Page 14 of A Winter's Night with Tempest

The room goes quiet. I see the wide eyes around the table and feel the surprise from everyone.

“I’m not going fucking soft.” I glower.

Shaina hides a smile behind her napkin that she’ll pay for later.

“It’s a strategic marketing move on my part. Everyone knows Justin is Avery’s twin. She’s in Brutal Strength. They are our direct competition for being the most relevant rock band out there. If Justin has a track on our album, it’ll seem like he’s with us, and not BS. Get it?”

“Ah.” King nods. “Bueno.I like this idea.”

“Good.” I make eye contact with him, then move my gaze to Bryan. “You still keep in touch with Avery?”

“I speak to her occasionally.” He forks a big bite of doughy cinnamon roll with lots of gooey cream cheese frosting. Chewing, he seems to be considering his words before he speaks again. “We only talk about our music.”

Lace socks him a good one with her fist. “You never said anything about talking to her.”

“Ow.” He frowns at her and rubs his arm. “She’s just a colleague. It’s not a big deal, Lace.”

It might not be a big deal to him, but it obviously is to Lace. Wisely, I stay out of that mess. We have band business that needs addressing.

I knock on the table to pull Bryan’s attention away from his wife. “See if you can get Avery and Brutal Strength to agree to a reunion tour with us.”

“What?” Sager sputters his OJ, and Melinda passes him a napkin.

“You okay,hombre?” King slaps his best friend on the back.

“Yeah, man.” Sager shakes his head. “Except for my busted spine from your big handprint.”

King laughs. “You should come into the gym with me more often, puny man.”

“What’s your angle?” Bryan asks me, narrowing his gray-green eyes. “Not gonna set Red up without knowing.”

I note that Bryan still calls Avery by her nickname. Lace notices too, and she frowns.

“Not a setup. Just a little friendly competition,” I say to clarify. “Shared billing on tour. We’re not opening for them this time around. We’ll take turns being last in the lineup, and when their fans hear us, we’ll win them over.”

“Fuck yeah.” Dizzy nods.

I zero in on him. “April’s brothers still running a tour service?”

“Yes.” April answers for her husband. “John and Michael have the best instrument techs in their road crew.”

“Can you secure them for our band?” I ask, wanting Tempest to have the best.

“Absolutely.” She nods, and her long blond ponytail slides forward over one shoulder.

“Brutal Strength will use Samantha Daniels-Reynolds.” Melinda leans forward. Her sightless blue eyes are startlingly accurate at locating my exact position at the table.

“I figured they would.” I let the ramifications of that sink in and decide it doesn’t matter. April’s brothers are better, in my opinion. “You going to join your husband onstage on this tour?” I ask Melinda, knowing we could use all the star power we can get.

Though I would never admit it out loud, Brutal Strength with Marcus Anthony, his brother Dwight, JR on drums, and Avery Jones on lead guitar are serious competition for Tempest.

“No,” Melinda says. “Mary has me working round the clock on new acquisitions.”

“A&R agents reporting directly to you, huh?” My brows rise when she nods. “That’s big-time.” I wonder if the rumors are true that Mary really is training Melinda to take over Black Cat Records.

“The enthusiasm for the music is pure when bands first start out.” She flashes me an infectious smile that won her many modeling gigs before Sager became her boyfriend.

“It should always be about the music,” Sager says and takes her hand.

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