes as he hung up, always having to have the last word.

*

Hours later I was having the time of my life. The
HSTV
website had exploded once my interview went up, and my bosses were over the moon. I'd managed to at least start down the road towards patching things up with my brother, and I was on tour with one of the greatest bands in the world. I'd met my new camera guy and he was nice and good at his job, and the show had gone great.

Not to mention, I was currently hanging out with the sweetest, sexiest man I'd ever met, and he hadn't taken his eyes off of me all night. An after party raged all around us, the crowd in the club big enough to hide in. Matthew and I had found a slightly private corner of the VIP section and were nursing beers while everyone else partied hard.

Matthew's hand was under the back of my shirt, fingers splayed across my bare skin as we watched Julia dancing on a table, laughing.

"Five bucks says she bites it," I offered, eyeing the stiletto boots on her feet and the rather drunk expression on her face.

"No chance," Matthew replied, his lips against my ear. "If she does fall down, she'll turn it into some kind of graceful gymnastics thing and everyone will cheer."

"Julia's a gymnast?"

"In the sack, according to Rick."

"Ew. Gross."

He laughed and kissed my cheek. "Yeah, sorry. But if I have to know entirely too much about their sex life, so do you. All part of your duty as my girlfriend."

I froze, shocked and delighted. He'd just tossed the word girlfriend out there like it was nothing. My first instinct was to panic, but after considering it, I realized there was nothing to be afraid of. Matthew wasn't like anyone I'd ever known before and if he said girlfriend he meant it, and seriously.

Smiling, I squeezed his thigh as Dex came over to talk to us.

"What are you lot hiding out over here for? Come do a shot with me."

Matthew shook his head. "No, thanks. Next time. We're just chilling right now."

"That's no fun." Dex shook his head and turned his back on us before dancing away on wobbly legs.

"Oh man," Matthew said. "There are going to be a lot of hangovers tomorrow."

"Well, at least no one's really paying attention to how little you're drinking." I cocked my head to the side and looked at him. "You feeling okay?"

"Pretty much. Those pain pills are working, at least taking the edge off my ribs. Getting drunk will just make me clumsy and sleepy."

"We can't have that, can we." I glanced around and kissed him quickly on the mouth.

"Don't start that or I'll drag you out of here right now, Ellie."

"Not a chance. You're showing the world how united and perfect your band is, remember?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Oh, right. I almost forgot." He stood up and pulled me to my feet. "Wanna dance?"

"Not really." I grinned. "But I will."

"Shit, I was hoping you'd say no. Oh well, what a shame. Come on."

We walked to the middle of the room, laughing together. Julia saw us and hopped down from the table. She slung an arm around Matthew's waist and bumped her hip against his. "Finally joining the fun, Matty?"

"Ugh, don't you start calling me that, too," he pleaded.

She looked over at me. "I thought you were supposed to be making him fun?"

I grinned. "I'm trying."

"Good." She took my hand and spun me around in a circle. "Someone has to. I'd offer my services, but I've got a jealous man up my ass all the time."

"Please, we don't need the dirty details," I quipped. "Even a gross gossip-monger like me has a limit."

Julia barked out a laugh and hugged me briefly, the scent of expensive tequila wafting around her. "Goddamn it, I'm really starting to like you. That sucks."