The Crescendo (The Musical Interlude) (11 page)

I inhale sharply and grip the edges of my seat. As soon as I open my mouth, ready to give Signora Pouty Lips a piece of the old Erin, Sam places his hand on mine as though he can hear the things that were about to fly out of my mouth. I hate when people judge Alek. They don’t know him the same as I do and hearing others down him all the time ticks me off.

“The Dostovskys are a fine family. Katerina is a single mum now who I hear worked her way up from a life of destitution to one of a dream world. Imagine the hardships of trying to begin anew when the whole world frowns upon something out of your control. I am honored to be working for a woman who can dedicate her life to her children’s well-being in that way.” He does this thing with his neck almost like he’s unconsciously adjusting his collar without actually touching his shirt. That’s how confidant he looks, reminding me of why I fell for him so hard all those years ago in another lifetime.

Erin

Boy, the historians never lied when they called Rome the playground of the gods. Everything about this city looks ancient and smells old; the cobblestone streets, the statues, the buildings—some of these structures date back to the Age of Caesar—and fountains sit everywhere! There must be a hundred or more, including the one situated just outside the hotel we’re staying in for the week. Even the opera house, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma—one of the newest of the Roman wonders at two-hundred-years-old—seems youthful in comparison to the remains of the aqueducts situated over the highways we rode on our way into the city. I can’t think of a better place for a Maestro that critics have compared to a demi-god of music because of his technique, while I, on the other hand, worry about being able to hit the high notes in my rendition of “Imagine” by John Lennon during the intermission.

Yes, Katerina has approved the program change because, lately, she’s been going for anything Sam suggests. And no, Frederico isn’t happy about it because he believes the song just won’t cut it for this crowd’s high-class tastes. We’ve made a name for Diabolique by mixing the classic with modern—the risqué with the subtle—
and thanks to Sam’s connections, Katerina’s money and Alek’s natural talent, Diabolique has begun to rise above the scandal associated with Alek’s family’s name. Now, there’s only one issue left, a little matter of dealing with the person who tried to use me as his message board to Alek—Vlad, the black widow man.

This is
Requiem’s
opening night at the Roma and Alek performs with a vengeance, his body a vessel of muscle and music. He’s everything I could ever want in a man. Every thrust of his baton to each well-timed note, each nod of that beautifully coiffed head of his toward his symphony as well as the way his black suit fits his gorgeously toned body tells me everything about the man I’ve chosen to spend an eternity getting to know. I have no doubt that it will probably take that long for me to learn everything about Aleksandr Dostovsky, the walking mystery.

I feel as though we’ve performed this act a thousand times—the Russian Maestro who leads his scandalous symphonic arrangement and then steps back so his American fiancée can take the spotlight. Something’s different about him, though—wild and primitive even. Ever since he’s learned the Master’s boss is back in the game, taunting Alek even from a distance by attacking me, he has been this way—a man who has suddenly gone from intense but carefree to dark and brooding. He has been filled with testosterone, and yes, even rage, I’m afraid. The song I sing
today, I do so for him; my Russian-American knight in black and red armor.

“Oh, shit, I forgot my butterfly necklace,” I mutter as I massage the bare skin of my neck. My little black and blue butterfly is my good luck charm, my lifeline. Hell, I’d probably fall on my face or something if I didn’t keep my reminder of Jada with me at all times. Reluctantly, I tear my gaze away from Alek, check the time, and then head back toward my dressing room, trying my best to avoid the Nature Boys. No luck.

“Sorry, Ms. Angelo, but I can’t let you out of my sight,” Jacob says, trailing less than three feet behind me. It’s freaking creepy the way they hang around me all the time.

I stop suddenly, turning around and folding my arms. Jacob almost collides with me.

“Are you going to follow me into Alek’s room after we’re done performing?” I ask. “Because you’re in for one hell of a sideshow if you do.”

“What?” he asks,
frowning. I raise my eyebrows and wait for him to catch up with what I’m suggesting. Blushing and hinting at a smile, he lowers his head. “Oh, I see. I, uh, won’t go that far. The boss would kill me if I did something like that.”

“The boss?” I ask, a smile creeping onto my lips.

“That’s what we call him, the Scarlet Phoenix. You know... Alek,” he answers, glancing around the hallway.

Time to make a move. “What’s your story? I mean, how did you and Alek meet each other?”

He shuffles on his feet and sighs. “I’m not supposed to talk about that, especially not with the boss’s woman.”

“You’re American, right?” I ask. He nods. “I’m curious because I thought only Russian boys were pulled into this Vladimir’s group.”

“Ms. Angelo, please.”

“Since I’m the boss’s, um, woman, I insist you tell me more about him. Something small, anything to help me understand him better,” I persist because there’s kindness inside Jacob’s dark eyes, even though I know he’s a trained killer. I would never get this far with Tanner, so I seize the one chance I have to find out more about Alek’s past.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Okay. Then you leave me no choice but to tell him how you left me all alone a couple nights ago to chase after some girl.” I hate being a junior level Katerina Dostovsky, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Alek safe.

I have no idea what the woman was doing at our hotel or what made Jacob go chasing after her, but standing on the balcony in mine and Alek’s room gives us a stunning view of both the city and everything happening down on the streets at the front of the hotel. It was the perfect perspective to see him follow her.

As I watch him mull over my intimidation
tactic, a giggling couple walks by where we are standing in the hallway. Jacob’s head automatically jerks toward them, his gaze following the pair until I no longer hear their voices behind my back. “I could get fired if I talk about our past,” he whispers, his eyes filled with worry.

My threat has worked. Now I’m even more curious about the woman I saw.

“Nah, you’re covered,” I assure him. “I won’t let
the boss
get rid of you.” Nor will I snitch on Jacob the way I just threatened to do, but he doesn’t need to know that.

Looking doubtful, he presses his lips together and swipes at his hair just before he begins his explanation. “We were all orphans when he took us in, the Master. All of us except for Alek. None of us understood why he chose a life in a gang when he obviously didn’t have to be there.”

“I suspect it had something to do with his father,” I say, thinking of the story about the puppy Alek has told me.

“Probably so. I lost my parents while we were living in Germany and wound up in the system. My grandparents were told I ran away. Long story short, I found out the group I’d been pulled into wasn’t what I thought. I wanted out. A lot of us did. Alek created a way for twelve of us to leave after he found out what the Master did to the Phantom.” I remember Alek telling me Nikolai’s nickname was the Phantom.

“You said there were twelve of you?” I ask.

Jacob nods. “There were seven of us under the Master and five in Vlad’s group, including Tanner. The boss’s mother paid our way back to the states and for the other boys to be able to return to their families in the other countries. I pledged my life to Alek that day. All of us did. Mainly because the Widow, that’s Vlad’s nickname, doesn’t forget a debt. He’s the type who waits years to strike, but when he does...”

“His bite is venomous,” I finish for him as I subconsciously massage my arms, thinking of the clever way his people lured me into that shop. It was sheer luck that Sam was with me. “Twelve of Vlad’s boys escaped because of Alek and Nikolai,” I repeat more to myself than Jacob, recalling the words on the note my attacker left for me.

“May I offer you some friendly advice?” Jacob asks, glancing around to make sure no one’s close enough to overhear.

“Sure.”

“Don’t keep digging around in graveyards. Sometimes, what lies dead in the
past needs to stay buried in it. You seem like a mighty good woman, Ms. Angelo, and I want to help Alek keep you safe, but you need to be careful of who you trust. Don’t just go around asking anybody questions about this. Do you understand?” His dark-eyed gaze bores into mine, drilling the meaning behind his words into my head.

“I do. Thank you, Jacob. You’ve been very
helpful.”

“Anytime. Better hurry along before you miss your cue,” he suggests.

I nod, head into my room, grab my necklace and rush back to the place where I was standing off to the side of the curtain.

I’m caught up in visions of a young Alek and a group of other teenagers running for their lives when I first hear the groan. This isn’t the kind that sounds like a rumbling stomach, either; but rather, it’s the sound of metal giving way. For me to be able to hear it over the crescendo Alek’s leading the group through right now makes me feel completely uncomfortable.
This cannot be good.
With panic thudding through my chest, I glance up, sideways and all around me. Something’s wrong. I can feel it.

“Jacob!” I call out, suddenly grateful he’s never very far away. He comes running at once; his long, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and his handsome face stern and focused. Tanner’s close on his heels. “What’s that noise?” I ask, panic rising in my chest.

“I’m not sure.” Jacob’s eagle eyes are focusing on everything around us; the curtains hiding the area behind the stage along with Alek’s symphony situated in a pit that’s one level above the audience and one level below the stage where Nikolai’s dance group is performing.

“I’ll check the areas around the stage,” Tanner says then takes off running in the opposite
direction, his buff body looking too big for the suit he’s wearing.

The groan gets louder, but this time, we hear a squealing noise with it. Now, there’s no doubt where it’s coming from. Both Jacob and I glance up at the metal beams overhead, situated directly over the dancers’ pit. Hidden by the shadows of the lights hanging over the stage, the beams are hard to see, yet it’s easy to tell that this is where the noise is coming from.

“I’m on it,” Jacob says, moving out onto the stage, making sure to keep to the shadows and pointing up toward a beam hanging over the dancers on the lower stage. Tanner has already made his way over to the opposite side of the stage’s arc and he disappears into the curtains as soon as Jacob points to the beams.

“I need to warn Alek,” I say to Jacob, panic rising in my chest and making my mouth dry from the fear raging through me.

“No! Stay here with me. Let Tanner do his thing, Ms. Angelo. The boss will kill me if something happens to you.”

“Jacob, either you find a way to warn him or I’m going out on that stage.” Before my threat has the chance to sink in, the screech from hell slices through the air and my eardrums.

One of the beams drops from the ceiling, taking out about five or six of the overhead strobe lights as it does so, sailing straight down to the stage. It slams into the middle of Nikolai’s dance group, the obvious target for whoever’s behind this melee. There’s no doubt in my mind that the widow is showing us how deadly his bite can be yet again. The music fades at once and the building goes dark in some places, obscuring my view of the stage around the place where I’m standing with Jacob. Panic cascades through the building as screams and a gut wrenching yowl from someone, a person who has been injured no doubt, cuts through the melee.

“Mikhail!” I hear Katerina’s voice yell. Squinting, I try to focus on the dancers’ pit, but there are too many bodies and too much smoke to see through the mess.

“Alek!” I scream, making an attempt to run toward the Maestro’s podium before Jacob has the chance to restrain me. He’s fast, though, and strong. Large arms circle my waist, holding me back. The smell of electricity along with the screams and the fear gives me a strength I didn’t know I had. “Let go of me, damn it!”

The lights are blinking on and off. People inside the audience are either running toward the exits, paralyzed in their seats or screaming because the fallen lights have set off a show of electrical fireworks.

“Erin!” Alek calls out to me. I can hear his voice, however I can’t see a thing in the spotty lights illuminating the backstage area.

“Where are you?” I yell, my fear turning into gut wrenching panic. He runs out of the darkness
and pulls me out of Jacob’s grip before I can register what has happened. We embrace so tightly I almost lose my breath.

“Oh, my God, you’re safe.” My voice cracks and I’m pretty sure I’ll need about five bottles of Chianti to calm my nerves later on, but at least now I know my Maestro’s safe.

His hair is all messy and his suit is torn in a couple of spots on the sleeves, but the rest of his gorgeous body appears to be untouched. Our lips slam together, our breaths mingling as one. It’s almost as though I can feel the intensity of his heartbeat through my chest.

Tearing himself away from my lips, he begins leading me away from the melee and down the hall. “We need to get Erin out of here,” he says to Jacob as we rush through the hallways behind the stage, heading toward the exit.

With our arms wrapped around the other one’s waist, we run down the hallways until we reach the double doors. Jacob slams through them first, pulling a gun out as he does so, holding up a hand for us to follow after he’s done surveying the area. The sight of the weapon both entrances and scares the crap out of me. For the second time in the last few weeks I’m shown proof of the intensity of the lifestyle I’ve chosen to share with Alek.

We head into the private alley located at the back of the theatre, the chill in the air slapping my bare skin. Alek removes his jacket and places it over my shoulders, his gaze focused on my face as
though he can tell what I’ve just been thinking. His chiseled face takes on an unearthly appeal underneath the streetlights.