Standing in the dark, seconds before I went on the stage, I was almost overcome with first night nerves all over again. It was normal for me to feel a little anxious before the start of every show, but this one was special.
As I built a more intimate relationship with God, I prayed I wouldn’t screw up, and my eyes scanned every seat I could see from where I stood. I noted the venue was full.
Some performers say the sick feeling in their stomachs has never gone away no matter how many times they put themselves out there, but tonight was different. It was the first time the men who shaped my music career were here to witness what I had to give.
Even though it was highly expected, my legs still buckled when the emcee called my name. Kerr slapped my back and my breath hitched and although I knew it was my cue, my legs didn’t move for a second.
The crowd roared their appreciation and suddenly I propelled myself out from the dark and into the light.
From the moment they saw me the racket they made intensified; a marked contrast to the first concert I had played only a week before, and I knew the word was spreading about me as an artist in my own right.
Drawing courage from their enthusiastic cheers, I stepped forward and grabbed the mic, feeding on their keen interest to hear me perform.
Once Austin cued the music, and the intro began to play, a wave of calm washed over me and I began to sway. Usually, I picked on a specific spot and sang to that for the first few lines, but instead I took the mic from the stand and wandered to one side.
The opening song, “Play the Melody”, a power ballad, was designed to capture the naysayers and haters who would question my position in the music market.
The score was deep, intricate, and the range wide, all the elements set to test a singer, and separate karaoke singers from those who’d honed their voices to deliver a perfect sound as the song was intended to be sung.
From Contralto to Soprano my huge scale range reached the depths of a low female scale to the highest Soprano pitch giving me an insane ability to tackle any track the female voice could sing.
It was the first time during the tour I had attempted the song because my confidence was a little shaky about testing myself while still trying to capture my audience.
Until now I had been playing it safe but as this was my last night of the tour and it wouldn’t reflect badly on Layla Hartmann, I took a calculated risk.
Watching the reaction of the fans was mesmerizing because their silence wasn’t only out of politeness this time. From where I stood, I could tell by their expressions they were captivated by the words of the song.
When the last long note died in my throat, the audience exploded in rapturous applause and relief dripped through my veins like warm honey. The love in the room felt incredible.
Breathless, I moved center stage and looked over to the balcony box seat on my left where Simon, Gibson, Chloe, Melody, and Thomas sat, except they weren’t sitting down, they were on their feet, Melody jumping excitedly, her little hands clapping like she’d wear them out.
A huge grin spread on my face at the sight of them and for some odd reason I felt shy. The lump that threatened to grow in my throat would have been catastrophic for me. There was no way could I have continued to sing if my emotions closed my airway, so I quickly looked away.
Nodding to Kerr he began the intro to a fast-paced song and for the following forty minutes left of my set I poured my heart and soul into my performance.
The wave of noise swelling out from the crowd choked me and the set ended on a high. They were calling for an encore and I was only there to support.
Bowing my thanks, I quickly left the stage with them clearly wanting more. Layla gripped my upper arm and stopped me before I reached my dressing room.
“Get back out there and give them one more song. I’ve been watching you on the monitor in my room, sweetheart. You are a musically gifted young woman. I’m happy for you to give the audience what they want.”
Staring at her with wide eyes, I was humbled by how gracious and self-assured she was to allow me the privilege of something like that.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I nodded, and without having to speak to the backing band behind me they all turned and ran back to the stage.
Stepping back on stage, I no longer felt like someone who had to prove herself and I sang the encore number, the next song due to be released from my album like a boss.
Kerr told me I owned the stage when I sang it and by the time I walked off the stage that night I felt ready to take on the world.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Austin led the others from the dressing room as they headed back to the hotel for the after-party Layla was throwing to wrap up the tour.
I’d hung back, waiting for Simon and my family Gibson had pulled together some media friendly people to break the news about my connection to him.
After a quick shower, I changed into a teal-green, figure-hugging dress and was reapplying my cherry lip-gloss when there was a knock on the door. “Yeah?” I asked.
Pushing open the door, Myleene grinned, “Your dad’s here to see you,” she informed me.
Briefly closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and couldn’t believe Gibson had told her before we’d had a chance to announce it. “Thank you,” I replied, and her head disappeared.
The door half-closed then opened again and my breath hitched in my throat as fear momentarily paralyzed me. Instead of seeing Gibson as I had expected, Colin stood there in his place.
Two years apart. Two years of counselling and confidence building were all the defenses I had against seventeen years of abuse at Colin’s hands. No matter how mended I had thought I was, it was nothing compared to the emotional anxiety and negative memories which suddenly flooded my brain.
All rational thoughts threatened to leave me; my weakening resolve to stand up to the abuser who stood in front of me was crumbling. Never show fear. It was the first thing Chloe’s team taught survivor's if they ever came face to face with their past.
“What are you doing here?” I barked, having suddenly snapped out my shock. I swiped my cell from the dresser so fast I doubted it had registered with him. It felt heavy in my hand. Oh God, my password is on. I need to get a message to Simon.
“Think you were smart running away like that? Where is she?” he ground out through gritted teeth. His beady eyes narrowing, while his anger radiated toward me.
“She?” I asked incredulously, “You mean my mom?”
“Ah. Think you’re tough now, do you, lady? Think you’re smarter than me? You obviously forgot the fact I’ve been in this game since before you were born.” Never. It had always been in the back of my mind he was road crew for bands.
Inside my bones had gone to Jell-O, but outwardly I tried to appear relaxed. In my head, I searched for ways to deal with the horrible monster from my past.
Seeing he was between me and the door, I knew it was pointless to even try to make a run for it. He was too fast… and strong.
Strolling over to the couch, I sat down and pulled my phone in front of me.
“Make a call and you're dead,” he said in a threatening tone.
“Is that what you came for, to kill me?” I asked and pretended to scroll Facebook, so he could see. Opening Messenger, I noted Simon’s message was the last one I had read, and I glanced up at Colin as if I were waiting for the answer.
“Money… I want money and your mom, or I’ll ruin you.”
“My mom is where you can never harm her again, and I’d rather watch you starve then give you anything.”
I turned the sound off on my phone and quickly clicked the camera icon on the Inbox before taking what I hoped was a picture of Colin. Pressing send, I had barely cancelled out from Simon’s message box when Colin swiped my phone from my hand and tossed it in the wastepaper basket by the side of the mirrored dresser.
“Get the fuck up,” he muttered angrily, grabbing me by my wrist. Lifting my foo
t, I immediately kicked him hard between his legs with every ounce of strength in me.
While he rolled around the floor groaning and clutching his groin, I tore up off the couch and made for the door.
Before I reached the handle, his huge strong hand wrapped around my ankle and he pulled me down on the floor beside him.
Panic threatened to dull my thoughts, but I fought against the feeling and flailed my arms and legs continually as I tried to free myself and prevent him gaining a stronger grip on the rest of me.
Suddenly Simon burst through the door, closely followed by Gibson, “What the fuck?” he bellowed angrily and shoved Colin off of me. Lifting me like I was weightless, Simon stepped back to a safe space whereas Gibson dragged Colin to his feet and wrapped his hand around his throat. I’d never heard Gibson growl so loud in all my life.
“Go on, hit me,” Colin goaded, “It’ll be good for a few million when I sue you,” he stated. “I don’t know what this has to do with you anyway. This is between me, her mom, and my daughter,” Colin argued.
“She’s not yours, she’s mine,” Gibson snapped, loud enough for the whole corridor to hear.
“What the fuck is this? You fucking him… or you’re fucking her mother?” he asked first me, then Gibson like he had no fear whatsoever.
Not being a small man, Gibson towered four or five inches above him and he made Colin look pathetic the way he held on to him.
Wriggling down from Simon’s arms, I lunged at Colin and slapped him hard across his face. “Thank God my mom’s not alive to see this. Thank God she never had to see your ugly ass again,” I ranted.
Colin looked shell-shocked. “She’s dead? What happened?”
“Nope. We’re not talking about her. My mom’s memory isn’t going to be sullied by you. The way you treated us all, my childhood was horrific. You. Are. Not. A. Man. You are a weak bully whose only way of keeping a woman was to cripple her with fear. I thank God every day I got her out of there. At least she died free from you.”
For a few moments it was as if we were all frozen in time. “Give me some money then and I’ll leave you alone,” he said, a note of desperation in his voice.
I was horrified at his indifference about my mom and my breath hitched. Simon immediately tightened his grip to help me feel a little safer. He kissed my temple tenderly.
“You think I’m really gonna do that?” Gibson chuckled. “What I should give you is a damn good hiding and a shallow grave in the Arizona desert,” he snapped with dark intent in his eyes. “That may not be what you want, but even that would be an act of kindness. I should skin you alive and leave you for the buzzards, you shameless bastard.”
“You want to press charges against this guy, sweetheart?” Gibson asked in all seriousness.
The fear in Colin’s beady eyes as he stood flanked by Gibson, and Jonny who had joined him, was small payback for all the times he’d put that look on my mom’s face.
I’d never thought about actually charging him. I was too afraid he’d run free and come back for us. It would have been like some kind of belated closure for my mom if he was stuck behind bars, but I had no tangible evidence.
Men like Colin were clever and manipulative, but they seldom paid for their treatment of women. When I didn’t reply, Gibson continued.
“Tell you what we’re gonna do here, Colin,” Gibson said, in a tone that was so icy calm and controlled to how he would normally have reacted.
I swallowed hard because it was the tone I’d heard from Colin in the past. The one attached to the choice he would offer us which was no choice at all but to do as he asked. Manipulation dressed as choice.
“Jonny here is going to take you on a journey, Jerry as well in fact,” Gibson said nodding at his two security details. “You’re going to take a trip to the Chicago Police Department and you’re going to confess to what you put Piper and her mom through for all those years.”
Colin scoffed, “Oh, wow, you’re so funny, my sides are splitting with laughter. Why in the hell would I do that? You’ve only got a strip of a girl’s word for anything she may have said happened in my home. How do you even know she has told you the truth?” My heart sank because what he said was true.
Gibson grinned widely, but his eyes were wild as he glanced first at me, then at Simon, and eventually back to Colin.
“Ah, now we’re getting to the crux of the matter. See, Piper here is a very clever girl, but you’re right. Personally, she has no evidence from her time at home. However, what you don’t know is Piper is mine now. Before Patricia died she gave Piper to me. I became Piper’s guardian. You know what that word means right? Guardian?”
Simon glanced at me and placed my head on his chest, his strong hand protectively over my head. I was confused and frowned at Gibson because I had no idea what he was thinking.
“Let me enlighten you, dude. Guardian means protector. Pro- tect- or. This gives you a huge problem because as any of these guys will tell you I take my role as Piper’s protector very seriously. As such, Piper’s mom was determined to give me anything she had to help me protect her daughter even if she wasn’t mentally strong enough to get away from you herself until years later.”
The sly glimpse Colin gave Gibson intimated he thought Gibson was calling his bluff.
Gibson chuckled but it was without humor. “What you don’t know is Piper came with an insurance package in the event you dared show your ugly mug around her one day. You see, when someone is kept suppressed in their own home, it gives them a lot of time for reflection… seven large volumes worth, and from what I’ve read they’re full of times, dates, and detailed accounts of the abuse they suffered, written over an eight-year period from the time Piper was eight until she was sixteen.”
“This is bullshit,” he shot back angrily, but I saw real fear in his eyes for the very first time as he tried to shove Jerry out of the way and make for the dressing room door.
I jumped in fear because the sound of his raised voice still terrified me, even in a room full of men who would kill him before they’d let him get to me.
“Oh, I forgot. When Piper’s mom was in counselling, she produced plenty more evidence, with photographic proof cataloging old injuries, consistent with the incidents she discussed in her confidential sessions.”
Gibson’s voice was flat… totally devoid of emotion and I knew this was the Gibson people should be afraid of. Not the volatile, passionate, opinionated advocate… but this.
My eyes flitted to Jonny and I noted the stance he held watching Gibson closely, perhaps to prevent him from making a move that would incriminate Gibson in anything, while Jerry’s focus was solely on Colin.
If Colin were stupid and made any move toward Gibson, I was in no doubt Jonny and Jerry would take all and any necessary steps to stop Colin from harming a hair on Gibson’s head and vice-versa.
There wasn’t a single moment when I thought Gibson was in danger. He was more than a match for Colin, but something inside told me if Gibson made a move he’d cause Colin some permanent damage.
I trusted Gibson wasn’t stupid enough to give him the satisfaction of laying hands on him. That would have made Colin a victim no matter what the circumstance.
“Time’s up; are you going voluntarily or are we going to call the cops? Either way you’re going down. Make it harder for Piper, and my lawyers will ensure you never see the outside of a jailhouse again in this lifetime.”
Colin’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat and for the first time in my life I saw true fear in his spiteful dark eyes, but before he could reply, Gibson took one step to the side. Jonny twisted Colin’s arm up his back in an arm lock and he was swiftly and effectively removed from the room.
Exhaling heavily, I hit a wall, then a wave of nausea made my stomach roll. I ran for the trash can and hurled the entire contents of my stomach.
“Fuck.” Gibson cussed, a note of distress in his voice.
“Clear out, Gibson, she needs quiet.” Simon int
erjected in an authoritative tone. I’d never heard him speak so forcefully to Gibson before. “You’ve done your job, I got this from here.” The tone in Simon’s voice left no room for argument and a growl tore from Gibson’s throat, but he didn’t protest.
Placing a hand on my back, Gibson leaned over and spoke to me. “Going to check on Chloe and Melody. I’ll check back. You did great, baby girl,” he advised as I attempted to wipe the putrid taste of vomit from my mouth with some tissue.
Seeing Gibson out the door, Simon closed it softly then grabbed a plastic bottle of water. Gently, he turned me to look at him and eyed me with concern.
Reaching over me, he tugged more tissue out of the box by the mirror and cracked open the lid on another bottle of water.
Soaking the tissue, he gently wiped under my eyes. Now that Gibson had taken care of the practicalities of Colin, Simon felt responsible for helping to make me feel whole again.
“You were terrific, Princess. I know that must have been terrifying for you. In my head I wanted to beat that fucker within an inch of his life, but I knew if we all got heavy-handed it would have been even more traumatic than it was. You understand what I’m saying? Someone had to stay on your level.”
I did. “Thank you,” I said, shakily and gave him a weak smile. Most girls would have expected their boyfriends to wade in balls-deep to offer physical protection like Gibson did, but Simon knew Gibson and his boys had that covered.
As hard as it was for him, Simon had done exactly the right thing to make me feel in control.
“Usually, Gibson pisses me off with his ‘Big Bad Daddy’ routine, but Gibson and I have an incredible bond and I actually admire how seriously he’s taken on what he has with you. I’ve known him a long time and I let a lot slide, but when I speak up… and because I don’t do it very often, Gibson usually listens.”
“I knew what you were doing, Simon. The threat of violence when Colin was around was always only ever one sentence away. You here beside me with your calm manner has helped me more than you’ll ever know.” Every word I spoke was the truth. I would have fallen apart otherwise.
Piper: A Last Score Spin Off Page 32