“True, most of our concerts were at night, but we did have to get from one city to another, and we traveled in daylight. Yes, I could have gotten from city to city on my own, but it would have looked strange if I, all of a sudden, stopped traveling with the band. Besides, we had television guest appearances lined up that taped in daylight hours. We did interviews in the daytime. We did photo shoots in the daytime. We had other business matters in the daytime. As badly as I wanted to keep living my dream, I had to face the horror of the fate that awaited me the night I became a vampire.
“My life in the public eye was over. Everything I had ever dreamed of was within my grasp, but I had to face the fact that it was all slipping through my fingers, and I had to let it all go. There you were along with your mother, my band, and my life as a rock star in the rear view mirror fading out of sight.
“My music died for me that night, Nadia, but in all the years I turned away from it, I never fully let go. I spent so many years in misery mourning the life I lost, but then, one night, by some stroke of luck or fate, you found me here, and I’m so thankful for that.
“Nadia, it was you who brought my music back to life for me. All that matters to me now is that my music is alive again. I don’t need the fame and fortune. So here I am performing in my bar with my beautiful daughter selling our music to our customers and online, and I couldn’t be happier with that.”
Nadia understood how he felt and attempted a half-smile. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m satisfied with this too. It’s just that my dream was to reach the same level of success with my band as you had with yours, but I was so young when my mortality ended. I never had the chance to explore those things the way you did. But it’s okay. Not every girl can say her dad was a rock star.”
Quinn leaned forward with his arms folded on the desk and attempted to break the truth to her as gently as possible. “You had that dream for your band along with every other singer, but every musician doesn’t become a star, Nadia. It’s a long shot, and West Side was one of the lucky ones. Lenny and Jeff’s father had some connections in Los Angeles, and he somehow miraculously got them to listen to one of our demos. We progressed from there. It was all luck.”
“Daddy, you still have connections. You could use them if you wanted to. After all, you are Quinn Forrester.”
Quinn sighed and shook his head. “That was over twenty-five years ago. As far as the world is concerned, I’m his son. That doesn’t get me very far.”
Nadia tossed up her hands and said, “I guess I’ll just have to be happy with being a big fish in a little pond.”
Quinn looked at her and said, “What’s so bad about that? As long as you can do what you love doing, what does it matter? We have our local followers who come down here every Thursday to listen to us. A significant percentage of our audience are tourists. Have you checked our social media pages? We have followers all over the world, and when they come back to New Orleans, we’re at the top of their list of things to do.”
Giving up on convincing her father and feeling sure he knew what he was talking about, she said, “You’re right, Daddy. I guess we do have it pretty good.”
Quinn nodded and said, “I remember when you and I first reconnected. You wanted to be a vampire like me, but that was the last thing I wanted for you. I could see you were not exactly walking the straight and narrow at that time, and I was so worried about you and the path you were on. There was nothing I wanted more than for you to live out your mortal life and have those opportunities to follow your dreams.”
“I know, Daddy. But, in the end, it wasn’t my lifestyle that got me killed. It was an accident. It was a ride home that got me killed. I know Nick wasn’t the model boyfriend, but the accident wasn’t his fault. I saw the light was green when he crossed that intersection, and there were witnesses. His parents sued for wrongful death, and they won. I’m just so glad you got to me in time and turned me.”
Quinn sighed. He didn’t want to let her down, but it was the only way. “Me too my baby. You have to understand we still walk the earth with mortals, but we are no longer mortal. Because of what we are, we have restrictions on us, and we have to live by a different set of rules. We’re not free to do all the things a mortal can do. Although we still feel the same, we’re not in human form anymore.”
Nadia ran her hands through her hair attempting to smile. “It was just a thought, Daddy; the human side of me taking over, but you’re right.”
Quinn looked at her sympathetically. “I know it can sometimes be difficult, but we have to learn to balance our humanity with our vampire nature. You’re not too disappointed, are you?”
“No, Daddy. It’s fine. I understand that some things can never be for us.” She managed to turn her frown into something of a smile and changed the subject. “Did you ever talk to Lenny or Jeff again after being turned?”
Quinn took a deep breath and exhaled. “No honey. As badly as I wanted to, I couldn’t.”
Nadia noticed the time on her phone. “Well, I guess I should be going. It’s almost time for us to leave, and I still have some last minute packing to do.”
Quinn chuckled and said, “I can’t believe you’re going back to Florida only to turn around and drive back to New Orleans in a stuffy car. You’re here, so why don’t you just stay?”
“Because I promised my wonderful mortal husband, Chad, I would drive here with him. He requested the honor of my company. He said it makes the trip more pleasant and the time pass more quickly if I’m with him.”
“Aw, he wants to spend time with his wifey.” He pointed to his daughter smiling and said, “You’re a good wife.”
Nadia smiled and got up from her chair. Quinn got up from his, and they hugged at the door.
As Nadia was leaving, she turned back and asked, “Would you really buy me an airplane, Daddy?”
“Fuck. No,” replied Quinn.
Nadia laughed and closed the door.
3
WIVES AND LOVERS
Nadia went straight to her room to finish packing. Her mother, Lacey, and her son, Jackson, were in the house, but they didn’t even realize she was gone.
She tossed her purse on the bed and pulled the CD from it. She studied it while mulling over her conversation with Quinn. Her father was right. He did seem to be content with the way everything turned out for him. He does love running his businesses, and he enjoys his music with her. He’s married to her best friend since kindergarten. She may have had a few problems wrapping her head around that one at first, but he’s happy with Randi, and Randi is happy with him.
Her dad and Randi had both been going through rough times at the time they found each other with a little help from her. When she introduced them, she had no idea Randi was going to fall hard for her father, or that even if she did, he would feel the same way about her. She didn’t see that one coming, but she had no choice other than to be happy for them.
Her thoughts drifted to her agenda for the next two weeks. The main event would be the grand opening party at Devereaux’s Fine Art, her husband Chad’s new art gallery, on Saturday night. She and her father had their CD release party coming up the following Saturday, and she was looking forward to their interview with the prestigious NOLA Today magazine. Maybe life couldn’t get any better. At least not for a vampire.
She threw the last few items in a suitcase, pulled the zipper around it and placed it next to the others. She didn’t think she forgot anything, but you can never be sure. If anything was forgotten; no problem. She could just zip home and get it and zip back.
Her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with her father. Even though she had seen Quinn’s videos with West Side and heard his music, she never paid that much attention. He may have been a rock star to the rest of the world, but he was just Dad to her.
Nadia thought about Quinn not having contact with his band members since he became a vampire and she wondered about them. She decided to do an internet search for Lenny and Jeff West.
The results showed West Side was unable to find a suitable frontman even close to replacing Quinn Forrester, so the band broke up shortly after his departure. As for Quinn, he is still alive. He divorced his wife, Lacey, soon after he disappeared, and his decree of divorce was the last public record on file for him until 2008 when he passed everything on to his son. His disappearance is still a mystery to this day. She searched on hoping to find out something she didn’t know.
The next article that appeared went on to say that Lenny got into producing while Jeff replaced Endless Knights lead guitarist in 1990 and had been with them ever since. Jeff married his longtime girlfriend, Laurie, that same year, and they have a daughter and a son. Jeff and Laurie are still married.
Next, she came across an interview with Jeff where he commented on Quinn’s disappearance. Eager to see what he thought about it, she clicked on the link.
Jeff said that he and Quinn were close, and he can’t imagine why Quinn would not have contacted him, and considering he didn’t contact his wife either; he suspected foul play.
He knew how much Quinn loved his wife and what his family meant to him. It was completely out of character for him to disappear like that. Even though the authorities could never find anything to indicate that Quinn’s disappearance was anything other than of his own free will, he believed there was more to it than that. There had to be. Quinn just wouldn’t have done that, and, even though he had his doubts, he hoped all was well with Quinn and that he would hear from him again someday.
Interesting, she thought. Jeff has no idea just how on target he is. The time on her phone indicated Chad would be home soon. She picked up her CD and headed for the stairs.
LACEY HAD FINISHED PACKING. After slipping into a pair of jeans with a knit top comfortable for traveling and running a brush through her mid-length dark hair, she went to the kitchen for a cup of tea. She was sitting at the table sipping from her cup when Giselle suddenly bolted into Nadia’s kitchen in a black tunic over black leggings with black stiletto heel boots scaring her half to death. “Hello, Lacey,” she said nonchalantly looking around. “Where’s Nadia?”
Lacey grabbed her chest and said, “Dammit, Giselle! You almost gave me a fucking heart attack popping in like that. Don’t you vampires know how to knock? She’s upstairs packing. There’s blood in the fridge if you’d like some.”
“Thanks, but I have already had my evening drink,” said Giselle studying her fingernails. “I am sorry I startled you, Lacey.”
Lacey chuckled shaking her head. “It’s obvious how remorseful you are. Thank you for testing my heart. I should be used to it by now. So what brings you to Florida tonight? Certainly, you aren’t planning to drive with us to New Orleans, are you?”
Giselle let out a laugh throwing her long black loose curls behind her shoulders. “Oh, heavens, no. But I admire Nadia for it. She is a good wife.”
Lacey smiled clenching her teeth. “Yes, she is.”
Giselle, the daughter of a French slavemaster and an African slave, was turned in the late nineteenth century when she was only twenty-eight years old. She is also the vampire that turned Lacey’s ex-husband, Quinn. Giselle pulled out a chair and sat at the table across from Lacey.
Lacey stared at her in disbelief. She motioned to her and said jokingly, “Why don’t you have a seat, Giselle?”
Giselle laughed. She looked at Lacey with her eyes sparkling and said, “It is nice of Quinn to give us a standing invitation to stay at the mansion, but I wonder how his child bride will feel about it? Do you think we will be in the way?”
Lacey laughed. “Child bride? That’s a good one.”
“Well, you have to admit, he did rob the cradle. Randi is half his age, but who am I to talk. I have over two-hundred years on Quinn, and we did spend four years together.”
Lacey pointed at Giselle and said, “Yes, I know. As I recall, you were the other woman, but then you seem to have a thing for my men. Let’s see. First, there was Quinn, and, oh yes, let’s not forget Tyler.”
“You can have Tyler back anytime you want him, Lacey. He is a great fuck, but that is all he is to me.”
Lacey sneered and said, “No thanks. Keep him with my compliments. It sounds like you have some issues with Quinn and Randi’s age difference. Does it matter? Especially now that Randi is one of you, thanks to you. You did turn her, but I often wonder why. If you had let her die, Quinn probably would have come back to you.”
Giselle looked her in the eye and said, “I do not want Quinn back. I know now I can never be happy with Quinn. He loves her, and he is happy with her, so I wish them well.”
Lacey sipped her tea. She began to wonder if Giselle’s little digs into Randi were because she was possibly jealous. Maybe she doesn’t want him back, but does she enjoy seeing him with someone else? The only way to find out is to ask. “Giselle, if I may ask, even though you don’t want Quinn back, are you sure you’re completely over him? Are you sure you’re okay with him being with someone else?”
Giselle appeared somewhat taken aback. She looked at her ex-lover’s former wife and said, “I could ask you the same thing? Not that it matters, because we are both his exes.”
Lacey toyed with her spoon before pointing it at Giselle. “As I recall, you replaced me, so that makes you his latest ex. To answer your question, yes, I’m over him, but things have changed, and I like him now. He and I have become friends, and we’ve bonded over our family that we created together. So, yes, Giselle, Quinn is special, but I’m over any romantic feelings for him.”
“Yeah,” said Giselle. “I know what you mean, but Quinn and I did have some wonderful times together. The difference is, now that I am over him, I can look back on those times with fond memories. One thing I have to say about Quinn is he was hot in bed.”
Lacey’s eyes widened. She was a little surprised that Giselle would say that to her. Even though there were extenuating circumstances, Quinn was still happily married to her when Giselle slept with him for the first time. She wasn’t sure if Giselle was just making conversation, or if she was attempting to piss her off. She decided to play along and wade a little deeper into the waters; test her a bit further. “Yes, he was. Did you ever fake it with Quinn, Giselle?”
Giselle laughed and said, “No, I did not have to. Quinn always knew how to push those buttons.”
Lacey scoffed and said, “I’ll tell you a little secret. I had slept with a few guys before Quinn, and I faked it with all of them. Even a few after we divorced. But Quinn was different. My first orgasm was in Quinn’s bed the first time we had sex. Talk about a shock. I never expected that to happen, and I have to say it was incredibly intense. I knew that night; Quinn was for me. One thing Quinn and I always had was fantastic sex.”
“Mom!” said Nadia, entering the room attempting to put an end to a declawed cat fight. “Not in front of the children.”
A shocked Lacey grabbed her chest and looked at her daughter. “Nadia. I didn’t know you were here.”
Nadia chuckled and said, “Obviously not. It must have been a pretty intense O. Damn! No wonder Randi is always smiling like the Cheshire cat. Ah, if I may ask, what are you two doing comparing notes about my father? By the way, it’s good to see the two of you talking.” I think.
Giselle got up from her chair and said, “Yes, well, my friends, I am off to New Orleans. I’ll see you good people and vampires later.” She turned to Lacey with a look of mischief in her eyes. “Lacey, would you like a lift? It is a lot faster than the car.”
Lacey bit her lip. “That’s okay, Giselle. I’ll leave the flying to you vampires.”
Giselle laughed and said, “Suit yourself, Lacey. Do not say I did not offer. Goodbye, Nadia.”
“Bye, Giselle,” said Nadia with a wicked grin.
Lacey shook her head.
Nadia looked over at her mother and asked, “What was that all about? Sex talk about Dad with Giselle? I’m shocked.”
“She started it, but it started with us
talking about how we’re over him now.”
“Are you?” asked Nadia, with her eyes focused on her mother.
Lacey looked at Nadia wondering how she could even think that she could still have feelings for him. “Like I was telling Giselle, Quinn and I are friends now. We agree that what we had was special, but we both know it’s over.”
Unwilling to let Lacey off the hook that easy, Nadia said, “That’s nice, but you didn’t answer my question. I asked you if you’re over him?”
Lacey got up from the table and brought her empty cup to the sink. She turned on the faucet and poured a drop of dishwashing liquid into it filling it with water. She looked at her daughter and said, “Yes, Nadia. I’m over him. Besides, vampires are not on my dating list.” She turned and left the kitchen to gather her things for the trip.
Nadia dropped her CD on the table. She didn’t challenge her mother’s answer, but she couldn’t help but wonder how Lacey genuinely felt. Yes, her father divorced her mother, but he did it because he loved her and wanted to give her the opportunity to move on with her life since he couldn’t be with her anymore. He cut her loose because he wanted her to be happy.
Lacey had no idea what was really going on at the time, and she hated him for leaving her the way he did. Neither one of them were saints during their marriage. Driven by alcohol and loneliness, they both cheated on one another, but they’ve ironed out their differences, and they have forgiven one another. Besides, Lacey’s experiences over the past several years have changed her for the better. She’s a different person now, and everyone knows that including her father.
She heard Chad’s key clicking in the door and turned around noting how handsome he looked in his suit with his dark hair falling into his beautiful hazel eyes.
He noticed her CD on the table and wondered how she got a copy when her father had just received the shipment that day in New Orleans. He picked it up and inspected it nodding his approval. His eyes drifted to her. “The cover is beautiful, but how did you get a copy so fast?”
Sex, Blood, Rock 'N' Roll, and Vampyr (The Bloodline Series Book 1) Page 3