Creed of Redemption (S.I.N. Rock Star Trilogy #2) (17 page)

I see the tears threatening to fall from my brother’s eyes. Personally, I don’t give a shit, but I’ll go along with his plan. He doesn’t want to be the one to hurt Claude—at least have him know where this plan of deceit stemmed from. When he finally passes, he wants it to be on good terms.

“Fine, Sevyn. I’m sure you know how I feel about it. He didn’t give me any consideration, but whatever. When is the leak supposed to happen?”

“Well, he’s not due back until next Friday, so a couple days before that. Too soon and he’ll speculate how it got out. Give it some time for him to be seen in London, so it can be generalized that the pieces were put together from his trip.”

“Okay,” I agree. The shower shuts off and I remember that Melissa is in there. I don’t think she overheard anything. She walks out in a towel and nearly jumps out of her skin when she sees Sevyn. She looks between us to try to figure which brother is which.

“Sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here.” She inches back until she’s back in the bathroom. She closes the door, leaving a small gap. “Diesel can you hand me my clothes from the bag of stuff I bought yesterday?” When I step forward, she smiles so I guess she figured which brother was the correct one.

“We’ll be arriving in Phoenix in less than an hour,” I inform her. I would suggest that she delay her flight to attend the party tonight, but it’s time I get back to my playboy ways. Keep it moving. Besides this is my last night to hang out with my brother. I need to get him out of his own head. He needs to be focused when he goes back to New York tomorrow.

“Okay. I’ll be ready,” she promises. Sevyn and I head back into the living area. The guys agree to just have a quick meeting in here since Melissa is getting dressed in the bathroom anyway. I have two new songs that I’ve been working on that are almost done. We discuss which song Ivy will sing with me and which song Anderson will join me on. It’s still our set so we don’t want them to overshadow our entire performance. Two songs for our collaboration is enough. We are able to wrap up our meeting rather quickly so we spend the rest of the time talking about the party tonight. Keyser and Gable are more excited than the rest of us. I can admit that we haven’t exactly been living the life of rockers since we’ve gotten on the road. They’re ready to let their hair down, figuratively speaking, and frankly so am I.

O
ur bus arrives at a gorgeous mansion and I’m in awe. The exterior is so grand and breathtaking. We pull around the circular drive before the bus comes to a stop. Reckless Ambition’s bus is already here. I snap pictures of this place as soon as my feet touch the ground. I send them to Brooke via text. I miss her like crazy, but she hasn’t been messaging me back. I hope she responds soon because I’m starting to worry.

“Look at this place,” Lily says looping her arm through mine.

“I know, right?”

“Life of the rich and famous, baby,” Keyser shouts. “Let’s do this. Bring on the women.” We all giggle. Gable mockingly slaps him in the back of the head.

We all head into this palace, except Diesel and Melissa. Another car pulls up and he’s handing her bags to the driver. So apparently she’s leaving. I can’t say that I’m sad to see her go. It doesn’t change anything between Diesel and I, but at least I don’t have to witness their connection in contrast to our lack thereof.

Lily grabs my hand. “Come on. Our first stop is the pool, woman.”

“In January?” It’s in the sixties here in Phoenix, but still. Not exactly pool weather. The wind is kind of snippy too.

“Indoor pool, crazy. Xander already scoped it out when he looked over the floor plan. And it’s heated,” she informs me. I guess I could use some pool time. Sounds fun. We find ourselves in one of the bedrooms upstairs to change. I swear it’s the size of a small house. The closet is the size of a living room. What I wouldn’t give to own a place like this…shit, just to live in a place like this.

I pull out the red bikini Brooke picked for me when we went shopping before I left. I change in the closet surrounded by mirrors. There is no way I can miss all the ass I have hanging from these string bikini bottoms. I tug at them, but it’s no use. The triangle top gives me a little more coverage, but not a ton. I feel like I could be one of those women in the music videos with all my goods on display. I’m contemplating changing into the one piece I snuck into my suitcase. It’s black and has its own skirt attached. Lily walks into the closet wearing a red bikini with black paisleys.

“Look at us. We match,” she squeals. “I have to say, yours is smoking hot. Wait until Diesel sees you.”
Wait…What?
I was about to tell her I was thinking about changing, but she caught me off guard with that statement.

“Who said anything about Diesel? Who care what he thinks?” I retort.

“Girl, please.
You
care, and we will be talking about just how much by the pool. You’re not getting out of our girl talk this time.” I tug at my bottoms and look in the mirror with a frown. “Oh, come on. I see you’re looking and having seconds thoughts. You look great so no changing.” She pulls me toward the door before I can object. When we get to the indoor pool, everyone else is already there—both our guys and Reckless Ambition. I guess we took too long admiring that to die for room. I walk closely behind Lily, trying not to pay attention to the stares I’m getting.

“Damn, Lourdes. You’ve come a long way babe. That fucking bikini is—” Keyser looks over at Xander and decides not to finish that remark. He misses the scowl that Diesel is giving him.

“Doesn’t she look fab?” Lily twirls me around and I could strangle her. I’m trying deflect the attention away from me. I catch the eye roll of Ivy and it kind of makes the attention worth it—just a little. I sit in the nearest chaise lounge chair, which just happens to be next to Diesel. Lily takes the one on the other side of me. Too late to change places with her without making a scene. Music starts playing overhead and I’m happy for the reprieve. In an instant, the roofing retracts, leaving just glass to surround us. It’s then that I realize that this is a solarium. The sunlight filters in and now you can see the lush gardens outside as well as a second, outdoor, pool. This place is magnificent.

A couple of wait staff enter with beer and cocktails. The pre-party has officially started. I luck out and get one of the few mojitos they have available. It’s one of my favorites. Cool and refreshing, perfect for that quick buzz. I lean back in my chair and sip on my drink. I can feel Diesel’s eyes on me, but I try to ignore it. It really is unfair that one look from him can get my blood boiling. But just because Melissa is gone now, does not mean I’m up for going back to being his play toy.

“I think I like this new bold you,” Diesel says where only I can hear. I do look over at him now and he takes a sip of some kind of brown liquor in a glass.

“What are you talking about, Diesel?”

“Red is my favorite color, you know?” He takes another sip of his drink. He’s already toying with me.

“Yeah. Mine too. I wonder what Melissa’s favorite color is.” I can play his game. One point for me.

“Black. Her favorite color is black. There’s something about red, though. Sort of like when the color red is waved in front of a bull,” he surmises.

“What’s your point,
Diesel
?” He’s talking in circles and I don’t know his angle.

“You walk in here with all that ass barely covered by that string bikini and it’s taking the will of a saint not to do something about it.” I look around, but nobody is listening to us.

“Don’t worry. I have enough will for the both of us. I’m sure those bed sheets aren’t even cold yet from you and Melissa, yet here you are making sexual advances on me. You’re such a manwhore.” There I said it. He’s been with Ivy, he’s made moves to be with me, he had Melissa, and now he’s trying to circle back to me. We haven’t even been on the road a month yet. And my tingling girly parts are stupid as shit, so I choose to ignore her horny ass.

“
Mmm-hmm
, maybe,” he admits. “But an honest one. Everybody I get involved with knows the score up front.” He winks at me and finishes his drink. He signals the waiter over for a refill. I finish my drink off so that I can get another as well.

“We all have needs, Lourdes. I’m just honest about mine.” He pulls his shirt over his head and I try not to melt in a puddle from his exposed abs that are so fucking taut and lickable. I swear I drink my second mojito in three swallows. Things are heating up. I can feel my skin flush. I know better, yet my body aches for him. I’m under his scrutiny. He watches as I reposition myself on the chair.

“Yeah, you’re pretty honest about it. We all are witness to your whore parade,” I say trying to verbally remind myself why my pussy shouldn’t be on fire right now.

“I didn’t fuck Melissa, Lourdes,” he volunteers.

“I didn’t ask if you did,” I quip.

He narrows his eyes. “I know. I just needed to set the record straight. Not that it matters. Just want to put that out there. Never assume you know shit.” He smirks. He’s right. It doesn’t matter so why does my heart feel a little relieved? I raise my empty glass for another drink, but he waves the guy off.

“No,” he says firmly.
What the fuck?

“No, what? You can’t cut me off,” I whisper hiss. He motions the guy over and I think he’s about to tell him to get me my drink.

“Two waters, please.” He smiles, but I’m not amused. The guy nods and hand him the two waters. “You need to drink water in between drinks and slow the hell down. We have a long night ahead with the party. At this rate, you’ll be drunk off your ass before it begins.”

“Not your problem now, is it?” I snap. How dare he try to cut me off!

“I beg to differ, sweetheart, since I was the one cleaning vomit off you and taking care of you all night the last time you over indulged.” He stares at me, daring me to try to dispute that fact. He has a point, but damn if it doesn’t still piss me off. I fold my arms and he laughs so loudly, we get some stares.

“Shut it. Okay fine. I’ll drink the damn water. Give it to me.” Our fingers brush as he passes it to me and it awakens the fucking tingles in my vagina that were lying dormant after he cut my alcohol off, fooling me into believing I had gotten that shit under control.

“Come on. No pouting babe. You know I’m only looking out for you.” Hearing him call me babe is a mind fuck. I know that he’s no good for me. I really need to move the fuck on. He’s going to crush me. He’s admitted over and over again, both through words and actions, that he is not interested in having anything with anybody. Just fucking. Yet he calls me baby or babe and my stupid as shit heart skips a beat, like it’s oblivious to the facts.

I chug the water because I will not react to his endearment. Every time he uses babe, baby, sweetheart, or any other word in his manwhore repertoire, I need to replace it with fuck buddy. I need to be realistic and not be sucked in by his charms.

“I’m going to rehearse with the guys. Remember what I said. Take it easy, babe,” he says, getting up from his chair.
Fuck buddy
I say to myself. I wave and watch the sexiness of his back as he retreats. He says a few words to Xander and they round up the rest of the band members. They all head back into the main part of the house so that just leaves Lily and myself. I know what this means.
Girl talk time.
They’re barely out the door before she scoots her chair closer to mine.

“Okay. Spill, woman,” she says. I laugh because I called it. I knew she was bursting at the seams to find out about Diesel and me.

“What do you want me to tell you?” I tease her. She looks ready to stab me.

“Tell me all about you and Diesel. I know there is history between the two of you. You admitted as much, but then you left me hanging. I didn’t push because you had a few mopey days and I guessed it was because of the addition of ass he brought onto the bus, and Ivy.”

“Pretty accurate,” I admit. I didn’t plan on going into great detail about our history, but Brooke has been missing in action and I could use a friend to talk to. It sucks to hold all this in. “You first have to promise that you will never share any of this with Xander,” I warn.