Forever Rockers (6 page)

With my hand still lifted to keep the man quiet, I lifted my phone and skimmed my thumb over Annabelle’s name. It rang five times before she answered. “What’s up?” she asked, sounding distracted.

Rolling my eyes because I could just imagine why she was distracted, and every one of them having to do with Zander Brockman, I told her about the office space and asked if she thought it was a good deal. “Is it the same one you sent me the link to last night?”

“Yes.” I’d sent her the virtual tour the night before so she could take a glance at what I would be looking at today. Even though she was stationed in Nashville, I wanted her input on our L.A. headquarters. She’d sent me a few links to the small spaces she was looking at for the Tennessee office, but so far we hadn’t agreed on one yet.

“You’re the negotiator, Emmie. Work your magic. Get us the best deal you can and then let me know. I’m on board with whatever you decide.”

She was right. I was the negotiator while she was a genius at public relations. We made an excellent team.

I glanced at Natalie and smirked when she lifted a brow, blue-gray eyes twinkling knowingly. “Okay. I’ll talk to you later. Tell Z we said hi.”

Annabelle muttered a curse under her breath but I still heard her. “Today is one of the day’s I’m not speaking to Z, so tell him yourself.”

The bite in her tone wiped the smirk off my lips. “Can I ask why?” I adored Annabelle, but we weren’t close enough yet for me to just demand she tell me what was wrong. Although I could take a guess. She and Z had only been back together for a few weeks now and she was still struggling to get over the time they had spent apart. Understandable considering Z had gotten on a tour bus more than seventeen years ago and never looked back, leaving my new business partner pregnant and broken.

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

“I’m awesome at reading hidden meanings,” I tried to tease her, wanting to make her laugh. Laughter had been missing from all our lives lately and I tried to make those around me laugh at least once a day. Even if I couldn’t find the will to laugh myself most of the time. “What I heard in that was, ‘Z is a douchebag and won’t be sharing your bed tonight’.”

A small laugh escaped her and I was glad that I’d lightened her mood even if it was just a little. “Something like that.” She blew out a long sigh. “Go work your voodoo magic, Em. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“It has not been proven that I actually practice witchcraft of any sort, my friend. And I promise you I don’t stick needles into my dolls…even if they do look like the people I hate the most.” I heard Natalie snort behind me and she hid a halfhearted grin when I noticed the look on the realtor’s face. I wasn’t blind to the fact that some people thought that I made deals with the devil to get the things I did so easily.

What people didn’t understand was that I’d worked my ass off from the moment I’d become the men of Demon’s Wing’s ward to make the connections I had. As for things coming easily… Nothing in life came easy. Ever. Not one damn thing. I might make it look like it was, but it was only because I was so used to doing it. My life was anything but easy.

The smile completely faded from my face and I quickly said goodbye to Annabelle before turning to give the realtor my full attention. “We’ll think about it,” I told him. I wanted the entire floor of office space, and if things turned out as I was planning I might even buy a few more in the next few years, but I wasn’t going to give in easily.

Let the prick realtor think I was on the fence about it for a day or so and then I would make him an offer. I knew the man who owned the entire building. If I had to, Nik and I could wine and dine him and get the kind of price I wouldn’t have nightmares about paying.

Gods knew I had enough nightmares these days. I didn’t want to add one more to them.

We left the realtor once we’d made it downstairs and out onto the street. The guard who had recently become my shadow—Nik’s stipulation for letting me actually leave the house these days—was waiting behind the wheel of my Escalade and quickly stepped out to open the door for me and Natalie. I helped Nat in, since her growing stomach was making it more and more difficult for her to move around these days, before getting in beside her.

While the guard got behind the wheel and pulled into traffic, my attention was focused solely on the woman who had become my right hand in business over the years. Her face was flushed, her eyes shadowed and she lifted a hand that noticeably trembled to her temple to rub.

Another headache.

“Take us straight to Mrs. Cutter’s house, Roger.” Natalie’s head snapped around and she glared at me but I was glaring back. “I love you like a sister, Natalie, and that baby in your belly is going to be my little niece. There is no way in hell I’m gonna let you endanger either of your lives when I can take care of most of this shit myself. You’re going home and Dev is going to keep you strapped to the bed if that’s what it takes.”

“I’m fine, Em. It’s just a headache.”

My brows lifted. “If I took you to see Dallas right now and had her check your blood pressure, how high do you think it would be?”

Jaw clenched, Natalie looked away. “I’m fine.”

“Keep telling yourself that, babe. But you’re not welcome back at work until that little girl is out in the world screaming the place down.” I lifted my phone and shot a quick text to Devlin to let him know I was bringing Natalie home and why. Seconds later Nat’s phone started going crazy with the ringtone she’d assigned for her husband.

“Damn it, Emmie.” She let out a groan and lifted her phone to her ear with a hand that was still trembling. “I’m fine.”

“You are not fucking fine.” I could hear Devlin coming from the speaker as clear as if I were the one with it to my ear rather than sitting the length of the back seat away from Natalie. “You get your ass home so I can take care of you.”

“You’re supposed to be working on new material with Axton,” she reminded him sullenly.

“Fuck Ax. Fuck the new material. I’m headed home right now.” There was a long pause and Natalie’s chin trembled, making my heart clench for her. “I love you, Nat. You heard what the doctor said last week when we went in. I don’t want to lose you, baby. Please, just go home and get in bed. I swear I’ll lie beside you and rub your back all day. I’ll even stop at the store and get those grapes you’re so addicted to lately.”

Natalie leaned her head back against her headrest and closed her eyes. “Okay. Emmie’s taking me there now.”

“Good. I’ll be home in twenty minutes. I love you. Please be careful.”

“We will and you be careful too. Don’t speed. You’ll get there long before us anyway.” She scrubbed a hand over her damp eyes. I wasn’t surprised to see her tears. Damn pregnancy hormones were a bitch. “I love you, Dev. So much.”

Lowering her hand, she turned her wet eyes on me. “I don’t know why I love you sometimes.”

My lips lifted in a small grin. “It’s because I’m awesome.”

Nat’s lips twitched and after a few seconds of fighting her own grin, she finally gave in and let it free. “Yeah. There is that.”

By the time we got to Natalie and Devlin’s house, Dev was already waiting for us in the driveway. He walked around to the side of the Escalade where Nat was and opened the door. He reached into the back seat, pressed a tender kiss to her forehead and lifted her out as if she weighed nothing at all. I followed them inside and up to their bedroom where Dev laid his wife on the king-sized bed and tucked the covers around her.

Once she was settled, the big rocker turned to glare at me. I wasn’t blind to the fact that I scared the shit out of most of the guys I managed and Devlin had always been a little intimidated by me, but there was fire in his eyes now as he glared down at me, showing the backbone I knew he had with anyone other than me. “She’s not coming back to work until after the baby has been born. Maybe not even then if I can help it.”

“Don’t pull that crap again,” Natalie snapped at her husband. “I’m having a baby. Women do it all the time.”

Neither of us paid her any attention as I nodded up at the big man. “I agree. She’s too important to me to want anything to happen to her or that sweet little girl growing under her heart. I’ll manage without her for the time being. I did it before, I can do it again.”

Devlin blinked his aquamarine eyes, as if amazed that I’d actually agreed with him. I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes, more than a little stung that he would think I actually thought so little about Natalie’s health or that of their unborn child. “Good.” He crossed his arms over his massive chest and tossed his long black hair out of his face. “I don’t want to see any texts from you or anyone else that has to do with work. She needs to be as stress-free as possible.”

“You watching over me like a fucking caveman is stressful too,” Natalie grumbled.

“I promise I’ll have all her calls redirected to my home office or my own cellphone and I will only text or call to check on her. If she’s not better by morning, get her in to see the doctor. Make her drink lots of water and keep her feet propped up. I’m pretty sure they were starting to swell.” She’d been limping earlier, practically waddling. I remembered those days well and sure as hell didn’t miss them.

“Have I become invisible or something?” Natalie snarled from the bed. “I’m right here, people. Stop talking about me as if I’m not.”

A noise behind me had me turning to find Harris and Lucy hurrying up the stairs. Natalie’s stepson, so much like his father in both looks and personality, had a paleness to his face as he reached the landing. “Is she okay?”

I nodded. “For now at least. Your dad’s putting her on house arrest. Or rather, bed arrest.”

“Good.” Harris carefully moved past me and into the bedroom to get to the bed where his stepmother was still grumbling to herself. “How do you feel?”

“I have a headache,” she told him honestly with a tight smile. “Would you mind getting me some Tylenol? Your dad and Emmie seem to have forgotten I’m here.”

Harris didn’t hesitate to move into the connecting bathroom. I heard him moving around and figured it was time for me to go. I glanced at Lucy who had stopped in the doorway beside me. “Hey, baby. Do you need a ride home?” I figured she’d been hanging out with her best friend from the moment school let out for the day, and when Harris had found out about Natalie, had dropped everything to rush home to take care of his stepmother just as his father had done.

Dark eyes lingered on the bathroom door where Harris was still getting what Natalie needed. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Yeah, I want to go home.”

Harris’s head popped out of the bathroom at the sound of her voice. “I can take you,” he assured her, a frown on his handsome face. “We can still hang out for a few more hours if you feel up to it.”

Lucy’s lips pursed together and I knew she was biting her tongue about something. After only a small pause she gave him a smile that didn’t reach her big brown eyes. “No, that’s okay. I have homework I need to finish. You stay and take care of Natalie.” Her gaze went to the bed to offer the other woman a kind smile. “I hope you feel better, Nat.”

“Lucy—” Harris started forward with a bottle of Tylenol in one hand and a glass of water in the other, but Lucy lifted a hand and put an all-too-brief smile on her beautiful face.

“No. It’s okay. Really. Take care of Nat and if you have time, call me later.” She started to turn to leave, paused and looked back at him over her shoulder. “And don’t forget to call that girl who gave you her number at the beach earlier.”

Damn it. In that moment I wanted to grab Harris Cutter by his ears and hold him outside his stepmother’s bedroom window.
Open your fucking eyes, boy.
I wanted to scream it at him, but refrained from doing it.

For now.

I knew Lucy was way too young for anything but friendship with Harris. Didn’t mean I didn’t agonize over how my sweet little niece was feeling right then. Love sucked. Love was a bitch. Love…

Love was the ultimate four-letter word.

Harris didn’t even blink. “Yeah, okay. I’ll call you,” he promised, but he didn’t sound like he was happy.

I rushed through my goodbyes, knowing I needed to get Lucy out of there as quickly as possible. My niece was not the docile little girl I remembered from the first time I’d met her. She was growing up and turning out to be so much like her older sisters—and myself. More than I was sure Jesse could handle at times.

Neither of us spoke until we were in the back of the Escalade headed toward my house. “You okay?” I finally asked, knowing without her having to answer that she wasn’t.

“Guys suck, Aunt Emmie.”

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her head down onto my shoulder. “I know, baby. I know.”

“He doesn’t even know I’m alive,” she whispered more to herself than to me.

“I disagree, Lu. That boy definitely knows that you are alive. You’re his best friend in the world. You know that.” But I also knew that wasn’t what Lucy was talking about. She was only eleven though, and maybe in a few years the age difference between her and Harris wouldn’t seem so huge, but right then her eleven and Harris’s almost seventeen seemed like a million years apart. We both knew it, but that didn’t make her pain any easier to handle.

She remained quiet and I grimaced as I stroked her hair on the short ride home.

First crushes sucked. First loves were even worse, and Lucy was experiencing them both. I would have done anything to have taken the pain from her, having felt exactly what she was going through myself with Nik. I would have spared her that kind of pain if I could have, but all I could do was love her and offer her a little advice.

As Roger neared my house, and in turn Lucy’s, which was only a few houses down from my own, I lifted Lucy’s curly head and stroked a finger over her baby-soft cheek. She was growing up way too fast. Sometimes I had to remind myself that she was only eleven, but she looked and acted so much older that it was easy to forget.

“Maybe it’s time to pull back a little, baby. Maybe…” I gave her a grim little smile, knowing that my next words would sting and hating having to hurt her in any way. “Sweetheart, I know he’s your best friend and that he’s been there for you during…everything.” I couldn’t hide my shiver while memories of
everything
flooded my mind and I watched helplessly as Lucy’s face paled. “But sometimes you have to think about which of two evils is worse—having him around all the time, breaking your heart on him every time you see him so much as smile at other girls, or not having him at all. What would hurt worse, Lu? What can you live with?”