Face the Music (A Brothers of Rock - GONE BY AUTUMN - Novel) (20 page)

Asher stood outside The Jack and flexed his hands. The little acoustic set had gone pretty well. Little meaning there wasn’t a ton of equipment, but they played for over two hours. Just hanging out with the fans, relaxing, drinking. Jocelyn had come to the show, and it was nice to see her sitting in the crowd, laughing and enjoying herself. Completely dressed down and looking like her beautiful self.

A hand tickled at Asher’s side and he spun around. Jocelyn was there, her eyes wide and a little drunk. She had a big smile on her face, those damn beautiful blue-green eyes piercing straight at his heart.

“Hey there,” he said.

“Hey.”

“Having fun tonight?”

“You have no idea.”

“I have an idea. I can see the look on your face.”

Jocelyn laughed and hugged him. “I don’t think I’ve said thank you to you enough.”

“I don’t need a thank you, love. I just need you.”

Jocelyn looked up at him. “You always say romantic things at the best time.”

“Yeah, right. You’re the first person to ever say that. But I like it.” Asher touched Jocelyn’s hair. “Did you talk to the lawyers and everything?”

“Yeah,” Jocelyn said. “We’re going to start figuring out the paperwork tomorrow. And then I’ll talk to my father. Then it’ll… it’ll be good.”

Asher kissed her forehead. “I’m proud of you for being so strong.”

That was true. Asher had talked to Sam about everything going on in the background. While it had nothing to do with Gone by Autumn or music, it was important to Asher that Jocelyn had the support she needed. Now there was a lawyer going through all the matters of Jocelyn’s company with the simple purpose to get her name off it. To see what Chad had been doing and make sure Jocelyn wouldn’t take the fall for it. Better than that, if something was done wrong, Asher knew that Victor Jacksenne wouldn’t stand for it. He was rich enough to have the most expensive lawyers crush Chad.

Asher wasn’t sure what Victor would think of he and his daughter being together, but that would be a different battle for a different time.

And, in fact, it wasn’t just being together.

Asher stared down into Jocelyn’s eyes. “I can’t wait to get out of here. Take you back to my place and see where the night goes.”

“Where the night goes?” Jocelyn asked with a laugh. “Something tells me it’ll be you and me in your bed.”

“That’s a horrible thing?”

“That’s a beautiful thing.”

They kissed and Asher let his thumbs stroke Jocelyn’s cheeks. This woman was beyond changing him now. It was so much deeper. The connection so hot and instant. But now it had purpose. There were so many questions to answer and probably a million more to discover and ask, but that was the point of life. Always trying to find the unknown. Now having someone to share that with made Asher feel damn good.

“Go back inside,” Asher said. “I’ll be in a minute. We’ll get a couple more drinks and then I’ll have someone drive us to my place.”

“It’s a date,” Jocelyn said.

She went back inside and Asher turned to face the back alley of The Jack. The memories were raw inside his heart now. From the days of trying to survive to playing big stages. Losing his parents and bouncing all over the place until he found the guys that would make up Gone by Autumn. It was a wild ride. Maybe the wildest ride of his life.

Asher looked over his shoulder. He smiled.

“No,” he whispered. “She’s going to be the wildest ride of my life.”

Asher heard a car door slam and it gained all his attention. Especially considering who stepped from the passenger seat of the vehicle.

Chad.

Instantly, Asher had fists made. Ready to go, if need be.

“What can I do for you?” Asher asked.

Chad pulled at his suit jacket. “Can’t believe I’m back at this shit hole. Can’t wait until I can buy the damn place and set it on fire.”

“Yeah? That’s your plan in life?”

“Well, not exactly,” Chad said. “My original plan is to get Jocelyn’s hand in marriage. Knock her up a few times. That’ll make Victor a happy man, wouldn’t it? Then I’ll get put into the family fortune, run that stupid company of hers into the ground, and then start to cash out.”

“Stand up guy, aren’t you?”

“What the fuck are you trying to prove? Are you better off on stage or on the road? I don’t get it.”

Asher stepped toward Chad. “Get out of here. What I did to you before is nothing to what I’m going to do if you even think about Jocelyn ever again. You never had her, man. Never. You want to beat up on someone, take your best shot at me. I’ll give you a free one right now. Go ahead. Punch me. Then watch what fucking happens.”

Asher towered over Chad. He watched Chad’s eyes go wide. The guy wanted to him, but he didn’t have the balls to do it. Not tough enough to fight another man.

“You got her involved with lawyers?” Chad asked. “And then you fucked her in her father’s office?”

“Some of that is true; some of it is an exaggeration. Where did you hear that?”

“I hear everything,” Chad said. “You think you’re high and mighty because you’re a rockstar. But you don’t know who I am.”

Chad snapped his fingers and the backdoors of the car opened. As Asher watched the two large men step out, all dressed in black, he curled his lip. A second later, he felt a stinging pain in the side of the face. He turned and stumbled, realizing that Chad had taken him up on the offer to throw a free punch. Of course, Chad waited until Asher turned his head to throw the punch.

A third guy emerged from the vehicle, making the fight even more unfair.

“Get the door,” Chad barked.

The third guy went to the door and stood there. Judging by his size, it would take someone very big and strong to overpower him and get the door open.

“So here’s what’s going to happen,” Chad said.

Asher stood rubbing his cheek. He moved his jaw and then smiled. “You call that a punch?”

“Shut him up for a second,” Chad said.

Asher saw the fist coming at him from one of the big guys. He jumped back and threw a hard right to the guy’s gut. The guy slumped over but threw an elbow that connected with Asher’s shoulder. He went back a few steps and then someone grabbed his neck. Massive arms like an angry python wanting to make the kill, Asher felt the air rushing from his brain already. He hurried and threw a kick back, hitting the guy’s knee. The guy yelled and loosened his grip. Asher thought he had a small opening, that was, until the first guy was standing a foot away, fist cocked back.

The punch came and rocked Asher’s world.

He saw the guy, and then he saw the ground. It took him a few seconds to regain his thoughts and he pushed back up, refusing to go down and stay down. He stood, fists made, ready to keep going.

“Okay, now that we’re all focused,” Chad said. “Asher, let me finish my previous thought.”

Asher stood there, the left side of his head and face throbbing. “What the fuck do you want?”

“Easy. This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to go inside and tell Jocelyn that you two are done. Whatever this fling is, it’s done. Then she can come back to me and life moves forward.”

“Fuck you,” Asher spat.

“Then I’m going to have to take your hand.”

“Take my hand? What the fuck are you? The mob? You think this is some movie?”

“You know, I don’t take too kindly to be interrupted,” Chad said.

He approached Asher and when the opening showed itself, Asher couldn’t help himself. He threw a right uppercut and smashed Chad in the jaw. Chad went up in the air and stumbled back until he hit the car.

Asher then turned and threw another punch, hitting one of the big guys. The second guy started to come at him and Asher had no choice but to use his left hand. He hit the guy square in the nose, but the pain that went through his hand was as though he had just punched a brick wall.

Asher had no choice but to scream out in pain. He looked at his hand and his fingers were hooked, crooked, and he feared he had messed up his hand.

“Okay, we’ll do it a different way,” Chad said.

From the corner of his eyes, Asher saw a gun.

He turned and Chad stood there with a gun pointed at him. “Holy shit. What…”

“I gave you a choice,” Chad said. “I know what I want. I know what I’ve worked for. I’m not going to lose it. Not to some rockstar.”

“I love her,” Asher said. “And I’m not letting go. Take my advice, man, and get out of here.”

“Take your advice?” Chad asked.

He then nodded and all hell broke loose.

The two big guys attacked Asher. They swarmed him and pulled him to the car. Asher thrashed and tried to fight them off but there was no doing so. They were too big and too strong. Asher was dragged to the trunk of the car.

Asher looked at Chad. He tucked the gun away and then brought out a hammer.

“What the…”

“You said something about the mob,” Chad said. “I haven’t answered your question about that. But I’ll let actions speak louder than words.”

Before Asher could say a word, the big guys put his left hand on the trunk and Chad brought the hammer down on it.

Asher now understood what it meant to see stars. Hot, white flashes were everywhere. He couldn’t breathe. He tried to thrash again but his strength was gone. It was ten times worse than the car accident.

The guys let Asher go and he fell to the ground. Chad then kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Another kick to the face sent Asher rolling to his back, almost knocked out.

“Last chance,” Chad said.

Asher strained his neck to look at the building. He saw the guy at the door stumble forward and then the band - and Jocelyn - came pouring from The Jack. By then, it was too late. Chad yelled a command and everyone piled into the car and it took off.

As Asher lay there, he didn’t know what to think. He hated to admit that Jocelyn had been right about how dangerous things were. But when he turned his head and saw her racing toward him, he knew that love would take care of everything, no matter how dangerous.

*

The night went from good to hell. Just like that. In the blink of an eye. In the time it took for Jocelyn to go inside and order two drinks… to get to the door and find it somehow locked from the outside… then to hear a scream from Asher…

Chad hurt him. Chad had gotten revenge.

It was all she could think about as she sat in the hospital. Sitting in an uncomfortable chair with the world around her spinning. She kept her distance from the rest of the band and madness that ensued when word got out that the guitarist from Gone by Autumn had been hurt.
Again.

Reporters flocked the hallways, arguments broke out every five minutes, and at one point Jocelyn saw Ryan and Gabe reach grabbing reporters and throwing them away from the rest of the band and the scene.

Sam was on his phone, demanding more be done. More security. More police involvement. Of all which came down on Jocelyn’s shoulders when she had to talk privately with two detectives in a small room in the hospital to discuss everything. And by everything… it meant
everything.

It was more than a whirlwind, it was exhausting. It left her feeling physically sick to her stomach. Everything was out in the open and for the taking. The truth of what had happened with Chad. That he had hurt her, and more than once. The truth that Jocelyn had seen him getting into the car right before it drove off, meaning she would pinpoint him to what had happened to Asher. Not to mention the rest of the band had seen it. And the police had one of Chad’s guys already locked up.

It would take another two hours for detectives to track down the other two guys and find Chad. There were no weapons found, but Chad was taken in and questioned until his lawyer showed up and made sure Chad had some kind of protection.

None of it he deserved.

When Jocelyn left the room, her head hurt as much as her stomach did.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder and she let out a scream.

“Whoa, it’s okay…”

She turned and saw Ryan standing there. He looked worn out and terrified.

“Hey,” Jocelyn said.

“They have him in surgery right now,” Ryan said.

“His hand?”

“Yeah. It’s bad… but it’s better than a bullet. Or getting killed.”

Jocelyn started to shake and lost it. She sobbed like a baby.

Ryan pulled her in for a hug. “You care?”

“I care,” Jocelyn said. “This is all my fault. I told him…”

“It’s okay. He’s alive.”

“If he can’t play guitar…” Jocelyn backed up. “I caused all this.”

“Listen to me, Jocelyn, I know Asher. Better than anyone in the world. And if he finds something worth fighting for, he doesn’t stop. Everything I’ve heard has me in shock. What you’ve gone through. That’s terrible. And I’m sorry you had to go through it. But you can’t think for a second this is your fault. Did you call and ask Asher for help?”

“No,” Jocelyn said. “No. I told him to stay out of it.”

“And he came. Again and again. I hope you realize he loves you.”

“Loves… me…?”

Ryan nodded. “There’s no other explanation for this.”

Jocelyn felt more tears in her eyes. It was so much to take in.

There was so much happening around her.

At the end of the hallway, she heard people calling her name. She looked over her shoulder and there were more reporters. That meant the story was spreading. Her name was involved, which meant her father’s name would be involved.

“Ryan, what do I do?” Jocelyn asked.

Ryan touched Jocelyn’s shoulder. “You wait and hope, like the rest of us. That noise behind you… let it all go. Asher will be fine. You’ll see him soon enough. And whatever path you have to take next, he’ll be there with you.”

“What if he can’t play guitar?”

“I don’t know,” Ryan said. “He sure as hell can’t cook and be a stay-at-home-guy…”

Jocelyn flickered a smile and let out a cry. “It’s not funny. They were going to really hurt him… maybe kill him…”

“I know,” Ryan said. “But remember something, Jocelyn. You saved him. The second you touched the door, you knew something was wrong. And you screamed. And we saw what we saw before anything worse could happen. You saved him…” Ryan looked down at her. “In more than one way.”