“Thank you.” My mouth felt like it was full of cotton.
“Our rooms are ready. The perks of being in Alex Winslow’s entourage.” He tucked his hands into his front pockets, staring at his shoes.
Shit. “Where is Alex?” Jenna had specifically warned me about not letting him slip out of my sight. We’d be staying in separate rooms, with Blake rooming with Alex to make sure he wasn’t doing anything stupid. All other times, I had to be by his side. Alfie was leaning against the reception counter and flirting with one of the concierges. Blake was on his cell phone and kept repeating the sentence, “I don’t care that it’s the best hotel in Paris, in Europe, or on the Milky Way. If Alex sees him, he’ll kill him.”
“Outside, as per usual.” Lucas’ eyes wandered to the rock star, following his movements. “Giving his fans what they want. Why do you think there are so many of them? They’re his number one priority.”
My gaze followed Lucas’ line of sight. Alex was leaning over the barrier signing posters, backpacks, and breasts, while also taking time to snap selfies with hyperventilating fans. There were two security guards beside him, each of them the size of The Hulk, staring helplessly at the eccentric superstar and wishing he’d stop flirting with teenage girls and danger. The fans were seriously close to pulling him into the mob and swallowing him whole like a pack of zombies.
“I need to go get him,” I said, to myself more than to Lucas.
“It’s not like they can slip him some drugs. He’s in plain sight.”
“I can’t believe he’s actually nice to someone.” I turned to Lucas. I also couldn’t believe I chose to say this to his drummer and friend.
Lucas leaned into my space, but somehow, it didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but really, life made him a massive jerk. He wasn’t always like this. I think you’ll find he’s a great bloke. He’s just…angry.”
He sounds like my brother, I thought.
We both watched Alex before Blake reappeared, stepping too close to me, making me shift toward Lucas.
“Rooms are ready. Whose turn is it to pull Alex out of the sex claws?”
I pretended not to hear the question, doubting he even considered me an option. Other than Lucas, all the guys acted like they’d rather fight a hungry lion in a closed ring than have a civilized conversation with me.
“Alfie’s turn. Who were you talking to, mate?” Lucas asked.
“Jace, Will’s agent.” Blake exhaled, his chest deflating. “There’ll be an overlap in England and Paris. England I’m not worried about—Bushell will be staying at his Gram’s cottage in Sheffield. But in Paris, we have that Halloween event at the Chateau De Malmaison. It’s charity.” Blake gave Lucas a pointed look.
“We can fake an emergency.” Lucas shrugged, switching into business mode. “Though I guess it would raise some questions, especially this soon after rehab.”
Blake nodded, rubbing his neck. “It gets worse. Word is that Will and Fallon are engaged. Nice of him not to mention it to us when we…” He never finished his sentence, and I knew better than to probe.
All eyes darted to Alex again. For the first time since I’d met him, he actually looked happy as he took a selfie with two girls with braces.
“Alex will use it as an excuse to binge-snort.” Lucas tapped his closed fist against his thigh.
Blake shouldered out of his pea coat. “Yeah, well, I didn’t give Jace the pleasure of asking about it, but if that’s the case, he’ll be out on a bender by tonight. Jenna’s talking to her contact in TMZ now, buying time before publication.”
Fallon was obviously a sore spot for Alex. I didn’t know who she was—I never followed celebrity gossip—but I did know that for the past two years, Will Bushell had been Winslow’s archenemy.
“We need to keep him offline and away from the tabloids,” Lucas said, adding, “and make sure there are no paparazzi or journalists anywhere near him.”
“The second part is a piece of cake. Alex is known for being a cagey motherfucker. But how do you tell a bloody grown-up not to go online?”
“You give him a reason he can’t argue with.” Lucas’ voice flirted with panic, and I tried desperately to connect all the dots in the conversation.
Blake let out an exaggerated sigh. “Sometimes it feels like I’m raising a goddamn baby. Remember the Tamagotchis? Alex is like having a hundred of them chained to your neck.”
Five minutes later, the British Tamagotchi walked inside, and Blake handed me my electronic room key, instructing me to be at the lobby at 6:00 p.m. Normally, he’d explained, there were a lot of rehearsals involved, but this tour required a sound check and a mostly-sober singer. When I walked into my suite—the whole floor had been reserved for Alex Winslow and his crew—the first thing I did was fall headfirst onto the queen-sized mattress and make a bed angel with a squeak. I choked the creamy satin sheets between my fingers and moaned. Every muscle in my body was tense from the long flight, and I didn’t even have the strength to admire the marble floors or golden-framed murals of the desert hanging on the walls. All I wanted was to fall asleep and wake up three months from now.
My phone buzzed in my hand. I stared at it through narrow eyes, as if it were a living thing and we were having a heated argument. Lucas had helped connect me to a network and the Internet. Not that it mattered. The screen on my personal phone was cracked and I couldn’t see anything, including who was calling. I pressed my phone to my ear and inwardly prayed it wasn’t my credit company.
“Hello?”
“Indie, it’s Nat! I just wanted to know everything’s okay,” she sang from the other line. What was the time in Los Angeles? The middle of the night was my educated guess. I rolled to my back, staring at the high, arched ceiling and wondering how come all the beautiful things in the world came with a hefty price tag.
This hotel.
The money I was going to get paid.
Alex’s seemingly miserable life.
“Everything’s awesome.” My voice pitched high, and I mustered a smile just so she could hear it. My family didn’t need to know I was being semi-bullied by a rock legend. They had bigger issues to deal with.
“Are they treating you well?”