So, she’d nearly broken a couple of bones getting into this dress, but it was 9:00 on the dot and she was ready. Finally. Bones intact.

She gave a final look at her reflection and headed out toward Thomas and the car that would take her to Rhys.

About fifteen minutes later, she stepped out of the SUV that Thomas had parked right out in front of a club, her eyes wide.

She had gone all out with her makeup and had spent almost an hour giving herself dark smoky eyes. She had even applied some glitter. She’d taken her long, dark hair up and had pinned a smaller peacock feather into the updo. Turquoise feathered earrings dangled from her ears and she had paired the outfit with black skyscraper heels.

She felt outrageous outside of the club but once she stepped inside, she saw that the entire club looked outrageous. It was made up like an actual burlesque club and whoever was paying for this little shindig had spared no expense in making sure that it fit the theme down to every last detail.

There were servers circulating with champagne in coupe glasses, harlequin dancers on aerial silks everywhere, flashing lights and even a girl up on stage doing an act and stripping down to her pasties.

She didn’t see anyone she knew coming in, but as if he were calling out to her, she felt a pull toward the left side of the stage and sure enough, there he was.

He was dressed as a 1920s gent and looked like he had stepped right out of a party at Jay Gatsby’s house, straight into this party. The look worked for him, although who was she kidding - all looks worked for him.

He openly checked her out as they walked toward each other in the crowded club. Finally meeting in the middle, he pulled her into his arms as if he didn’t intend on ever letting her go again and whispered against her ear, “Definitely very sexeee!”

She leaned into him and shivers ran up and down her spine at feeling his hot breath on her ear. She liked this, she liked this a lot. Was it possible that he did, too? It felt like it, from the way he was hanging on to her, but...

Her thoughts completely stopped when the first flash went off. Followed by what felt like a million more. Reporters? she thought in her daze. Who had invited reporters?

She thought back to his words this afternoon. I’m planning something, he had said. He had invited them. This was all still part of the act. The delicious shivers she had felt running up and down her spine just seconds ago had settled in her stomach like a block of ice. Fuck.

When he finally let her go, a flock of scantily-clad girls descended on him and he let them hang all over him. Right in front of her. With the reporters now scattered, he looked like he had not a care in the world. She grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing server and poured the entirety of its contents down her throat in one go. Happily, another server passed and she accepted another glass from him.

She turned to see the other four members of Misery huddled at a table nearby. Yes, all four. What was Luc doing here? And why was Anders in a club so soon after being discharged from the hospital?

Milo waved her over and they all hugged her warmly, except for Anders. He just nodded in her direction.

“Luc! This is a surprise! What’re you doing here?”

“Came home earlier this week. I was so over that place. It’s boring. And I’m fine. Besides, from the looks of things I came home just in time. We’ve been on fire this week with all of Rhysie’s new stuff. Looks like the magic’s back for us!”

Rhys had written new songs this week? Well, color her intrigued.

“It’s good to see you. How’re you holding up?”

“I’m okay, really. I owe you an apology, Serena. My behavior the night we met was appalling. I’m really sorry. Forgive me?”

The Misery boys were just oozing with apologies today. Still, he looked appropriately sincere, so she nodded in agreement as Milo and Jett cheered.

“One more down, only about two million to go,” Jett joked as he tapped Luc’s back. At least, she thought he was joking. Luc couldn’t really owe two million more apologies, could he?

“We’ve got to go up in about a minute, guys,” Anders spoke up.

“You’re performing tonight?” she asked. When did that happen?

“Yup, impromptu gig to get a feel for the fans' reactions to the new stuff. We used to do it all the time but we stopped ‘cause we were always on the road last few years. Didn’t have the time. Rhys suggested we do it, and we all agreed. Haven’t been on a stage for over a month now, can’t have that!” Milo explained, his voice brimming with excitement, eyes lit up.

“Time, gentlemen. See you later, Serena. Enjoy the show,” Luc said, winking at her. What was that about? These had to be the most confusing men on the planet! None of them had spoken to her in almost a week, yet now they were all friendly and winking at her and pretending like they were old friends… Even the ones she had never been friends with!

Jett caught Rhys’ eye and nodded toward the stage. Rhys seemed to understand and immediately disentangled himself from the girls still falling all over him.

As soon as they took the stage, the music died down and every eye in the club turned toward them. She now knew that they had played sold-out stadiums worldwide, so a couple of hundred people in a club should have been easy, but she felt nervous for them anyway.

Jett stepped into a circle of light center stage and it was really hard for her to believe he was the same guy who had been joking with her minutes ago. A thunderous roar went up from the crowd as soon as he stepped up to the microphone.

This close to the stage, she could see each of them even though only Jett was lit up right now. He gave the crowd a few moments to die down, and she took the time to really take them in.

Misery, in all their glory up on the stage that they would undoubtedly dominate in a few minutes, was really quite a beautiful thing to behold. She suddenly wished Mary or Katie were here to share in this moment.

It was easy for her to see now why they became international gods of rock. Even though she knew that she was joking with them just a couple of minutes ago, her brain couldn’t wrap itself around the fact that those guys up on stage were the same guys.

Rhys had the red Gibson guitar she had watched him play at home strapped to him, smoldering eyes gazing out into the crowd and even though she was sure he couldn’t actually see her, it felt like his blazing gaze had rested right on her. Gone was the easy, yet complicated fun-loving guy she had spent countless hours watching movies and playing house with. The one that she had come to know and dare she even think it, love. He was drop dead gorgeous and his stance was powerful, determined and he oozed confidence and sex appeal.

Luc stood diagonally across the stage from Rhys, holding his own guitar almost gently as he waited for the lead singer to do his thing. He looked more at peace than she had ever seen him, staring intently out at the crowd. His eyes were focused, not watery and darting as they had been at their first meeting.

Milo stood behind the keyboards, blond hair shining, his face set and his eyes narrowed. He seemed to radiate supremacy from his stance behind his chosen instrument, as if its closeness gave him strength.

Anders had picked up his drumsticks with a small smile and seemed almost relieved as he settled in behind his kit. Her father had worn a similar expression when she was young and he had arrived home to find his family waiting for him, all smiles. Strange that Anders would be wearing it now, like he had arrived home.

“We’ve been working on a couple of new songs and we invited you all here tonight ‘cause we want you to be the first to hear them.” Jett’s smooth voice came over the microphone.

With no further ado, Rhys stepped forward into a pool of light that had appeared in front of him, head bowed and eyes closed as he picked at the strings with his right hand, left holding down chords on the fretboard that his fingers found effortlessly. It took her breath away, watching him stand there, confident and powerful and too gorgeous to express in words.

A few seconds later, all the guys had joined in and Jett started belting out the first lines of their new song.

The crowd, herself included, listened to them play, completely enthralled by them.

About halfway through the song, a thought that she couldn’t quite grasp at yet was being forced in the back of her mind. This song seemed personal, somehow. She might not have had much, okay any, songwriting experience, but she had read somewhere over the course of the last few weeks that people used their own experiences when they were writing a song.

She thought back to what Luc had said earlier about these being songs Rhys had come up with, though she had no idea if he had written them entirely by himself or how that process had worked.

As she looked up at him, he had turned ever so slightly and seemed to meet her eyes just as Jett started singing about a girl who had surprised him and who he has real feelings for that he’d never had before.

That’s when it hit her, was it at all possible that this song was about her? No way! Her heart skipped more beats as this thought hit her harder than what could possibly be healthy and the air was sucked clear out of her lungs. Shit. She really needed to talk to her mom about genetic heart conditions in their family. She was pretty sure she needed to see a doctor.