His hands were ice, but in the heat of the lights, they felt like they were burning. The biggest surprise was that he could feel them at all. The rest of his body was completely numb. The applause fell silent as he sat down on the bench and adjusted the tails of his coat. The silence thundered in his ears. Had he ever played a piano before?
He took a breath, then another. He stared down at the row of black and white keys. In that moment, his entire life was there before him. All the people he loved, and who loved him. The people he had lost, the people whom he had hurt, and the people who had saved him, over and over again. And somewhere out in the sea of faces in the packed concert hall, she was there, probably just as nervous as he was. Because she loved him and knew how much this meant.
How it had all happened in such a short time, he had no idea. Sometimes, late at night, it all seemed like a dream that belonged to someone else. He waited for it to shatter into a million pieces like a sparkly bauble dropped on the floor by a careless child. But in the morning, everything would begin anew. The rehearsals, the interviews, the hours spent in recording studios and concert halls. He was neglecting his family and friends, the choir – that was inevitable for right now. Every hour in the day was spent making up for years of lost time. But everyone had been so supportive, shown so much love and understanding. And now, everyone he knew was here tonight.
The conductor made eye contact and he nodded. The baton was raised, the orchestra raised their instruments and came to life. And as the opening bars began, he pushed aside all thoughts, hopes and memories, all the lightness and the dark. He went deep down inside to that place where only the music lived and let it fill him, consume him.
Dmitri raised his hands and put his fingers to the keys.
*
How he did it, she had no idea. Nicola felt like she had lived a thousand years and died a thousand deaths – and that was before the concert had even started. And now, as Dmitri stood up and took a bow to a standing ovation, smiling and looking impossibly handsome, she was as happy as she had ever been in her life. On her left, Tanya was gripping Mark’s hand and crying. On her right, Kolya took her arm, because she was so overcome with emotion that she could barely stand up.
Dmitri shook the hand of the conductor and the concertmaster, went off stage and came back on for another bow. Kolya and the others in the row – Phil, Carole-Ann, half a dozen members of the choir, Mikhail Aslanov – all of them made room to let her pass. And at the end of the row, Chrissie handed her a large bouquet of flowers.
Walking up the steps to the great stage was like walking into the sun. Somehow, just as she thought she would never make it to the top, Dmitri was there. His eyes shining as they met hers, his hands, as always, there to steady her.
‘Congratu—’ she half got the word out before his mouth was on hers, in front of the entire crowd. The applause turned to a few whistles and shouts of ‘bravo’.
Dmitri came to his senses long before she did. He took a single red rose out of the bouquet and handed it to her. Then, he took her hand and pulled her off the stage to the wings.
As they half ran down the corridor to his dressing room, Nicola could barely keep her sharp heels from catching on the thick red carpet.
Dmitri pulled her inside the room, closed the door and locked it. ‘Was it OK?’ he asked, panting for breath, his dark hair slick with sweat.
‘Was it OK?’ Nicola took a breath, drawing out the words. She walked very slowly and deliberately over to the make-up counter and mirror. Setting down the rose, she made a show of checking her lipstick and adjusting her dress. Dark blue and glittery, it hugged every curve of her body, was too low-cut to wear a bra and had a mile-high slit up the side. Dmitri had picked it out. Nicola had rolled her eyes at him when trying it on, but now, when he looked at her like he was doing now, she was proud to wear it.
‘I think you were a little bit OK,’ she said, giving him a seductive smile.
She sat down on the counter as he came over to her. In an instant, the straps were down on to her arms and his mouth was on her neck.
‘I think you were quite a bit brilliant.’ She gasped as he pushed her skirt all the way up and ran his hand up her thigh. ‘And I think you are incredibly sexy.’
She arched her back, pulling him against her, untucking his neat formal shirt. But as she was about to undo his trousers, he stepped back.
‘Hold that thought,’ he said.
Dmitri rushed over and grabbed his bag, bringing it over to her. She readjusted the straps on her dress, but as soon as he was back over, he pulled them down again.
Someone knocked on the door. ‘Dmitri?’ Bill Campbell’s voice. ‘I’ve got some people for you to meet.’
‘I need ten minutes,’ Dmitri growled.
‘If you need to go—’ Nicola said.
‘They can wait.’ Dmitri sounded more authoritative than she’d ever heard him before. ‘First I have something for you.’
He took out an oblong box wrapped with a ribbon.
‘Not more lingerie, Dmitri,’ she said, laughing.
‘This is special,’ he said. ‘Open it.’
She did so and was surprised by what she saw. ‘White?’ she said. She lifted out the lacy silk and found another smaller light blue box underneath. He took it out and opened the box. If she was surprised before, this time, she gasped.
‘I wanted to do well tonight,’ he said, ‘because I wanted to see if you would accept this.’ His hands – those hands she trusted; hands that could master the most difficult music with rock solid perfection – were shaking now as he took out the ring. The icy diamond solitaire flashed rainbows of fire. ‘I love, you, Nicola,’ he said. ‘You are everything to me. I want you to be my wife. Please say yes.’ His voice was so fraught with emotion that he could barely get out the words.
‘You should have played badly,’ she said, smiling even as a tear formed in her eye. ‘That way you’d know that no matter what, the answer is still yes.’
The ring dazzled in the light as he put it on her finger. She brought his hands to her lips, kissing them, never wanting to let them go. He twined his fingers through her hair and lifted her face to his. She kissed him hard and deep, drinking in his warmth, savouring the healing power of the love between them. Desire rushed through her body, arcing to his until finally, his hands were on her and he finished what he had started.
We hope you enjoyed this book.
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