Endure: Rusted and Reckless, #3

By Charlotte Casey

Torn between her desire for one and her devotion for another.

Determined to find his brother without losing his heart to her.

Rusted and Reckless has been struggling since their lead singer walked out. Hellbent on keeping his band together, lead guitarist, Sawyer Nolan will do anything to find his brother and bring him back where he belongs.  After all, he's got to keep his band rocking—even if it means denying his increasing feelings for their sexy assistant.  Keeping things casual and on the down low has always worked for them.

Assistant manager Darcy Holmes loves her secret romps with Sawyer Nolan, but the closer they get, the more she's hiding.  Determined to save the band and Sawyer's heart, Darcy refuses to reveal the truth behind his brother's disappearance.  But when the stakes get too high, will keeping the truth be even too reckless for her?

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.C. Stewart
• Release date: Dec 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386833512

Charlotte Casey

USA Today Bestselling Author, Charlotte Casey, has roots in country that go back to singing Achy Breaky Heart in her car seat at the top of her lungs. She finds nothing sweeter and nothing more desirable than a southern man with drawl. A romantic at heart, Charlotte couldn’t imagine reading or writing anything that doesn’t revolve around romance. Her stories may be fiction but her characters will leap from the pages and pull you into their world. 

Book preview

Prologue

9 months earlier.

Darcy ran through the maze of the stadium. The echo of her heels, clicking with every rushed step. Everyone was getting ready to start tearing down, packing up and moving on to the next city but she had a band to find. Her boss, Terry, had already called twice after hearing about the fiasco that was the Rusted and Reckless concert. Since they were only an hour away from Nashville, he had sent Darcy to play babysitter for a night. Lately, each show had been worse than the one before it. Nix was getting out of hand and the rest of them couldn't decide if they were standing by him or not.

Nix had started the walk off tonight, followed by Sawyer and the rest of them. He had barely been able to sing and at one point, he had let Sawyer take over for a song while he got some water. Darcy had never seen him this bad before. She worked with a lot of bands and drugs were just part of it. Nix had it bad, though. Probably the worst of all her clients.

Darcy turned a corner and almost ran into Nix. He was leaning against a wall, looking like he was trying to keep it from falling down. Hey, I wa- with an extended arm, Nix reached across her chest to her far shoulder and pushed her up against the wall beside him.

The impact startled her. Nix what-

He put a finger to his lips telling her to be quiet.

Around the corner were four very irate voices. Darcy opened her mouth to say something but he shook his head. He was staying and he was eavesdropping. She could join him or leave.

He's gone too far this time, Sawyer said. If he wasn't my brother, he would have been gone long ago.

The label is going to be pissed, Rory added. They already sent Darcy out to make sure we didn't fuck up. And here we are, fucking up anyway.

They might drop us. You know how Terry hinted at that last month, Greer said.

Fuck! Sawyer yelled and punched the door. The sound reverberated through the concrete maze. Is he in there?

Jason grunted. Probably shooting up in the bathroom.

Darcy put a hand on Nix's shoulder. He shouldn't be listening to this. When he looked back to her, his forehead was creased and his eyes held so much pain. Nix shrugged off her hand and turned his head to hear better.

I'm done with this shit. It's us or the drugs.

Sawyer, this is Nix. We can't do that, Greer tried to reason but even she heard the exhaustion in his voice.

He's not in here. Come on, let's talk this out.

The angry voices disappeared behind a door and the hallway was left in silence.

Darcy swallowed as she watched Nix. The last year had been hard on him. The drugs had begun to take their toll. He had lost weight and was beginning to lose his dirty, sexy look and now just looked sick. The two of them had always been close. He was her age and was easier going than his brother, Sawyer.

Her relationship with each brother was vastly different. With Nix, it was friendly and completely amicable. With Sawyer, it was all sex and no talk. They had been a recurring casual hookup for over two years now. Although she loved the sex, she now wanted more.

Nix was the only one who knew about her crush on Sawyer and he liked to tease her about it relentlessly.

Nix, she began but one look from him shut her up. He did not want to talk about what they had just heard. He was broken, she could see that now. The hollowness of his cheeks, his eyes and now his soul were exposed. Nix needed help, wanted help, he just didn't know how to get it.

I need to leave, he said in a gruff voice.

No. Just give them time to cool down. It's going to be fine.

He shook his head and then slid down the wall. With his elbows on his knees, he dug the palms of his hands against his eyes, his slim fingers clawed into his hair. Darcy followed him down. She rubbed his arm and after hearing an audible sniff, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

When he lifted his head, his red-rimmed eyes were begging her for the help he wasn't sure how to get. Darcy, get me out of here, please.

Chapter One

The field had been set, the lines drawn.

What's this? Sawyer asked, eying the manila folders with distaste.

On one side of the table Sawyer, Jason, Rory and Greer sat. Hostility and skepticism in their every breath. They were united in their anger, which meant this could get ugly.

Terry and Darcy would defend from across the table.

From the moment they walked in, she felt the divide. They all had their battle armor on. Had she known what Terry was going to spring on them earlier, then she might have had a chance to warn them. As it was, she looked to be on the wrong side of the battlefield, which was entirely not the case.

Singers, Terry said tapping on the left folder. Guitarist, he said to the right.

As per usual, she had her notebook, planner and phone in front of her. Darcy used those as protection, a place to hide. Replacing Nix was a bad mistake. She knew it, the band knew it. The label and their manager had never figured out that there were to be no more additions to the band. Ever. Over the past nine months, she had done everything she could to keep all of them from fucking this up. Her hard work would not end here. Not like this.

You have three months to choose. The label isn't fooling around anymore. They've given you the better part of a year and Nix is still not back.

You can't be serious, Greer said.

The folder remained in the center of the table. No one moved to look at the musicians.

For the most part, Darcy could make herself invisible. It was a trait she had honed in on this job. The secret was to blend. Darcy wore her hair the same way every day, a side braid. Now that was for two reasons. First, when you switched up your hair every day, people took notice. Second, her light brown hair was long. It bordered on too long but she could never find the strength to cut it. She had another inch before it hit her butt. Braiding it every day was the only way she could keep it in check.

Blending also involved a lot of neutrals. Her wardrobe was very fresh and put together, but the colors didn't vary much. She found it easier to own a few good quality pieces that cost a little more which could all be intermixed, rather than having individual outfits.

When she had started, she wanted to keep her head down and just do the job. Blending had helped with that. Her brother owned a competing music label and some had thought she was a spy sent from Red Records. That was not the case.

She felt the attention of someone on her. Since she was jotting down notes from the meeting, and more importantly, ideas on how to fix this, she hadn't caught who was breaking through her invisibility bubble. Looking up, making eye contact would disarm the shields.

So, did she continue on as she was or satisfy her curiosity by looking up?

Darcy's inner battle was almost as dramatic as the one in the room. Inner chants of you cannot see me were broken up with commentary such as I should have stayed home today, and my bed wouldn't have put me in this position because my bed understands me. Terry was giving them his sympathetic voice but she had heard countless times him bitch about this Nix problem and ways they could get the guys to move on.

Move on.

Like they all just had a fight and had their pride hurt or something. The man was missing and presumably dead. Not to mention he was Sawyer's older brother. There would be no moving on.

Sorry but this is the way it is. I gave you nine months and there is still no sign of him. It's time, guys.

What if we don't pick? Rory asked.

You pick or they will.

Darcy couldn't take it any longer. Whoever was watching her wanted her attention. She could feel the look up vibes coming off of them.

She wrote Kill Terry? under the list of potential resolutions and underlined it three times. It might work, buy them some time at least, but the label would just assign someone else. As slimy as Terry had become, he was not nearly as bad as some of the others in the business. Darcy set down her pencil and closed her notebook. She lifted her eyes and looked straight up at Sawyer.

Of course, it had to be Sawyer.

The guitarist sat on the far end of the table, leaned back in his chair like he didn't have a care in the world. That wasn't the case, never was with Sawyer. While everyone else sat ridged, here he was tapping a rhythm on the table with the tips of his fingers and watching her like she was the only interesting thing in the room.

His lips twitched with a smile when she looked at him. A shiver of pleasure crawled up her spine. That jawline and his smile did things to her that were not appropriate for work.

Sawyer was distracted as he watched her, also listening to the conversation around them. His brandy eyes were a contradiction. He wasn't happy but he also wasn't as pissed as the rest of them seemed to be. There was something serious on his mind but it was unrelated to the problems in front of them.

Many found the guitarist hard to read but she had spent enough time around him to see the signs on his face.

Terry stood and put a hand on her shoulder as he got up. She kept her snarl to herself. When you have made your decision or if you want to meet any of them, just let Darcy here know.

Terry left the room and everyone's eyes turned to her. The guys of Rusted and Reckless looked at her as if she were a traitor. Disgusted faces all around. All except for Sawyer. He was still trying to tell her something. Or ask her something? She couldn't tell.

This is fucking bullshit, Rory complained once the door closed behind Terry. I mean, what the hell, Darcy?

Is this for real? Jason asked.

They can't actually do this, can they? Greer added.

I want to see our contract. This can't be legal.

How can they pick a member of OUR band?

She heard them. She really did. But her focus was still on Sawyer. He hadn't said anything yet. He just kept tapping away at the glass table.

Darcy, can I talk to you? Sawyer asked calmly over top of everyone else. It was a stark difference from the rest of them. She wasn't the only one who noticed. Jason gave him a quick side eye.

She swallowed. Getting bitched at by him, because of this, was not how she wanted her morning to go. This was as much of a surprise for her as it was for them.

Of course, she said with a forced smile. Would you all excuse me? On her way up she grabbed the files from the table. Greer at least took that as an olive branch. Darcy knew that Terry would have expected them to not look at the files and probably had multiple copies sent to them, but these right here would be disposed of by her, right now, in front of them.

See guys, I'm on your side!

Sawyer stood along with her. He opened the door for her and as she walked through it, she dropped the files into the trashcan.

There, if that didn't tell them where she stood, then no amount of explaining would.

Darcy led Sawyer to her office. He had been there multiple times and knew the way but he walked a respectable two steps behind her. Once inside, she closed the door and made sure the blinds were closed. When she turned around, Darcy went into survival mode.

I had no idea he was doing that. I only found out this morning when I came in. Terry has been secretive lately. You know I would have said something if I had known.

Darcy walked around to her desk and dropped her notebook and planner off. Sawyer still wasn't saying anything. His silence made her uncomfortable. He was never this silent.

A few weeks ago, he stopped having me take his calls from the guys upstairs. I should have known then that something was up. You know I don't want this for you guys. I'm on the side of Nix.

He still wasn't talking and his face had more control than her Spanx. Darcy was beginning to feel a bit frantic. She needed him to talk so that she could fix this. She was on a mission to not let them fuck all this up. If she failed, then this past year was for nothing.

Will you say something! she snapped.

Sawyer raised an eyebrow. Yeah, she didn't usually get this worked up. He knew that. But he also knew how to push every one of her buttons, just like she could with him.

He pushed off the wall where he had perched himself and walked over to her.

Darcy had been destroying her nail beds by anxiously picking at them while she rambled. Sawyer stepped up to her, slid his hands around her waist and kissed her.

She immediately sank into him with relief.

He wasn't mad. He wouldn't be kissing her if he was mad.

Darcy slid her hands through his hair. He pushed them back; one, two, three steps until she hit her desk. She sat on the edge and spread her legs so he could get closer. Sawyer grinned as he took her mouth again. He tugged her ponytail, tilted her head backward and assaulted her mouth. Sawyer could always kiss. He could turn her into a pool of melted gelatin with a certain lip-tongue combination that he had mastered. Half of their arguments ended this way. One of them would get so pissed off that they would snap and somehow end up naked.

People thought they hated each other because of how they argued. That was hardly the case, at least not on her end. Darcy had been crushing on Sawyer for years. The first time they had sex had been because she wouldn't back down from some stupid argument over whether a contestant on a baking show deserved to be kicked off or not. She had gotten him so worked up that when she went to the bathroom, he had followed her, probably thinking to continue the conversation. Instead, he captured her in the hall and kissed her so thoroughly her panties had fallen right off.

That had been three years ago and they had never stopped fucking. But that was all it was, just sex. The one time she had mentioned the possibility of more, like lunch sometime, nothing huge, he turned her down. Sawyer had an itch and Darcy knew how to scratch. That was all it was. All it would ever be.

Sawyer moved down her neck, placing wet kisses anywhere he found skin. Darcy closed her eyes and tilted her head back. It had been a few months since their last sexcapade. She really, really wanted this but her office was probably a bad place for it.

This is not why I came, he said pushing her skirt up her thighs.

You came to yell at me, I know, but this is so much better, isn't it? Darcy grabbed his belt and tugged his hips forward. Maybe a quick blowjob wouldn't be so bad. He'd probably be able to get her off in two minutes, so within ten, he could be on his way.

Not that either, he said against her ear and then followed the words with a tracing tongue.

She bit her lip around a soft moan.

Sawyer chuckled and stepped back. He was too far away now. How was he supposed to get her off from over there? He held out his hand and helped her off the desk.

If you are here to tease me, then your job is done.

He smirked and drew a thumb over her pout. I need your help, Darcy.

She looked at him and found that he was serious. He really wasn't there to yell at her or for sex. He needed her help. Darcy tugged her skirt back into place and adjusted her blouse. She smacked her cheeks twice to get the blood flowing back to her head and then walked around him to her chair. Once she was sitting and had her professional face on she asked, What do you need?

He watched with amusement and took the seat across from her when prompted. A private detective. It's time we found Nix.

She frowned. Is this about back there?

Sawyer swung an arm up and over the back of the chair. He snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes. I'm not worried about that. I've just come to the conclusion that I have exhausted every other avenue. I can't do this on my own anymore.

She wanted to point out that they all had been looking. He had never been doing it alone. But instead, she smiled and nodded. Alright, um... There was one problem with this plan, which is why she never brought up the idea of hiring someone to find him. This detective would probably start his search from the beginning, when he disappeared. They would then find out the part she played in his disappearance. The part she had kept from everyone.

Ok, yeah. I'll find someone. Don't worry about this at all. I'll be in contact once I have a name and number. Ok?

Sawyer smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Thanks, Darcy.

She nodded, feeling like the devil himself. If he ever found out what she had done...

So how long are you in town? she asked casually. They were on a mini tour making up the dates they missed in the summer. The label had been fine to cancel all of them but the band wouldn't have it. It's the reason she adored all of them. Their fans meant the world to them.

Sawyer checked his phone for the time and then