Shattered Dreams (Boys of Bellerose, #3)(40)
“Yours?” Rhett challenged. “Or your father’s?”
“Mine,” Angelo replied in a cold voice. “You think I’d take chances after that setup at a Big Noise building before Christmas? I’m not that fucking stupid, Silver. They’re sweeping the plane for tampering and explosives. We won’t take off until it’s been cleared.”
That was reassuring. I hadn’t even acknowledged that was a fear until he’d taken care of it.
“Thank you, Angel,” I said quietly as I passed him to ascend the stairs.
“You’re welcome, Bella,” he whispered back.
Jace had boarded the plane ahead of me, so it was his angry shout that warned me we weren’t the first passengers to arrive. My heart leapt to my throat, and I shoved past Jace to launch myself at Grayson.
“You’re back!” I exclaimed, clinging onto him like a spider monkey. He didn’t hug me back, though. He just stood there and let me hug him until I awkwardly released him and stepped back. “Where the fuck have you been?”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes, his gaze shifting past me to take in the rest of the band. “I had to deal with some things. Sorry.”
My jaw dropped. His face was mottled with bruises and a butterfly stitch decorated his hairline, but that was all the explanation we got? He’d had to deal with some things.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” I demanded in a strangled voice. “Do you have any idea how—”
“All clear!” Angelo called out, striding into the cabin without realizing what he was interrupting. “Plane is good to go.”
“Okay, great!” Brenda popped out of the cockpit and placed her hands on her hips to glare at everyone. “Sit your asses down; I’m giving the control tower the go ahead for takeoff. I can’t come with you to Europe—baby needs his mama—so I’ve personally selected a new tour manager to fill in for me. That’s Hannah.” She pointed down the cabin to a woman I hadn’t even noticed until now.
She was small, blonde, and surrounded by files, tablets, and other work material. She stood and waved, but no one on the plane even acknowledged her. “We don’t need another fucking manager,” Jace shot back at Brenda. “The last one almost destroyed us as a band.”
Brenda leveled her best pissed off momager stare at him. “The last one was a temporary tour manager, and he was appointed by the misogynistic managers of Big Noise. Hannah is nothing like Tom, and she will be an asset to you in trying to navigate an international tour. She holds three degrees, has sixteen years of experience, and speaks eight fucking languages, so you will treat her with, at minimum, respect.”
Jace returned Brenda’s glare, and while he didn’t agree to her terms, he also didn’t argue. The next few minutes were filled with chaos as bags were loaded, seats taken, and the preflight checks done by the multitude of staff for this private jet. Hannah moved along briefly and met all of us, and I found her cute Southern accent completely at odds with what I expected from a sixteen-year tour managing veteran who spoke multiple languages.
That taught me not to judge a book by its adorable cover. There was a shark hidden in her baby-blue eyes, and I hoped that shark was here to destroy those threatening Bellerose. And not the band itself.
Surely Brenda would have been extra-selective in a replacement, knowing everything the band had been through.
“See you all in two months, though I might try and get across once or twice,” Brenda called from the doorway before she exited the plane to allow for the final secure and cross-check of the cabin.
When it was time to taxi out, I was strapped in next to Rhett, Vee and Angelo were in the seats across the aisle from us, with Jace and Grayson behind them, just out of my easy view. I’d have to actually turn my head fully to see the drummer, and as badly as I wanted to do that, there was no point in us exchanging cold glares across a plane. I would just have to wait until we were able to move about the plane, and then I’d figure out how to kick his ass without him retaliating and murdering me with his ninja skills.
Grayson was someone I’d never worried about betraying me, but there was a sinking sensation in my gut now. The way he was acting wasn’t adding up, and I had a feeling when I learned the truth, another piece of myself would be destroyed.
The pilot announced our departure and gave us an update on flying time and the conditions for our journey. It was supposed to be a smooth flight, outside of a little initial turbulence as we left American airspace. If only he knew that turbulence was more likely to be inside the fucking plane.
I’d only been on a plane a few times as a kid and couldn’t really remember what happened from here. The drama with Gray had distracted me from my initial stress over this new experience, but as the plane moved into position at what looked like the head of a very long black tarmac, some of those swirls in my stomach shifted from Grayson worry to flying-in-a-plane worry.
“You okay?” Rhett asked, reaching out to grasp my hand. “Have you flown before?”
No one had asked me that until this second because it probably didn’t occur to famous, rich rock stars that there were poor people who could barely afford a bus ticket, let alone a plane. “As a child, but I honestly can’t remember anything about it. Are we waiting to take off now?”
He squeezed my hand tightly. “Yep. They wait for their turn, mostly to make sure we’re not about to crash into another aircraft on the way up. The initial thrust will throw you back into your seat a little, but we’ll be up in no time. I’ve got you, Thorn. No need to panic.”