“Sit still, I know what I’m doing.”

Annette huffed out a laugh and held still as Shiori swept the light blush across her cheeks. She tried not to look over at the laptop, even though knowing Danica Tallien was watching made it hard to breathe. She took a sip of the mimosa Shiori had prepared for her the second she’d stepped on the bus, the tart citrus tasting a little strange with the flavor of coffee lingering on her tongue, but still nice and refreshing.

She’d seen Danica briefly on this screen over the past week, but always when the guys were here, clamoring for her attention. A quick ‘Hi!’ before Jesse and Alder grabbed the laptop to speak alone with her in the back room was easy.

Having her full attention during private ‘girl time’?

A little surreal.

Models had never been on Annette’s radar until Danica stepped into the spotlight. The woman blurred the lines between the fashion and metal scene in a way that had never been done before. She was a huge part of Winter’s Wrath’s success.

Yes, their music was fucking incredible. But there were bands out there with great music who were never heard. Never got a real chance to make an impact. It happened in every industry. No matter how good you were, if people didn’t know about you, you might as well be screaming into the void.

“The makeup won’t be enough.” Danica said from the laptop. Sitting on her bed in a hotel room in Montreal, in a bathrobe, not wearing a spot of makeup, Danica looked like a golden goddess observing them from her heavenly throne. She tapped her gold tipped, French manicured nails on her knee. “Shiori’s still working on this, and she’s new to the stage. You have a presence, Annette. You have to shut it off. People look when they see someone walking through a crowd on the sidewalk as though they own it. They notice the attitude. That confident smile.”

Frowning, Annette turned away from Shiori, who had started on her eyeliner. The brush slipping across her cheek had her slapping a hand over her lips. She held still as Shiori used a makeup wipe to clean the mess. “Shit, I’m sorry.” She bit her bottom lip when Shiori grumbled under her breath, then focused on Danica. “But I don’t have a ‘presence’.”

“You really do.” Danica flashed a perfect smile, leaning close to the screen. “Every picture fans have snapped from a distance, I can see how they spotted you. That fiery hair. That defiant look in your eyes. You strut around like an Amazon heading into battle. Men are intimidated. Women admire you. It works on stage, but I bet if you went out, holding some of that back, you’d blend in better.”

“Should she have to though?” The newest bodyguard, who’d been sent by Brave to keep an eye on her and Shiori, stood against the wall across from the kitchenette in Winter’s Wrath’s bus, brow furrowing as he met Danica’s eyes from the screen set on the table. “Sorry, I know it’s not my place. But I—and the rest of the security team—are here to keep her safe.”

“Josh, so far I like you. I really do.” Danica rested her chin on her folded hands, her lips slanted. “But Annette isn’t really your responsibility. Her band doesn’t have 24/7 security. She needs to feel safe going out on her own.”

“She isn’t safe. Not yet.” Josh folded his arms over his chest. “That’s reality, like it or not. Annette is a priority, so she will have someone with her at all times.”

“If she draws less attention to herself, it’ll make your job easier.”

“True, but she’ll miss the opportunity to be seen.” Josh shook his head, relaxing his stance. “I don’t need the job to be easy. I need my charges to feel comfortable going about their lives, doing their jobs and letting me do mine.”

Chewing at her bottom lip as both Danica and Shiori turned their focus back to her, Annette considered how things had gone since they’d left Berlin. A concert in Prague and Munich. Press everywhere. Hours of practice every day and not enough sleep. Despite Jesse stopping by a few times to discuss details of the collaboration between the bands, and to pick up Quinton for practice with Winter’s Wrath, the two bands hadn’t spent much time together.

There were another fifteen stops on this tour, so things weren’t going to ease up anytime soon. But they had today off. They were in Venice. She had a chance to actually go out and see things. Experience a bit of this amazing trip.

She didn’t want to spend the whole time looking over her shoulder. If she didn’t go out with her typical dark eye makeup, and black clothes, people might not notice her at all. They wouldn’t exactly be around places the metal crowd hung out anyway. No point in dressing all goth and giving people a reason to stare.

Today, for the first time, she wanted to be…ordinary. Just a girl having some fun with her new friends.

“You both make good points.” She smiled at Josh, whose expression didn’t change. He inclined his head for her to go on. “Tomorrow I won’t hide. I do feel safe with you there and we need all the publicity we can get. Let chicks call me a slut. They can hashtag it with my name on Twitter.” She took a deep breath. “I want to go to a dozen little shops and buy souvenirs. I want to taste the food, and see the museums and all the sights, and I only have a day to do it.”

Shiori’s lips curved. She picked up the eyeliner brush she’d set on the table. “So you want me to finish?”

Looking at the silver mirror on the swivel stand set on the table, Annette licked her bottom lip. She could already tell Shiori was going for a very natural look. She hadn’t even covered Annette’s freckles, which had Annette wrinkling her nose a little. Kace might be the makeup expert, but Annette had learned how to hide those as a teen. She hated people teasing her, calling her Little Orphan Annie.

But with her hair sleeked back, her cheeks a soft pink, and the curves of her cheekbones gently defined, she looked…pretty.

She wasn’t ditching her black lipstick anytime soon, but she could get used to this. For special occasions maybe.

“Yes, please.” Annette did a better job holding still this time and in a few minutes, Shiori was done. “I’m not wearing a dress, but I’ll do a blouse with my jeans. Deal?”

Frowning, Shiori looked that the shirt Annette was wearing, which had a big skull formed out of metal studs. “Do you have a blouse?”

Umm… Packing fancy clothes hadn’t been a priority. Her stage clothes took up way too much room. Annette made a face and shook her head.

“You wouldn’t have one either if I hadn’t sent you so many clothes, Shiori.” Danica winked at Annette. “I’ve already got some stuff in mind for you. I know how hard it is to pack for tours and you’ve got some wicked outfits for your performances. You’ll have to tell me who does your corsets.”

“Anyway.” Shiori slipped out of the booth, pursing her lips at Danica. “I’ve got more than enough to share, I just wasn’t sure if she’d feel comfortable with that. You can be very pushy, Danica.”

“I’m not being pushy. Annette is one of us now. She gets the very best.”

Leaning down, Shiori feigned a whisper in Annette’s ear, clearly wanting Danica to hear her. “Watch. She’s going to send you a fifty-thousand-dollar purse.”

“I am not!” Danica rolled her eyes. “No more than five thousand. Sophie’s right, every girl needs one.”

Annette’s jaw nearly hit the table. “Please don’t. I’d break it, or lose it, or—”

“Too late. She likes you. Prepare to be spoiled.” Shiori pulled out two blouses from the thin closet between the bunks. “This ivory one would look nice, but I love this light blue for you. What do you think?”

Both were delicate, lace over a silk chemise, and nothing like Annette’s typical style. She was drawn to the blue one, with long sleeves, open shoulders and a high neckline. Her sister wore these kinds of shirts all the time and always looked so elegant.

“The blue one is perfect. Thank you.” Annette took the shirt from Shiori and quickly headed to the bathroom to change. She came out, smoothing her hands over the front of the blouse, feeling like a kid playing dress-up. “Fuck, this is weird.”

“But you look amazing.” Shiori held out Annette’s long leather jacket, which had been deemed simple enough not to clash with the outfit. “Wait until Connor sees you.”

“Connor?” Danica moved closer to the screen with a huge smile. “I didn’t know you two were a thing! That’s awesome. He’s such a sweetheart.”

“He really is. I feel so bad because he doesn’t spend much time with the other guys.” Shiori sighed as she pulled on her jacket. “I wish Winter’s Wrath was as tight as XVI Hours. You’re like family.”

Annette snickered. “One very fucked up family, but yeah, we’re close.”

“You’ve got the best perspective, Josh, since you’re new.” Danica hugged herself, her eyes troubled as she pulled the bodyguard into the conversation as if he hadn’t been standing back, being as unobtrusive as possible since speaking up about Annette’s protection. “How are our boys doing?

Josh’s brow furrowed slightly as though he was carefully thinking over his answer. “Better now that Tate’s out of the hospital. I don’t know them well enough to say how much has changed.”

“But your cousin does.” Shiori pulled on her cream-colored, wool jacket, fiddling with the big black buttons as she eyed Josh hopefully. “He must have told you something?”

With a compassionate smile, Josh shook his head. “He keeps his thoughts to himself. Not that I would share anything he told me—he loves being part of the band, but his position is still tentative.”

Shiori nodded slowly, lowering her gaze. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, you probably shouldn’t have, but I understand.” The edges of Josh’s lips quirked slightly. “The band makes me think of my brother’s team. Sometimes things get rough, and it can affect their performance. As captain, it’s his job to work out the issues in the locker room. Brave will have to do the same.”

The looks on Danica and Shiori’s faces were almost comical. Annette couldn’t blame them. She’d only had one conversation with the man and she couldn’t stand him. Quinton came back from practice looking miserable. He’d played with Winter’s Wrath twice and sounded completely out of sync. Online, the fans were bashing him nonstop, and it took everything she had not to lay them on blast.

She hadn’t even opened Facebook this morning. Fuck that noise. No way was she letting all the fanboys ruin her day.

Or Brave Trousseau, with his shitty attitude and ego.

“Alder and Malakai seem like the leaders of the band to me.” Annette shrugged and picked up her glass to finish her drink. “If we let North run things, we’d have nothing but drama. Connor and Tate speaking up more would probably balance things out better. They all need to keep Brave in line.”

Shiori’s eyes narrowed. “Brave’s given everything to that band. And he’s been through a lot. No offense, Annette, but you don’t know him.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” Damn it, how had she forgotten Shiori was dating Brave. She set her glass on the counter by the sink, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “Maybe I’ll get a chance to see another side of him at some point. Right now, he doesn’t seem all that interested in the ‘working together’ part of the collab.”

“Because he’s trying to keep North away from Tate.”

Annette blinked at Shiori. “What?”

“Tate’s all enthusiastic about the collab now. It’s weird.” Shiori folded her arms over her breasts. “He’s always talking about what a great guy North is, which makes no sense. All he knows about North is the man left him with a psycho.”

“Maybe Tate doesn’t blame North because, you know, it’s not his fault?” Annette tried to keep the anger out of her tone, but Shiori bashing North because her boyfriend did was hard to swallow. She liked the girl, she really did, but the huge blindspot she had when it came to Brave was a problem. “North isn’t perfect, and I hope he’s gonna stay the fuck away from Tate, but they’re both adults. Brave needs to get over it.”

“Do you just ‘get over it’ when someone hurts your family?”

“Are you telling me Winter’s Wrath is like family now?” Annette regretted the words the second they left her mouth, but she was too pissed to apologize. Again. So far it seemed like XVI Hours had to put in all the effort, while the ‘bigger’ band walked all over them.

Grey eyes darkening with rage, Shiori turned to Josh. “I’m not feeling good. Go on without me.”

“Shiori—” Danica started, but Shiori snapped the laptop closed, cutting her off.

Josh rubbed his temples and sighed. “I can’t leave you here alone, Shiori.”

“You’re going to have to.” Shiori grabbed the laptop and headed to the back room. “Annette needs an escort back to her own bus.”

And just like that, all their plans for the day were shot. Annette’s throat tightened, but she squared her shoulders, forcing a smile as Josh pulled out his phone.

He held a hand up before she could say a word. “Before you even suggest going on your own, the answer is no. The other bands are all the way across the city. Everyone knows where we are, and where they are. You won’t get out of here unnoticed.”

Good point, but Annette still hated losing so much of her freedom from one day to the next. She’d come here to get ready with Shiori while Jesse was checking Winter’s Wrath into a large villa they’d rented for the next few days while they’d be in Venice. Everyone else had already taken off. The other bands were parked outside a small inn a few miles away. She could probably walk the distance if it wasn’t so cold out.

She was tempted to anyway, but she’d seen a few cameramen hanging out at the end of the property. If they got in her face, she couldn’t guarantee the next headline wouldn’t involve her being stuck in some Italian prison cell.

After speaking briefly on the phone, Josh hung up and motioned her outside. He stood beside her quietly for a few moments, then let out a heavy sigh.

“Not what you expected, eh?” She shot him a small smile, hoping to lighten the mood. “I bet dealing with soldiers was easier.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Sometimes. After twenty years of service, this is definitely one hell of a change. I know what Ballz means when he says he misses just giving out orders and reprimands.”

“I’m not surprised.” She rolled her eyes when he arched a brow at her. “He’s a little uptight.”

“Are you uncomfortable with him?”

“No, not at all.” She shrugged. “I think we’ve reached a truce. Where Connor is concerned, anyway.”

“I won’t ask you to elaborate, but that is good to know.” He nodded toward the approaching black SUV. “Because here they come now.”

Her cheeks heated as the SUV pulled up beside the bus and both front doors opened. Balthazar remained standing by the driver’s side, inclining his head to Josh. He looked like a soldier out of uniform—though his thick black cotton jacket could be standard issue with that rigid style—standing at ease, his eyes hidden behind black shades. She shivered as she felt his eyes on her. Whenever he was around, she wasn’t sure what she wanted more. To behave to make him happy, or misbehave to see what he might do.

Turning her attention to Connor, she grinned as he picked her up in his arms for a quick hug, bringing his lips to hers as though he missed the taste and feel of them. Connor was easier to read, and she enjoyed how being near him instantly lightened her spirits. They hadn’t gotten much time together over the past few days, but they texted constantly. Mostly about silly stuff, like when he’d sent her a picture of Tate falling asleep at the table with a half-eaten cookie in his hand, just last night.

She’d never had this kind of relationship with a guy she’d fooled around with. They were like friends. Maybe even ‘friends with benefits’, but even that seemed too limited to describe what they had. They weren’t exactly dating, but everyone saw them as a couple. And she didn’t mind, because being with Connor didn’t make her feel chained down.

She pressed her hands to his chest as he lowered her to her feet, easing back enough to look him over. “You clean up nice.”

His cheeks reddened as he straightened his heavy black and grey wool blazer. “Yeah, Danica sent this—one of the few designers clothes she’s sent me that I like, but don’t tell her I said that. I thought today would be a good time to wear it.” He rolled his shoulders, as if not used to the fit, even though the jacket looked like it had been custom made for him. “Balthazar said it’s an improvement. I’m starting to think you guys don’t like my style.”

Shaking her head, she reached up to ruffle his already stylishly messed up hair. “What are you talking about? I love your T-shirts with holes in them. And ripped jeans are so in right now.”

“Maybe…” Connor’s lips curved as his gaze swept over her. “But I’d look like a bum next to you. You remind me of that chick from Game of Thrones.”

She cocked her head, not sure if that was a compliment. “That hot wildling?”

“No…” He glanced over at Josh, then back at Balthazar, as though they could help. “You know, the actress who was in Xmen?”

Josh looked just as lost as Annette, but Balthazar pulled off his glasses, nodding slowly.

“Sophie Turner. Yes, I can see it.” He cleared his throat when Annette met his eyes. “We should get going. Jesse and Alder ended up back at your bus—Alder has an idea for the collab which couldn’t wait and he’s going over it with Orion—so you’ll be safe there. Unless…”

She had a feeling he was about to offer she join him and Connor. His hesitation didn’t surprise her. There was some kind of push and pull going on between Balthazar and the guitarist and he’d probably been looking forward to having Connor to himself for the day.

Since she’d had her own plans, she didn’t really feel comfortable intruding on theirs just because hers were ruined. Balthazar’s weird relationship with Connor didn’t bother her, except…she had a feeling if he got his own way, she’d be out of the picture.

Fighting for a man, or woman, wasn’t her thing. If Connor let Balthazar push her out of his life, she didn’t belong there in the first place.

Connor rubbed her arms, a stiff smile on his lips. “I don’t know why you’re not hanging with Shiori, though I can probably guess with the shit Brave has been saying. Today you get a break from all that. Come with us.”

“I’m good. Really.” She chewed on her bottom lip, wishing Balthazar would give her some sign of what the hell he wanted. He’d gone quiet, simply watching them. Not much differently than Josh was. As if it was his job. “I was just going shopping.”

“I don’t mind shopping.” Connor grinned, bringing his hand to his neck. “Danica says I should get a scarf. Some kind of fashion statement. You can help me pick one out.”

“We’re going to St. Mark’s Clock tower.” Balthazar’s tone was sharp. He frowned at Connor when he turned. “You spent all night talking about visiting it, Connor. And the Venetian lagoon, which will take most of the afternoon. We won’t be able to do half of what you planned if we don’t hurry.”

“You’re gonna have a blast. Just drop me off.” Annette smiled at Connor when he turned back to her. “It’s okay.”

“We don’t have to drop you off, Annette.” Balthazar met her gaze, his expression softening. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like you weren’t welcome.”

Damn it, and he had to go and be nice again. She could have gotten mad about him being so anal about their schedule, but she had to agree that visiting all those places would be a lot more fun than shopping for a scarf. And if she wanted to be a bitch, she probably could convince Connor to waste his time in a bunch of shops. Was that what Balthazar expected from her?

She inhaled slowly, torn between extracting herself from the whole situation, and wanting to show Balthazar she wasn’t the woman he thought she was. “If the choice is shopping or exploring, I vote we go explore.”

“So long as you’re coming, I’m good with anything.” Connor put his arm around her shoulders, walking with her back to the SUV.

Balthazar opened the back door before he could, stepping aside to let them in. He rested his forearm on the hood of the car. “If there’s something you’d like to see, Annette, let me know and I’ll fit it in. I think I came across a little rigid before.”

“Just a little.” She smirked a little at his taken aback look. She liked that he was being civil, but it would be better if they were honest. The day would be awkward as fuck if they both pretended things were cool when they weren’t. “But I get it. You were going to have fun together. I’m not trying to ruin your date.”

Brow furrowed, Balthazar studied her for a moment. “It wasn’t a date.”

“I see.” Well, that was clear as mud. She caught Connor shaking his head from the corner of her eye. “What?”

“I’m not doing this all day. I want to spend time with both of you.” He tipped his head to frown up at Balthazar. “It’s not complicated.”

“No. It’s not.” Balthazar straightened. “And I’ve made it clear where I stand.”

“You want to get into that now? Because I don’t.” Connor rubbed a hand over his face. “Eventually I’ll have to figure out what I want, I get that. But—”

“You don’t, actually.” Annette wet her bottom lip, swallowing as Connor went still by her side. Maybe she should let the conversation drop, but she was done with the vague allusions. They all knew what was going on here.

But Connor still looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t speak for Balthazar, obviously, but to be clear, I like you. I want to be with you—whatever that means.” She lifted her shoulders, ignoring Balthazar’s blank stare. “Your relationship with Balthazar won’t change that unless you want it to.”

“But…” Connor shook his head. “How will that work?”

The tension around her was thick enough to chew on, but for some reason, getting everything out in the open took all the pressure off her chest. She met Balthazar’s eyes, even though her words were for Connor.

“I won’t make you choose.”