We drive for a little while longer before reaching the hotel. Steve and I go and check in. He secures the rooms for the rest of the band and crew. We arrived before the buses. He'll pass out their room keys when they arrive in a little while.

"I'm going to my room to freshen up a bit," Steve informs me, "then I'll head over to the arena to scope it out and make sure everything is in order. Would you like to come with me?"

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to hang back. I don't have anything to do there anyway."

"Okay. If you change your mind, just let me know."

"Sure."

"Thanks for keeping me company today, Annika."

"Anytime."

Steve starts toward the elevators, "oh, hey," I turn to face him, "would you mind passing out the room keys? That way I can get an earlier start."

"Of course. No problem," I reply, but I have no desire to greet everyone as they come in.

Steve walks back and hands me a stack of envelopes. Steele and the more well known band members get rooms under different aliases. It's easy enough for anyone to find out where they are staying, but they don't need any over zealous fans finding out which rooms they are in. They never check in either, just sneak in through a side door and go straight to the room. Unless they're in the mood for a little trouble - which isn't that uncommon either.

The crew doesn't always get the nicer hotel rooms, they often sleep on the bus or somewhere a little less lush, but sometimes, they get treated. I look around the lavish surroundings. This is a little bit more upscale than I would recommend. I'm sure they can find some more affordable accommodations which would also help the financial situation. I make a note of that in my head.

I wait for Steve to go up before making my way to my own room. According to the drivers, I still have almost an hour before they arrive. I lay out my things and take a quick shower. When I redress to go downstairs, I put on my best fitting pair of jeans and a tight black top with a deep cut neckline. I want to look extra good when I see Steele again - although I'm not sure exactly why. I don't need to impress him, and he may be someone else's boyfriend.

I order a glass of wine at the lobby bar. I need to loosen up a bit and I can see the entrance from here. I try to sip it slowly, but when I look down, I've almost finished my first glass. The bartender offers me a refill which I gladly accept. I only take a few sips before I see the busses pull up out front. I kindly ask him to watch my glass and walk outside to meet everyone.

The crew slowly emerges from the first bus. I greet them and pass out their keys as they come off. I decided over my first glass of wine to hold onto the keys of the few people I have left to talk to, that way they can't hide from me. As they come off the bus I inform them that they can meet me in the bar to talk in exchange for a room key. I try to be playful and nice about it, and that appears to be working. I feel like I'm getting some sideways glances, but it might be in my head, unless Jasmine decided to tell everyone my business.

Jasmine and Jesse are the last to exit the bus. My stomach tightens, much to my dismay. These two look like they've been waiting all day to see me.

"Oh, hi," Jasmine sneers at me and chuckles.

Jesse just gives me a look and asks for his key.

"I asked everyone I haven't spoken to yet to meet me in the bar to talk in exchange for the key."

He smirks, "how about I just meet you in your room? I heard you like to entertain the band."

Well, that was an unexpected blow.

"You're not my type," I quickly quip back, looking him up and down. His comment may have hurt, but I'm not backing down.

He scoffs, "I guess I don't have much of a choice then, do I?"

"Not really. Take your time, I'll be there for a while."

The dynamic duo walks inside. I feel like that was my first triumph - well, kind of. Jasmine obviously told Jesse and I'm guessing everyone else as well. Whatever, I have no choice other than holding my head held high.

I walk onto the next bus since no one is coming off. The band members are all sitting around the living area of the bus. They greet me in a fairly happy manner. They have a lot less distrust in general since they feel pretty secure with their positions with Steele - as they should.

I tell them what their room assignments are and pass out their keys. I let them and the driver know where the side and back entrances are in case they want to drive around. They thank me and I turn to exit the bus.

"Hey, Annika," Steele calls to me, "do you have a minute?"

"Of course, Steele," I reply. I try to sound casual. I glance around, wondering what the rest of these guys know - if anything.

He gestures to the stairs so I smile at everyone else and walk off the bus with Steele close behind me. I take a few extra steps to make sure no one inside will be able to hear us.

"What's up?" I greet Steele, cooly.

"I was wondering if you had any plans later? There's nothing on the agenda tonight and we don't have to be at the venue until late morning." His mouth curls into a devilish smile telling me exactly what he would like to do tonight.

"I don't know, Steele, I have some interviews to do and I'm kind of shot."

I'm blowing him off and his face confirms that he's clearly aware of that.

"What's up?" he asks, confused.

"Nothing."

"Come on, babe, you're acting a little...off."

Steele reaches out and puts his hand on my arm. I should pull away, but I don't. Even this simple gesture makes my body warm all over. I'm doomed.

"I just have to make sure I get these interviews out of the way before tomorrow's show."

"Why don't I help you then?" he offers.

I want to decline, but having him there with me when I speak to Jesse would actually be very helpful. I can't let him go in blind though - he needs to know what's coming.

"Sure, thanks."

"Just give me a few to get to my suite and we can meet up there."

I look at him with wide eyes, "I already told everyone to meet me in the bar."

He peeks in the large glass lobby window. There aren't very many people around.

"That's fine. I'll be down soon."

"Steele?" I say feebly.

"Yeah, babe?" I really don't want to have him stop referring to me as 'babe'. This whole situation sucks.

"I was instructed to fire Jesse. I have to let him go," I say plainly.

Steele's face falls, "why?"

"There are several reasons. Someone has to go and his lack of cooperation made it easy to choose."

He ponders my words, a look of contemplation on his face.

"He's going to flip. You know that, right?"

"Yes."

"Shit," Steele says, running his hand back through his hair.

"Yeah," I agree, "you don't have to be there. It may be better if you're not."

"No. No way. You can't do that alone."

I chuckle, "it's part of my job. I'm a big girl, I can handle it. It's not my first rodeo."

Steele flashes his crooked smile at me, "I know very well who you are and what you do, Miss Dodge," he teases me.

His formality and that look turn me on and makes me blush.

"But I can't let you do this alone. He's really gonna lose his shit."

"If you really think it's a good idea, then you're welcome to come along."

"I'll be there."

His assurance does make me feel better. No matter how many times I've done this, having Steele by my side will make it slightly more bearable.

He squeezes my hand and looks into my eyes. I sense that he's trying to decide if he should kiss me or not. I make it easy for him by giving him a short grin and walking away.

I don't want his help, but I need it. It will also give me more time to think about what to say. God, I want to be with him. I want another night like the last - but that would be stupid of me knowing what I know now. I don't know if Jasmine is telling the truth or not, but she's out for blood and I can't be in the middle of all of this.

No matter what I feel for Steele, I can't let anything happen again. There's too much at stake. Besides, I won't allow myself to fall into this lifestyle. It's not for me and it never can be - I promised myself that years ago.

I retrieve my glass from the bar and choose an empty table off to the side. Steele is going to be here so we have to try not to attract attention. I'm also nervous about how this is going to go so I would rather stay as far out of sight as possible.

I sip from my glass and scroll through my phone while I wait. I glance around, but I don't see anyone familiar lurking about yet.

"Hey," a gravelly voice greets me from behind.

Startled, I look up. Steele quickly takes a seat next to me. I chuckle when I look at him. He's wearing a worn out baseball cap pulled down over his forehead.

"Is that your disguise?" I tease him.

"How'd you know it was me?" he laughs.

"I'm smarter than you think."

His face turns more serious, "I know. So am I the first one here?"

"Yup. I'm wondering if anyone is even going to show. I only have a few more crew members - and Jesse."

"That's not bad. If they know what's good for them, they'll show."

As if on cue, Dee, Charlie, and Max walk in together. I'm not sure if they're trying to show a united front or they just decided to come together. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I wave them over like we're old friends. They walk over and sit down. I notice a calm set in when they see that Steele is here with me. They order a round of beers and we exchange some small talk while we wait for the waitress to bring it over. I' try to kill a few minutes to see if Jesse will show, but he doesn't.

It doesn't take long to get through the questions I need to ask - especially with Steele here to smooth everything over. To outsiders, we might even appear to be having a good time.

I feel much more comfortable. With the way things are going, and that glass of wine, I have no reason not to be. We're busy chatting so no one notices Jesse approach the table.

"Hey," he says.

Charlie, Dee, and Max each hold up their bottles as a hello. Steele gives him a nod.

"Hi, Jesse. Thanks for coming down," I greet him cheerily.

"I didn't really have a choice, did I?" he replies gruffly, taking a seat.

There goes my buzz. Well, at least his attitude will make this a little easier for me.

Jesse's energy is palpable. The three others collectively get up and excuse themselves. They walk over to the bar and sit down, glancing back at our table a couple of times. They must know there's a shit storm brewing and don't want any part of it.

"Jesse, I don't know why you've been so difficult. Everyone has spoken to Annika at this point," Steele starts, trying to soften the blow.

Jesse addresses him like I'm not even sitting there, "She's only here because someone has to go. She's just going to fuck everything up."

Steele looks at me, silently telling me this would be a good time to break the news - well, as good a time as any.

"Listen, Jesse," I begin. He just glares at me, "it wasn't my intention to let you go, but you're not giving me much of a choice. I did have to cut someone-"

"This is bullshit," he interrupts before I finish my sentence.

"Look, Jesse,"

"No. You look," he says loudly, "I know what's up - and fuck you Steele for taking her side over mine. She gives you a little pussy and suddenly I don't mean shit?"

"Are you fucking kidding me, Jesse?" Steele replies. It's clear that he's insulted and hurt. He begins to stand but sits back down since they're already attracting some attention.

"No. Fuck this shit. Fuck you."

A bodyguard I hadn't noticed steps in from behind the table. With that, Jesse walks away and out of sight.

Steele and I are left at the table. My jaw is hanging open. The three crew members at the bar are looking from us to the direction Jesse went. None of them look like they want to make a move or get involved.

"What the fuck?" Steele says.

"I don't know."

"Are you okay?"