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After Kennedy split from the restaurant, Dante taxied it home, and immediately got on the phone with his lawyer, his agent and his publicist. That scumbag Jordan Jones will be the death of me. Joining the growing list of celebrity lawsuits against paparazzi, Dante had spent a fortune attempting to get the photographer off his tail, with little success. And while his publicist might be able to squash any stories...operative word might...his agent had been livid when told of Dante’s behavior tonight. Unless his lawyer could pull a miracle out of his ass, Dante might be the one faced with assault charges, not the photographer.
After his phone calls, to keep from kicking a hole in the wall, or breaking his floor to ceiling windows, he’d gone into his workout room and pummeled the heavy punching bag hanging from the ceiling, until exhaustion took over.
He’d barely finished when Kennedy’s text message came. Since he didn’t know where she lived, he didn’t know how long it would take her to get to his place. His mind got all twisted, and he didn’t even think to ask. He felt so out of control with this girl. All of the info he possessed amounted to Jack shit.
Now, fresh from the shower, he stalked the front room around and around and around. When his Droid rang, he lunged for it, knocking it off the glass coffee table. “Hello?” he answered, picking it up from the floor, breathless.
“Hey,” his drummer said.
“Oh. It’s you.”
“Yes. It’s me,” Gia replied in a deadpan voice. “Don’t sound so excited. Want to go out and get a drink with me? Heat and Keys are out getting their rocks off with some chicks. I’m bored.”
“Sorry, Gia, I can’t.”
“Is it the new girl?”
“Yeah. She’s driving me crazy. She opens and closes like a frigging door.”
Gia laughed. “You’re not used to that, are you, Mouth?” Hating the model who gave him the nickname, she refused to add the Magic part. “You’re used to supreme adoration. Remind me to congratulate her next time I see her.”
“What do you mean I’m used to adoration?”
“Come on, D, don’t be coy. You’re used to females fawning all over you.”
“I haven’t been sexually active for months,” he said in protest.
“Whoop de doo. Two months. And not for lack of trying on the girls’ part. They’re like puppies the way they hang all over you. And by the way, I wish you’d take one of them up on their offers. You’ve been a bitch to work with lately. Now with Kennedy in the picture, it’s like you’re having the worst menstrual period of your life.”
“Thanks a lot. Where’s the support?”
“Oh, I support you. I just think it’s funny that Kennedy is putting out both flares and caution flags. You’re a lot to handle, in case you didn’t know that.”
“Stop right there.” Dante’s voice grew cold.
“I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. I know you’re thinking it.”
Gia grew quiet for a few seconds. “No. I wasn’t.”
“This time,” Dante said.
“Goddamn it, D. No, I don’t think Madeline’s death was your fault. No, I don’t think you and your lifestyle drove her to drugs. I’ve told you over and over—any reactive bullshit I might have said when she died was just that—reactive bullshit. When are you going to forgive me? When are you going to stop thinking that kind of shit?”
Her voice shrieked through the speaker, causing Dante to move it away from his ear.
“And I’ll bet you’re trying desperately to show Kennedy that you’re more than the rock star.”
“So what if I am?” He sounded like a teenage whiner.
“So stop it already! If you want her to see the real you, be the real you. Stop trying. Simply be yourself.”
“I have been the real me.”
“Really? Because if your behavior at Crow & Wicket the other night was any indication, you’re probably putting on your smooth, ‘I’ve got this’ face around her. If she’s as freaked to get close to you as any real woman might be, there’s a reason for it. And you playing the Big Dog isn’t going to help.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“Please, Dante. Stop being thick. You offered everyone backstage passes, not a huge deal but an expense, nonetheless, a ride in the jet, which our accountant would shoot you for, then you ran after her when she went to the bathroom to escape. I’ll bet you corralled her when she came out of the bathroom.”
“What’s wrong with that?” His words lashed out at Gia.
“Nothing, if she’s only going to be a one-night stand. Sounds like you want a more permanent fixture.”
“Sometimes you’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”
“And you love me.”
“Yeah. On occasion.” He ran a hand through his damp hair. “I was at least honest with her when she grilled me about my past.”
“That’s a start. That shows some cohones.”
“She even asked where I got my stupid nickname.”
“And you told her everything?”
“Not everything, but I didn’t lie.”
Gia sighed in his ear. “Dante.”
“Look, I’m not in the mood to be lectured. And even you don’t know the whole story. I’m way pissed off. Jordan Jones scared Kennedy off.”
“Shit. Not Jones.”
“Yeah, Jones. And I might be up on assault charges.”
“Again?”
“Yeah, again. And then Kennedy took off in the taxi, without me. Rather, with me on top of Jones in the middle of the street about to bust his nose.”
“Shit,” she said again. “The Garden is a mega-gig. The tour is the ride of a lifetime. Our agent’s already having a coronary, hoping we all don’t get into trouble. You have to play it cool, Dante.”
“I know I have to play it cool.” He blew out his breath. “I want her, Gia. I fucking want this woman. None of my usual game seems to be working. She opens, and then puts up solid, impenetrable barriers.”
“But she keeps coming around, right?” Gia’s voice sounded softer. “Were you expecting her to call when I called or merely hoping?”
“Expecting. She’s supposedly on her way. Unless she’s chickened out,” he said, anger rising in his voice.
“So, there’s your answer.”
“What’s my answer?”
“She needs to feel like she has some control, Dante. I can sense it. Give her a long lead line. Toss her a loose rope. Let her grab it and climb at her own rate.”
“You mean sit around and let her make all the first moves like a passive idiot?” The words exploded from his mouth. “Fuck that, Gia. That’s not my way, and you know it.”
“Someone has to steady the rope, you big dummy.”
“You’re not making any sense.” Dante ran his hand through his hair. He stopped trekking through the front room and slumped on the couch.
“You already did it, Dante.”
“I did? When?”
“When you let her make the first move in calling you, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. I did do that. That was pure hell. You saw me at practice.”
“Yeah, I did. And yet you’re capable of giving Kennedy the reins. If you don’t like it, you take them back. I’m sure you’ll have no problem doing that, Dante,” she said, scoffing.
“Okay. What do I do?”
“I can’t figure out everything, Mouth.”
Dante pictured her rolling her eyes. “You’re right. This is mine to figure out.”
“Get cracking, boss. We’ve got a few short weeks before it’s go time at the Garden. Don’t want to fuck up that one.”
“No, Gia. We don’t. Biggest gig of our life can lead us to more, or leave us in ashes. Thanks for the talk, chica.”
“No problem, Mouth. Now go get ‘em, tiger.” She chuckled. “Tiger, get it? She works with tigers?”
“Yeah, Gia. I get it. Let’s hope I can get the girl.”
