Happy laughter and chatter grew louder as they continued down a long hallway which opened up to a grand family room. The kids were nowhere in sight, most likely in some designated play area with their nanny and Mason’s aunt, but everyone else was scattered around the large room engaged in conversation.
Damien marched toward Brett with a purposeful step and, for a moment, Brett thought they were going to have a confrontation, until a sly smile appeared in the corner of Damien’s mouth. It was barely big enough to notice, but it was there.
Damien nodded his head once. “You made it. You survived 30 days on the road with us. You’re all right.” He fist bumped Brett, then spun around and returned to his wife’s side.
Brett was a little surprised, since Damien was hard to read, but he was happy that the guy accepted him. He laced his fingers through Kira’s and looked around the room. “These people are really cool. I’m glad I got to know them. You never know what to expect with celebrities and rock stars, but these are the most down to earth bunch of people I’ve ever met.”
She smiled her beautiful beaming smile and fanned her hand across the room. “This is us. Right here. The Immortal Angel family.”
Traveling together over the last month brought him together with this group of people the way tours always did. He truly felt like he was now an extended part of this family, and he hoped to work with Immortal Angel again, if for no other reason than to be near Kira.
Forty-five minutes later, a stretch limousine pulled up to the mansion in order to take Brett and Kira, Audra, Jimmy, Mason and Mason’s Aunt Mary, from Long Island to New York City. They all piled into the car and filled the spacious interior. Jimmy and his son sat directly across from Brett, tapping their fingers on the seat between their knees, both wearing matching dimpled smiles.
Brett joined them by tapping the same beat onto his knees, which caused the pair of Wilder drummers to turn their eyes on him in unison. Brett wasn’t a drummer, but he could hold a steady beat and play a few songs.
Mason’s smile widened, and his mouth hung open with excitement. “When we get home, you should come over and play with my dad and me.”
Brett was honored, but it was an intimidating offer. “I really don’t play that well. I’d love to hear you play, though. Where do you practice?”
“At home. In the drum room.” Mason said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world to have a drum room in your house.
“Jimmy and Audra turned their two apartments into a duplex when they first got married,” Kira explained. “I’m down the hall in a three-bedroom.”
“Will you come by? “Mason asked, enthusiastically.
“Sure. I’d love to.” Brett was really looking forward to seeing the talent and aptitude that this kid possessed in person. Plus, it would give him extra time with Kira.
Trump Parc came into view as the limo turned onto 6th Avenue, and Kira looked up at her building. She was home. She thought about the way Brett engaged in conversation with her family, how well he got along with the kids, and the comfort level and camaraderie between them warmed her heart. She fell for him this last month on the road together – hard. She had thought it was just going to be fun, and it was, but it turned into something so much more. Her chest ached because she didn’t want to say goodbye. Not again. It felt as if she had just left him in Chicago, only this time it would be twice as hard. “This is us,” she said, with a sigh, as the limo pulled up to the curb in front of the luxury apartment building.
The doorman was already on the sidewalk with a luggage trolley when they stepped out of the vehicle. Brett instinctively grabbed some of the suitcases, which made her smile.
He caught her watching him and stepped back to let the doorman do his job and returned to her side. “Old habits.” When they stepped inside the lobby, he paused to look up at the large crystal chandelier, then down at the marble flooring and the stately furniture. “So, this is what Trump Parc looks like. Pretty fancy. How long have you lived here?”
It felt like a lifetime ago since Kira and Audra bought the side-by-side penthouses. She looked to her sister for confirmation. “Six years ago?”
Audra nodded. “That sounds about right.”
The elevator stopped on the top floor, and they all walked down the hallway together until they got to Kira’s door. She waved to her family as they headed to their apartment at the other end of the hall, but Mason hung back.
“You’re gonna come by and watch us play the drums, right?” Mason asked Brett.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Brett answered.
Kira ran her hand over the back of her nephew’s head, smoothing his light brown hair down. “Give us a half hour or so to settle in, Mase, then we’ll be over.” She unlocked her apartment door, and the feeling of home enveloped her the moment she stepped inside. “Welcome to my apartment,” she told Brett. “God, I missed this place.” She saw the wide-eyed wonder in his eyes as he took in the opulence of her apartment with its ultra-modern furniture, state-of-the-art electronics and marble flooring. These are things she took for granted. Their financial situations were drastically different. She wasn’t ashamed of her wealth, but, for a moment, she wished she didn’t have so much. “Make yourself at home. I’m very unpretentious. Don’t let all of this fool you. It’s just how I grew up.”
“It’s hard to remember sometimes that you’re part of the Abelman dynasty. You’re so relaxed and chill.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and stared into her eyes. “That’s one of the things I love about you.”
Love? Her heartrate accelerated, and she held her breath for a second before he kissed her so hard her knees buckled. When their lips parted, she realized that he said he loved characteristics of her personality, not that he was in love with her, and her head descended from the clouds.
“Do I get the grand tour?”
“Of course, but it’s not that grand.”
“Yeah, right.”
She took his hand and led him through the rooms without fanfare, but he still commented on the Wolf appliances in the kitchen and the size of her bathrooms and the marble accents. “Let me show you the view. It’s what I love most about this place. It’s why me and Audra chose to live in this building and picked these two apartments. We grew up not far from here and spent weekends in Central Park with my dad.” Sadness overshadowed the joyful memory, and she let out a small sigh.
She had told Brett shortly after they’d met that her mother passed when she was very young, but she didn’t elaborate. She really didn’t like to talk about it, but it also made her feel guilty, as if she had forgotten about her mother. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. She missed her mother every single day. “After my mother passed, my dad made it a point to spend time with me and Audra, so he took us to Central Park every Sunday. Even though he was a workaholic, he always made time for us.”
Brett put a soothing arm around her shoulder and rubbed the pad of his thumb up and down the spot just above her collarbone. His brows pinched together, and his face turned somber. “I’m so sorry. It must have been tough for you losing your mom so young.”
Pain still tugged at her heart, and she pressed her lips together. It was suddenly hard to find her voice. “Yeah. That’s why Audra and I are so close with our father. And each other. For the longest time it was just the three of us. The park holds a lot of special memories for me.” She forced a smile. “Come. Let me show you how beautiful it is.” She took his hand, brought him to the living room and ripped open the drapes to reveal a pristine view of Central Park in all of its magnificent glory. The lush treetops stuck out amongst the harsh concrete buildings and bustling traffic below. It was a forest of green in the mist of dingy gray.
“My God. This view is amazing.”
She unlocked the sliders and Brett rushed onto the balcony and gripped the railing in his fists. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen Central Park from this high. Is that . . .” He shielded his eyes from the sun. “Water? Is there
a lake in the middle of all those trees?”
“Yes. The Pool. It’s at the north end.” She gazed at the gorgeous view, never tiring of the picturesque scenery. “I wish it was fall so you could see all the brilliant colors from up here.”
His eyes widened, as if imagining the transformation. “I don’t get to see fall very often. It must be gorgeous from this vantage point. I had no idea that Central Park was so densely populated with trees.” He lifted his shoulders. “I’ve never been there.”
Her head snapped in his direction. “Are you serious? You’ve never been to Central Park?”
“I’ve been to New York a lot, but basically just passing through while running Bulletproof’s tours. I’ve been to Madison Square Garden, naturally, and have done the traditional things like Times Square and the Empire State Building. I’ve been to the East Village and checked out the local music scene, but never Central Park.”
“I’m going to have to show it to you, then.” She said it as if they could visit Central Park any time, but he was going back to California, and reality crashed down on her. That’s exactly why she didn’t want to get involved with him. Her feelings for him had deepened over the last few weeks. She’d grown accustomed to seeing him every day. And then he said the “L” word. Again, she needed to remind herself that he said he loved things about her, not that he was in love with her. It didn’t mean anything, and that made her sadder. “When do you have to go back? Can you stay the night?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I’d love to. And I’d love to see Central Park, but I promised your nephew I’d listen to him play the drums. And I don’t want to break my promise. I really like him. He’s such a cool kid.”
Her heart just melted. Family was everything to her, and she loved Mason as if he were her own son.
“He’s very talented. Like nothing anyone has seen at his age,” she told Brett, as they walked down the hall.
The door to Audra and Jimmy’s apartment flew open the moment Kira knocked. “What took you so long?” The excitement in Mason’s voice possibly outshined the light in his eyes. He tugged on Brett’s arm and pulled him through the apartment, anxious to show off his drumming skills.
“Come on in,” Audra told Kira, who was still standing in the doorway. “I haven’t seen Mason so wound up since we bought him his first full-size drum kit. He really likes Brett. So do I. He fit in with everyone so well on the tour. And you look so happy. Don’t let him get away, Kira. Make it work.”
Kira wished she knew how to make a long-distance relationship work, but she didn’t. It never had before, and the reminder hit her like a slap in the face.
Audra noticed Kira’s frustration right away and placed an arm over her sister’s shoulder. “You guys will figure it out. Don’t dwell on his return to the West Coast. Just take it one day at a time. Now, let’s watch the expression on Brett’s face when he hears what my husband and my son can do together on the drums.”
A thunderstorm of heart-pounding beats hit Kira the moment Audra opened the door to the drum room. It was still overpowering to witness the father and son duo drumming together.
The drum sets were set up on opposite sides of the room facing one another, and Brett stood in the middle against the far wall watching them both. The sparkle in his eyes and the wonderment in his smile were visible clear across the room as he shifted his gaze between Jimmy and Mason. He looked at Kira when she stepped into the crossfire of drumbeats to get to the other side of the room. His brows were raised high on his forehead and he nodded, clearly floored at the show taking place in front of him. When she got to his side, he put his lips to her ear without taking his eyes off the pair of drummers.
“I’ve never seen anything like this!”
Kira’s heart filled with love as she watched her nephew. Mason stomped his double bass and hit his toms and cymbals with strength and force unprecedented for someone his age. If she closed her eyes, she would have thought she was listening to a rock star that had been on stage his whole life, performing at the top of his career, instead of a 10-year-old child.
She turned toward Audra, who was standing a few feet away beaming with pride at her husband and son. Kira loved that Audra and Mason referred to one another as mother and son now. The titles were fitting and well-deserved. She wondered what it must feel like to have a family. For a few brief moments, she imagined a ring on her finger and a few more kids in this room right now. Maybe they’d learn to play instruments or work at the label. Or next to Brett on tour. Her eyes suddenly filled with wetness, and she uttered a small happy laugh. It was a crazy little fantasy, but, for a hot second, it felt so real. And she was happier than she’d ever been.
The two drummers suddenly stopped playing, and Kira was snapped back to reality. Brett started clapping and let out a loud, “Woo hoo!” She blinked rapidly in order to dry her eyes and put her hand to her chest, pretending that she was overwhelmed by the talented display.
Audra nudged her arm, wearing her own teary-eyed smile. “I know. I feel the same way. It still chokes me up to watch Mason. He’s so gifted.”
Father and son looked at one another with billion-dollar smiles that nearly blinded everyone in the room. They shared a rapport that needed no words.
Jimmy went solo while everyone watched. He sat in the center of his Tama kit, almost completely circled by toms, snares and cymbals in various sizes. His thick arms were a whirlwind of colorful tattooed muscle as he hit the skins fast and hard, while his feet slammed into the pedals that struck his twin bass drums. He had a faraway look in his eyes as if in a trance, with a smile glued to his cheeks. He looked as if he were lost in some magical place. His sticks slammed onto the side cymbals and then he silenced them with his hands. He stood up, causing the stool to roll out behind him and hit the wall, and pointed his drumsticks at Mason, who let out a lighthearted giggle, clearly having the time of his life.
Mason retaliated with a beat as quick and fast as his father’s. His amazing bout of showmanship mimicked Jimmy’s. He wore the same animated smile, filled with carefree uninhibited joy. The kid was a superstar. A third-generation drummer destined to surpass the talent of both his father and his grandfather. He smashed his cymbals a half dozen times, then stood up while the shimmer filtered through the air.
Mason and Jimmy tossed a drumstick across the room to each other, shocking the hell out of everyone. They each caught the other’s stick and continued with dueling drumbeats for the next 15 minutes.
Jimmy stepped down from his kit, pride gleaming off of him from every angle, and he pointed at Mason. “That’s my boy!”
Panting heavily from exertion, Mason giggled as he tried to catch his breath.
Brett clapped his hands, mouth hanging open and eyes wide with disbelief. “That was incredible!” He went to Mason and high-fived the boy. “Dude, you rocked it. You just blew my mind!”
Mason’s cheeks flushed bright pink with modesty as he looked down and smiled, showing off his adorable dimples. This kid was so damn cute. Kira loved him to death. She wrapped her arms around him, hugged the hell out of him and kissed his cheek three times in a row.
“Aunt Kira!”
She didn’t care that she was embarrassing him. “Too old to get a hug from your aunt?”
He tried to hide his smile, but it broke through anyway. There was no dimming the light inside this kid’s soul. He extended his sticks to Brett. “Wanna play?”
Brett took a step back and shook his head. “Are you kidding? After what you just did? No way.”
They ended up in the dining room, sharing a meal of herbed chicken marsala with green beans and rosemary potatoes. Brett offered to help with the dishes and actually stood with his plate in his hand, ready to bring it into the kitchen.
“Sit down, man,” Jimmy told him. “You don’t have to bother. My girl’s got a full staff in there.”
Brett returned to his seat, a little embarrassed, and quietly apologized to Kira. “I didn’t know. I was always taugh
t to wash my plate off and put it in the dishwasher after dinner.”
Kira placed her hand on his leg under the table. “I think that’s wonderful.” She was the one who was embarrassed, now. Not that she begrudged her sister’s choice to hire a personal chef and wait staff. It’s just that Brett came from a humble background, and her family’s wealth could be a little intimidating. She never wanted him to feel as if he didn’t measure up because of it or that anyone in this room, or anyone in the Immortal Angel family, would ever pass judgment on him because he didn’t make a seven-figure salary. Her father, on the other hand, might not be as liberal on the subject. But she didn’t think she’d have to worry about that because Brett was going home tomorrow.
The next morning, Kira woke to a beautiful sunny day with little humidity. She had worried the weather wouldn’t cooperate and spoil their plans to visit Central Park, but it was the perfect day. Grateful, she stepped onto the balcony and inhaled the crisp air. She exhaled slowly and tried not to dwell on the fact that Brett was going home today. She thought about asking him to stay another week, or two, but didn’t want to torture herself with the inevitable. Their relationship had an expiration date. She knew that from the very beginning. There was no need to pretend it was going to end differently. A baseball of emotion lodged in her throat, but she swallowed it down and vowed not to ruin their last day together with sadness. They were going to enjoy this day to the fullest.
Footsteps behind her meant that Brett was up and awake. He yawned like a grizzly bear, and she laughed. When she turned around to face him, his arms were above his head, broadening his strong chest and showing off the bulky muscles in his shoulders and arms. He wore only a pair of sweatpants that hung low enough on his hips to showcase the deep “V” that pointed toward his groin.
The Roadie: Radical Rock Stars Book 7 Page 12