Not Quite Juliet: A Club Imperial Novel (Silver Soul Book 1) (34 page)

“You set that up?” Oliver was stunned.

“Of course I did.” Dave folded his arms. “I want out of this town and I want to get on the road to being an actual rock band.”

“We are an actual rock band, asshole,” Van said.

“No, we’re a group of talented musicians who are wasting their time playing local shows. And wasting their time with fat fan girls.” He looked straight at me.

“At this point,” Nick said, standing up, “I’m not even going to argue with you about your insult to my girlfriend. Because it doesn’t matter. We’re firing you.”

Dave stopped dead. “What?”

“You’re fired,” Sal repeated, coming to stand next to Nick. “We’ve talked about it and after the bullshit you pulled last weekend with Morgan backstage, we’re letting you go. Your guitar and your attitude are no longer needed.”

“You so need my guitar.” Dave was clearly shocked. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”

“That’s what you don’t get.” Jose leaned forward in his seat. “We don’t want to go anywhere. We all joined this band because we wanted to play but have real lives. We walk that line all the time with the fans. None of us want to deal with the maniacal nuts that being a full blown rock band entails. We formed Silver Soul for fun, a little notoriety and a lot of music.”

“You clearly don’t align with the image or vision we have.” Nick folded his arms. “Therefore, we’re letting you go. You services are no longer required.”

He looked between all of the band members, but his anger landed squarely on me. He pushed Nick and Sal out of the way, and his finger was straight out at me. “You. You fat bitch. Ever since you showed up in our lives, this band has shit the bed. You’re tearing the whole thing apart! What do you think you’re doing? What’s so fucking great about you?!” He was edging closer.

I grinned at him. “I swallow.”

“Bitch!” He lunged for me.

Sal and Jose jumped for him and grabbed his arms, holding him back from me. Nick stepped in front of him. “You don’t get it, Dave. You’re idea of what’s pretty falls right in line with Playboy. Mine doesn’t, and I’m okay with that. I don’t need some little matchstick giggling on my arm. Morgan is all woman, and more woman than you can handle. She has absolutely nothing to do with us deciding to fire you. We’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”

Van spoke up. “Grievances include: being an asshole, being late, never coming to practice. Forgetting the band is about music, not poontang. Generally being disinterested in moving Silver Soul forward within the parameters we envision. Insulting every other member of the group. So, Dave. You are hereby dismissed from Silver Soul.”

“If you have anything at Downbound, Quentin will let you in.” Oliver walked over to him. “Just once, though, so make sure you have everything you need when you leave. You won’t be able to get back in. End of story.”

“You’re really doing this?” Dave looked around at the four people he’d been playing with for the past two years. “You’re really happy here doing nothing more than just playing at Downbound and the occasional gig elsewhere?”

“We are,” Sal said.

He was clearly thinking about this. He was really shocked these men didn’t need to be famous and had no interest in going any further than they were. He looked at each of the four others, and finally nodded. “Fine. You want me out, I’m out. I’ll get the shit out of Downbound tonight. Good luck finding someone who can play half as well as I can.”

“Humility is something you’re also going to have learn.” Sal held out a guitar for Nadine. “Show him, Dee.”

Nadine looked a little worried. “I don’t know...”

“No, please.” Dave gave her a mock sweeping bow. “Show me how a simple woman could possibly play better than me.”

Nadine’s eye lit with anger. “Did you just call me a simple woman?” She snatched the guitar out of Sal’s hand. She tossed the strap behind her head, and nodded to Sal to plug in the amp. She twanged the strings a few times to make sure she was in tune, and this time launched straight into “Master of Puppets” by Metallica, and then transitioned right into “One”.

I put a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing outright. But I could see Dave wasn’t amused by me or by Nadine’s guitar work. His face started to get more and more red, and I almost expected steam to come out of his ears. Just about the time she slid seamlessly into “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” Dave was done. He turned, marched out of the rehearsal cage, slamming the gate and shaking the not-entirely-stable structure. He banged through the door and just about the time the other door was about to crash open, the one behind him shut quietly.

Nadine stopped playing. She glanced over at me, and sighed. “I’m a sucker, aren’t I?”

“I think you’re about to be lead guitar in Silver Soul.” I smiled at her.

She ran her fingers up the frets of the neck without plucking a string. “I miss playing.”

“Then play,” Sal said.

“You’re a damn sight better than Dave.” Oliver smiled at her.

“Nadine, we have an opening for a guitar player in Silver Soul,” Nick said.

“We think you’d be a great fit.” Sal winked.

“Wanna join?” Van asked.

Nadine looked over at me and Lisa, who was bubbling out of her chair. Once again the girl needed a leash I could yank. I nodded, and it was clear what Lisa thought. Nadine petted the guitar again, and took a deep breath. “All right fine. I’m in.”

Sal put his hand up. Nadine high-fived him.

Jose coughed. “She needs a name.”

Nadine put her hand up. “Oh, no. I’ll take care of that.” She walked over to her purse and pulled out a notepad and pen. She wrote something down, ripped it out, and winked at me as she handed the sheet to Sal. I knew exactly what was on there. Sal looked impressed and passed the sheet to Nick. Nick laughed and handed it to Jose and Van. They started laughing, and Lisa grabbed it out of their hands and I saw exactly what I expected on there.

“Dee Ville.” Lisa giggled. “I like it.”

“So.” Sal leaned against the couch arm. “Wanna practice? We have a show on Saturday.”

Nadine grinned. “Hell yes!”

My phone let out the text message tones and I pulled it out.

PickiNicki
:
Had 2 go back 4 sumthing at the apt.

PickiNicki
:
Can u cum help?

I gave the screen the stink-eye. Nick and Lisa leaned over and looked at it. I glanced up at them. “I guess I should go help her.”

“She really writes like that?” Lisa said.

“Not usually,” I answered, “but even I take shortcuts once in a while. Come with?”

“Yeah, sure.” Lisa grabbed her purse. “Let’s let the new little family get to know each other.”

––––––––

“H
ow are you and the new guy doing?”

Lisa leaned back in her seat. “Good. Sir is so good to me.”

“Still on Sir?”

“Yup.” She grinned easily. “He wants to collar me, but I don’t know if I want that with him.”

I smiled at her. “Well, that’s a change. A good one.”

“What?”

“You’re not just agreeing to anything he asks.” I pulled into the parking spot outside the apartment. “You’re finally starting to get it, Li. I’m thrilled, too.”

“It feels ah-mazing.” Lisa smiled at me.

We both got out of the car. I took a quick glance around to see if I could see where Nicole had parked, but I didn’t see her car. We walked to the door and into the apartment building. “You know, you never told me the new guy’s name.”

“Oh, I didn’t? Huh. Weird. His name is Taylor.”

I tripped on the step. Coincidence. Just coincidence. There were thousands of guys out there with the name Taylor. And it irked me that I still reacted to the name. “Taylor. I’ve never met him either, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said, pushing the door open to the second floor. “I’m working on that. I want you to meet him; you’re one of my best friends and I want you to like him.”

“I want to like him as well.”

“He has the most gorgeous eyes.” I could hear the happiness in her voice. “One is chocolate brown and the other is bright, striking blue.”

My heart plunged into my stomach and tried to keep going out through my feet. I could feel the blood drain from my face. “What?”

Lisa turned around. “Holy crap, Morgan!” She walked back to me. “What’s happening? Why do you look so pale?”

I pressed a hand to my chest and just reminded myself to breathe. “Taylor Sherman?”

“Yes.” Lisa leaned me against the wall. “Why? What’s wrong? Oh, God, you’re scaring me.”

“You have to get away from him.” I gasped. I couldn’t breathe for anything. “Lisa, you can’t go near him again.”

“What are you talking about?” Lisa was terrified.

“Taylor Sherman is my ex-sub,” I managed to whisper. “He was my sub, and I knew it wasn’t going to work. When I broke up with him, he stalked me. He was obsessed with me. He couldn’t let me go, or get out of my life. He was ready to kill to get close to me. He went to jail, and he had a two year restraining order once he could manage to get out.” I stared at her. “He tried to kill Nadine.”

“It has to be a different person,” Lisa said, not convinced of her own her words. “It has to be.” She leaned against the wall next to me.

“It’s not.”

Lisa and I whipped our heads around and found my worst nightmare there, holding a gun.

Taylor Sherman was drop dead gorgeous. Tousled light brown hair, his amazing mismatched eyes, broad shoulders, light brown skin from his Latin ancestry. He had perfect muscles and chiseled abs, as well as a pair of gluts that were firm, squeezable and irresistible to watch when he walked. Even his nose was sexy. He just exuded sex and charm.

And that was the problem.

“You still have three years on your sentence.” I pressed myself against the wall.

“Oh, sweetie, ever heard of good behavior?” He walked towards us. “I have very good behavior. All the guards think so. Especially when I have their dicks in my mouth.”

Everything came crashing into place. Lisa started to weep and managed, “You’ve been sending all those texts.”

“You’ve been spying on me for months!” I gasped. “Where’s my sister?”

“Nicole is right inside.” His grin was pure evil. “And I haven’t been spying. It’s called collecting information.” He waved the gun, motioning us to open the door and go inside the apartment. “It’s okay to do that, don’t you know? Nothing is sacred.”

“What do you want?” Lisa’s voice was trembling as we walked into the kitchen.

Taylor closed and locked the door. I heard banging and a door knob rattling from the direction of my room. I looked at him, and I could feel the disgust running through my veins. “Did you lock my sister in the fucking closet?!”

“Bathroom, actually.” He motioned us backwards further into the apartment. He kept walking us back until we tumbled into my bedroom. “I needed the closet for this one.” With a quick shove, he landed Lisa inside the closet and slammed the door. He shoved a folding chair under the knob just as the knob turned and Lisa started rattling the door.

The gun had never moved off me.

I couldn’t think; I was in pure panic state. He was standing there, having sucked his way out of jail, ready to kill me. “Taylor, please,” I managed.

“Please what?” he snapped. “Don’t you get that I loved you? I wanted you to be my mistress. I wanted to please you in every way I could. Instead, you toss me to the side and sent me to jail. Do you have any idea what happens to a sub in jail, Morgan? Do you?”

“I couldn’t do it, Taylor. I couldn’t. I’m not mistress material.”

He’d backed me all the way to the bed and shoved me down. “I would’ve helped you be the woman I needed.”

“No, because I didn’t want to be that woman!”

He grabbed my arms and, suddenly, they were bound together with a zip tie. “Yes, you did. I know you did. You wouldn’t have tried it with me if you didn’t want it.”

“I tried to see if I did, and I didn’t.” I pulled on the tie. It was way too tight. “Come on, Taylor. I sat down with you and I told you all about why it wasn’t going to work. I left our relationship the right way.”

“I didn’t want to leave it.”

“But it’s always consensual, Tay. Always. Both people have to agree.”

“You were willing to sign the contract.” Taylor grabbed my hands and jerked hard on the tie.

“No!” I gasped against the pain. “I wasn’t! I told you I wanted to try it! I didn’t want to be bound by a contract. And after a month, I knew it wasn’t going to work! I’m not the kind of girl who can always be in charge. I like having someone else take over. I like sharing the power. Total power exchange isn’t for me. You can’t force that.” I was shaking like a leaf and trying not to. I was terrified. “Taylor, what are you doing? What do you want?”

“You. Dead.”

Shit.

“Why? Why, Taylor?”

“Because you left me.” His voice was an angry growl. “And I didn’t want that. Your leaving wasn’t consensual, Mistress. I didn’t allow you to go.”

“You know damn fucking well that’s not how this works.”

He grabbed my hands and yanked me back up off the bed. Taylor dragged me to the kitchen and sat me on the stool at the table. I looked around for anything I could grab and use as a weapon, but the place was clean.

Taylor opened the door to the refrigerator, and started pulling things out. He grabbed bread, jelly, week old cream cheese and some pickles. He found some old soda and some glasses. He opened the cabinet and pulled out peanut butter. He was going to make a fucking sandwich while Lisa and Nicole were locked up in the other room and he held a gun to my head.

Crazy fucker actually did, too. He made two sandwiches, one with the week old cream cheese and one with the peanut butter. He pushed the peanut butter towards me, with a glass of soda, and motioned for me to take a bite. “No reason to die hungry.”

“I’m not hungry.”

He slammed his hand on the table. “Eat it!”

“No.” Playing with fire. I also thought he drugged the peanut butter. Wouldn’t that suck.

He grabbed the sandwich and shoved it at my mouth. I keep my jaw clenched. “This is the problem with you, Mistress. You never understood the value of an offering.” He smeared and broke the sandwich all over my face, dragging the peanut butter and jelly up over my cheeks, on my forehead and into my hair. “You didn’t appreciate I was going to give you my submission.”