Rise by Cassandra Robbins

 

 

 

 

RHYS

Present – Thirty-five years old

Rome, Italy

“Hey, brother, wake up,” Ace’s voice vibrates in my sluggish brain. I open my eyes and try to remember where I am. Sitting up, I reach for the bottle of Jack, tossing the cap on the floor. I shake my head as I let the warmth travel down my throat.

“You got Visine?” I say, looking at the tarmac and our jet waiting for me.

Ace opens up the glove compartment and tosses me some. I saturate both eyes and lean my head back, trying to let the sting subside before I get out.

“Mr. Granger, we have the G6 ready. We should be in Los Angeles in about eleven hours.” Tim, our pilot, walks over to me as I slam the SUV door.

“Perfect.” I pull out my cigarettes and turn to watch the limo pulling up and stopping right in front of us.

“Fuck you, man,” Ammo says as he gets out with two groupies.

I light up and smile. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know. What the hell are we doing?” He points at me with the bottle of Jägermeister. Rafe steps out on the other side as Hunter and Sebastian come out with the camera on.

Inhaling, I shake my head. “This is a personal trip. No cameras.”

“Relax, Granger,” Hunter says. “Think about how you can always have this moment recorded for your kids. Pretend we’re not here.” He takes the stairs to the jet.

Sebastian walks up, turns off the camera, and we stare at each other, both of us in love with her, but I’m the one who owns her heart.

Rafe walks over. “I’m counting on you to do the right thing. If it’s personal, I don’t give a shit what Hunter wants. Turn that thing off.”

Sebastian nods at me and turns to Rafe. “You have nothing to worry about. I edit everything.” He shakes his head and laughs as he runs a hand through his hair. “So, you got a plan, Granger?”

“I’ll think of something.” I toss my cigarette and stomp on it, moving toward the stairs only to see Cash and Nuke step out of the limo.

When I raise a brow at Cash, he smiles, reaches in to grab his bass, and walks by saying over his shoulder, “You didn’t think I’d miss out on this, did you?”

Nuke, who’s shirtless, as usual, hops around from foot to foot.

I snort. “You gonna make it?”

“I’m fine,” Nuke says. “We need to go home and you’re my family. If you’re gonna go get Gia, I’m coming with you.”

I motion for him to pass. Even as fucked as I am, I’m not gonna lie. Having my brothers with me calms me.

He takes the stairs two at a time while Ace stands talking to Rafe. I look around wondering how it went from me and Ace to my whole family, because like it or not, that’s what we are. In a way it’s not bad having Sebastian with me. At least if she sees the camera, she’ll have to let me in.

Not that I’ve forgiven her.

But I can’t seem to live without her, so we can fight later. Get into all the shit we should have hashed out earlier. I climb the stairs and enter the jet, and for the first time in years, I have absolutely no idea what I’m gonna do, but I’m not alone.

They didn’t leave me.

Ammo hands me his Jägermeister as the doors close. Rafe sits down next to me as Hunter walks over with a joint and hands it to him.

“You want to get into the studio. We need to record ‘Heart Beats for You’ as soon as possible. I don’t want it pirated any more than it already has been.”

I lean my head back and close my eyes. I’ve been running for so long, the thought of staying put sounds really good.

“Yeah, I like that. I have a bunch of songs I’d love put down in the studio.”

Rafe nods and inhales, eyes narrowing as he offers me the joint. I take it. Maybe I can pass out and wake up with some incredible idea about how to get Gia to move in with me, rather than picking her up and forcibly taking her with me.

“What time is it gonna be when we land?” I mumble before I inhale and hold.

“Probably around eight a.m.” Rafe smiles at something on his phone. I exhale and lean forward.

“You got something going on that we should know about?”

His blue eyes look at mine. “I never tell my secrets. You know that.”

I recline my seat all the way back, smiling. “Wake me when we land.”

“Granger, man.” I crack my eyes open to see Ammo laughing with a groupie on his lap and drop my feet to the carpet with a thud.

Scooting up, I look around the jet. Everyone seems to be up already, besides Cash who’s still lounging on the couch. This was actually one of the better flights. I slept.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower. We almost ready to land?”

“Thirty minutes,” Sebastian says as he passes.

I turn the water on and take a quick rinse-off in case others want to use it. I rub my hands across my scruff. I need to shave but fuck it. I slather on some deodorant, brush my teeth, and open up one of the cabinets where we keep clothes. I’ve probably spent more time in this jet than anywhere else lately.

I pull on a black tee and some jeans and run my hands through my hair. Exiting, I go straight for the bar and a bottle of Jack and drop into a chair, seeing Sebastian out of the corner of my eye. He’s filming already.

“Hey,” I yell at him.

“Yeah?” He lowers the camera.

“I’m thinking of a concert outside her place. How big of a deal would that be?” He brings the camera back up.

“So, what? You want to start playing a concert in the middle of Venice Beach, California?”

“Yep.” I crack the bottle.

“Excuse me, what did you say? No fucking way, Granger. We need permits and all kinds of shit.” Rafe looks like I’ve asked him for a million dollars.

“Nah, I’m doing it. Even if it’s one song, that’s enough.” I take a swig.

“You’re gonna get thrown in jail,” he threatens as if I’m five and he’s trying to have patience with me.

“Get her flowers, show up on your knees. But you’re not serenading her.”

“We need to have you Say Anything her,” Cash says from the couch, not even removing his arm from his eyes.

“What?”

“Say Anything. The movie. John Cusack stands outside the girl’s bedroom window with a boom box playing Peter Gabriel’s ‘In Your Eyes.’” He sits up.

Ammo glances behind him at Cash. “I had no idea you were a Cusack fan.”

I can’t help but fucking laugh. Cash, of all people, watches eighties’ romantic comedies? It’s perfect. I bring the bottle to my lips.

“Refresh me, did he get the girl?”

“Of course.” He lights up a cigarette, lifting his hip to pull his phone from his back pocket.

“We’re going to jail,” I say to Ammo.

He throws his head back, laughing and bringing the Jägermeister to his lips. “It’s been too long. We need a little jail time. Make us mean again.”

Rafe brings the phone down and his eyes narrow. “You two are getting too old for jail, and it’s bad press. This is not happening.”

I grin at him. “Hey, Ace?”

“Yo?” His voice comes from somewhere behind me.

“We’re gonna need equipment,” I yell.

Nuke stumbles over and I almost tell him we have a shower. I don’t think he’s been out of those black leather pants in a week.

“Why don’t we have a bet on how many songs it takes for Granger to get Gia?” He grins as he sits down next to the other groupie who’s snorting cocaine. He holds up his finger, bends down and takes a bump, then looks at us, eyes wide as he laughs. “Or we can bet how many songs it takes before we get arrested.” I have to bite my tongue not to say, You’d better hope we don’t get arrested. Detoxing in jail is a bitch.

“Here.” Cash sets down his phone, bringing my attention back to him as he hits play. “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel starts up on a YouTube video. “See, the boom box.”

I look up at him. “Yeah, man, I see the stupid boom box and a girl who can’t seem to sleep. What the hell, Cash?”

“Just watch.” He nods.

I take a breath, and the video ends with John Cusack standing alone by his car, playing the song. “That’s it?” I rub my face. “That’s what you think I should do?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect. We play ‘In Your Eyes,’ and you’ll get Gia.”

“Jesus Christ,” Ammo says.

“Cash, he didn’t get the girl.” I motion to the phone, laughing. It’s so fucking absurd, I’m tempted to do it.

“Fuck you, guys.” He sits down. “Cusack gets the girl later. You have to watch the movie, assholes.”

Leaning over for the pack of cigarettes, I look at him then Ammo, trying hard not to laugh again.

“Trust me, if you want to be romantic, this is the way,” Cash says with conviction.

“All right, any other tips?”

“Fuck off. I’m giving you great advice.” He grabs his phone.

“Why can’t I just play one of our songs?”

Cash sighs as if I’m not right in the head. “It’s the whole production, Granger. ‘In Your Eyes,’ it’s—” He searches for the word only to have Rafe interrupt him.

“You can’t be thinking of listening to him, can you?” Rafe says wide-eyed. I grin. “Jesus Christ. You’re all fucked in the head. We have no permits. This is going to be chaos,” Rafe says all this as he texts.

Looking up, he snaps, “Ace, beef up security.”

“We all know ‘In Your Eyes,’right?” Cash asks as Ammo chokes on his swig of Jäger.

“What the fuck has happened to you?” Rafe snarls, shaking his head in disgust.

I stand and hand him the bottle. “Drink up, Rafe. Looks like we’re going to jail.”