The Encore's Crown

She built her following by knowing exactly how to be watched. He should have known better than to look.

Natalia Sawadzka is twenty-three and gorgeous with the world at her red-bottomed feet. The razor-tongued blonde is an expert at turning her life into content as a rising influencer. Online, she knows how to pose, tease, smile, and make thousands of strangers feel like they’ve been invited close enough to touch.

Bassist for The Riven Altar, Kiri Chhim has spent at least twenty of his thirty-six years making bad decisions look enticing. He's charm with a bassline, trouble with tattoos, and the man who used to make Natalia’s phone light up, until interference from the band's frontman, Rafe, forced Kiri to step away from her, over a year ago.

Rafe’s engagement to Kasia, Natalia’s older sister, meant that soon she'd be family. Kiri, with his easy charm and list of previous romantic casualties, was not a risk Rafe was willing to let her take.

It wasn’t a suggestion, it was a demand.

Natalia joins their Asia tour, to be there for her sister, whose life is tangled with the band, caught up in sold-out arenas, luxury hotels, and chaos. But while she’s sharing space with her almost-flame, she plans to make it as torturous as possible, using every curve and smile at her disposal.

Now Natalia is on Kiri's tour bus, at his shows, and is getting deeper under his skin. She wants answers. Kiri wants distance. Neither of them is prepared for rooftop dares, jokes that sound like seduction, jealous sparks, or the kind of attraction that turns every heated argument into foreplay.

Natalia came to Asia to be with her sister. Kiri is the tempting distraction waiting backstage.

But backstage, where the lights can’t reach, secrets are easy to hide.