CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Kace and I spend Thanksgiving in the castle with Kayden and Ella. Adrian stays as well, just for safe measure but Savage heads to Paris to be with his wife. The holiday is wonderful, the best I’ve had for years. The feast is held in the war room and so many people are there, too many to count, including Adriel, Kayden’s best friend who lives in the next tower over, and his beautiful sister, Giada. Marabella is in heaven, cooking for everyone with Giada’s help. And Gio is right there with me and Kace. And to my relief and joy, the two of them begin to bond and it’s really everything to me.
When the meal is over, we all gather in the main foyer to decorate the largest Christmas tree I’ve ever seen. Kace is standing behind me when it’s lit up, holding me from behind. We all gasp as the castle lights go out and the tree suddenly glows with blinking multi-color lights. Eventually we all disperse, and Kace and I bundle up for a walk. “I thought we’d head to Paris in a few days,” he says, our arms linked as we stroll. “That would give us plenty of time to explore before the show.” He stops and faces me. “I’d like to fly out to Germany right after the show, Christmas Eve,” he says. “We’d be home that night and home for Christmas.”
“Home?”
“That’s our second home, unless you end up hating it, and then we can sell it. Maybe we need our own castle in Italy.”
My lips break into a smile. “Maybe we do.”
“If you like Germany, we can have three homes. New York. Germany. Italy.”
“That’s a lot of homes.” I laugh. “And we haven’t even started the plans for the remodel of the new apartment.”
“We will. To all of it. You have a lot of living to do, baby.”
“Yes,” I say. “I do.”
When the day comes to leave Italy, it’s emotional. I hug Gio so long and hard, and still don’t want to let him go. “This isn’t goodbye,” he promises. “And you could just move here.”
“We might,” Kace interjects. “At least for part of the year.”
The two of them shake hands and then we say our goodbyes to Kayden and Ella. Ella hugs me and when I would shake Kayden’s hand, he hugs me, too. “Come back soon,” Kayden says when he and Kace shake hands.
“We will,” I promise before Kace can.
A short flight later, we, along with Adrian, land in Paris, the city of love, and I’m on the moon. I can’t see enough fast enough. Savage picks us up at the airport while a Walker team is there to handle Kace’s violins. “Miss me?” Savage asks, opening the door to the SUV for us.
“Actually,” I say, hugging him. “Yes.”
Since Chris and Sara have a second home in Paris, we’re invited to stay with them, but since we’re going to be here so long, weeks after all, Kace rents us a stunning apartment. That first night in Paris, we have dinner with them and tell them everything about Italy. In the weeks that follow, Sara and I spend quality time together, I do a lot of shopping, and I even begin to learn French. And the closer the holiday comes, the more the city lights up with Christmas. Parisians know how to do the holiday.
Finally, the night of the Christmas Eve show has all but arrived. On the twenty-third, Jenny and Jerry arrive, and it’s a delight to see them again. Later that night, Mark and Crystal fly in as well, with the donated violins in tow. We meet them and Chris and Sara for dinner where there is laughter that flows plentiful. For the Christmas Eve show, I choose a red, mesmerizing tulle gown which features delicate straps, plunging neckline, crisscross straps in the back, and a long flowy skirt. When Kace sees me, his expression is all heat and fire, and love.
“You,” he says, wrapping his arm around me, “are stunning and I am the luckiest man alive.”
But it is me who feels lucky.
As for Kace in a tuxedo, it doesn’t happen. He and Chris decide to give the large crowd what they expect. Which is them in their raw forms: jeans, T-shirts, boots, and leather. It’s somehow absolutely perfect.
The event is held at the incredible Louvre museum and Kace’s entire band is here, even Kiki, but I’m okay with her now. Kace cleared her attendance, which mattered a lot to me, and besides, I’m confident in what I share with Kace. We’re a team.
Right before the show, me and Sara, are backstage with Kace and Chris. Just before showtime, we both kiss our men, and then together, hand in hand, Sara and I take our seats in the front row with everyone. Blake and his wife, Kara, who is lovely. Savage and his charming wife, Candace. And Mark and Crystal. Even Kayden and Ella. Adrian stands by the stage, extra security for the night.
When the show begins, I have chills. The lights go out and it’s just such an exciting moment. Christmas Eve at the Louvre watching the Kace August and Chris Merit perform, when last year I was alone.
The lights go down and Kace’s violin begins to play, and it’s so very beautiful. The show is all Christmas and as Kace plays some of the most beautiful holiday songs ever created, Chris creates Christmas scenes: a house with snow, and quaint little villages with Christmas trees. As the show comes to an end, Kace takes the microphone.
“Merry Christmas, everyone, and thank you for spending a little bit of this holiday with us.”
There are murmurs and a shout of, “I love you, Kace!”
He smiles. “I love you, too. And tonight I hope you’ll indulge me a bit.” He eyes Chris. “Chris here certainly is. Some of you know that I write a few songs here and there.”
I lean in close to Sara and whisper. “What is this? Why didn’t he tell me about it?”
She smiles and squeezes my hand. “Just watch.”
She knows about it. Why don’t I know about this?
“I’m going to introduce a pretty famous guy. Please welcome Rafael, who is perhaps the most famous Mexican pop star on planet Earth right now. We’ve just signed a deal for his English debut with the song I’ve written.”
Adrian’s brother? Oh my God, I think. My gaze shoots to Adrian’s at the side of the stage and he winks at me. Rafael steps onto the stage, a gorgeous man with a goatee, lots of muscles, and in a whole bunch of leather. He greets the crowd with, “Merry Christmas,” in Spanish, and French and then in English. “It’s an honor to be here and to sing this song for the first time ever with you.”
Kace says, “I wrote this for someone special in my life and I’m going to set aside tonight’s auction violin and play a very special instrument as well.” One of the crew takes the violin in his hand and offers him another. “This is the Stradivarius 1695 Fetzer, once believed lost forever.” He hands off his microphone and his eyes find me, and what I feel that connects us is unexplainable, a bond like I never thought possible.
Kace lifts his violin to his chin and begins to play, the instrument singing like a magical voice. And then Rafael starts to sing, his voice absolutely beautiful as well:
She’s a mystery and a song, a shadow in the light—
It’s the song Kace wrote for me and damn it, I start to cry. Sara smiles at me and wipes my cheeks. “You’re messing up your make-up,” she chides, and points at Chris, who is painting my portrait. My God, what is happening right now?
When the song is over, the applause is wild and Kace takes the microphone again. “As you might guess, that song is for a woman. That woman is Aria Stradivari, of the Stradivari family. She’s here tonight and I’m going to ask her to come up here.”
My eyes go wide and he says, “Please say ‘Merry Christmas’ to Aria Stradivari, one of the kindest, bravest people I’ve ever known.”
Nerves assail me and I shake my head no. Kace mouths “yes” and then Savage, in a tuxedo, steps in front of me and offers me his hand. “Come or I’ll carry you.”
I pant out a breath and accept his hand. He leads me to the stage where Adrian takes over and helps me up the stairs. Kace is waiting on me, his hand outstretched, waiting for mine. I have a tiny flash of a memory, in the bakery, when he’d offered me his hand and it had felt like a question. It
does tonight, too, and I don’t know why.
But I don’t hesitate. I take his hand. “Hi,” he says, walking me to him.
“Hi,” I whisper. “What are you doing?”
“This,” he says, and then he goes down on one knee. He produces a box and opens it to display a gorgeous ring shaped like a daisy, yellow stones surrounding a sparkling diamond. I gasp and cover my mouth.
“Aria Stradivari,” he says. “You have changed my life and made me a better man. I can’t live without you. Marry me. Please.” He smiles. “See I have manners now, too.”
I laugh and cry. “Yes, you do. And yes, I will.”
Kace stands again and slides the ring on my finger and when he pulls me into his arms and kisses me, the crowd goes crazy.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
When Kace and I step off the stage, the congratulations are many, but the ones that stand out the most, and touch my heart, are those of Jenny and Jerry welcoming me to the family. When finally Kace is able to pull me backstage alone, he kisses me, tender and sweet, and then says, “I love you. Let’s get married in the daisy fields in Cremona. That’s as close to your parents as we can get.”
I fall in love with him all over again with those words. “Yes. Yes, that would be perfect.”
Not much later, with Adrian with us, we board a plane to Germany and once we’re buckled in, I try to call Gio, to tell him my news, and I’m disappointed that he doesn’t answer. “Did you invite him tonight?”
“I did, but he had an important assignment. I’m sure that’s why he can’t answer.”
“Right. I’ll talk to him soon.”
“You will, baby. He loves you.”
Two hours later, I’ve changed into jeans and a red sweater on the plane, and we’ve landed in Germany. With Adrian behind the wheel of a rented SUV, we pull up to a sprawling property in Munich, and clear the gates to bring a three-level house into view.
“It’s amazing,” I say, excited to see inside.
“You do want to see inside,” he assures me. “There’s a surprise waiting on you.”
“Another one?” I ask.
“Yes. Another one.”
We walk to the front door and Kace opens it. “Go in first.”
I smile up at him. “You’re all about secrets.”
“Just one more.”
Excited, I walk inside and I barely see the massive, fancy living room. What I see is a massive beautiful Christmas tree with my brother standing by it. “Sorry I missed the proposal,” he says. “But I had a tree to decorate.”
I glance up at Kace. “I wasn’t letting you spend another Christmas without your own tree and your brother.”
I throw my arms around him and hug him. “I love you. I love you so much.” I kiss him and then run to my brother, hugging him. “Thank you for being here.”
He glances down at me. “From now on, sis. From now on.”
***
Christmas morning, the four of us—me, Kace, Gio, and Adrian, are already dressed, and are sitting by the tree sipping coffee, talking, while I wonder what Adrian’s life is like. I mean why is he with us and not family? Why is he not with Rafael? I have talked myself out of asking when there’s a knock on the door. We all look at Kace. “No. I’m not expecting anyone.”
Adrian stands, immediately in protective mode, and walks to the door. We all stand too. A minute later, Adrian returns with a very large box, complete with a big red bow. “Looks like Christmas gifts,” he says and grins. “The bow kind of gave it away if you were wondering where that brilliant statement came from. It’s addressed to all three of you, but has no return address.”
“Jenny and Jerry?” I assume.
“Most likely,” Kace agrees.
“Let me open it,” Adrian says. “I don’t like the missing return address and the delivery person was a private contractor.” We all agree and watch as he gets to work producing three wrapped packages, one for me, Kace, and Gio.
“I’ll go first,” Gio says. “I don’t like the unknown.”
Already he sounds like Kayden, I think, with a small smile to myself. Kayden and Ella will be good for them and he’ll be food for them, too. Gio tears open the paper covering his gift and stares down at a violin bow in a glass case. His brows dip and he holds up a card. “Aria,” he says, and I suck in a breath.
“Oh my God,” I breathe out. “It looks like,” I glance at Kace, “Dad’s writing.” My gaze rockets back to my brother. “It can’t be.”
Gio opens the card and reads, “Look closely, Gio. This bow is special and meant only for you.” Gio sets the card down and studies the bow. “Holy Mother of Jesus. It has Dad’s initials on it. What the fuck is going on?” He eyes me. “Open yours.”
Anxious and nervous, I quickly tear open the paper and gasp. “It’s my daisy doll.” My eyes rocket right back to Gio again. “I tried to grab it the night we left Cremona and you pulled me out of the room too fast. I left it in Cremona.” I’m shaking when I open the card and read. “For my little daisy.” I look between Kace and Gio. “I left it in the house. How can this be?”
“It has to be Donelle,” Gio says. “Call him. You have his number, right?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.” I pull out my phone and dial. The line is answered, and I hear, “This is Russo.”
“Hi, Mr. Russo. This is Aria Stradivari. Can I speak to Donelle?”
“I’m sorry to report he passed early this morning, but he said to tell you he left in peace thanks to you and Kace.”
My heart squeezes. “I—I am so sorry. Thank you for all you did.”
We speak a few moments longer and when we disconnect, I am shellshocked. “He’s gone. He died early this morning. I can’t believe it, but I’m certain these gifts have to be from him.”
“He doesn’t have our address,” Kace says, “but I suppose it could be located if Russo wanted to locate it badly enough. I’m just not sure how he’d know we were here.” His brows dip and he turns his attention to his package. Cautiously, he opens it and laughs, showing us the one-dollar coin in a glass case.
“What does it mean?” I ask.
“I know,” he says, “but before I tell you, let’s see what the card says.” He opens it and reads, “I owe you a dollar I never paid you.” Kace looks between us. “Your father bet me I couldn’t hit every fifth note perfectly. I spent every day of two weeks trying to hit those damn notes.”
My eyes go wide and I stand up. “Oh my God. Oh my God. That’s the secret to the formula. Every fifth note. He used to say that to me, too. Kace, it’s the song you and Dad wrote together, but only every fifth note.”
Kace’s eyes register my words and he smiles. “I think you might be right. Let’s find out.” He stands and retrieves his violin. The four of us gather together and get to work. Adrian knows much more about music than I’d expected and between all of us, the formula begins to come together. It’s in the wee hours of the night when we have finally written down what we know is the formula. The four of us sit there, staring at it, all stunned. “Now it goes in the castle vault with The Underground’s protection,” I say and everyone murmurs their agreement.
A long time later, I stand with Kace, alone in the living room, staring at the tree. “Do you think it was Donelle who sent us those gifts?” I ask.
“I don’t know, baby. Do you?”
“Is it crazy that some part of me believes it was my father?”
“No. There is nothing wrong with believing in miracles.” He cups my face and stares down at me, his eyes reflecting the Christmas tree lights, and in them every dream I’ve now had come true. “You are certainly mine. I can’t tell you enough times that you saved me, Aria.”
“And you saved me, Kace.”
***
The New York apartment sells before Kace and I ever leave Germany. We wait to return to the states until after our new place is built out. Meanwhile, I try spaetzle and then eat lots of it. I fin
d I do indeed love German pasta, and Germany as a whole. By Valentine’s Day, we’re back in New York City and it’s a dream come true—my home with Kace. My first real home since I was a child.
For the next few months, I throw myself into my new purpose—helping others, setting up charity events, working to gain wide support for those in need. Riptide and auctions are not a thing of my past though. I simply use them to help my charity work, donating all my proceeds where they can best be of use.
And together Kace and I plan our wedding.
The next spring, we are married in Cremona in the very daisy field my father used to take me to visit, the scent of the flowers sprinkling the ceremony with the memory of family and home. Kace finally wears a tuxedo and he looks like sin and my satisfaction. And my hero. He is my hero. And in my white flowing dress, with all my new friends and family around me, I swear I can hear my father’s violin notes in the wind.
THE END
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What’s next from me? Adrian’s Trilogy! Yes, the sexy man himself has his very own three-book series coming out. Turn the page for the covers and more details, or PRE-ORDER HERE. And have you read Savage’s series?! Read all about it HERE.
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Did you enjoy Mark and Crystal & Chris and Sara? You can read both couples’ story in my INSIDE OUT series! All of the books are available now, so no need to wait it out.
HERE’S A SEXY MINI EXCERPT FROM BOOK ONE OF THE INSIDE OUT SERIES, IF I WERE YOU
“Hands over your head,” he orders, pressing my palms to the glass above me, his body shadowing mine. “Stay like that.”
My pulse jumps wildly and adrenaline surges. I’ve been ordered around during sex, but in a clinical, bend over and give me what I want kind of way I tried to convince myself was hot. It wasn’t. I hated every second, every instance, and I’d endured it. This is different though, erotic in a way I’ve never experienced, enticingly full of promise. My body is sensitized, pulsing with arousal. I am hot where Chris is touching me and cold where he isn’t.
A Sinful Encore (Brilliance Trilogy Book 3) Page 23