Abby wiped away a few of her own tears. She swallowed down her emotions. “So what,” her voice cracked. “I’m a product of some trick?”
“Yes. Probably.” Vivien’s voice hardened. Abby knew that tone. She wouldn’t get any more out of her mother.
“And Sean found out and instead of telling him to go fuck himself, you decided to actually fuck him, right?
Vivien just stared at Abby.
“Right.” Abby turned and headed for the door. “I have a show to prepare for. I really think you should leave.”
“I’ll see you in New York,” Vivien said as she passed Abby.
“Don’t count on it.”
“Nothing’s changed, Abigail. We still have an image to uphold and business to conduct. I expect respect,” Vivien said and then opened the door. Nothing’s changed? Wasn’t that the biggest lie ever told? Everything had changed. Abby’s entire world had shifted, but Vivien walked away smooth as ice once again.
“Are you okay?” Danny asked.
“No.” She said simply and didn’t elaborate. “I need to get to my vocal warm up session so I can get back here for hair and make-up.”
“Sure.”
Danny’s face was drawn tight. He was worried, but she just didn’t have it in her to share while her emotions were this raw. Hell, she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to tell him what she’d just learned. Some things were better kept a secret. On this point, she agreed with her mother. Right now, she needed to get through this performance. After, she’d try to sort out her life. Lately it felt like every time she managed to claim a bit of independence, something would pop up and knock her back on her ass.
They walked silently down the hall with Connor and Scott trailing behind until they reached the room where her vocal coach Genna was waiting for her.
“We’ll wait out here.”
Abby just nodded before opening the door and stepping inside.
“You’re late, lady.” Genna teased.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Genna paused. “You all right?”
Apparently she must look the way she was feeling. “Just had a meeting with my mother. I’ll live.”
“Say no more, girl. Let’s get you warmed up.”
“Thanks.”
Abby spent the next half hour getting her voice prepared for the show that night.
After the show, Abby, Danny, Sophie, and Connor boarded the red-eye flight to New York. The concert went off without a hitch despite Sean’s obsessive, stalker tactics and Abby’s crazy emotions.
“I’m exhausted,” Abby said as she settled into the oversized first class seat. She heard the sounds of Danny’s low chuckle as he settled in the seat next to hers.
The flight attendant handed Abby a pillow and thick blanket. “Thank you.” Abby yawned and smiled.
“Can I get either of you anything else?” the flight attendant asked, and Abby noticed that “Cindy”—as it said on her name tag—was smiling a little too sweetly at Danny, and she lingered too long in his personal space for Abby.
“No, thanks,” Danny said. “We’ll let you know if that changes.”
Abby glared at her until she walked away. All she wanted was to sleep, but now she was annoyed with the flirty flight attendant and with herself for being jealous when she had no right.
Once they were up in the air, she settled down enough to sleep.
“Here, recline back,” Danny suggested. He reached over her to click the seat back, and she breathed in his clean, fresh scent. Even at one in the morning, he still smelled delicious to her. His closeness made her heartbeat quicken. She let her gaze linger on his jaw line and the scruffy five o’clock shadow. Even that made him look delicious.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Get comfortable and try to sleep,” he murmured in her ear.
She smiled and closed her eyes. Since she’d told him about Sean’s messages, things seemed a little less tense between them, especially after the almost-kiss. She let herself think about what it would have felt like if they had actually gone through with it. Yummy, she was sure. And totally hot. She turned her thoughts to business matters because thinking about that when she was so close to Danny was not a good idea.
They were set to land at nine a.m., and she had the rest of the day to get over the jet lag. Abby was hoping to meet up with some friends because she needed a girls’ night out desperately, especially since she was due in the studio the next day to lay down some vocals for her next album. The songs had already been picked, and the music was ready. All she needed to do was learn and record them. Very little participation was expected, which used to make her mad, but she had long ago resigned herself to staying quiet and toeing the line. There was no use in fighting her mother and the rest of her management team when it came to the recording process. At some point, maybe she would, but for now she had enough of a battle on her hands without taking on any more.
She loved creating music. Before the recent drama, she spent much of her downtime writing and composing new songs. Whenever she had a moment she’d sneak off to her beach house in New Jersey where she had converted her pool house into a state of the art recording studio. Magnolia Studios was Abby’s baby. She longed for the day she’d be able to record and produce her own music from her little studio. For now, she had a small keyboard tucked away in her room on the bus. Someday, maybe she’d cut an album with her own songs and her own arrangements. Someday.
Her mind continued to race for the next few minutes but soon settled, and she fell asleep next to Danny.
Abby slept through the entire flight, which was a first for her. She woke up when she heard the flight attendant telling Danny they were getting ready to land.
“Morning.” Danny’s deep, gruff voice tickled Abby’s ear.
“Morning,” she said shyly. For some reason waking up snuggled against him on a plane made her bashful and maybe a little goofy.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Too well for being on a plane.”
“I’ve been told that our luggage will be at the car so that we can hurry through the airport.” Danny moved so he could stretch.
“Good.” Abby set her chair upright and stretched as well. She wanted to hold his hand but caught herself. He was her friend. And security guard. There was no reason for her to hold his hand here.
The flight touched down smoothly, and they all exited the plane before heading straight for the waiting car. Danny and Connor escorted Abby through LaGuardia without an issue.
The group made it into Manhattan after hitting a bit of rush hour traffic. Abby had the day off, so she didn’t really care how long it took to get to her apartment. She kept herself busy on her phone trying to make plans for the night. Sophie had spent her time yesterday alerting Abby’s closest contacts that she had a new telephone number.
She dialed her friend Kelly to see what plans she had going on. She was always good for a fun time.
“Talk to me” Kelly answered on the second ring.
“Hey girl, watchadoin’?” Abby greeted her friend.
“Bitch! What the fuck, girl? I forgot you changed your number. Where are you now?"
“Just got into New York.”
Abby heard Kelly mumbling to someone.
“Fucking awesome,” Kelly continued. “I’m going to hit up Exit. It opened last week, and I keep hearing it’s fantastic. Oh, and I heard that there’s a bartender that’s sex on a fucking stick. Finger-fuckin’-lickin’-good! Yeah, bitches! What’s up?
“Sean and I broke up.”
“Really?” Kelly sounded pretty shocked.
“What happened? You guys were so good together.”
“He had a thing for groupies,” Abby said. She wasn’t about to get into everything over the phone.
“Shit, that sucks.”
“It is what it is.”
“You need to come out then, girl. I haven’t seen you in for-fucking-ever. You need some fun and we need to catch
up.” Kelly had always been good for a night of fun and that was perfect for Abby since all she wanted to do was forget the last week.
“Text me the details, and I’ll meet you there.”
“Perfect. Okay, catch you later.” Kelly disconnected before Abby could say goodbye.
She put her phone away and shook her head because Kelly lacked a filter. If a thought was in her head, she blurted it out. It didn’t matter who was around. She didn’t give a shit. She didn’t have to; her dad was Billy West of West and Howard Modeling Agency, and he was notorious for his foul mouth and attitude. The apple didn’t fall far from that tree. She did kind of admire her for that though and wished she could do the same around her mother.
“Who was that?” Danny asked.
“My friend Kelly. She’s…” Abby trailed off. She couldn’t think of a single word that accurately described everything Kelly was. “Unique,” Abby finally said after considering various adjectives.
“You’re going out tonight?”
“Yes, Dad.” Abby batted her eyelashes at him.
“Cut the shit. I have my guys coming over later to install a new security system. That’ll take most of the day, and we have a brief at my office. Tonight won’t work.”
“What?” Abby frowned over at Danny. “It’s girls’ night out.”
“Guess again,” he said, grinning at her.
She watched both Danny and Connor bust out laughing.
“What’s so damn funny?” she asked defensively.
“You.” He laughed. “You’re being stalked by some crazy fucker, and you think it’s a-okay to go traipsing around wherever without us. No. I’m sorry, but it’s my job to ensure your safety, and I can’t do that if you go out without me. And I can’t go with you tonight.”
“Please. It’s a night out with my friend.”
“You’re right, she is funny when she gets all bossy on you,” Danny said to Sophie, who was seated across from them in the limo.
“Right?” Sophie laughed.
Abby tried again. “All right, you can’t go, but what about someone else? Nucci Securities isn’t just you. I know you have a ton of guys working for you. Call someone in.”
She waited as he considered her suggestion; she could imagine him trying to find an excuse to tell her no. But she knew she had him. He wasn’t the only person.
“I’ll see who’s available,” he said, begrudgingly.
“Yay, me!” She clapped her hands, bounced in her seat, and smiled at Danny.
“You’re a nut,” he commented as he picked up his phone.
“Whatever.” She looked to Sophie. “Wanna come?”
“No, thank you. The last thing I want to do tonight is hang out in some crowded club. But have fun.”
The limo dropped Sophie off at her building, and then the driver took the rest of them to Abby’s building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Danny and Connor escorted Abby up to her apartment on the twenty-second floor.
“Stay with Connor while I check your apartment,” Danny ordered. “You know the drill.”
Abby shrugged and thought he was being a little paranoid but didn’t comment. She lived in a secure building with a doorman. No one could get in without being on an approved list. “Is he always this paranoid?” Abby looked over at Connor as they stood in the hallway.
“It’s his job. He’s good at it.”
Abby leaned against the hallway wall and waited. Connor stood opposite her.
“How long have you been out of the Army?” Abby asked simply to fill the silence. Connor still had a high-and-tight haircut where Danny’s chestnut colored hair had grown out a bit. It was long enough to grab hold of. Heat crept up her neck from her inappropriate thought.
“About three years,” Connor answered.
“That long?”
“You sound surprised.”
“A little, I guess. You seem like you might still be in the military,” Abby admitted.
“You can take the man out of the military, but you can’t take the military out of the man,” he said with a smile.
“All clear,” Danny shouted from inside Abby’s apartment.
“After you,” Connor gestured.
She stepped into her apartment, and after being gone for nearly eight months, it seemed odd to be back. She walked through the long, narrow, cream-colored hallway that was laced in dark wood trim. Abby placed her purse on the slim mocha-brown table and continued into the living room where Danny was staring out the window at Central Park. She heard Connor behind her. He was hauling in their luggage.
“See? Perfectly safe. I don’t need some new state-of-the-art alarm system that I’ll set off by mistake every other day. The one I have is perfectly fine. Plus, I have a doorman. If someone isn’t on my list, he won’t get in.”
“Doorman? You think that seventy-year-old doorman is going to keep you safe from Sean or any other nut that wants to get to you?” Danny gave her a look. “You’re funny.”
“Whatever.” Abby waved off his comment and sat on the gray tufted sofa that faced the large gas fireplace. It struck her as amusing, that fireplace. She never used it but it gave the house a bit of character and added warmth. Her mother’s house was like a museum where you viewed the things in them, but you never touched and you never felt comfortable or like you were in a home. Abby always knew when she was finally old enough to get her own place, she wanted to be able to sit back and relax, but more importantly, she wanted others to feel the same way.
With every property she bought, Abby made sure it fit her style. She didn’t care about impressing any hoity-toity society folk. All she wanted was to feel like she was home. Her apartment was filled with warm colors and furniture you could put your feet up on and feel like you were welcomed and belonged.
Danny sat down next to Abby. “The boys will be here in about an hour.” He leaned back on the couch and relaxed.
“I’m going to unpack. Don’t mind me. Make yourselves comfortable,” she said with a little snark as she rolled her large suitcase to her room. It would be nice not to live out of a suitcase for a couple of weeks.
* * *
Danny’s employees, John and Aaron, arrived promptly to deal with the security system, and they worked through the afternoon and into the evening getting every room wired. Abby thought it was overkill, but whatever. Maybe she could program it to keep Vivien out, too, and that made her smile. She watched the men work. They looked like they should be on the football field instead of working in security. If they stood outside her apartment door for the next two weeks, no one would ever be able to get in.
When they were done, Danny called out for some food to be delivered.
Twenty-minutes later, Connor went down to the lobby to pick up the order. “Where’re we eatin’?” Connor shouted as he walked back into the apartment.
“Kitchen’s good,” Abby called back.
She set out dishes, and thanks to her housekeeper, she had a kitchen full of groceries including beer and wine. Abby gave the boys a beer and poured herself a large glass of white wine.
“Here’s your sweet and sour chicken,” Connor said as he passed out the food.
“Thanks.” Abby took it, and the smell made her stomach growl.
“What time did you want to leave?” Danny asked.
“I don’t know. After I eat I’ll hop in the shower and get ready.” Abby said before she gulped down some wine. “I’ll call Kelly when we’re done eating and see what her plans are.”
Abby continued to feast on some fantastic Chinese food while the boys planned and strategized. She let them do their thing. All she cared about was getting to have a little fun.
“That was some good dinner,” Connor said as he leaned back on his chair.
“Yeah, I love this place. It’s small, but it has the best food. I haven’t had a bad experience, and they don’t advertise that I eat there. So that makes them tops in my book.” She swallowed the last of her wine. “I’m going to go get read
y.”
"Make sure you work your sexy ass tonight.” Connor teased.
“You know I will,” she said with a wink.
“Yeah baby, you gotta make my boys here earn their paycheck tonight.” He laughed.
“Don’t you worry. I’ll make sure they earn every penny.” She laughed.
“Cut your shit,” Danny pointed at Connor.
Abby threw a cloth napkin at him, and their laughter followed her out of the room.
Abby walked out of her bedroom ready for a night out with Kelly. They were going to meet up in the VIP area of Exit. Even though Abby would have two watchdogs at her back, she was still excited.
“I’m ready,” Abby announced as she walked into the living room. The men were seated around the room, watching the television mounted above the fireplace.
They all turned at the sound of her voice and stared.
“What’s wrong?” She hurried over to the floor to ceiling windows and checked out her reflection. Everything seemed to be in place.
She thought she looked good. She wore a pair of gold glittery boy shorts that were long enough to cover her ass and a bit of her upper thigh but not much more. She paired that with a nude-colored see-through blouse and matching bra. It was the beginning of June, but today it felt more like the middle of summer than late spring. She accessorized with a thick gold bangle bracelet, gold hoop earrings and a pair of four-inch nude colored platform shoes with a gold decorative chain on the back of each shoe. She loved these shoes because they made her legs look as though they went on forever.
“That’s what you’re wearing?” Danny asked, a strange expression on his face.
“Yeah, why?”
“Don’t you think you’re a tad underdressed?”
“Um, no. I wear outfits like this all the time.” She walked past him and patted him on the shoulder. “Relax. It’s a club. What do you want me to wear? A burka?” she sassed.
“I just think—never mind. Have fun.”
“Oh, I will.” She smiled.
“Hey, do you mind if I take a shower? I need to primp for my big night.” Connor mocked fluffing his hair, and he batted his eyelashes.
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