Staged (Exodus End 3)

“I wonder what’s taking Roux so long,” Iona said as Roux grabbed a plate from the end of the breakfast bar. There was no way to get breakfast without passing close to her sisters’ table. Azura, who was sitting to Iona’s left, jumped suddenly and rubbed at her shin beneath the table.

She scowled at Iona, who was eyeing Roux sidelong. Luckily, Tamara was too focused on making a nuisance of herself to notice the table of rock chicks struggling to make excuses for their absent band member. After all, there were plenty of more famous, and therefore more interesting, musicians scattered around the dining room.

Roux scooped eggs onto a plate, bypassed all the processed meat products, including something she feared was the blood pudding stuff she’d heard they ate in England—gag!—and opted for toast, yogurt, and a plethora of fresh fruit. She glanced around for an empty table and cringed when Logan waved at her excitedly. Toni pulled out the chair beside her in welcome. Shit. Now what should she do? She shook her head slightly, giving a subtle nod in Tamara’s direction, and scanned the overcrowded dining room hoping to locate an empty table so she could eat in relative obscurity.

She knew the exact moment that Logan recognized she was being followed by Tamara. His cute and normally friendly face darkened with rage. He approached them so fast that Roux cringed and almost dropped her plate.

“Get the fuck out of here,” he said to Tamara. “Stop harassing Katie.”

Well, at least he had remembered to call her Katie, but now Tamara knew for sure that she had a deeper connection to Exodus End other than being some nameless pussy that Steve had enjoyed two nights in a row.

“I have a pass,” Tamara said, flashing a plastic tag that was dangling from around her neck. “You know her?”

Logan’s fury was replaced with hesitation. He obviously wasn’t sure what he should say. Toni took Roux’s elbow. “I saved a seat for you,” she said to Roux. “Did you want some juice? I’ll get you a glass. Sometimes assistants need a little assistance themselves.”

Assistant? Roux wasn’t sure where Toni was going with this, but she said in her poor attempt at a British accent, “Cranberry juice would be lovely, darling.”

Darling? What was she doing? She sounded like an idiot. She hurried over to the table that Logan and Toni were sharing with Dare—who looked mostly asleep this morning—and sat down.

“Why did you bring the witch down here with you?” Dare grumbled into his cup of black coffee. “It was bad enough having her in my face the moment I emerged from my room this morning.”

“Sorry,” Roux said. “She followed me. I’m not sure how to handle this.”

“I’ll give you the same advice I give my brother. Own who you are. If people can’t handle it, that’s their problem, not yours.”

“It’s not that I’m ashamed or anything. My band doesn’t want anyone to think we’re on tour with you guys because I’m . . .” She noticed that Tamara was within hearing range and dropped the conversation, focusing instead on her fruit salad.

Dare scowled over his shoulder. Roux adored Dare and his quiet introspection, but Tamara put him in such a bad mood that Roux was relieved when he made his excuse to leave.

“Logan, I’m heading to the gym before Butch gets his panties in a twist about us fucking up his schedule. Are you coming?”

“Yeah, I’d better.” To Tamara he said, “In case it isn’t clear, you’re not welcome here.” He kissed Toni quickly before following Dare out of the dining room.

Toni deposited a glass of cranberry juice next to Roux’s plate and sat back in her spot across from her.

“I never knew Steve needed an assistant.” Tamara sneered at Roux, apparently unable to comprehend what Logan meant by she wasn’t welcome. “What are you assisting him with exactly? His hard-ons?”

Well, technically, yes, Roux did help him with those. “He’s uh . . . working on a project.” Her fake accent was more Australian than British this time. Damn . . .

Tamara stepped closer to the table. “What kind of project?”

“A good one.”

“You know it’s none of your business, Susan,” Toni said. Susan? Wasn’t the woman’s name Tamara? “Go bother someone else.”

“And how do you know Katie, Toni?”

She saw me topless and screwing Steve on the beach at Dick Island, Roux thought wryly. I didn’t exactly make a good first impression. She wondered if Toni now knew that she was a member of Baroquen or if she disliked Tamara so much that she was willing to breakfast with the woman she thought was Steve’s current favorite groupie.

“She’s a friend,” Toni said.

“Everyone knows you don’t have any friends, An-toni-a.”

Toni lowered her gaze. Roux got the feeling that the animosity between the two women was not new. “Maybe. At least I’m not a raving bitch.”

Tamara chuckled. “Better a bitch than a doormat.”

“Get lost, will you?” Roux said, not wanting to join in on an insult-throwing match, though she had a few for the obnoxious woman who was harassing Toni. “There is no interesting story here.”

“I disagree, but I already have an interesting story about Steve. You aren’t the only woman he had in his bed yesterday.” She smirked before waving smugly and venturing out of the breakfast area.

“God, I hate her,” Toni said, pushing her glasses up her nose with the back of her wrist. “I didn’t think I was capable of hating anyone, but I guess I’m not as good a person as I thought I was.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to like her. She’s completely insufferable.” Roux speared a piece of melon with her fork and popped it into her mouth, trying not to let herself dwell on the lie Tamara had just spewed about Steve’s bedmates. He obviously hadn’t had anyone else in his bed the day before. Roux had been with him most of the day. Though she had found him passed out naked. Alone. But naked.

“Try having her as your boss.” Toni groaned and curved inward, both arms wrapped around her narrow waist.

“Is that how you know her?” she asked, continuing to munch her fruit salad.

“She worked for my mom’s company as an editor. She was supposed to be the one writing the book about Exodus End that I’m working on, but luckily I talked my mom into sending me in her place. That’s why Susan hates me. I screwed up all her plans. Somehow she managed to get close to the band anyway.”

“Why do you call her Susan? I thought her name was Tamara.” Though Roux couldn’t criticize anyone for using an alias, considering she now went by Katie in certain circles. Including this one with Toni.

“She was Susan when she worked for my mom; I think she didn’t want Exodus End to realize who she really was. But she was Steve’s sister-in-law, for crying out loud.” Toni rolled her eyes and pulled the wrapper off a muffin before breaking off a piece. “Yeah, she’d lost a lot of weight since they last saw her, but just how stupid does she think he is?” She popped the bite of muffin into her mouth.

“Steve’s actually very smart,” Roux said, unable to stop herself from defending her man. “Except when he drinks. Then he’s a fucking idiot.” She laughed and opened her yogurt, stirring the fruit up from the bottom with a spoon.

Someone bumped into the back of Roux’s chair, and startled, she glanced up to find her sisters standing there.

“Oh, sorry,” Iona said, not sounding sorry in the least. “I was just in a hurry to get to the shuttle bus and wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Roux better hurry up,” Sage said pointedly, “or we’re going to have to leave without her.”

“Keyboardists!” Azura rolled her eyes as she passed the table. “No consideration for anyone.”

“I’m sure she has a good reason for keeping us waiting,” Lily said.

That was Roux’s cue to get off her ass and change into her stage costume. She excused herself from the table, dropping her dirty dishes into a bin, and scoped out the lobby for signs of Tamara. After determining

she wouldn’t be followed again, she headed to the elevator.

As soon as she knocked on the door to her own room, Raven opened it wide and yanked her inside.

“Azura texted and told me you had the press following you around this morning.” She was already trying to tug off Roux’s shirt before the door had even shut.

“Yeah, it sucked.” Roux kicked her shoes off. “I didn’t want the snoop to follow me to our room, so I had to go down to the lobby to get breakfast as a diversion.” She jerked off her pants and stepped into the black satin and lace dress that Raven was holding out for her. “Then Logan starts waving at me and I thought for sure I was sunk, but Toni told her that I’m Steve’s assistant, so the reporter sort of backed off.”

“Oh, what a tangled web . . .” Raven adjusted Roux’s breasts in her bodice and grabbed the corset off the bed. Raven laced the corset up Roux’s back while Roux rubbed foundation into her face.

“I’m sorry to keep doing this to you,” Roux said.

“I like the excitement,” Raven said. She fit the nylon cap over Roux’s hair, tucking in stray locks, before taking her long black and red wig off the foam head on the dresser and placing it on Roux’s head. “I feel like the pit crew at a racetrack.”

Roux laced up her boots and put on her jewelry while Raven worked on the rest of Roux’s makeup. She was halfway out the door when Raven called, “Wait. You forgot your petticoat.”

A few costume adjustments later, Roux was racing for the elevator. Her sisters looked happy to see her when she reached the lobby.

“Did you oversleep again?” Iona chastised her.

“Sorry.” Roux released an exaggerated sigh. “My damn narcolepsy strikes at the worst possible times.”

“I hope you grabbed a snack. You don’t have time for breakfast,” Azura said, her sly grin telling Roux that she was actually enjoying the farce.

“I’m good. Thanks,” Roux said. “When will the shuttle be here?”