Rise (Rock God 1)

That, and Antoinette was absolutely losing it. She’s a fan. I love it. Drives Axel insane.

“You’re stunning.”

“Rhys.” She starts laughing. “You can wait until we get home.”

“I’m not waiting until we get home, Brat—” Ace’s knock on the window, giving us a warning that he’s opening the door, cuts off my filthy tirade.

The door swings open and he helps my goddess out as I follow. The frenzy is wild tonight, and it’s not only from our fans. The elite of Hollywood are walking the carpet too.

“Granger, Gia, over here,” they scream. The velvet ropes barely hold them back. They reach out to touch us.

“Keep them away from Gia,” I grumble at Ace and my security team. They move us fast toward the red carpet.

“Christ.” I look around at all the adoring fans, wondering where Ammo is. I catch sight of Axel. He’s wearing black sunglasses, too, and I smirk.

Fucking dick.

In the last year that I’ve been with Gia, Axel and I have had no less than three fistfights. I guess he finally got it through his thick skull that I’m not going anywhere when Gia and I bought a house in Malibu.

It’s a small world, at least in Malibu—our neighbors are Reed and Tess Saddington. Reed is David’s best friend, so we’ve kind of gotten close with them.

Gia decided to start BBQ Sundays when we’re in town. Our backyard is filled with the ocean, Disciples, and my band.

I even talked Axel into laying a couple of songs down with me in the studio with the rest of The Stuffed Muffins. Our new album, Fast and Fierce, is coming out next month.

Now all we need to do is slow down enough so that I can knock her up. As if she knows what I’m thinking, she turns to me.

“What?” She smiles and waves at the cameras. I lean down and growl into her ear. She starts laughing.

“I’m sorry, what was that growl supposed to mean?”

“I’ll show you later.”

She waves, then shrieks when Sebastian runs up from behind her. Turning, she throws her arms around him, and I stand back and let her shine. When Alberto brought the dress out tonight, I almost said no. It’s silver, which is good, but the top part of the dress is so tight her tits almost fall out. The rest is made up of layers and layers of chiffon with a slit so high it lets you see one of her long, tan legs when she walks.

“You look ravishing.” His eyes go straight for her breasts.

“Goddammit.” I pull her toward my chest. “Back off, Sebastian.”

Throwing his head back, he laughs and pats my shoulder. He waves to the cameras. “Good luck, Granger.” He winks as he links his fingers with a beautiful redhead and walks toward the entrance.

“Let’s move.” I bite her ear while she laughs and talks about the film with a reporter.

“Gia.” We both turn as Axel and Antoinette walk up. Of course, he’s wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, along with his black cut.

She squeals and hugs Antoinette who’s wearing a skintight pink dress, but at least her tits aren’t falling out.

“The fuck?” Axel stares at Gia. “Why would you let her wear that?” He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“I’m trying to be supportive,” I say.

“Stop, you pussy-whipped asshole,” he retorts, shaking his head and guiding Antoinette toward the entrance.

“Axel,” Gia yells. I bite the side of my cheek. She truly does look like she’s gonna spill out of that dress.

“One picture, please?”

He rolls his eyes. We all pose, and the cameras go crazy. Rafe thankfully rescues me, saying the rest of the band is already inside. His eyes take in Gia, and he raises a brow at me but wisely stays quiet.

My hand goes to her lower back as I move us toward the venue, smiling and waving at the crowd. The Chinese Theatre is a historical landmark. Outside are the famous handprints of the stars, forever captured on the sidewalk. Inside, the deep red velvet curtain with gold palm trees covers the massive screen. So many legends have walked through those doors.

I spin her toward me like I’m going to kiss her. Instead, I whisper, “Your tits are mine and they’re falling out.”

She smiles and kisses me, whispering back, “That’s impossible. I’m taped inside this dress.”

“The hell?”

“Granger,” Hunter yells and waves as I guide her in, allowing the usher to show us our seats.

The excitement in the room makes me look for my brothers. Nuke sits a couple of rows down with his newest girlfriend, a yoga instructor. He’s looked good lately. Apparently, she helped him detox off the smack, so of course, he thought it was wise to move in with her. That’ll last until we go on the road.

Ammo sits close to Axel. With his bottle of Jäger in one hand, and his other arm snaked around a large-breasted blonde, he laughs with Cash who brought his kid.