SHATTERING TRINITY

  TERRI ANNE BROWNING

  Copyright © Terri Anne Browning/Anna Henson 2022

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Terri Anne Browning, except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976.

  Shattering Trinity

  Rockers’ Legacy

  Written by Terri Anne Browning

  All Rights Reserved ©Terri Anne Browning 2022

  Cover Design Haney Hayes www.haneyhayespr.com

  Edited by Lisa Hollett of Silently Correcting Your Grammar

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Shattering Trinity is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book can be reproduced in any form by electronic or mechanical means, including storage or retrieval systems, without the express permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  CONTENTS

  Playlist

  1. Trinity

  2. Trinity

  3. Jarrett

  4. Jarrett

  5. Trinity

  6. Jarrett

  7. Trinity

  8. Trinity

  9. Jarrett

  10. Jarrett

  11. Trinity

  12. Trinity

  13. Jarrett

  14. Trinity

  15. Jarrett

  16. Trinity

  17. Trinity

  18. Trinity

  19. Trinity

  20. Jarrett

  21. Jarrett

  22. Jarrett

  23. Trinity

  24. Jarrett

  25. Jarrett

  26. Jarrett

  27. Trinity

  28. Trinity

  29. Jarrett

  30. Trinity

  31. Jarrett

  32. Trinity

  33. Jarrett

  34. Trinity

  35. Trinity

  36. Jarrett

  37. Trinity

  38. Jarrett

  39. Trinity

  40. Jarrett

  41. Trinity

  42. Jarrett

  Epilogue

  PLAYLIST

  “When Legends Rise” by Godsmack

  “What I Put You Through” by Conor Maynard

  “Standing With You” by Guy Sebastian

  “Smoke & Mirrors” by De Joie

  “Undivided” by Adelitas Way

  “Daylight” by Shinedown

  “Unstoppable” by Sia

  “Lioness” by Daughtry

  “Every Part of Me” by Godsmack

  “Won’t Let You Down” by Art of Anarchy

  “Whataya Want From Me” by Adam Lambert

  “Beautiful Pain” by Andy Black

  “Can’t Say Goodbye” by Adelitas Way

  “Bulletproof” by Godsmack

  “I Don’t Need You” by Asking Alexandria and Grace Grundy

  “Unlearn” by benny blanco and Gracie Abrams

  “White Flag” by Bishop Briggs

  “Her Eyes” by Fame on Fire

  “Under Your Scars” by Godsmack

  “Don’t Let the Light Go Out” by Panic! At the Disco

  “Desperation” by Daughtry

  “Control” by Zoe Wees

  1

  TRINITY

  I’d seen some crazy shit in my life, especially in my career, but watching grown men stripping as they tried to barrel their way through security was a new one for me. The fact that they were all shit-faced, on top of the sight of the most beautiful woman they’d ever set eyes on—a woman who had the voice of a siren, calling them all to their doom, tempting them with what they craved more than food or drink or even oxygen—was enough to cause bedlam.

  I stood off to the side, watching as my security team tried to keep the masses away from the stage. Despite the wall of fifteen well-trained men, most of whom were ex-military, as well as the metal fences that were supposed to be an added precaution, men were slipping past, charging the stage, and scaring the fuck out of Roanna Sinclair as she performed onstage with her band, the Blonde Bombshells.

  “Fuck this shit,” Sin, Roanna’s husband and Tainted Knights’ bassist, snarled from beside me. He stepped out onto the stage, pushing the first man to climb onstage so hard, he dropped with a thud that could be heard over the music and the roars of the men trying to get to their prey—Roanna.

  Numbly, I wondered if that was going to be lawsuit number one of the night—or the first of many I could press charges against for trying to assault my rockers. With all the phones out, capturing the craziness as it unfolded from the nosebleed seats, I figured it could go either direction. It would all depend on how the person edited the video. Either way, it was going to end up on social media, YouTube, the local news, and, within the next twenty-four hours, on the entertainment news channels back in the States.

  Unless I made a call and had Mieke take all that shit down.

  With that in mind, I quickly shot her a text, warning her that she was about to earn every penny she was paid for keeping a long list of rock stars off the internet and out of trouble. I almost felt sorry for her, but compared to what I was dealing with, her job was a casual walk in the park. Mine was more of a “run for your life, and save who you can along the way.”

  Just one more juicy moment I could add to my memoirs if I ever retired from the business.

  Another man got as far as standing up once he pulled himself onto the stage, but Sin tackled him, causing the drunken idiot to slam his head onto the metal grating. I wasn’t sure if that was what knocked him out, or if it was the punch to the face Sin gave him when he pushed to his knees. Sin was a beast on a good day. Put his wife or child in harm’s way, and he became a monster even the devil would fear.

  The rocker’s chest rose and fell with his rage as he stomped over to London, the Blonde’s bassist, and took her guitar from her. In an act that belied his wrath, he gently placed her behind him, making sure she was okay before he turned back to the other men who had gotten onstage. She didn’t put up a fight, just stepped back out of his way while he used the bass like a baseball bat and swung at the next dumbass who got past security.

  Heart pounding, I stood there, feeling helpless. Normally, I had things under control. I’d been trained by the best of the best, and nothing could faze me. But this… This was uncharted territory. The majority of the bands I managed on tour were male. Kin St. Charles and the Blondes were only two of the handful of female rockers on the roster. This was the first time I’d ever been on tour with them personally. Typically, Amara Graves dealt with the Tainted Knights, Blonde Bombshells, and Kin. But she was having a difficult pregnancy, and right before Christmas, it was decided I would take her place while she stayed home and rested.

  Cash Graves hadn’t wanted to come, but his wife had made him, agreeing only under the condition that Amara and their daughter stayed with Amara’s best friend, Riley, and her husband, Nate. Knowing they were in good hands, because Riley would have killed for both Amara and Charlotte, Cash had been able to relax on the plane ride over. Relaxed, but still kind of a grouch.

  I’d thought dealing with a grumpy rocker would be the worst part of the eight weeks on this tour.

  Apparently, I was wrong.

  Fuck.

  This was only the first stop on the European tour, and it was already apparent we weren’t prepared to protect Roanna while she was onstage. I’d known it was going to be chaotic when it came to her, but I hadn’t imagined it would be this crazy.

  Swallowing my anxiety, I let Jace St. Charles urge me off the side of the stage even as I lifted my phone to my ear. Behind me, the other Tainted Knights rushed out to help—to protect the Blondes, to have their bandbrother’s back. Roadies ran past us so they could add extra muscle, but from the yelling that didn’t get any less loud with each step Jace rushed me to take, nothing was helping.

  I didn’t want to call my mom or Aunt Emmie. They’d entrusted me to handle this tour as professionally and effortlessly as either of them would have done. As they had trained Amara for—trained me for. My mom had been so proud when Aunt Emmie had told me I was going to manage this tour, and disappointing either of them was the last thing I wanted to do.

  But I wasn’t stupid enough to deny I needed help.

  “Sup, Trin,” Barrick’s voice greeted me.

  “I need more security!” I shouted into the phone so he could hear me over the noise surrounding me.

  “I don’t have more to give you,” he reminded me, sounding bored, unaware of just how much trouble I was in—how much he would be in too if he didn’t get me the manpower I desperately needed. “All my men are already on other tours or handling jobs for private security clients.”

  “Unacceptable,” I snapped as my brother’s best friend guided me away from the danger. I should have been back onstage, trying to help. But all that would have accomplished would be to cause the security we did have more trouble, because they would have to worry about me as well as the band onstage. “Roanna isn’t protected enough. I need an army just for her. They nearly got to her, Barrick.
”

  For all I knew, they could have already gotten to her. But if that happened, I knew I’d have to call Aunt Emmie for sure, because Sin would kill anyone who touched her. Then it wouldn’t be a lawsuit I needed to worry about, but murder charges. In a foreign country, where I didn’t even know the penalties for murder—even if it was in self-defense.

  “Fuck,” Barrick muttered. “Where’s Brandon? Isn’t he keeping you all safe?”

  “Brandon is doing everything he can, but there isn’t enough security staff to keep the masses from attacking the stage to get to Roanna. They’re too drunk by the time she goes on, and you know how people react when she takes the stage.”

  It was as if the idiots had never seen a beautiful woman before. That, mixed with her amazing voice, added to their already inebriated state, and it was a recipe for the kind of shitstorm I’d just run from.

  Barrick grunted. “Okay. Let me see what I can do. I might have a solution.”

  “Anything is better than what I’m currently dealing with,” I told him, nearly tripping over a cord because the roadies had left things lying around when they’d rushed out to help Sin and the other Tainted Knights protect the Blondes. “Fans are still charging the stage. If this happens again, I’m going to have to cancel this tour because I won’t let them go out there unless they are protected.”

  “No, I agree,” he said with a frustrated exhale. “Give me a little time. I’ll try to have a solution before tomorrow night’s show.”

  “Hurry.”

  2

  TRINITY

  Ipaused long enough to look up at Jace. “Go back and help them. I’m going to get the local cops here to assist. They should have sent more than just two men to begin with.”

  Fuck, the two locals that they sent should have already called in backup, but there was no sign of them. Not only were my rockers in danger, but so was any bystander in the midst of the drunken, deranged motherfuckers trying to get to Roanna. This entire show screamed lawsuit, but I’d worry about that later.

  “I’m not leaving you. Harris will cut off my balls if I let anything happen to you. Let me get you back to the hotel. Kin is already there with the nannies. Sin would rather I check on his kid than stick around here anyway.”

  “Then go back to the hotel,” I told him, already trying to connect to the local police station. “But I can’t leave.”

  “I’m not leaving you, Trinity,” he bit out.

  “Fine,” I snapped, not so much frustrated with him as the entire situation.

  It was hours later before we all made it back to the hotel. By then, everyone was exhausted. It had taken nearly half an hour for local law enforcement to arrive and finally start to clear the venue where the concert was being held. Sin had been able to sneak Roanna and the rest of the Blondes out the back. The other Tainted Knights and then the roadies had followed, but we couldn’t get back inside to get all the equipment until the place was completely empty.

  A few ambulances had shown up as the cops got out as many of the injured bystanders who were closer to the stage. Luckily, there were only superficial wounds, and no one needed to go to the hospital. For the moment, the concertgoers were just in shock or running off adrenaline. I’d overheard some of them saying it was the most exciting night of their lives.

  Deciding it was too late to even worry about trivial things like equipment, especially when it was all insured anyway, I urged everyone into the waiting vehicles, and we headed back to the hotel. As we walked into the lobby, Sin turned to me. His face was a mask of fury, which I understood. His wife was his life. If anything had happened to her, I would have had to deal with trying to get him out of jail because he would have murdered someone—if not everyone in his path.

  “This happens again, and it’s game over, Trinity,” he snarled, stepping into my personal space.

  “Sin,” Roanna muttered his name with a sigh, but he was too focused on me to even hear her.

  Jace put one arm around my waist and got in his bandbrother’s face. “It wasn’t her fault, Sin. She’s not the one in charge of security. That’s what Brandon is for, so back off, man.”

  “It’s her job to make sure that we have everything we need, and that includes security!” Sin yelled in Jace’s face. “Roanna and the Blondes were put in danger because she didn’t do her job.”

  “She can only do so much with what she was given,” Jace defended. “It isn’t her fault there wasn’t enough security. That’s Brandon’s fault, not Trinity’s. He’s the head of security for this tour. He is the one responsible for ensuring everyone’s safety. Trinity has enough on her plate with everything else to have to worry about this kind of shit too. Everything that happened tonight is on Brandon—and Barrick by default for appointing someone to be in charge who obviously doesn’t know what they are doing.”

  “No,” I muttered, putting my hand on Jace’s arm. I appreciated his trying to protect me, but Sin was right. I’d really dropped the ball, and it was only the first stop of the tour. Fuck, I was better than this. My mom and Aunt Emmie had trained me for every possible situation, and I’d let everyone down. That was the worst part of all—letting down my mom. “I should have made sure there were more locals in place before the Blondes even took the stage. I’m sorry, Sin. It won’t happen again.”

  I glanced at Roanna, who stood surrounded by the other Blondes. It was obvious she was shaken by the night’s events, but she gave me a tight smile. “I promise you’ll have more protection tomorrow night, Ro. And if you don’t, then I’ll cancel the concert and this entire tour. I won’t allow anyone to take the stage again without being one hundred percent sure they will be safe.”

  Sin lost some of his steam, and when he stepped back, I noticed his knuckles were bloody and he had a bruise already forming along his jawline. “Come on, sweet girl,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around his wife. “Let’s check on our son and then get to bed.”

  London, Genesis, and Aubree swarmed me in a group hug. “It really wasn’t your fault,” London assured me. “Those fuckers were just too riled up. It happens every time Roanna takes the stage. Tonight was the worst we’ve ever experienced, but we know you did your best.”

  “I appreciate your saying that, but Sin was right,” I said tiredly. “It won’t happen again.”

  After only a few restless hours of sleep, I was up and getting everything sorted that I hadn’t had the energy to deal with the night before. By then, Brandon, who was the tour’s head of security, was able to give me a summary of what I’d missed after Jace had gotten me out of the building.

  “They sent two rookies, Trinity,” Brandon told me, shaking his head before taking a huge swallow of his coffee. “Both of them bailed before the first motherfucker got to the stage. That was why it took forever for the locals to get there. They didn’t take your call seriously because they hadn’t gotten any intel from their own men. It was their own fault because they sent boys to do a man’s job.”

  “Write up a full report and send it to both Barrick and Emmie,” I advised. “We will be having additional men join the security team as of this afternoon.” At least, that was what Barrick had messaged me at the crack of dawn. “If there are any repercussions from last night from a legal standpoint, Emmie can handle them.”

  “They arrested at least thirty people,” Brandon informed me with a grimace. “And the locals want to talk to Sin.”

  I rolled my eyes. “They can talk all they want, but he’s not saying a word until our lawyers are present. If they have a problem with it, tell them to take it up with Emmie.”