EPILOGUE

ALICIA

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Yes, you. Miss Rowlands, what’s your question?” I pointed to the spectacle-wearing blonde in the back, helping to field questions for a press conference for Destitute. The new album just dropped, and the sales had been incredible so far. The press conference was the first in a long line, in preparation to kick off the band’s “Imperial Inspection” tour.

“My question is for Jared,” she said, clearing her throat as one of Gerry’s minions handed her a microphone. “You’ve been credited with writing most of the songs for this album. Is there one that means more to you than the others?”

Jared leaned forward and smirked as he glanced at her and spoke into his microphone. “Come on, you know me better than that by now. What do you think?”

She got flustered under his gaze and tried to speak a few times before finally getting it right. “That they all mean their own thing to you, and that they’re open for interpretation to everyone else?”

Jared tapped the side of his nose, his voice low when he said, “Bingo. Not gonna start giving away my secrets now.”

As much as I loved the man—and I really did, more than chocolate or wine or the air that I breathed—he was really playing up the arrogant persona today. Jared the Emperor was in the house, but I couldn’t fault him for it because as much as that Jared might annoy me, the fans and the press were eating it up.

I was going to have to get used to it, to sharing him with all these people from here on out. The last couple of months, we’d been living in the bubble we’d created for ourselves since Hawaii. It was the happiest I’d ever been, being in that bubble with Jared, but with the tour kicking off soon, I was going to have to get used to leaving my Jared in the bubble and stepping out with the Emperor of Rock instead.

The band was lined up on a low stage behind a long table that housed the microphones, bottles of water, and their phones, since I’d asked them to snap some pictures from up there to post later. Jared sat closest to where I was standing behind a podium, with Caleb, Nick, Matt, and then Dom sitting beside him.

Jared wasn’t the only one playing up the whole, “I’m a rock star” thing. While I was of the opinion that he was by far the most gorgeous and the best at it, I was willing to look past my bias and admit that the five of them, in all their tatted-up, leather-pants, and silver-jewelry-wearing glory, made for quite the sight.

I was sure that as soon as the pictures from today started hitting the airwaves, the album sales were going to skyrocket again. I also idly, and very briefly, wondered whether Gerry would be amenable to adding a vibrator to the official Destitute merchandise, because that thing would sell like ice cream on a hot day. But I put that idea out of my mind when I realized that I didn’t want to have any part in facilitating orgasms fueled by fantasies of Jared for one-fifth of the world’s population.

It was bad enough to see the way most woman in here were looking at him, like they wanted to eat him. I was quite proud of myself for how I’d been handling dating the subject of so many fantasies thus far, more especially so for not throwing my microphone right at the redhaired woman sitting in the front row. Emma Jones from the Daily was looking at my man like she was vividly imagining him bending her over and taking her right here in front of all these people. Perhaps it was time for a reality check in the form of actually doing her job.

“Miss Jones,” I called out, and her creamy skin flushed slightly, letting me know that I’d been exactly right about where her mind had been not a second ago.

One of the minions rushed a microphone to her, and she stood, smoothed her skirt, and once more, looked right at Jared. “What do you have to say to those who are of the opinion that you’ve peaked, and that there will be no replicating what you’ve managed to achieve with this album?”

I’d heard that rumor, but I wasn’t expecting it to make an appearance today. There wasn’t a lot of negative commentary about the album itself, but there was a lot of speculation and conjecture about whether they’d be able to keep it up. If Jared was bothered by the question or the rumor, he didn’t show it.

If anything, the arrogant smirk that had been on his face since this shindig started widened, and he arched an eyebrow at Emma, ever the cocky Emperor. “I’d say those people have no idea what I look like when I… peak.”

He sat back in his seat like the smug bastard he was, and Caleb laughed at his answer. I caught Jared’s eye, and he shrugged. He’d been a pro at downplaying all of the negative questions from the press, so I couldn’t really complain, though.

I fielded a few more questions, focusing on some of the people who weren’t obviously undressing Jared with their eyes, and allowing for some of the other guys to answer some questions. A man wearing a hideous print shirt at the back raised his hand, and I pointed to him next.

“Is it true that your would-be baby mama from a couple of months ago attacked your current girlfriend, and that you’ve had her thrown in prison, Jared?” the man asked.

As if the room were holding its collective breath, the place went so quiet that you would have been able to hear the head of a pin drop.

When we came back from Hawaii, after the album release date and some more details about it were released, we went public with our relationship, and it boosted the hype for the album, exactly as I’d predicted it might. With one of the members of Destitute in a committed relationship, fans the world over were hopeful that the rest of the boys were ready to follow suit.

Granted, I was pretty sure a fair amount of woman, like thousands probably, were also hoping that my relationship with Jared would fail so that they could get their shot at him, but I couldn’t allow that to bother me. Kelly had been worried about the fact that I’d strategically planned going public with our relationship to fall in with the promotional stuff going on around the album, but we were in a relationship, and it was going to get out. I was merely making sure that it got out on my terms and in a way that would do the most for the band.

She was here, and her eyes flickered nervously to mine as if she were worried about how I was reacting to the question Jared had been asked. If it had been directed at me, I probably would’ve screamed at the man and ordered him out of the room, but that was why I wasn’t the media-trained superstar sitting up on that panel.

“As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, the claims made by Miss Green that I’d fathered her child were completely fabricated. She wasn’t even pregnant at all when those claims were made. Unfortunately, it is also true that she broke into Alicia’s home one evening and that she is now in prison. However, it’s not because I, or we, for that matter, had her thrown in there as you insinuated. The police apprehended her on the evening that she broke into Alicia’s home, and she admitted to that and another crime. We respect the criminal justice system and hope that Miss Green is receiving the psychiatric help that she needs for her obsessive tendencies.”

Jared delivered the textbook answer seamlessly and without any coaching whatsoever. I was damn proud of him. Caleb clapped him lightly on the back as if he was too, and Matt gave him a low thumbs-up that only those few of us on this side of the room would be able to see.

The silence lasted for another beat after his answer, and then the room burst out into spontaneous applause. Jared lifted his chin in recognition, but then leaned forward, trademark smirk back in place, and said, “Next question.”

Taking my cue from him, I pointed to one of Kelly’s friends whom I’d met before and knew was a fan, so I thought a follow-up from her would be safe. “I’m sorry that you both had to go through that. I have an unrelated question.”

Relief coursed through me that I’d been right in choosing her, and I nodded for her to continue.

“I know that you’ve got a huge tour to get through first, but do you have any idea what’s next yet for Destitute?”

She hadn’t addressed the question to any of the band members in particular, and they exchanged a look before Dom leaned forward to take it. Then Jared mumbled something to him that I couldn’t hear and lifted his own microphone out of its cradle.

“I’m glad you asked that question,” Jared said, standing from his position behind the table. I had no idea what he was doing. He hadn’t been scheduled to get up or to walk around, but as always, Jared did exactly what he wanted, and I let him play to the crowd because that was, of course, his specialty.

“After the tour, we’ll be taking a little time off.”

They were? It was the first I was hearing of it. The members of the press looked as surprised as I was, and looking over at the rest of the band, I realized that they did, too.

It seemed that this was the first anyone was hearing of it. Kelly’s friend raised her microphone again, frowning as she asked, “Why?”

“Once this tour is done, we’ll have been constantly touring, and recording, and recording on tour for three years straight. You guys nicknamed me your Emperor of Rock, and that’s been an honor that I’ve never taken lightly. None of us have.”

Jared spoke with purpose, making eye contact with each person in the room as he did. Or at least, that was what it felt like. He was a master of his game, though, so perhaps that was how he intended to make the audience feel.

“It’s because of that that we keep busting our asses to bring you the best music we can make. Always have, always will. The break’s not because I’m tapped out, either. In fact, I feel like we’re only just beginning.”

Showboat.

“But that’s not the only beginning I’m interested in anymore. You see, I’ve realized recently, it doesn’t do any good to be an Emperor without an Empress at your side. I’ve found my Empress. This is our biggest album yet, in huge part, because of her.”

What is he doing?

Caleb was gaping like he suddenly knew what was coming and couldn’t believe it. Nick looked somewhat depressed. Matt and Dom were clearly surprised and equally curious.

Meanwhile, my heart was racing like it was competing to win the Triple Crown while simultaneously flipflopping like a trickster on a motocross bike.

“She’s made me stronger. She’s become my partner in everything but crime. She’s my angel in some ways and my devil in others. I don’t know what the fuck I did before I met her, and I never want to find out what I’d do without her.”

Finally breaking his eye contact with the crowd, Jared turned to me and walked slowly across the stage. Looking at me like we were completely alone in the world, everyone around us seemed to vanish, but he kept the microphone to his lips.

“Alicia, my Empress. You’ve turned my world upside-fucking-down, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Out of nowhere, the man dropped down to one knee and did the craziest freaking thing I’d ever seen him do—which was saying something. He pulled a huge ring out of his pocket, right there in the middle of the press conference.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what to call you, as you know, but my first instinct that day to go with Empress was right. I’d also like to call you my wife. What do you say? Wanna marry me?”

What the fuck? I quickly pinched my leg, but the man kneeling at my feet in front of at least a hundred people, holding out possibly the largest, solitaire diamond ring I’d ever seen, didn’t disappear.

Stunned wasn’t the right word.

It was unbelievable. The smoking-hot, tattooed bad boy, rock’s favorite son, the man who could have any woman on the face of planet Earth was kneeling in front of me, and for some reason I would never, ever understand, Jared Larsen was looking at me like I was every dream he’d ever had come true.

Stupefied was perhaps better than stunned.

But there was only one word on my mind in that moment.

“Yes.”

The smile that lit up his face was every star in the sky, thunder and lightning, shooting stars and moonbeams. He really was a force of nature. But he was also really mine.

Unbelievable.

Scooping me up for a hug that literally swept me off my feet, he brought his lips to mine for a kiss that belonged on the silver screen, dipping me so low that my hair just about touched the floor.

Heaven. This had to be heaven.

But then, people started cheering, and when my eyes opened, there were so many flashes going off that I was momentarily blind. It felt like every person in the room was calling out for us to face them for a picture.

Jared, way more used to this kind of pandemonium than I was, kept me tucked close to him as we posed for the pictures after he slid the ring onto my finger. Its weight there was new and thrilling as it cast rainbows in the light of the camera flashes.

Safely in the crook of his arm, I leaned up to whisper, “I see what you did there, proposing in a way that will guarantee major press coverage. I like it.”

Still smiling for the cameras, he bent his head to my ear with a mischievous, victorious, yet dirty glint in his eye to reply, “I knew you would appreciate that. Think you’re also gonna like the wicked preview of our honeymoon I promise to give you when we’re done here.”

The End

Author Note: Hey! Hey! Hey! I sure hope you enjoyed the first book in my new Rockstar series! We’ll be trying to write and release a book a month on this new stand-alone series. I have my Bright Lights Billionaire below as a “Thank You” for reading my book. Hope you love it. Thanks again for your support. It means the world to me.