Ravensong (30 page)

Julian stared at Evan for a long
while. Joshua had to suppress a smile. He loved seeing Julian
squirm. He’d known the fool would miss all that Elena did for him,
but he hadn’t realized how quickly her loss would be
felt.

With an exasperated sigh, Julian
pushed himself to his feet. “All right, I’m coming.” He turned to
his assistant, Brian Green, and motioned toward the stage. “Finish
this for me.”

“
Finish it?” Brian
squeaked.

“
Yeah, it’s not brain
surgery.”

“
I don’t know what you
want.”

“
Call Elliot and tell him
to get his ass down here to help you.”

“
I called him when you
demanded it hours ago and I told you what he said.”

Joshua swore he saw Julian’s temple
throb with fury. His face did twist into a mask of frustration, but
he spoke calmly enough. “Tell him I really need his
help…”

Brian opened his mouth to protest, but
Julian held up a hand. “Uhn Uhn. Don’t say it. Just convince
him.”

“
And if he won’t?” pressed
the kid. Joshua didn’t think he was going to last long with his
less than subservient attitude, but Joshua respected him for
it.

Julian started to say something, then
clenched his fist and shook himself. “Just ask him. Tell him I said
please.”

Joshua’s brows rose. Evan was tapping
an impatient foot. “My equipment?” he reminded.

“
I’m coming,” Julian
snapped, starting toward the door in the back of the conference
room. As he passed Joshua in his chair, he never once made eye
contact, but Evan did and he gave Joshua a wink.

* * *

Joshua was so preoccupied with
thinking about the show that he didn’t notice the woman when he
walked out of the shower and into the dressing room. She was
sitting in the chair before the mirror. Her face was heavily
made-up and her hair stiff with hairspray. The clothing she wore
revealed more flesh than it hid.

Joshua’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Hello?” he said, then glanced at the door.

Why in the world had Dominic allowed
this woman past him? Nothing like this had ever happened
before.

“
Hello, darlin’,” she
purred, then stretched languidly.

Joshua dropped his towel on the side
table and ran his fingers through his damp hair. “What are you
doing here?”

“
You invited
me.”

Joshua lifted a brow. Even when he’d
been free to date whomever he wanted, he’d never invited a groupie
back to the dressing room -- not with a world of reporters and
retainers waiting outside.

“
I don’t believe I
did.”

She pursed her lips in a pout. Her
lips were as red as blood and glistening. Joshua liked women who
looked a bit less artificial. He thought of Elena’s subtle
application of make-up. “How could you forget? That really
hurts.”

Joshua started toward the door. Why in
the world did Dominic allow this woman in here?

From the corner of his eye, Joshua
caught the woman rising to her feet and moving toward him. He spun
to face her, alarmed first by her presence and second by the way
she was behaving. He’d heard all of the stories about celebrities
being accosted by less than stable fans.

“
Listen,” he said, holding
up a hand. She stumbled to a stop on heels that had to be six
inches high. “I don’t know who you are, but I didn’t invite you in
here.”

“
But you did?” she said and
gave him a sad look. Reaching into her bra, she started to pull
something out. Joshua tensed, but it was only a slip of paper.
“See, you sent me this.”

Joshua frowned as she
opened the note and held it out to him. Someone had scribbled an
invitation on the paper and signed it
Joshua Ravensong
. The signature
looked a lot like his, but he couldn’t have written it. Shaking his
head, he took the note from her and studied it. Damn, but it did
look a lot like his handwriting, especially the signature. Still,
that wasn’t hard to find. Joshua signed so many autographs in a
year that anyone could get a hold of one and with computers what
they were today...well, he didn’t know enough about them to
duplicate something like this, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be
done. But why?

She moved closer to him while he
studied the note. He jumped when she pressed herself along the
length of him. Taking a step back, he handed her the note again.
“Look, there’s been a mistake. I know it looks like my writing, but
I didn’t write that.”

“
Oh,” she said, giving him
that pout again. “This really is sad. I read that article in the
paper, but I didn’t believe it.”

“
What article?” he
asked.

She shifted uncomfortably. “You know,
about you and your…well, problems.”

“
Problems?”

She shrugged, but canted a look down
at his arm.

Joshua sighed. He hadn’t read it, but
he could just imagine what it might have said. “Listen,
lady…”

“
Paula,” she
said.

“
Paula,” he amended, “I
really am sorry for the confusion, but…”

Paula moved closer to him again.
“Don’t worry about it, darlin’. I don’t mind. I know it’s hard to
remember, but I’ll give you such a night that no matter what you
do, you won’t forget me.”

Joshua stumbled back into the door.
“No thanks,” he said, fumbling for the doorknob. Where the hell was
Dominic? “Really, this is a mistake. See, I’m involved with
someone.”

“
You can bring her. I don’t
mind.”

Joshua gave an anxious bark of
laughter. “Yeah, I don’t think that would go over too well.” He
finally located the knob and turned it. “Look, Paula, I can get you
a cab or better yet, I’ll have one of the limos take you
home.”

She pouted yet again. “That’s not at
all what I want to do.”

Joshua turned the knob and pulled open
the door, bolting out into the hallway. A number of people were
milling around – in fact, the whole band, Julian and…Elena were
there. Paula bumped him in the back, wrapping her arms around his
chest as Joshua made eye contact with Elena. She looked first at
him, then her eyes shifted to Paula and narrowed.

Joshua broke Paula’s hold, a little
more forcefully than he meant, and closed on Julian. “Where’s
Dominic?” he demanded.

Julian gave him a bored look over his
glasses, then his eyes also shifted to Paula. “There was a
disturbance out back. All security was diverted there. Dominic is
securing the limos for us.”

“
Why was she allowed into
the dressing room?”

Julian smiled. “I am not about to get
involved in this.”

“
In what?” asked
Joshua.

“
Who you fool around with
is not any of my business. I’ve never gotten involved in that, and
I’m sure not going to do it now.”

Joshua didn’t realize how much the
whole episode unnerved him, but he grabbed Julian by the collar.
The band reacted, moving to intervene, but Joshua wasn’t aware of
them.

“
What the hell are you
playing at?” he shouted, shaking the manager.

Julian held his arms out in a motion
of submission. “I didn’t do anything.”

“
You let this woman into my
dressing room and apparently there’s an article that says I’m using
again.”

“
Let him go, Josh,” came
Robert’s voice at his shoulder.

Julian closed a hand around Joshua’s
wrist. “Calm down, all right? I didn’t do anything. I don’t know
anything about the woman and I didn’t have anything to do with the
article.”

“
Let him go,” said Robert,
reaching around Joshua and grabbing his wrist too.

Joshua released Julian, then sagged
with weariness. “I don’t believe you.”

“
I’ve got a note,” came
Paula’s voice behind him. “He invited me himself.”

Julian gave Joshua a slow smile.
“Well, I guess that clears me of any wrongdoing, doesn’t
it?”

Joshua’s hands closed into fists, but
Robert had an arm around him, holding him back. “You are a pathetic
excuse for a man,” he said.

Julian’s eyes tracked a path over
Joshua. “Really? And you’re certainly one to talk.”

Joshua pushed against Robert’s arm.
“Let me go, Bobby.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
Yeah,” he answered
tiredly. “He’s not worth it.”

When Robert released him, Joshua took
a deep breath, then brushed by Julian, knocking him with his
shoulder. He wanted to explain things to Elena, but he looked so
damn guilty right now, he didn’t know what to say to her. And he
needed to get out of this building, away from the band. He walked
to the exit and pushed it open, not caring who was waiting on the
other side.

Dominic stood by one of the limos and
hurried to open the door when he saw the look on Joshua’s face.
“You okay, Boss?”

“
No,” Joshua muttered, then
slipped inside. He slouched down on the limo seat and closed his
eyes. He heard Dominic climb into the passenger side and shut the
door.

“
Where to?” he
asked.

“
I don’t care. Just have
him drive.”

He didn’t hear Dominic give the driver
any directions, but the limo started moving and Joshua let the
motion lull him into a sense of calm.

* * *

Elena sat up when Joshua crept into
the room. She could see his silhouette as he sat on the end of the
bed and began taking off his shoes. Rolling over, she turned on the
lamp and wiped the sleep from her eyes.

She sat and stared at his hunched back
for a moment. “You okay?”

“
Yeah,” he
grunted.

She crawled to the end of the bed and
ran her hands up his spine to his shoulders. He smelled of booze
and cigarette smoke, but she let go her held breath when he leaned
back into her. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face
against his neck.

“
You need a shower,” she
whispered, kissing him. He didn’t smell like anyone else’s perfume,
and for that she was grateful.

“
I know,” he mumbled. She
caught just a slight slur to his words.

“
How much did you
drink?”

“
Not as much as Dominic,
but he’s still sober.”

She smiled into his hair. “You’re not
a drinker.”

“
No, I’m a drug addict,” he
said bitterly.

She tightened her hold on him and
pressed her face deeper into his neck.

“
Why didn’t you warn me
about the article?”

“
I didn’t think you needed
any more stress.”

“
What else have you kept
from me?”

“
Nothing.”

He lifted a hand and ran it along her
arm. “I haven’t done any drugs since rehab,” he said.

“
I know,” she
answered.

“
And I didn’t invite that
woman into my dressing room.”

She lifted her head and pressed her
lips against his ear. “I know that too.” She hadn’t needed him to
tell her that, but she was glad he had.

“
How do you know? She had
that damn note with my signature.”

Elena smiled, kissing the side of his
face. “Because she wasn’t your type.”

He laughed and some of the worry eased
inside of her. “I wanted to punch Julian tonight.”

“
I’ve wanted to do that
myself sometimes.”

“
He’s trying to set me
up.”

Elena nodded. “I think so too, but I
don’t know how to prove it. He’s a sneaky bastard.”

Joshua ran a hand over his face. “I
wish we could go home.”

Elena crawled off the bed and reached
for his hand, tugging on it. “Come on. You need a
shower.”

He let her pull him to his feet and
followed her into the bathroom. She turned on the water as he
undressed. When he stepped into the shower, she let her gaze linger
on his beautiful body. Slipping her nightgown off, she climbed in
after him.

He opened his eyes wide in surprise,
then reached for her and pulled her under the spray. Wrapping his
arms around her, he buried his face in her hair and held her
tight.

Running her hands up his back, she
closed her eyes and absorbed the feel of him. God, she loved him,
but she just couldn’t tell him that.

“
Thank you for believing
me,” he whispered.

She lifted his head and placed her
lips against his. “Always,” she said, then kissed him
wildly.

* * *

The sudden reverberation made Joshua
look up. The sound manager shrugged his shoulders and pointed at
Julian. Julian strolled to the stage beside an unfamiliar man.
Well, unfamiliar wasn’t exactly right. Joshua narrowed his eyes,
feeling an odd sensation pool in his stomach. The man looked a lot
like he did himself. He glanced at Elliot, who was also looking
between Joshua and the newcomer with a frown.