Chapter One
“How’s everything going on the road?” Grace asked.
“Couldn’t be better,” Kaden answered, absently stroking the back of one of the women in bed with him. After the concert, he had picked two from the mass of followers, who trailed after them from concert to concert, hoping for the chance to come into contact with the band members.
Silence met his response. Kaden rolled to his back as the other fan crawled between his legs, stroking his dick. His hand went to her hair as his hips lifted, putting his cock into her experienced mouth.
“Kaden, I’m staying with Mom while James looks for a job in Nashville. Why don’t you sneak away for a few days between concerts? It’s been awhile since you’ve seen Abby and Adam; they’re getting older. I want them to get to know you better. You haven’t seen them for six months. Mom misses you…” As usual, when his sister talked, she didn’t pause for breath.
“Can’t right now. Too busy. Maybe in a few months. I have a week off for Thanksgiving; me and Tatiana will come for a visit.” Kaden let his hands go to the other woman’s breast as the other one sucked his dick.
“Oh, okay.”
He ignored the disappointment in her voice.
“I have to go, Grace, someone’s calling my name. Tell Mom I said, hi.” Kaden hung up the phone before his sister was even able to say goodbye.
The axe swung down, breaking the log cleanly as the two pieces fell to the side of the stump. Kaden bent down, picking up another log and placing it on the stump. Lifting the axe, he swung down, using all his strength. Again, the log split into pieces. Over and over, Kaden repeated the process until there were only a few pieces left to split. As he chopped, he heard the steps approach from behind him and then paused as a familiar, sardonic voice rang out in the silence of the yard. “I think you have enough wood, Kaden.”
Kaden stiffened, but didn’t stop chopping the wood until he had finished the remaining logs. Breathing heavily, sweat dripped off him and soaked the thin t-shirt he was wearing.
“What do you want, R.J.?”
R.J. moved to pick up a few of the logs that Kaden had split, carrying them to the woodpile against the cabin.
“We need to talk,” R.J. said, bending down to pick up more wood.
“You’re going to ruin that expensive suit.”
R.J. shrugged as he stacked the wood neatly. Together they worked in silence, stacking the wood. When they finished, Kaden went inside the cabin without a word. R.J. followed behind, taking a seat at the table after washing his hands at the sink.
Kaden ignored him as he picked up the coffee cup he had left sitting on the counter. He took another from the cabinet, pouring both cups to the brim with coffee and then carried them to the table. He sat one down in front of R.J. before taking a seat for himself.
“What do you want, R.J.?”
“Jesse’s been hurt in a car accident.” R.J. winced at the first taste of the strong coffee.
“How bad?”
“Two broken ribs, fractured arm and a broken leg.”
“That sucks for you, doesn’t it, with the new tour starting?”
“How did you know about the tour starting?”
“Ax,” Kaden answered, finishing his coffee and then getting up to put his cup in the sink.
“I can’t say I’m surprised he’s the only one you kept in contact with, but it would’ve been nice him telling me a week ago, instead of letting me go to three different states looking for you.” R.J. didn’t try to hide his frustration.
“That’s why I kept in touch with him; he was the only one in the band who knew how to keep his mouth shut.” Kaden’s harsh voice had R.J. wincing as his words rang home.
When R.J. would have spoken again, Kaden cut him off. “Get to the point. What do you want, R.J.?”
“I need you to take over for Jesse. You’re the only one who could bring in the revenue that Jesse would have.”
Kaden couldn’t help himself from laughing in his former tour manager’s face.
“Prop Jesse up on a stool if you have to, but there is no way in hell I’m stepping back on a stage.”
“Jesse already spent his advance on concert sales, so unless he can pay back the advance, he’s going to lose his home. Ax isn’t in much better shape; his child support payments have been taking a large chunk of his money. If he has to pay back the advance, then that new recording studio he’s so proud of, is going to close before a record could even be produced. D-mon can’t —”
“Stop, R.J. I can see where this is headed. You should know by now that I haven’t got a sympathetic bone left in my body. If that’s the best you’ve got, I have things to do.”