Page 122 of Rock God

“How are we going to handle things after tonight?” she asked after a moment.

“Press conference.”

She grimaced. “Do we have to?”

“You don’t, but I’m going to. I don’t like the level of crazy we’ve reached in the media, and I intend to take it down as many notches as necessary until we’re back on an even keel. Yes, we’ve gotten bad press before, but usually there are elements of truth to the rumors. This abortion story is bullshit, and I’m going to make sure everyone knows it.”

“But the porn story isn’t.”

“We’ll handle that one how ever makes you most comfortable, but we can’t hide from the truth, Dev. Those movies are out there and while I can hire a cyber expert to do some cleaning, they’ll probably never completely disappear, so we have to get in front of all that. And we have the resources to do whatever is necessary to make that happen.”

“Sasha mentioned Presley’s e-zine,” she said after a moment. “Maybe we could sit down with her and have a frank conversation about my past, the present, and our future.”

“She’d be down for that,” I said, rinsing the shampoo out of my hair.

“Okay.”

“How long do you need to do your makeup or whatever?” I asked. “Because we have to get going.”

“Can I have fifteen minutes?”

“Thirteen,” I countered, trying to keep a straight face.

I laughed when she lifted her middle finger in response.

* * *

The band was warming up in the wings when we got there, and Ross gave us a dirty look.

“This better not be a regular thing,” he said. “Giving me a heart attack before every show is going to piss me off.”

“It won’t be,” I said quickly. “We just had something to do.”

Kellan burst out laughing. “Yeah, I’ll bet.”

“Anyone know where Sasha is?” Ross asked, holding out his hands, palms up.

“She’s taking care of something personal,” I said. “Did you figure out the merchandise situation?”

“No. That’s why I need her.”

“Look, it’s one night,” I said. “Let it go. We’ll deal with it tomorrow. She’s where she needs to be and we’re here.” I looked around. “All right. This is it. It’s been a rough couple of days but we’re back on track and ready to rock.”

“You two back together?” Z asked, eyeing me.

I grinned, glancing over at Devyn.

“We are,” she said, coming to stand at my side. “And it’s not a secret anymore.”

“About time,” Tommy muttered.

“Then let’s get out there and bring in the new year with some rock and roll. Where’s Kirsten?” I looked around again.

“I’m here.” Kirsten came hurrying over to us.

“For the next week or two, you’re one of us, so come here.” I held out a hand. She took it curiously, allowing me to tug her into the circle we’d just made. This wasn’t our normal routine, but it was time to start something new. A lot of somethings.

“We’re about to start our first world tour without Carter,” I said. “It’s a new era for the band, and we have a lot of great music to play, with two fabulous additions to the line-up. I have no idea what the crowd will be like tonight in light of everything going on in the media, and I plan to deal with that first thing tomorrow, but tonight? Tonight is about us. We are stronger than anything they throw at us. We are one. We are Onyx Knight.”

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