Rocking Vegas: Passport 2 Love Read online

  Rocking Vegas

  Passport 2 Love Collaboration

  Regina Frame

  Contents

  Note to Reader

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Raine

  Gear

  Raine

  Gear

  Gear

  Epilogue

  Message from the author

  More Passport 2 Love

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  More Books by Regina Frame

  ROCKING VEGAS

  Copyright © 2020 Regina Frame

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Editing: Amy Briggs, Briggs Consulting

  Formatting: Dark Water Covers

  Cover: Under Cover Designs

  This book is dedicated to my husband.

  Thank you for believing in me, when I didn't even believe in myself.

  Note to Reader

  Dear Reader!

  Thank you so much for checking out Passport 2 Love!

  Thirteen authors have come together to work on a collaboration that will have you traveling the world from the comfort of your own home with twelve new books!

  Don’t worry about a passport and airline tickets! We will take you around the globe! From Vegas to Mexico to London, and all over!

  Now, are you ready? Yeah? Alright! Let’s do this! Up, up, and away!

  Love always,

  Passport 2 Love authors

  Raine

  I get the feeling I’m going to regret this. The girls aren’t going to like it.” I voiced to Bruce, our manager as I lowered myself into the leather chair in front of his desk. It’s not really a question of whether the girls will like it or not. It’s me that has a problem with the situation. I haven’t seen Gear Matthews since we ended things between us our senior year in college and that was five years ago. He ripped my heart to shreds which sent me into a downward spiral.

  I flipped through the pages of the document Bruce gave me earlier. There are dozens of colorful tabs staring back at me. I will have carpal tunnel after signing all of the places indicated.

  “It’s only for three months,” he explains. Three months of being close to the one man I thought that I loved. Until things changed one night at a frat party when his band was playing and I caught some skank wrapped around him in the hallway of Sigma Chi. I walked away from him that night and refused to listen to his excuses. Once a cheater, always a cheater, at least that’s what I saw in my own father. No way was I going to put myself in a relationship like my parents’—that didn’t end well.

  “There has got to be another band. I mean…” Before I could finish Bruce interrupts.

  “Think of the good you’ll be doing for the women’s charity and the shelter. All the battered women you guys will be helping with the money from ticket sales.” He goes on to say, “You guys are two of the hottest bands on the charts. The fans love you.”

  If it weren’t for the fans, I’d still be stuck in my small town without a way out. Still be playing local dives and bachelor parties while drunk assholes hit on me. On the other hand, if I can help just one family escape what I went through as a child and even later on, it would be worth it. “You are stronger than your fears.” That is a quote taped to my bathroom mirror. Whenever things would get rough after my parents died my grandmother would always say, “You are stronger than your fears. You’re a Johnson now, Raine. Johnson women can do anything they want. If you want the moon and the stars, reach for it and you’ll have it one day.” I miss her so much. She was always there for me after my life took a tragic turn when I was just a kid. She adopted me and gave me her last name, Johnson, so I didn’t have to go through life being known as that Barnes girl and everything associated with the name. People can be cruel sometimes, especially kids, and my grandmother knew that and in her own way she did what she could to prevent some of the shame I felt.

  “I don’t know if we want our names associated with them,” I tried to reason. “I mean, they’re in the tabloids for some crazy shit every day. Just last week, they were slapped with a lawsuit for trashing not one, but four hotel rooms. How do you do that when you’re only staying in one? One of them even took a piss in the potted plants. The plants died by the way.” I was grasping at straws now. I turned my phone around in his direction showing him the article that ran recently in the Sun-Times, one of the larger newspapers in Nevada.

  “Do I need to remind you about the sex tape? You are no angel my dear.” My spine stiffened and my mouth went dry. How could I forget? My face along with other parts of me was plastered all over the web for years until my attorney served the website with a Cease and desist and finally got it taken down. It’s never truly gone because once it’s out there, it’s out there.

  “That was over two years ago and it was never to be brought up again,” I snap. My face red with embarrassment. We partied at the Starlight after a show one night and I’d had one too many shots of tequila. I went back to the room with Danny Vegas. He was a bad Celebrity impersonator, but he rocked my world. He rocked it right on to Porn Hub when he posted an online video of the two of us tearing up the sheets in his room. That’s when I started to rethink my obsession with the legend. It was a mistake that was obviously going to haunt me for the rest of my life. I had no idea he had a camera lens in that black wig of his. In my defense he looked like the young Elvis and had an eight pack underneath that white satin jumpsuit.

  “Raine,” Bruce said, leaning back in his chair, scrubbing his hand over his tired face. “The video will always come up. You know this. It went viral. It’s out there and probably being used for some guy’s spank bank as we speak. Probably several.” I narrowed my eyes and stood from my chair. I wasn’t going to stand around here and listen to this. He lifted his hand in a silent request for me to give him a minute. I sat back down to hear Bruce out. “I’m just saying we’ve all done things we’re not proud of.” He may be right about that, but he of all people should understand that it was a very dark time in my life. Fuck Bruce if he doesn’t respect me enough to keep his mouth shut.

  “You can stick the contract. We won’t do it.” I shoot up from my chair.

  He points his sausage-like finger at me. Hairy knuckle and all. “Sit down! You will sign and you will do the shows. When Here Comes Trouble signed on with Ruby Records, you agreed to one charity event per year. This is that one and Metal Mayhem just happens to be one of the bands this year.” He tapped his finger on the stack of papers before me. I cringed staring down at his sausage like fingers I knew he had me right where he wanted me, under his thumb, and there was no getting out of it. Out of all the charities out there, why did he have to choose mine?

  “But…” I started.

  “There are no buts and quite frankly I’m getting tired of you girls thinking you are free to pick and choose because you’re not. Metal Mayhem may be a bunch of arrogant pricks, but they’re at the top of their game and their manager says they’re willing to donate all proceeds to the charity. It will be
good for you guys to connect. Just don’t join in the train game or juice caboose as they like to call it.”

  I opened my mouth to reply there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening then decided what’s the point. It was only a matter of time before I would have to face Gear again. I guess that time has come whether I liked it or not. You are stronger than your fears.

  I lowered myself back onto the leather chair and began scribbling my name across the bright white paper that held all the specifications of this tour. Because there is a charity’s name tied to us for the next three months, we are required to keep up professional appearances, act appropriately, blah, blah, blah. I knew this already, but Bruce liked to show his authority by shoving it down my throat ever since I made one horrible mistake that I’m still paying for years later.

  “Happy now?” I tossed the pen on his wooden desk and stood back up. I grabbed my bag from the floor, tossed it over my shoulder and turned toward the door.

  “Ecstatic,” I heard him say as I walked out of his office.

  I was going to have to explain to my girls that we’d be working with the biggest man-whores in the industry for the next few months. Willow, our guitarist, was not going to like the news one bit. She saw me post Gear breakup and it wasn’t pretty. My fear and anxiety locked it’s claws into me and wouldn’t let go. I lost twenty-pounds that I couldn’t really afford to lose, so she practically force fed me almost every meal even though I claimed that I wasn’t hungry. I was heartbroken, and food wasn’t going to fix it.

  “You did what?” Ronnie dropped her drumsticks from where she sat behind her kit. They clanged to the floor.

  “It’s not like we have a choice.” I dropped my purse on the floor beside the sofa. “It’s part of our contract. One charity event per year. Well, here we are.” I spread my arms wide. I was frustrated with our label because we had no control over who we toured with, or joined forces with. “It’s that time of the year. Besides it’s for my domestic violence charity.” This is one charity that I fund on a regular basis. I grew up watching my mother being abused and trying to cover her bruises with makeup so the neighbors wouldn’t see what my father had done to her and if I could help others, that’s what I was going to do.

  “We know this is important to you, but why does it have to be with those guys? If it’s our event, why can’t we choose the band?” Willow asked.

  “When we signed that contract it gave Ruby Records the right to make those decisions,” I replied.

  “Are you going to be okay with this?” she asked.

  “Why couldn’t we team up with the guys from Road Trip?” I force a small smile. Veronica, also known as Ronnie, our drummer, has always had a thing for their lead singer. She’s wanted to team up with them ever since we met them at a label party a couple of years back.

  “Metal Mayhem is at the top of the charts and has been for the past year. Let’s face it ladies,” my eyes slowly move across the room taking in all the scowls, “we’re the top two bands in the nation right now. It makes sense when you think about it,” I explained. “We would be crazy not to and at the end of the day, I just want what’s best for the charity.”

  “She’s got a good point guys, As a group, we’ll bring in more money for the cause than any other band out there,” Sunny, our bass player comments.

  “It can run smooth if we just go into it with a positive attitude. I promise to make it up to you guys,” I said.

  “She’s got a point,” Willow said. A round of sighs floated around the room. “I’ll get us appointments at the clinic. We’re gonna need our shots.” She laughed.“I shudder to think the kinds of diseases those guys are carrying around.” She visibly shook where she sat causing everyone to laugh.

  “Just stay away from anything that looks like a dick and we should be okay,” I joked but meant every word of it. Three months. I just need to get through three months with Gear and not allow myself to get wrapped up in him or his bullshit again. Three months and then we can move on. Willow is the only one who knows my history with Gear because she was there. She was my roommate and best friend in College. The other girls haven’t a clue what happened between the two of us and I’m going to eventually have to tell them that Gear and I were together once upon a time and when I tell them he cheated, there will be a target on his back. Because we’re loyal bitches and no one likes a cheater. They’ll work to make sure he doesn’t come within ten feet of me. I lowered myself onto a high-top stool sitting at the microphone. It was time to lay it all out there, minus the part about still being in love with him five years later.

  “We’ll make it known from the start that just because we’re women, we will not be taken advantage of. They do not call the shots,” I reiterated more for myself than anyone else. I refuse to give Metal Mayhem the upper hand. No man will ever have the upper hand over me again.

  “I can’t believe we’re just now finding out that you dated Gear Matthews,” Ronnie says after our long conversation about how we dated in high school and attended the same college. We fell for each other. Hard. And then I caught him in a dark hallway with someone else. “He’s hot as fuck,” she said with wide eyes. I’m very well aware that he is in fact hot as fuck and skilled in more ways than his music.

  “It never came up. It’s something I didn’t feel like sharing. It was a long time ago,” I explained. If I was being truthful with myself, it still hurt too much. I still woke-up at night and felt for him beside me sometimes only to be met with a cold pillow.

  “Okay. We can respect that can’t we girls?” They all nod in unison. “We’ve got your back. Nobody messes with our girl.” Sunny lifts her manicured fingers and makes a show of popping her knuckles. Her red hair perfectly styled in loose waves. She looks more like a pinup girl, but I’ve seen her kick some serious ass if a photog invades her space. She takes that shit personally.

  “All right ladies, let’s run through our set sheet and then head out. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long-ass day,” I said. I went through the motions because it’s all I could do. I knew these songs by heart. All I could think about was what it will be like to look in those pale green eyes again and not melt the way I used to. I need to get a grip on this anxiety before tomorrow. I prayed I didn’t have a mental meltdown in front of the guys. What would Gear think to see how far I’ve fallen? Why do I even care?

  Gear

  “Roll down the window with that shit!” I shove Matt’s shoulder. My black Escalade looks as if someone set off a fog machine and the sweet smell of watermelon smothers me. “You’re hooked on that vaping shit. You vape more than you ever smoked.”

  Rob called him a cunt from the back seat before lowering his window and sticking his head out like a dog. “Tell me again why I hang around you guys?”

  When we parked at the studio there was already a swarm of paparazzi waiting for us. Damn blood suckers. Matt looked over at me and grinned as the vapor from his pen escaped his nose making him look like a Chinese dragon. Reaching in the center console, I grabbed my Dew Me cap and pulled it low over my eyes before stepping from the SUV.

  “Gear, have you punched another Papp lately? Do you want to punch me? How did it feel to get stuck with a lawsuit?” a man from the sea of cameras shouted as lights flash all around us. Lip, our drummer, yelled at them to “come at him” but I grabbed his arm to pull him back. Rob lifted both his middle fingers and yelled, “get a shot of this.” And of course, they did. I was sure it was already on the web and we hadn’t even made it to the door. We slipped inside and headed down the long hallway to Roman Hawthorne, our manager’s office. Roman was with us since day one. He discovered us playing some little dive bar on a college campus five years ago.

  “You guys are an hour late,” he grumbled. “Where have you been? I’ve called you at least ten times.” He snarled and said, “You know what? I don’t want to know. I’m sure it’ll be something I’ll regret later.” He took a seat at the long wooden conference table and we do the same. “We need to g
o over the specifics of the charity event that’s coming up soon and also a couple of last-minute changes,” he said as he slid binder clipped folders across the table to each one of us.

  “What the hell are you talking about last-minute changes?” As I thumbed through the paperwork I stopped on a section titled “Collaboration.” What the actual fuck?

  “What the hell is this?” Rob tore out the page that read, “Nothing But Trouble,” with a picture of the band plastered across the page. Raine Johnson’s whiskey eyes stare back at me. I remembered looking into those passion-filled eyes as we clung to each other in the sheets. My stomach twisted into a painful knot at the thought of coming face to face with her after all these years. I started to wonder if she would reject me again or if she’d finally give me the opportunity to explain what happened at a stupid college party once and for all. If it was any other woman I would’ve said fuck it a long time ago, but Raine was different. She’s the person I’m supposed to be with.

  “Nobody agreed to this. Why weren’t we asked? Now we’re going to have four chicks following us around for three months. Do you have any idea what that’ll be like?” Matt growls and pats down his pockets as if he were looking for his smokes.

  “Yeah man, they get that PMS shit. They’ll be all possessive over our dicks and stuff and the next thing you know there will be a catfight because they just can’t get enough of my love missile,” Lip complained while pointing to his crotch. We all burst into a fit of laughter.