Blessed Tragedy(40)

“Oh please, she's managed to completely fool all of you. Having nice tits around every day blinded you to who she really is. A strung out little whore.”

Up until that moment in my life, I thought being mad enough to see red was nothing more than a figure of speech. Listening to her sitting in Jon's office still trying to destroy me caused my vision to blur and I most definitely saw red. My knuckles were white from gripping the rail of the pool table so hard, trying to keep myself from barging in there and strangling her.

“That's enough!” Colton screamed at her. “It's no secret to any of us that you had problems with Rain. But I'm not going to sit here and listen to this shit anymore.” Why is she even here? “Jon, if you bring her back on-board, I'm out.”

“Shut up, Colton. You know that's not going to happen,” Jon said with conviction. I stayed leaning against the pool table listening to every word that was being said. It made no sense that Colton was here or that he thought Tanya would get her job back.

“Jon, you know you'd be nowhere if it wasn't for me,” Tanya cooed condescendingly. “I made your little group and I did what I needed to do to keep you from falling back to being nothing because of the little whore.”

“Enough,” Jon yelled. “Tanya, you did a good job for a long time but there were plenty of problems at the end. Most of them had to do with you not being able to accept that Colton didn't want you. But thanks to your little stunt with the pictures and the way you treated Rain, you've done the exact opposite of keeping us on our way up. We're nothing right now. Unless we hear something from Rain soon, we don't have a band.”

I took a minute trying to process Jon's words. They could go on without me without any problems. There were a dozen women I knew of who would kill to take my place and half of them were talented enough to do it.

“This will all blow over. You just need someone who can spin it the right way. You need me, Jon. Now that the world sees her for what she is, it's time to get back on track. You'll thank me someday.” I couldn't believe the audacity. She was all but telling him what she'd done and implying he should be grateful – that they should all be grateful.

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Colton asked. I looked at the sealed envelope in my hands and decided it was time. I stormed around the corner ready for a fight.

“I'll tell you what she's talking about,” I spat, satisfied at the shocked expressions on their faces.

I planted my feet directly in front of Tanya's Jimmy Choo's and twisted her designer silk top in my left fist. “You're a worthless piece of shit, you know that? The f*cked up thing is you almost got away with it. Good thing for me you didn't realize I'm surrounded by nosy neighbors.”

“Rain, what in the hell are you doing here?” Jon asked, standing from behind the desk. I threw the envelope down in front of him.

“Just dropping off some paperwork. But now that we're all here, I figured I'd take care of some business too.” I turned my attention back to Tanya who stood stock still in front of me, a look of terror in her eyes.

“You couldn't handle the fact that I had everything you wanted. The talent. The fans.” I turned to glare at Colton for a split second before realizing it was a huge mistake. I tamped down the pain of knowing she'd succeeded in torching what we had. “And when Colton and I got together, you really couldn't stand it. So you broke into my apartment and planted that shit, didn't you?”

“I...” Tanya looked to Jon for help. He lifted his hands in surrender as he reached for the envelope. “You're psychotic, you know that?” She spat at me.

“Admit it, that's what you meant about them thanking you for getting me out of the way, isn't it?” My right hand clenched and released, ready for a close encounter with her body.

“Fuck you, you can't prove anything,” she spat at me. “Who's going to take the word of a senile old bitch? You probably made her say she saw me.”

That was all the confirmation I needed. My first connected with her cheek and then her stomach before Colton pulled me off of her. “You f*cking bitch,” I shrieked, trying to free myself from Colton's tight grip around my upper body. “You're f*cking stupid, you know that? I never said it was an old woman. And now the cops will get to talk to Colt and Jon too, once I tell my lawyer what you just said. Thanks.”

Jon wrapped his hand around Tanya's wrist as she reached for her purse. “No, you stay. Colt, make the call.”

“You think I can let this one go long enough to grab my phone?” Colton asked Jon as if I wasn't actually in the room.

“Rain, you good?” Jon asked me. I nodded and Colton released me. “So, I'm guessing I can throw this in the shredder now that everything's settled?” He asked me, holding up my letter.

“No, that stands.” I said bluntly. It would have been easy to take it back but they'd torched what we all had.

“Don't do this. Tanya's been trying to get you out of the band for a long time. Don't do this, please.” Jon's eyes drilled into me making me shift uncomfortably.

“I have to, Jon. I'm sorry. You guys believed the worst in me. I can't forget that.”

Before Colton was off the phone, I turned and walked out of the basement, knowing my life as I had known it was officially over. I had no idea what the future held for me, but I wasn't going to allow it to be filled with doubt and anger.





Chapter Twenty-Two



As much as I wanted to find a bottomless fruity drink to cheer me up after my trip to Jon's house, I thought better of it. No, alcohol had never been my problem but it easily could be. Instead, I enjoyed the jacuzzi tub in our hotel room while Mark and Dale went out for the night.

Knowing the charges would likely be dropped, I allowed myself to relax for the first time in a month. I was nearly asleep when I bolted upright at the sound of someone pounding on the hotel room door. I grabbed one of the white terrycloth robes from the back of the door and silently made my way to the door. Seeing Colton through the peephole, I debated whether or not to open the door to him.

“I know you're in there, Rain.” He called out. Then, he put his face close to the peep hole on his side of the door as if he knew I was looking at him. “Don't make me bribe a key out of the desk clerk. You know I'll do it.”

He was right. He'd do it and I knew it. Shit.

I flipped the bolt latch open before pushing down on the door handle. “What?” I asked, unwilling to open the door and invite him in.

“We need to talk. Can I come in?” He pushed on the door with one hand while reaching out to me with the other. When I flinched away from him, he took advantage and pushed the door open.

“Gee, come on in,” I sputtered. “I don't think there's really anything to say.”

Colton ran his hands through his blond hair. “That's where you're wrong. There's so f*cking much to talk about we could be here all night.” He motioned for me to sit like he owned the place.

“No, there's not. You know I'm not a druggie. I know you guys have zero faith in me. End of story.” The words caught in my throat as I tried to hold it together.

“Bullshit. And you're going to listen to me. Sit.”

I didn't want to sit. I didn't want to let him know he was getting to me. There was a time when I would have said Colton knew I would sit because he knew me better than I knew myself. Those days were obviously gone.

“Fine. Talk.” I crossed my arms tightly across my chest, realizing I was sitting across the walnut dining table from him naked under my robe.

“You can't quit,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Um, I can. I did.” I stared at him, waiting to see what he had to say besides the obvious.

“Well, we're not accepting it. Not until you sit down and talk with all of us. I warned you at the beginning of the summer Tanya was desperate to get you out. Now, regardless of the fact that she's not with us anymore, you're going to give her what she wants? That's not the Rain I know. The Rain I know doesn't go down without a fight.” He leaned on his forearms resting on the table never breaking eye contact.

“It's not about her anymore,” I said quietly. I hated the fact that my voice was faltering. I needed to stay strong. “You guys shredded me when you believed that I was using again. You did that. The night we got back when you thought those baggies were really mine, Colt, you put that nail in the coffin. When Jon told me I had to get my shit straight and go to rehab, he put another nail in the coffin. When Travis, the person who knows everything I went through more than anyone else, told me to get help, he added another. About the only person who hasn't done anything is Jared and that's only because he's too damn new and scared to rock the boat.”