“So I did. Once that tour was over, I came home, ready to make a business proposition. First, though, I went to my old house. I was in my twenties and ready to make peace with my dad…but he was gone. I have no idea where or what he’s doing nowadays. Guess that’s all I need to know…and I’ve made peace with it. So I went to see Russ at the shop, and there he was, packing shit up. The guy was demoralized, beaten down, and he told me he was sorry my money had gone to waste.
“I told him to shut the fuck up and we locked the doors and had some burgers and beers, and the next day, I offered to do what it took to get it back on its legs. Russ said no way, that it was a money pit, and he’d never be able to pay me back. Goddamn, I wanted to smack the shit out of him.” Stone grinned. “I explained to him what was up with me, that I quit the band and needed something to do with my time, something I loved, and I bought half the business, got us in the black, convinced Russ to charge more for his work, bought that goddamned building, and started advertising—not much but enough to get people to check us out. That first year was a little rough, but we’ve been smooth sailing ever since.”
Kory nodded. “But you don’t really need the money.”
“From The Iron Maiden? No. Spawn set me up for life. I didn’t get hooked on drugs like the other guys did, so I managed to hold on to most of the money I made when I was drumming for them. Oh, don’t get me wrong—I tried plenty of shit, but continuing to get high didn’t hold any interest for me.”
Stone might have thought Kory was going to look at him differently, and maybe she was, but not in a negative light, which was what she thought he’d feared. No, he was even more beautiful to her now.
“So this place—your house. Did you get it before or after you moved back?”
He grinned. “I lived in an apartment above the shop for a few months. Once we owned the building outright, we owned those shitty things too, but that was good, because Russ needed a place to stay. When I first moved back, it sucked, because lots of people knew me—not as Stone but as one of the kids who’d left Winchester and made it big, and it felt like everyone wanted a piece of me. I knew then that I had to find a place that was off the beaten path. There were girls constantly showing up at all hours. Again, not as cool as you’d think.
“I like hiking and I like nature, so I was meeting with a real estate chick who showed me this property. No house, but that wasn’t a problem. After I bought it, I met with an architect and a builder and they had it ready in less than a year. By then, Russ had a little place on the east side of town too, so I didn’t feel so guilty. And we fixed up the apartments above the shop and rent those out now too. Now? Life is pretty good.”
Kory nodded. She had no idea what to say. In spite of his fears, he was still the same old Stone to her—a guy she’d lusted after and eventually come to love. He hadn’t changed in her eyes at all. In fact, it just enriched his story, made him feel more like a kindred spirit than he had before. He hadn’t come from money; that much she now knew for sure. He’d earned it and hadn’t had much use for a glamorous life, aside from the comforts money could afford him. He wasn’t the type of guy to put on airs or pretend to be someone he was not. All that mattered to her was that he was the guy she’d fallen in love with.
And he was.
“Say something, Kory. What are you thinking?”
She stood. “I’m thinking you’re crazy.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“You’re crazy for thinking I would look at you any differently from the way I do now.”
His brows relaxed and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. He was still seated in the chair and he rested his head against her body, the side of his head nestled between her breasts. He said, his voice so quiet she could barely hear it, “Thank you for that.”
Chapter Nineteen
STONE KISSED KORY softly and sweetly. “Well, since you know my secret, I might as well show you everything.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Everything?”
“Yeah. Downstairs.”
She found herself a little excited by the prospect and almost laughed out loud, thinking it would have been funny if she’d suspected him of being a serial killer before. As they walked down to the basement, she asked, “So what was with the stage name anyway?”
He shrugged and smiled. “When I left Winchester, I didn’t want the name Bowman, because that was my dad’s last name, and part of me didn’t want the rest of my name, either, because that was given to me by my parents. I wanted to shed any last vestige of them and this town, and the best way to do it was to change my name.”