Black Falcon: Complete Series Collection (68 page)

“It’s good to meet you both,” Zach answers and I smile, silently thanking him for being so gracious.

“Come on, now. Everyone have a seat and let’s eat,” Mom says.

Once we’re all seated at the expansive table in my parents elegant dinning room, Anna serves salads and fills the glasses on the table with water. Zach removes his hat, revealing his crazy hair and both of my parents’ eyebrows instantly shoot up. I can tell it’s killing them not being able to say something about the hair, but they know they’re treading on thin ice here, so they hold it in.

The Judge sits at the head of the table, unfolds his dinner napkin and clears his throat. “So tell me, Zach. What do you do for a living?”

“Daddy...” I warn, wanting him to know not to cross the line.

“Calm down now, sugar. It’s a respectable question any father would ask a man his daughter brings home. I just want to get to know the boy is all.”

Zach pats my leg under the table and I instantly relax a bit. “It’s a perfectly legit question, Mr. Jenson.”

My father interrupts him. “Son, feel free to call me Judge. Most people round these parts do.”

I grip Zach’s hand and give it a squeeze so he knows no matter what he tells him or what they say, I’m with him.

“Well, Judge, I’m actually a musician. I play—”

“I knew it!” Gabe nearly shouts. “That’s where I’ve seen you before. You’re the guitarist for Black Falcon! Hot Damn!”

“Gabriel!” Mom scolds my brother. “We don’t use that type of language at the table.”

“I’m sorry, Mom, but this is Riff from Black Falcon—one of the biggest bands in the country.” Gabe stares at Zach dreamily with his mouth still agape. “I bet you pull women left and right. What are
you
doing with my sister?”

My mother studies Zach with curious eyes, awaiting an answer and no doubt mentally calling my boyfriend a manwhore while she waits. “How nice, you’re a celebrity. It sounds as though congratulations on your success are in order.”

Zach presses his water glass to his lips and takes a sip. “Thank you, Mrs. Jenson. My band has been really lucky to catch the breaks we have to get us to the level we’re on.”

My father swallows down his salad and then directs his attention towards Zach. “Is it safe to assume there’s quite a bit of traveling involved with being a professional musician?”

Needing to take some of the pressure of the firing squad off Zach I interject. “There is, but luckily he has enough pull to get me backstage whenever I want.”

“What’s it like back there? I bet the women are insane,” Gabe says.

“Pull yourself together, Gabriel, and act like you have some sense. You’re acting as though you were raised by wolves. The type of women that hang around those events aren’t for you.” Mom’s doing her best to keep her cool, but I can see the thought of her son indulging himself in a horde of groupies is going to cause her to loose it.

Gabe wipes some salad dressing from his mouth. “Your daughter was one of those women. They can’t all be bad.”

I choke on my water and my eyes grow wide. “Hey!”

“Actually, I met your sister during a business meeting when she worked at Center Stage Marketing. She was working on a project with us, along with Lanie Vance.” I smile up at Zach, thanking him for saving me a little bit of face with my family.

“You’re in the band that the boy Lanie married is in?” Mom’s finally starting to make the connections of how I ended up with a rock star.

“Yes, ma’am. The very same.”

“I couldn’t help noticing you said when she worked, as in past tense. Something you want to tell us, Aubrey?” I glance over at my father and tension instantly overtakes every muscle in my body.

Explaining to my family how I threw everything away in order to be with Zach is not going to go over well. They take careers pretty seriously, especially my father.

I stare into my father’s gray eyes. “That’s actually what I came home to talk to you about. There was a complication with my job, and well, I got fired. I need your legal advice on getting my job back.”

“Fired? When?” My father asks.

“Last week, right around the time of Lanie’s wedding.”

Mom’s mouth pulls into a tight line. “Aubrey Jenson, why didn’t you tell us about this right away?”

I shrug. “Because I was embarrassed and didn’t know how to. The reason I was fired has nothing to do with my work performance, but rather whom I’m dating, and well, I didn’t want to exactly tell you about all this over the phone.”

My father narrows his eyes at Zach. “How did dating this boy cause you to lose your job?”

Zach’s hand squeezes mine and I swallow hard as the thought about revealing my truth. “I...uh...I was sort of dating my boss.”

“Aubrey!” I can hear the gasp in my mother’s voice.

My father leans back in his chair and begins poking around at his salad—no doubt pondering how to approach the subject. “Honey, I do believe you have legal grounds upon which to seek reinstatement, or in the very least, a case for wrongful dismissal.”

I sit up a little straighter in my seat and smile. “Really? That’s great. Do you think if you called them—”

He holds his hand up, effectively cutting me off mid-sentence. “As much as I would like to help you, I can’t get involved.”

My eyebrows pull in. “Why not?”

“Because I’m your father and I’m a judge now. It wouldn’t be in the best interest of the case for me to represent you since the nature of the case is...complicated.”

My shoulders slump. “Oh.”

“But,” he continues, “There is a new attorney that I know that would be great at assisting you. He’s hungry to take on cases like this. I’ll give him a call right after dinner.”

I finally dig in to my salad, feeling at ease that my father seems somewhat understanding. “So is the guy someone from your old firm?”

My father chews his food and nods thoughtfully. “He is, and you actually know him.”

My mind flits back to the few times I’d met his colleagues. All of them are qualified to help me figure this thing out, but none of them are new. I have faith Dad wouldn’t steer me in the wrong direction. “Which one is it? Larry or Steve?”

“Brady Larson.”

The smile instantly drops off my face and my eyes grow wide. Is he kidding me? He’s recommending my high school boyfriend?

“What, darlin’? You look like a deer caught in the headlights.”

I glance over at Zach. His head tilts towards me as he studies my face and panic hits me. I don’t want to have secrets between him and I, so I might as well get everything out on the table. “Brady is my old boyfriend from high school.”

A light of recognition sparkles in Zach’s eyes. “It’s okay, Kitten. I don’t see anything wrong with him taking your case.”

“Y—you don’t?” I stumble over my words, completely shocked that he’s taking all this so calmly. “You’re okay with that?”

He takes my hand and kisses my fingertips right in front of my family. “Me and you against the world, right? I don’t have anything to worry about, do I?”

I shake my head as I stare into his eyes. The transition he’s undergone since the first time I met him is amazing. The womanizer who handed out golden tickets to groupies to avoid any type of real relationship is a world away from the man sitting beside me now, but we’re still working on trusting one another. I want to reassure him he has nothing to worry about. “Of course not.”

The Judge clears his throat. “Now, then, since that’s settled, let’s talk about what else you’ve been up to.”

We finish the evening chatting about different aspects of our lives, and Zach even manages to make my mother smile every now and again with his witty charm. My father doesn’t fool me, though. I know he’s watching my man for the slightest crack of weakness to exploit. He didn’t get to be where he is today without going to any length needed to get his way, and in this case I know he despises the fact that I’m dating a man like Zach. It was obvious the moment he mentioned Brady taking my case. But no matter if he does, I’m not leaving Zach. That much I’m sure of.

“So, Zach, do most of your friends call you Zach or Riff?” Gabe asks as he works on the apple pie Anna set in front of him moments ago.

Zach’s eyes slide to me and he smiles. “Aubrey is the only person who really calls me by my given name. Everyone else is happy to call me Riff.”

I bite my bottom lip and think about that first night together when he insisted I not call him Riff. I should’ve known I was special to him at that point, but with a reputation like his, it was easy to believe I meant nothing to him. Boy, how wrong was I?

“Is it cool I call you Riff then? I think the name is pretty bad-ass.”

Zach smiles. “Sure.”

“Sweet. Promise me you’ll come to the club with me sometime. Having you as a wing man will increase my pull with the ladies.” Gabe glances down at his watch. “Speaking of which, I got to go.”

I snicker. “Ah, yes, the crushing appointments.”

Gabe stands and then slides in his chair. “You’re one to talk about crushing.”

My mouth gapes open, and my brother winks at me before scooting out the door to meet up with some little, snobby socialite-type.

A scraping noise drags my attention to my father as he pushes back from the table and throws his cloth napkin on the table. “I’m going to go give Brady a call and set something up for you.”

I nod and smile. “Thank you.”

Dad stops as he walks around the table and places his hand on my shoulder. “You’re my baby girl, darling. I’ll do anything to protect you.”

The smile on his face seems genuine and while I know my father loves me and wants the best for me, I’m not sure we exactly agree on what that is.

Mom blots the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “Aubrey, honey, since you’re here I wondered if you’d accompany me to find a new dress for Larry and Dee Hanigan’s anniversary party at the club this weekend. Maybe we can pick one up for you as well. They’d love to see you.”

“I’m really not sure how long I’ll be in town,” I answer, trying to get out of what I know will be a boring party for my parents’ friends. “We should really be getting back to the hotel.”

“It’s only six, surely you don’t have to rush off so soon?” There’s almost a pout in her voice.

“Mom...Zach’s here and it would be impolite to leave him alone.”

Before I can further express all the reasons I can’t go, Zach speaks up, “It’s fine, Aubrey. I can hang out here for a couple of hours while you spend time with your mother. I have my laptop out in the car. I’ll grab it and handle some band stuff while you’re gone.”

I study his face to see if he really means it or not. Maybe he wants a little break from me for a while or something. “If you really want me to go, I’ll go.”

He slides his hand up my thigh, and the urge to jump his bones comes to mind. “It’s fine. We have all night to hang out.”

I don’t miss the hint in his subtle words and it makes my pulse race to an embarrassing level, knowing I have eyes directed on me from across the table. “If you’re sure it’s okay.”

I silently pray that he changes his mind and decides to take me back to the hotel. I drag my nails over the back of his hand and his eyes hood a little.

He blinks slowly and sighs. “I’ll be fine. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good then, it’s all set. I’ll go grab my purse and we’ll head out.” Mom’s delighted voice snaps me out of the dazed stupor Zach and his sexiness put me in.

The moment we’re alone in the dinning room Zach grabs my face and crushes his lips against mine. “Don’t be gone long.”

I trace his bottom lip with my tongue. “Now, I’m definitely tempted to tell her I’m not going.”

His face lights up with a crooked grin as he sucks on his lip ring. “As much as I would love that, you can’t. She’d be disappointed now.”

“What about you?” I can hear the whine in my voice.

“I’ll be fine. It’ll be good to check in with the guys and see what’s going on. Besides, I’ve neglected my fan page lately. I really should get on that.”

“Don’t go and text random women who message you.” I’m kidding...well mostly, anyway.

Zach laughs and kisses me softly. “You’re the only fan I want dirty messages from now.”

My face heats up as I recall how our relationship began with a string of texts promising hot sex. “Good to know.”

After a couple more kisses, I grab a post-it note and pen from the kitchen to write the Wi-Fi information down for him, and promise not to be gone more than a couple hours. He just grins and encourages me to spend time with my mother, reminding me how sometimes life is too short so I should spend all the time I can with her.

My heart sinks a little knowing what he’s been through with his sister and his mother. I need to suck it up, take his advice, and make the best out of buying a stuffy dress.

S
even hundred and thirty-seven messages? Holy fuck. That’s what I get for not keeping up with this fan site. This is going to take me a month to sort through. I lean back on the brown leather sofa and close my eyes, completely overwhelmed with the amount of work to do. I’m tempted to say fuck it and take a nap instead, but I know that’s not fair to the fans. This is their outlet for their passion about my work. How can I ignore that?

I take a deep breath, grab a snack pack of Oreos from my bag and then get to work. It’s a painstakingly long process, but to see their giddy responses when they realize I’ve replied personally make it all worth it. Before Aubrey, this was the place I came to feel love. My fans poured it out to me unconditionally and I soaked it up. That’s actually why I started bagging so many groupies. There’s nothing like being someone’s everything.

“You got a minute, son?” I glance up from the computer screen to find the Judge leaning against the doorframe into this impressive den. “There’s something I would like to discuss with you.”

I glance down at the clock on my computer. Damn. I’ve been answering messages for an hour and a half and didn’t even realize it. Aubrey should be back soon, but I wonder why her father wants to talk to me without her present.

Fuck. This can’t be a good sign.