Both of them look at her, and she knew they knew she was about to cry. “Where is Emily?” she asked trying to keep her emotions in check as much as possible.
“She’s downstairs making something for you two to eat. She couldn’t find Mrs. Hudson.” Henry’s voice wrapped around her, and she wanted him to take her into his warm embrace. It seemed like she wasn’t the only one keeping secrets between her and her father. He had been keeping his and Cynthia’s affair to himself for over sixteen freaking years. “Are you okay?” Henry asked. His sweet voice made her look up and she saw his eyes were gleaming at her.
“No, I need Em,” she said and forced herself to walk past the man she loved and toward her bedroom.
“I will send her up then,” Henry said from behind her, and she just nodded her head.
She was done talking, and she was scared that she would start crying if she did. Jamie opened her bedroom. Her heart was racing and she tightly closed her eyes. So many thoughts were racing through her mind, and it kept landing on the fact that the two most important people in her life had been lying to her for sixteen years. She knew what her father would do if he found out about Henry, he would sentence the love of her life to death and wouldn’t think twice about it. Jamie’s chest ached when she thought of Henry in the tower because of her. He would be tortured, she knew that.
Her eyes sprang open when she her Emily’s voice in the hallway. “What the hell do you mean she was crying? She better not be! I spent way too much time making her face look beautiful!”
Jamie couldn’t help but to smile, that was why she needed her. She could always cheer Jamie up and she didn’t have to do much. Jamie turned around just as Emily walked in her doorway. She arched an eyebrow at her, but Jamie looked past her best friend to the man she would be marrying later that night. He looked worried and she was happy that her father and Ryan weren’t around to see because they would definitely know something was going on between them.
“What’s wrong? Do I need to castrate a certain man?”
Jamie bit her bottom lip to keep her smile off of her face. “If by ‘certain man’ you mean my father, then yes.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “Does he know about-”
Jamie shook her head. “No…well I don’t think he does.” She glanced behind her best friend, who was still standing in the doorway with Henry and Matthew behind her. She loved Henry, but had to wonder, if he had the chance, if he would use her father’s relationship with Cynthia against him. “Em, will you shut the door?”
Emily’s eyebrows creased together. “Umm…sure.” She turned around and shut the door. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
She wished it was as simple as a ghost. What she’d seen had hurt her more than anything, because she knew it wouldn’t affect how her father felt about her with a Blue. Jamie flounced over to her bed and sat down, putting her head in her hands. “My father has been having an affair with Cynthia for sixteen years,” she whispered.
“What? You mean Mr. Prefect is sleeping with the help? That is priceless!” Jamie looked up as she heard the eagerness in Emily’s voice.
“You aren’t making things better. I thought my father and I told each other everything and I thought Cynthia and I were closer than that. I thought she would have told me if she was seeing someone, but I knew nothing. We know what my father would do to you know who, if he found out and I don’t think he should have any kuld
Emily pulled her into a hug. “Jamie, I know it isn’t fair, but are you going to be the one to turn your father in when you about to marry a Blue yourself? Could you live with yourself if he was sentenced to death as an example? And you know they would kill Cynthia without thinking about it.”
Jamie’s sorrow took her over, and she cried on her best friend’s shoulder. The answer to all of those questions was no, no she wouldn’t turn her father in, but not because she feared he would be sentenced to death, but in hope that he wouldn’t sentence Henry when he found out.
Beep, beep. Her intercom made a high beeping sound when someone was trying to talk to her through it. “Miss Moore, there are some people here that need to talk to you about your party.”
Crap, she forgotten about the band she’d hired a week earlier for the party. She’d told them to be here early so she could hear them play live and make sure they were appropriate. She’d only heard them on the MP3 player that Emily had given her. Jamie crossed the room to the intercom to answer Henry. “Please tell Rob I will be down in five minutes. And can you have him wait for me in the living room?”
“Yes ma’am.”
She felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Let me fix you up before we head down there.”
Jamie knew she didn’t cry pretty, it always made her blotchy. She followed Emily back into the bathroom for another round of make-up application.
“So…who is Rob?”
Jamie sniggered, because her best friend was absolutely boy crazy. “He’s the lead singer of Kickers, you know, from the band I hired to play tonight? I told him I wanted to hear them play before they went on tonight.” Jamie glanced at Emily through the mirror; her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open.
Kickers was the hottest band, and she knew she had to have them play at her party. Last week it seemed that having them play for her was the best thing ever, now it didn’t seem that important. She grabbed the black eyeliner and grinned as she handed it to her best friend.
“Right, make-up before we meet the lead singer, I need to fix you!” Emily exclaimed in excitement, and then looked at Jamie’s face. “Jamie are you okay?”
She wasn’t, but she knew her best friend would fight tooth and nail for her, even if she had to go against her father. “I will be, I just want to get this party over with so I can start the rest of my life with the man I love. Will you help me put my dress on? If I don’t do it now I won’t have time later.” She smiled wide because her thoughts had turned to the wedding and she couldn’t wait to call Henry her husband.
* * *
Henry walked into the living room with the lead singer of Kickers, Robert Miller, behind him. He knew who the man was and didn’t care for him. Mike and he had booked Kickers a few times for the No B Club and every time they’d been there, they left more trouble for him and Mike to clean up. The guy was a jerk who used woman because he could.
“Hey, don’t I know you?” Robert asked.
Henry was happy that he didn’t remember him. When No B Club booked a band, Mike was the one in charge, the one to handled most of the meet and greets. It made it easier to get the bigger bands who were all Blacks. They felt more comfortable being around his best friend. He had walked in on the Kickers doing a sound check once, but he’d kept his head down.
“I don’t think so, sir.” He stared at the wannabe rock star, who wore a stupid grin on his face.
“Is she hot? I heard rumors that she was.”
Henry wanted to beat the living crap out of him for making comments like that about Jamie, and he didn’t feel guilty about it. Robert was talking about the woman he loved, the woman he was marrying that night, and he didn’t like it at all. His mind flashed to Jamie as she’d come out of her father’s office, the way she’d looked made his chest ache. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss away the pain he’d seen in her beautiful green eyes. But he knew he had to be cautious around her, because he didn’t want her to get in trouble for him. He didn’t care what happened to him, he was worried about her. “I can’t say, sir,” he finally said through clenched teeth.
Robert laughed, and shook his head. “Dude, I won’t say anything if you told me she was, I just want to know what I have to work with. She is a Moore, so that makes her pretty influential. Even if she looked like a dog, I would still give her a go.” The bastard laughed and Henry wanted to kill him. Robert walked to the large white sofa, and grabbed a bright red pillow. He looked back at Henry and arched a dark eyebrow. “Are you sure we haven’t met befo
re?”
Henry smiled and nodded. “I am pretty sure, sir.” He heard footsteps running down the stairs and was thankful Jamie would be there. He was getting tired of the man’s mouth and he didn’t really want her to have to deal with him either. He knew he wouldn’t be leaving the love of his life with the womanizing pig.
He worked hard to disguise his feelings since Matt had told him that what he felt for Jamie showed on his face every time he looked at her. He was afraid that William was putting two and tw kng pilloo together, but he just couldn’t help it. He’d never been that happy with anyone before. He had a strong feeling that something was going to happen that would change everything.
Henry heard Jamie and Emily giggling in the hallway and he covered his mouth to hide his smile. It was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard, and she was his. He gulped loudly as she entered the room. She stole his breath away in the dark-green, sparkling ball gown she wore.
* * *
Jamie hid her smile when she saw Henry’s expression. She loved the way he looked at her. Even with the image of her father and Cynthia kissing running through her mind, and knowing that they had been keeping their relationship from her, Henry made her feel as if she were the only girl in the world. Jamie looked past her love to see the man she’d seen on the cover of her latest CD and in the pop magazines. Robert Miller was just as gorgeous in person as he was on paper. His blonde hair hung straight, touching his shoulders and his stunning light blue eyes were on her and her alone. A wicked grin spread across his sculpted face.
Jamie put her hand out. “Rob, it’s nice to final meet you.”
He took her hand in his and slowly brought her fingers to his lips, gently brushing a kiss across her knuckles. “You are breathtaking, Miss Moore,” he said. His baritone voice was deep and smooth.
Slowly her eyes wondered over to Henry and she noticed his face was scarlet and she frowned. Jamie took her hand away from the lead singer and wiped his kiss on her dress. She arched an eyebrow at him. “Thank you, but I thought you were here to do a sound check so I could hear you play live before the party.”
Rob nodded, his wicked grin still in place. “They’ll be here soon. I wanted to meet the mysterious Moore daughter. And I can see why your father kept you a secret.”
“Hmm…okay. Well I need to make sure everything is in order for tonight. Emily and I will be back when your band arrives.” Jamie didn’t want to deal with the jerk hitting on her every change he got. It was getting old fast and she wasn’t sure how much more Henry would take before he jumped the guy.
“Jamie, you need to help me get my dress on. Mike will be here soon and I want to look amazing.”
She looked at her best friend. She was always beautiful with her long, dark, wavy brown hair and stunning hazel eyes. “Well…I don’t want you to be standing next to me when he gets here. You look incredible, and I want my boyfriend’s eyes on me and me alone.”
Jamie laughed, and shook her head. “Whatever, I only look this good because of you.”
< kwids span>“I will disagree with that,” Rob said from behind her.
She rolled her eyes which made Emily giggle. Emily put her hand out for Jamie to take and without thinking twice, Jamie took her hand.
“I could work with that,” Rob said as they walked away.
“Gross,” Emily commented and put her finger in her mouth and made a gagging sound. “I was hoping he wasn’t going to be a pig, but he is the king of pigs.”
Jamie agreed, she hoped that the others in the band weren’t like him. “Let’s go make you beautiful, darling.”
Chapter Thirteen
Black & Blue
Jamie and Emily walked downstairs together after Emily was dressed. Emily’s phone rang as they reached the bottom step.
“Hello?” Emily said into her phone.
“Hey, I’m almost there, see you in a few minutes,” Mike replied.
“I’ll meet you outside,” Emily said with a smiled and clicked her phone off. Her parents were coming to the party and she wanted to warn her new boyfriend that her father would be questioning him intensely.
“Tell Mike I said good luck with your dad!” Jamie called over her shoulder as she went to meet with the band.
Emily narrowed her eyes and Jamie snickered. “Two can play that game, remember that,” Emily retorted as she walked away laughing.
Jamie walked into the ballroom where the party was being held. She could hear the bass from Kickers’ drums as she approached the room. She stopped in the doorway to watch them. She had loved their music for a while, but seeing them live was something new. Jamie had wanted to go when they’d played at the No B Club, but she hadn’t been eighteen yet, so she couldn’t go. They were rehearsing her favorite song, ‘Soul’.
I gave you my soul, even when I knew I shouldn’t. I gave you my soul, when you were taken. My soul will be forever yours, ohhh. When we met I told myself to stay away, but you had my soul in your little hands.
I gave you my soul, even when I knew I shouldn’t. You are my life and no matter what I will fight for you until my last breath. My soul will be forever yours. You brought light into my life, even when you were taken. I gave y nwid will fighou my soul.
Jamie looked across the room at Henry as they sang, but she quickly forced herself to look away from him. She glanced around the ballroom and was stunned. Beautiful dark blue and black fabric decorated the normally bare white room. Some of the black and blue fabric was twisted together, and it made her think of herself and Henry.
Cynthia’s white hair caught her eye. She was setting up some of the tables with a large glowing center piece on the table. Truth was, Jamie wasn’t really mad at her father or Cynthia, she was more hurt. She took a deep breath and started walking toward the woman who’d helped raise her.
Cynthia’s back was facing her and Jamie smoothed her hands down her dress. It felt strange to be wearing such a large skirted dress and she couldn’t believe how heavy it was. She could see Henry better as she moved closer to Cynthia. He was about ten feet away from her. He glanced at her for a moment and she saw his eyes light up.
Jamie took a deep breath, steadying herself. “Cynthia?” She bit her bottom lip as the older woman turned around. Her normally cheerful face looked sad. “Can we talk?”
Cynthia nodded slowly. “Of course, Miss Moore.”
Jamie cringed at the formal title. She couldn’t recall a time when Cynthia had ever called her that. She turned around knowing that the other woman would follow her. She noticed her father watching her from where she’d been moments earlier. Jamie kept walking toward him. “Follow me,” she murmured as she passed him.
They needed to be alone because Jamie didn’t want people to overhear what she had to say. She walked into the library first, and waited at the double doors until her father and Cynthia joined her. They both stood as far as away from each other as they could, and Jamie smiled.
“I think we need to talk. First I don’t like that you two kept this from me. Dad, I thought you were lonely and I was wrong. I thought you were holding a candle for Mom, and no one would ever make you happy again.” Jamie took his hands in hers, and smiled up at him. “I love you Dad, and I want you happy. If Cynthia-”
“No! We can never be together openly! You know she would be killed without anyone thinking twice, and they would make an example of me as well!”
Jamie had never thought about the other Black’s using her father as an example, she wondered briefly if she would be made an example also. She glanced at Cynthia, she was the only person in this room who knew what she wanted to tell her father, but she slightly shook her head. Jamie knew it wouldn’t have been the best thing to tell her father, but she hated that she had to keep the most important thing in her life from him.
She didn’t understand why he didn’t change things. She watched her fathe shed>
“I don’t think I could change anything now, even if I wanted to. Thing are really…complicated right now with
rumors of a revolution. People are getting irrational and I am barely holding things together. And I know there have been secret meetings to find a new leader.”
What! They wanted to replace her father? A Moore had been in charged since her grandfather took things in his own hands and took over the country. “Why?” was all she could ask.
Her father placed his large hand on her cheek. “My sweet beautiful daughter, these are things you shouldn’t worry about. Not today, not when you have your party that will be happening soon.” He smiled sadly at her, and removed his hand as she nodded her head.
He was right. This wasn’t the time to talk about that. She needed to make sure everything was in order for her party. There would be about two-hundred people there in about an hour and they were going to be there for her. Most were her friends and some were her father’s friends.
Black and Blue (Black and Blue Series) Page 14