A Reckless Note

Chapter Thirty-Seven

With his reluctant agreement, I shut Kace out of the bathroom while I finish dressing, wanting to show him the dress once I'm perfectly primped. When I've achieved that goal, I nervously open the bathroom door and step into the bedroom. Kace is sitting in a chair, looking like the hottest king of the world ever, with a whiskey glass in his hand. The glass immediately goes on the table and he stands, and God, the man really is gorgeous. Tonight, his longish dark hair is finger spiked, and his rock star image is on full display. He's in black jeans and a T-shirt paired with biker boots, all of which he's accented with a black leather jacket. I've officially forgotten pretty much everything including my name.

He closes the space between me and him, all male swagger and sex appeal, and when he stops in front of me, his hand presses possessively to my hip, branding me with heat. "You look stunning, baby."

My hand settles on his chest and I boldly say exactly what I think. "So do you. Always."

His lips curve. "I'm glad you think so." He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. "We need to go. It's getting late. Tonight, we have the local Texas division of Walker Security on board. They're waiting on us out front."

A few minutes later, we step outside to find a huge man in all black with a scar down his face waiting on us beside an Escalade.

"What the hell, Savage?" Kace greets, shaking his hand. "I thought we got the Texas team while here." Kace glances at me. "This is Rick Savage, who normally works with the New York division of Walker."

"Hello," Savage says, fixing me in a friendly but somehow appropriately savage stare. "Don't let the scar scare you. I killed the guy. He's not around to bother you."

I gape and surprise myself by laughing before he turns his attention to Kace. "My lady and I are from Texas. She wanted real Mexican food, so here we are. Besides, who better to pump you up for a show? I know what you need. You know I do. I have the radio tuned to some old-school jams, just the way you like it."

We load into the vehicle and say hello to the driver, a man Savage calls Dirty Dan, before Savage cranks up the music. The first song "So Into You," that blasts through the speakers is one that I remember from the nineties by a now MIA singer called Fabolous. I loved that song, and as it plays, Kace whispers the words into my ear. I'm smiling and laughing as we draw close to the hotel and the song shifts. This one though, also a nineties tune, hits home, and carves out a piece of me. It's an Dr. Dre song featuring Eminem and Skylar Grey called "I Need a Doctor." The words repeat over and over:

I'm about to lose my mind

You've been gone for so long

I'm running out of time

The vehicle stops in front of the hotel and I quickly grab my phone and send a text to Gio: Call me. Stop being an asshole. You're scaring me. I glance up and Kace is staring at me.

"You okay?"

"Yes, of course," I say quickly, hoping the music hides strain in my voice. "I'm excited to watch you perform."

The Escalade is now in front of the hotel entrance and the doors open. Kace has my hand, holding onto me as we scoot across the seat toward his exit, but I manage to drop my phone. He reaches down and grabs it from the floorboard for me, but not without his gaze landing on the text.

He leans into me and slides the phone back into my purse, but in doing so he cups my face and kisses my neck, whispering, "We'll talk when we get inside."

I don't know what that means, but I'm pretty sure it's a distraction he can't afford right now, when he's about to perform. He steps out of the vehicle and then helps me out as well. Savage and Dirty Dan, a tall man with blond hair tied at his nape, are by our sides as we walk beneath an overhang leading to the hotel door, when I hear squeals, followed by "Oh my God, it's him! It's Kace August!"

Suddenly, a horde of people, women mostly, surround us, shoving things at Kace, asking for photos and autographs. Kace pulls me close and whispers, "I know this is bad timing. Just stay close."

Savage and Dan are instantly in action, along with several other men that I assume work for them or the hotel. Kace signs a few photos, but it's all too much, too overwhelming, all the people who scream for him, the women who tell him they love him. I just want out of the circle we're in and finally our path is clear. Savage leads us into the building. Once there, Savage and the men escort us past the lobby to a roped-off area that leads to red carpeted stairs. We hurry up them and once we're on the next level, Kace directs Savage and the other guards to wait. He then pulls me down a deserted hallway and around a corner, where he plants me against a wall, him in front of me, one hand on my waist, the other on the wall by my head. "I'm going to help you find your brother."

I blanch surprised that is still where his head is right now. "You need to be thinking about the event, Kace."

"I'm thinking of you and your brother. I'm going to tell Walker to find Gio, at my expense."

I swallow hard against the rise of emotion in my chest. "You can't pay my way in the world."

He glances skyward and then his eyes meet mine, turbulence in their depths. "I had a sister, Aria. I wanted to tell you earlier, but it felt too heavy. It felt like the wrong time."

"You—you had a sister? You said you were the only one who could inherit your father's money so his threats didn't matter."

"He gave Michelle less respect than he did me. She struggled with my father's demands, with him running her life. She came on tour with me for a year and left me to go home, with a goal: being her own self. She wanted to be a tattoo artist. Dad blamed me and called her a loser. She killed herself, Aria. She was only twenty-one."

"Oh my God. Kace, I'm—"

"Don't say you're sorry. You know that doesn't help. What helps is me giving to a charity that does. That's why I do this. That's why suicide prevention is a mission for me. And that's why I know you have to fight for your sibling." He molds me close. "I'm going to help you. I want to help you."

Fighting emotion, feeling his passion, his pain, my fingers curl on his jaw. "Thank you. I'm worried. I'm really worried, Kace."

"I know you are, baby. We'll find him. I'll have Savage meet us in the morning before we leave." He kisses my hand. "And as for the mob out front. It usually only happens when I'm touring with announced concerts. I'm not wrapped up in my hype. Don't you be wrapped up in my hype. I'm just a man. A man who's damn glad you're here. Let's go make some money for charity." His arm wraps around me and together, we walk into a ballroom, and I have a new understanding of Kace. I am fighting for my brother, but he lives every day fighting a battle that started with his father and never seems to end for him.