I sigh heavily. “Yeah,” I mutter. “Maybe… maybe you’re right,” I shake my head. “That doesn’t make me feel any better, though. I feel like things were left on such a shitty note,” I tell her feeling defeated. “Maybe I should’ve tried to fix things?” I question.
“Jo, Cam left bruises on you! Why in God’s name would you want to be friends with someone like that? I mean, I know being business partners and all of us being friends for so long, but he crossed the line! I’m with Alé on this one, hon. Sorry.” She shakes her head angrily at me.
“You’re right,” I nod. “I know you’re right.”
“What does Alé say about all of this? I mean, surely Mr. Wonderful will have some idea to help you in all of this,” she teases.
“I just found out,” I roll my eyes at her. “Besides, this is my business. He and his family are such good business men that I can’t go to him with this. I don’t want him to think that I’ve failed. I mean, I gave up music, and then, when shit gets hard, I’m going to give this up now, too?” I rant.
“Are you? Going to give it up?” she asks shocked.
“Ugh! I don’t know,” I grumble.
“This is what you do. You tell Cam’s clients that until his position is filled, you are offering a few classes during the week at the studio. Change the direction a bit. See how it goes.” She shrugs. “It’ll work out, Jo, I promise,” she reassures me as she reaches and gives my hand a squeeze.
“Thanks,” I give her a quick smile. My phone starts to sing Benny and the Jets and sending a vibration through the table top. Opening the message, I see it’s from Alé.
Alé: Hey babe! I know you’re workin. Call me when you can.
“Alé?” Addison smiles.
“Yeah.” I smile. “How’d you know?”
“The look on your face.” She laughs. “Listen, I have to get going. But your birthday is tomorrow, and I’m still waiting to hear what you want to do for it.” She gives me a pointed look.
“Ugh. Do we have to?” I whine.
“Yes, we have to,” she mocks me. “Come on, Jo, we go through this every year. Figure out what you want to do, and I’m there. Keep me posted, okay?” she orders as she kisses my cheek, grabs her coffee, and dashes out the door.
I grab my coffee and phone and follow suite. It’s a beautiful fall morning, so I decided to walk to the coffee shop. Now I wish I had driven. I feel drained.
I pull Alé’s number up and hit the call button. The call rings once before his deep, sexy voice fills my ear.
“Kitten.” I can hear the smirk in his voice.
“Alé,” I mock his tone. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just finished with a meeting. You in between clients?” he asks.
“Uh, yeah.” I nod even though he can’t see me.
“You okay, Jo?” concern flanking his voice.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Just stressed. Tired,” I tell him. “So… what was so urgent I had to call you,” I tease.
“Well, your birthday is tomorrow. And… well, I know your take on music. Especially Monsoon and a particular contest,” he says hesitantly. “It’s tradition every year that my family goes. We own Monsoon, and we missed the first year due to extenuating circumstances, but haven’t missed it since. If you’re a hundred percent against accompanying me to it, I’ll figure a way out of it…” He sounds overly stressed. And worried. I know Alé works hard. I also know that he takes great pride in his work.
“Alé, how about you go, and we can meet up after or on Sunday,” I offer.
“Are you crazy woman?” he growls.
“Did you just growl at me?” I laugh.
“Are you going to avoid the main topic right now?” he chides.
“Alé, I… I just don’t know if I can,” I say quietly.
“Jo, what is it that you’re afraid of if you do go?” His deep voice curls around me like a security blanket. I close my eyes and revel in the feeling momentarily.
“Nothing,” I say defensively. “It’s just… bad memories, Alé. It’s… hard.” I sigh.
“You know I won’t leave you alone there, right? I’ll be right there next to you the entire time,” he promises.
I can tell that this is something that he really wants. Maybe it’s more important to him than I originally thought?
“Fine.” I sigh, giving in. “But, if I want to leave, we leave. Deal?”
“Deal, babe,” I can hear the smile in his voice over his victory.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Aléssandro
I kind of feel like a dick asking Joey to come with me here. I didn’t lie about why we were coming, but I could’ve gotten out of it without a problem. Maybe I’m an asshole, but I like pushing her out of her comfort zone. I helped her over the hurdle of showing her body, of being intimate, and she generally seems happier all around. There isn’t so much sadness hiding in those cerulean blues of hers. I figured if I could get her here, maybe, just maybe I could get her to perform—since she is entered in the contest and all.
Yeah, she’s pretty much going to castrate me when she finds out. The whole family knows, too. And apparently, Tommy went out of his way to fill in Addison—which, I didn’t even know they were… friendly with each other after that first night. I just hope Addison can keep her mouth shut long enough to get Jo there, and then she can jump in to help me keep her calm and hopefully, get her up on stage.
I know I’m going to be putting her on the spot. With my whole family there, including some cousins, she most likely won’t back down. Most likely, anyway.
“Are you okay?” Joey asks.
“Yeah.” I smile to reassure her. “How are you, birthday girl?”
“Um… nervous, I guess,” she fidgets with her hands.
“Don’t be, I’ve got you, babe. I won’t let anything happen to you,” I tell her.
“Just remember are deal, Alé.” She sighs. “I’m not making any promises tonight,” she says as she turns and looks out the window.
I grab hold of her hand and gently squeeze as we grow closer to Monsoon. When we’re about a block or so away, I hear her sharp intake of breath, and her hand tightens its hold on mine.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Nothing.” She shakes her head, her voice uneven.
“Jo,” I demand lightly.
“That’s where,” she points at an alley as we pass it. “I’m sorry.” She shakes her head. “I’m not trying to ruin the night, I swear.”
“Nothing to apologize for,” I tell her as I lift her hand to my mouth and kiss it.
I pull the Miata into a stall, turn the ignition off, and turn to look at her. God, she’s beautiful. “Are you ready?” I whisper. She doesn’t say anything. She just nods her head and unbuckles her seat belt.
I step out of the car and walk around to open her door. Offering her my hand, she takes it and pulls my body to hers until our chests are meshed together. Her arms wrap around my waist, and she presses her face into the crook of my neck. Man, do I feel like an ass or what?
“Babe, why don’t we just blow this off and go do something just the two of us?” I suggest quietly. She shakes her head but doesn’t say anything. Her body tenses, her fingers press tightly into my back as she hangs on tighter to me.
“No,” I hear her say into my neck. She doesn’t make an attempt to move, so I shut her car door and wrap my arms around her, gently rubbing her back to soothe her.
“Really, Jo. It’s okay,” I breathe into her ear.
“It’s my birthday,” she tells me. “It’s our birthday. Alé, don’t leave me tonight,” she says quietly.
“Babe, I told you I won’t,” I tell her as I pull back to look at her. “Even if you have to piss, I’ll be right there unless you tell me otherwise.” I grin.
“Yeah, you can wait outside.” She rolls her eyes. “I need you to get me drunk tonight, Alé. Being here… I need you to do that for me. Okay?” she asks, her brows furrowed.
“
Anything you want, Jo,” I tell her as my hand goes to smooth her frown lines.
She nods as she slips her hand through mine, hanging on for dear life. “Lead the way.”
*****
I was pretty sure that Jo was going to have a meltdown as we entered. Her whole body shook, and I felt as if she were trying to snap my fingers. She surprised the hell outta me, though. My girl’s tough, there’s no doubt about that. She pulls me straight to the bar and orders four shots of tequila, a lager, and mixer for her.
“Are you planning to share any of that?” I cock a brow at her.
“Yeah, you get one shot and a lager.” She winks as she throws back the first two shots, one right after the other.
“I agreed to get you drunk tonight, not sick,” I remind her with a chuckle. I quickly take one of the shots so that at least eliminates one of them. However, before I get a chance, she downs the last one. She grabs her mixer and hands me my lager before turning to find the group.
“Over there,” I lean down and yell in her ear, pointing to one of the table’s right in front of the stage. She nods her head, slips her hand in mine, and leads the way.
“Happy Birthday!” everyone yells to her. I’m assuming they meant for it to be in unison, but they were far from accomplishing that.
“Thanks,” she ducks her head and takes a drink.
“You’re just in time!” Maria yells. “Our cousin Stephen entered the contest. They have him starting the show off tonight.” She smiles. “Just wait ‘til you hear him. He’s amazing!”
A man in his early twenties comes out on stage and there’s no mistaking him for anything other than family. He’s a spitting image of the rest of us Dé Luca’s.
“Is that him?” Joey asks as she points to him?
“Yeah, he’s the one you saw playing the piano that first day you were over at Ma’s,” I remind her. I feel her body stiffen against mine, a trace of anger on her face.
“Is that right?” she purses her lips.
“Yeah. Why, what’s wrong?” I ask her. What did I say?
Stephen begins to play the same melody that he played the day Jo was over. The song. I completely forgot about her reaction when she heard Stephen play that first time. I can feel the tension roll off her, and if I heard right, she actually just growled. Stephen starts to sing the lyrics, and for the very first time, we get to hear the words to his song.
Joey quickly pulls away from me, steps closer to the table, and slams two shots that were sitting in the middle. She then proceeds to down the rest of her mixer.
“Hey, Jo, you might want to slow down,” he suggests in her ear.
“Not now, Alé,” she bites as she turns and walks passed me.
“Where the hell is she going?” I mutter. I start to follow her until I see her reach the stairs of the stage. She grabs the microphone that Stephen was singing into, his eyes growing wide as he stops playing.
“Excuse me,” she sing-songs into the microphone. Silence falls all around. “Yeah, sooo… just thought I’d let you know that this guy here,” she points with her thumb to the side of her in Stephens’ direction. “Yeah… he’s a total fraud!” she boastfully states.
“This is actually my song that I wrote. In fact,” she holds a finger up, “I was the winner of the very first contest that was held here. Due to extenuating circumstances, I was unable to follow through with the rewards. But, I refuse to allow some pirater to steal my song without my consent,” she says as she narrows her eyes at Stephen.
“Besides, it’s my damn birthday, sooo I’ll do what I want.” She smiles. She turns to face Stephen, hand on her hip, and raises the microphone back to her lips. “Now beat it,” she orders.
Stephen glowers at her but tucks his tail between his legs and quickly exits the stage. I can’t believe that little weasel stole her song.
Joey sits down at the piano and puts the microphone back in its stand. She closes her eyes, shakes her hands out, and noticeably takes a few deep breaths. Without opening her eyes, she begins to play the melody that Stephen was just playing. After a few beats, the most glorious voice begins to sing out, goose bumps washing over me. She sings about always being strong, doing anything that comes her way. Having to be anything that she has to be. And no matter what she’ll get through it.
When she hits the chorus, the lights reflect off her face, tears noticeably streaking down her face. She sings about finally breaking... only being able to handle so much before she falls. The need to go up there and wrap her in my arms lays heavily on me, but I fight the urge, knowing that she needs this. She needs to be up there, performing her song, finally allowing herself to rediscover why she fell in love with writing music in the first place.
Seeing her up there, she looks at peace. She may have tears, but her voice is strong, powerful, and sexy as hell. Her fingers expertly stroke the piano keys with ease and the most beautiful sound rings out from her fingers and her voice. She astonishes me. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of anyone than I am of her right now. Seeing her in her element, and knowing what she’s overcome, I know she can get through anything.
When the song ends, she doesn’t move. Her eyes open, and she looks down at the piano keys. Her fingers lay still, but she doesn’t remove them. Suddenly, a slow grin begins to grace her lips. I see her take a breath before she stands from the bench and walks off stage and works her way through the applauding crowd.
Everyone is hootin’ and hollering. Ma’s got tears strolling happily down her face. She quickly goes up to Joey and raps her in her arms. Everyone in our party congratulates her on an amazing performance. I hear Addison shout proudly ‘atta girl.’ When Jo sees me, a huge laugh takes over her. I can’t help but laugh right along with her—it is infectious. She’s infectious. I’ll never get enough of her. I’m completely and utterly in love with this woman.
She runs up to me and nearly jumps in my arms. “Thank you, Alé,” she whispers into my ear before pulling away and kissing me.
I pull away confused. “For what?”
“For slowly piecing me back together.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Joey
I can’t believe I did that! After all this time of not touching an instrument and not sharing my music and words with anyone, it was… liberating. Freeing. I honestly wish I would’ve done it sooner. I thought playing again, without Aedan, without my Dad and Eve cheering me on—I thought it’d destroy me more than I already was. Playing tonight, yeah, it made me sad. But, it also made me happy. I felt… alive. I felt like I was right where I was supposed to be. I felt closer to them.
Alé comes back into the room with a glass of water and some aspirin for me. Handing them to me, I throw the aspirin back and wash it down with the glass of water.
“So, it’s my birthday and all…” I trail off as I wink at him.
“Technically, it’s not your birthday anymore,” he tells me as he taps my nose. “But for you, I’ll give you anything,” he says as he kisses the corner of my mouth.
“Well, what kind of birthday would it be if I didn’t get laid?” I smile.
“I thought spankings were required for birthdays.” He smirks. I can feel my eyes grow wide as he mentions that again. It’s not the first time he’s brought it up. “What?” He cocks a brow.
“Do you… want to spank me, Alé?” I ask self-consciously. What happened to Eve and I was horrible. It was something that never should’ve happened, something that no one should have to endure. It had scared me off from sex for a long time before I realized that I could get my rocks off if I was loaded. I still had fantasies, though and reading smut books, made me consider some dark fantasies. I never considered that they’d come true, I mean, that’s what fantasies are… fantasies. But with Alé, I trust him completely. I know without a doubt that he won’t hurt me. I can’t help but wonder if he’d be down to letting me explore some of the scenarios that run through my mind.
“Do you want me to spank you, Jo?”
he asks his body tight. He reaches up and releases my lip from my teeth. “You do that a lot.”
“I know,” I duck my head. “Alé, there are some… books that I’ve read, and they’re…” I trail off. Can I really ask him to do this?
I can tell Alé’s been holding back with me since we started sleeping together. He’s amazing, but I can tell he refrains quite a bit. I don’t want him to. I want him to show me. I want him to do what he wants to do. I want him to show me what this could be like.
“They’re what?” His voice comes out husky.
“Darker? I just, I know you’ve been holding back with me, Alé. And you’ll never know how much I appreciate and respect you for how patient you’ve been with me, but… I want you to show me,” I whisper.
“Show you,” he repeats.
“Yeah. Show me what it can be like. I trust you not to hurt me. I know that you won’t,” I bite my lip. “Now it’s time for you to show me who the other side of you really is,” I confess.
“Jo,” he shakes his head. “I don’t—”
“Alé,” I say firmly. “Show me.” He just stares at me, mouth slightly ajar. “My safe word is yellow.”
“Yellow?” he cocks a brow.
“Yeah, yellow,” I roll my eyes.
“Did you seriously just roll your eyes at me?” he growls. “Stand up, Jo,” he orders, his voice deep and firm. I give him a questioning look, and the next thing I know, he’s placing me over his knee and orders, “Don’t move.” So I don’t. I feel his palm slide up the back of my thighs, pushing the hem of my skirt up, exposing my backside to him. My pussy clenches in anticipation of what’s to come.
I gasp as he rips my panties from my body, his hand rubbing across my bare flesh. Suddenly, I feel a sharp sting on my right cheek as the sound of his palm hitting my flesh rings through the air. I bite my lip and whimper as his palm caresses the spot he just slapped. As soon as the sting dissipates, he slaps my other cheek causing me to cry out. He rubs my flesh, and then his hand proceeds to move down, dipping a finger between my folds.
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