Tainted Kiss (Tainted Knights 1)

Turning my head, I met Emmie’s green gaze and grimaced. She had a twinkle in her eyes as she glanced from me to Santana.

Stopping only a foot away from us, she clasped her hands in front of her. “Nice to see you again, Santana.”

Pink filled Santana’s cheeks, but she didn’t rush to release me. “Hi, Emmie. How are you?”

“Crazy busy, as always.” She shrugged, her eyes still sparkling as she considered the two of us. “I really like this.” She waved her hand at us. Then her eyes darkened and those green orbs turned artic cold as she turned the full force of them on me. “Don’t be stupid. Understand?”

I felt a grin lift my lips. Emmie looked fierce, but she didn’t have to worry. Hurting my doll was the last thing I would ever do.

“Completely,” I assured her, tightening my hold on Santana. “Give me a minute, and we’ll be over to join you, okay?”

Emmie nodded. “Take your time. Sin and Cash have yet to grace us with their presence.”

I waited until she was back with Kin before turning us so that my back was to them. Like this, they couldn’t see Santana.

Pulling back half a step, I took her hands. “I’m going to call you so much you’ll get sick of seeing my name on your phone. The text count will be in the hundreds … per day. I’ll drive you crazy, and you’ll want to tell me to just leave you the fuck alone.” I was being as candid with her as possible, not exaggerating how it was going to be. “But just grin and bear it, okay? For me?”

She just shook her head, smiling sadly. “Babe, you’re going to be so busy. Don’t make those kinds of promises if you don’t mean them.”

My hold on her hands tightened. “I mean it. Every single day.”

“Okay.”

“Have fun with Jenna and the other girls. Kin promised she would take care of you for me. So, if you need anything—anything, Santana—you tell her.” I released her hands and cupped her face. “I’ll be back before you know it.” The words were just as much for me as they were for her.

Nine weeks. Sixty-three days. That wasn’t long.

Fuck, it was a lifetime without her.

“Enjoy your tour. Have fun.” Her eyes darkened. “Just not too much fun, okay?”

Lowering my head, I kissed her long and slow. When I lifted my head, she looked a little dazed.

“I miss you already.”

“Me, too,” she whispered, her chin trembling.

The next hour passed in a blur. We joined the others, and by that time, Kin was silently crying, which was tearing Jace to shreds. She didn’t get in our way, though, as we helped the roadies pack the buses and make sure that everything we needed was on the tractor trailer. The tour buses were huge, but other than their sizes, there was nothing else to mark who was going to be inside. Most bands had their pictures on the side of their buses, or their latest album’s art work. Emmie owned the buses and had told us we would thank her in the long run for keeping them so non-descriptive.

The roadies were a mixture of older veterans of the trade, experts who had been around since Emmie had first gotten started managing, and newer greenhorns. Some were friendly. Others were indifferent and couldn’t have cared less who they were going on the road with. By the time we were ready to hit the road, I had a few of their names memorized.

Stepping off the bus after securing the last of my stuff, Emmie was waiting with a clipboard in her hand. The five of us lined up without even being told, and she gave us a smirk that was sassy, and yes, sexy as hell.

“Just a few last things, guys.”

“Don’t get into trouble?” Jace offered.

“Don’t do anything that will make you have to come out and beat the shit out of us?” Gray smarted off.

She actually laughed. “Okay, so there are two less things I need to remind you of. Good. Remember them.” She handed the clipboard over to Travis, who wasn’t wearing a suit for once, but a pair of jeans and one of our new T-shirts. “Make sure you take care of the merchandise booths as scheduled. That’s going to give you a hell of a lot of revenue. Even though I know you won’t want to half the time, listen to Travis when he has something to say. He knows what he’s doing, and I trust him with you guys.” She shot her employee a side glance, her face darkening. “That doesn’t mean you take shit from him. And by that, I mean, don’t let him run the entire show. It doesn’t mean using him as a fucking piñata if he pisses you off. Which I know he will, because he pisses me off at least once a day.”

“I must be doing something right, though.” Travis smirked. “You’ve kept me around this long without killing me.”

“Mostly because I don’t want to have to do road tours myself,” she snapped at him. “Remember what we talked about. You’re there to work.”

He clenched his jaw and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Emmie turned her focus back to us. “This isn’t going to be all fun and games, guys. You will have very little time for yourselves. There will be five a.m. radio interviews you w