Tudor Redemption (Tudor Dynasty Book 4) (10 page)

“I
know you can’t talk, but any plans for you as an artist?”

I
chuckled. “You never know.”

“Okay.
I’ll keep you abreast once I start hearing back. Call when you’re by yourself.
Okay?”

“Yes,
ma’am. Thanks for doing this.”

“My
pleasure. You’ll be getting my bill soon. Talk later.”

I
shook my head as the call ended. Zara had it in her blood. As bad as she might
want to retire, she never would. Not completely. “She’ll let me know once she
gets any feedback.”

“In
that case, I guess I better go inside and send mine.” Beth stood up, smiling at
me. A strange look that I could take to mean a couple of things. I tried not to
think the obvious, because I was going to have to adjust the way I was sitting
in a moment.

“I
guess we need to celebrate or something,” Ethan drawled. “This is a big deal.”

“It
is, and we should. Let’s see what your mom thinks. We’ve earned it.” A bing on
my phone indicated a message. I looked down, smiling as I read it. “Zara. She
wants a photo of us together.”

“Mom
will too, I’m sure. She still has connections at Rolling Stone.”

“That’s
a good one to keep,” I replied as I typed back to Zara that a picture would be
forthcoming.

“Has
she ever told you some of the people she’s interviewed? When she was with them,
that is.”

“No,
she hasn’t. I imagine she has some stories to tell.”

“She
does.”

I
thought about the contract and other legal things we needed to follow through
with. “Ethan, pull up those things you wrote up for the contracts. Send them to
me while we’re sitting here. I’ll send a short email to the attorney with that
attached. If he has any questions, he’ll call me.”

I
rattled off my email, and he shot it my way. I quickly composed a cover letter and
sent it all off just as Beth reappeared.

“Damien
and I were discussing the fact that this calls for a celebration,” Ethan told
her.

“Yeah,
and Zara wants a picture of us together. Ethan and me.”

“I
was just going to suggest the same thing,” Beth answered.

Ethan
grinned. “What’d I tell you?”

“I
suppose we could take one inside somewhere.”

“That
would work for now. Zara suggested we do another one once the contracts are
done.”

“I
like the way your sister-in-law thinks,” Ethan replied.

“She
got Amadeus where he is.”

“Come
on, let’s go inside.”

“I’ve
got an idea. It won’t be boring,” Ethan quipped as he gathered his laptop. “I’ll
be right back.”

“Should
I be afraid?” I asked Beth.

“Yes.
He’s always thinking. No telling what he’s got in mind.”

In
a half hour, the first official photo of us was taken. Courtesy of Beth. Ethan
had come out of the basement where he stayed with two guitars and his ball cap
back on. Backwards. Beth ended up posing us against a wall in the living room.
Our backs together, facing the camera, guitars poised for action. It turned out
pretty damn good, considering we had serious mad looks, looking like rock
stars. Whatever that was.

“Excellent
idea, Ethan.” I said as I handed him back the guitar.

“Yeah,
why be normal, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“I
sent it to you, Dame. You can forward it on to Zara.”

“Yeah,
let me do that before I get a reminder text.” I chuckled as I sent it on.

Ethan’s
phone rang. “I’m sorry guys. I’ve got to take this.” He walked away, talking to
whoever had called.

I
gazed around to Beth who was standing there watching us. Fuck. I am so fucked. “That’s
fine. Do what you need to. Your mother and I will try to decide how we should
celebrate.”

“Come
on,” she whispered. “Let’s go back outside and sit.”

I
nodded my head, smiling as I read a text from Zara.

My God, Dame!
There is no mistaking where his genes are from. He looks just like you!

I
chuckled.

“What’s
so humorous?”

“Zara.
She was just commenting on how, ahem, much Ethan and I look alike.”

“She’s
right, you do.”

It
was right at that moment, we were standing against the railing casually, and I
lost my head. Gathering her in my arms, I kissed her. Possessively. Her mouth,
my lips—together and hot and heavy.

When
we pulled apart, she backed up. Just a step or two. Where she could look at me
better, I suppose.

“Did
I make a mistake?” I asked, not sure how to read her.

“No.
In fact, I quite liked it.”

“Then
what?”

“I
think we need to shelve this until Ethan’s left. It’ll give us some privacy
to...you know, discuss this, make sure this is what we both want.”

“I
know it’s what I want. You’re all I’ve been thinking of, Beth. However, you’re
right. We need to wait until he’s on the road.”

“Come
sit. Let’s decide how we want to celebrate.”

The
kiss. It forever changed both of us.

****

Finally,
after two days, I’d had enough. I called Amadeus. Waiting was making me crazy.
Beth wasn’t avoiding me exactly. She had plenty to do with Ethan going on the
road and our announcement to keep her silent.

I
decided I needed to see them anyway. I was sure Zara had questions, and as for
my brother, I was sure he was primed and ready for a chance to question me.
There was a lot on my plate as well. Decisions to be made. Ethan was setting up
a time for us all to look at office space in one or more of his buildings. That
was simply wild—him owning buildings. What could I say? He was a smart dude.

So,
I hopped the ferry and went to visit my kid brother.

Amadeus
opened the door with two kids in tow. “This must be the day for brothers. Come
on in. Angus is on his way too. Zara’s run to town, and I’m on dad duty.”

“That’s
fine. No pre-school today, I take it,” I replied picking Elizabeth up, who was
pulling at my t-shirt. “What’s Angus’s deal?”

I
really would have preferred to have a one-on-one with Amadeus about all this.
Now, it would be public, or at least family knowledge by tomorrow. I was going
to have to change my plans. I followed him inside the house, Elizabeth
chattering the entire way.

“Bored,
I think. He’s home alone, so that gets him to thinking about things.”

“He
over-thinks,” I replied.

“Yeah,
unlike you, who jumps in feet first.”

“What’s
that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Fine.
What’s Angus thinking about?”

“That’s
what we’re going to find out.”

Okay,
baby brother’s in a snit because I didn’t involve him in all this stuff with
The Consortium and Ethan. Or he and Zara have had words. I think it may be a
little of both. He’s almost in the same sort of mood... “What’s up your ass
today?”

“I
told you. Nothing.”

I
drew in a breath. Sulking, damn brat. I wasn’t going to sit here all afternoon
if he was going to act like he’s ten. “I came out here to discuss The
Consortium, but if you’re going to be such an ass, I’ll just head back. I don’t
need your attitude.” I stood up and walked toward the deck. Perhaps if I gave
him a minute to regroup.

I
heard Elizabeth behind me. “Where you going, Uncle Dame?”

I
turned around. It wasn’t her fault her daddy was being an ass. “I’m going for a
walk. Want to come?” I gazed at A, who nodded his head.

“Can
I?” she shrieked to Amadeus.

“Yes,
but lower your voice in the house.”

She
put her hand over her mouth and scurried to me. As we reached the grass, she
ran along, telling me important facts and things she’d done.

As
we walked down to the end of the property, I realized how much I missed the
tranquility of the place. Something caught my eye, farther back in the cove.
While the property ended with a fence, there was still a good number of acres
belonging to Amadeus and Zara. A ploy to keep anyone from building next to
them.

Knowing
the only way I might be able to see down into the cove might be from the dock,
I called to Elizabeth. She came scampering, and once we hit the dock, I picked
her up in my arms.

“We
going sailing?”

“No,
not today, sweetheart. I want to see what’s going on in the cove.”

Hell,
there was what looked like a house in some phase of construction. When did that
happen? Who was building there? Better yet, why hadn’t Amadeus mentioned it to me?
“Come on, I can’t get a good look. Let’s see if Uncle Angus is here yet.”

“Yes!
Uncle Angus. He’s funny, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,
he’s a real funny guy.”

And
the funny guy was there when we returned. So was Zara. Good. I knew that would
keep the sniping to a minimum.

After
ten minutes of Angus and Elizabeth carrying on, Zara took her by the hand. “Come
on, lunch time.”

“I
want to play with Uncle Angus.”

“You
can play with him later,” Zara told her sternly.

“Go
eat your lunch, Elizabeth. We’ll play later, like your mom said.”

Reluctantly,
she followed her mom into the kitchen. Who could blame her though? Going to
have lunch with your mom or playing with your two uncles who make you giggle?
Not a hard choice, in my book.

Angus
sank back in the leather chair, grinning. “So, you signed your first client to
your label? They don’t get much hotter than Ethan Maverick. Oh yeah, I forgot,
he’s your long lost son.”

“Amadeus,
you got anything smart to add?” I replied, looking between the two.

“No,
because I have to give you credit. Family aside, you scored a huge one. Ethan
was hot before the world knew you were his dad. He was shopping for a new
label. I would have to say it’s a win-win situation.”

“Exactly,”
I replied, glancing at Angus who still seemed to have his doubts. “Look, if I
had signed either of you, or even put myself on the roster, which I will
shortly, people would think it was a family label. Ethan gives me some
credibility.”

“You’re
right. So, when is he going into the studio?”

“After
his tour.”

“So,
what else?”

“Ethan’s
moved his management to my company.” I waited to see if that got a reaction.
Which of course, it did.

“That’s
got to be hard for Beth,” Amadeus remarked.

“No,
not really. She’s going to be the one taking care of that until I can find some
people for Ethan to choose from. Beth realizes Ethan’s career is getting too
big for her to handle.” A white lie, but these two don’t need to know
everything right now.

“What
about you, Dame? You’ve got three songs on the charts. Have you thought about
recording?”

“I
have, and I have enough for a CD. I just need to pull it all together and get
into a studio.”

“You
need to get it out, Dame. How long do you think it would take for you to record
it?”

“Not
sure. Once Ethan’s left on tour, I plan to book some studio time and get it
done.”

“What
does Ethan leaving on tour have to do with anything?” Angus inquired.

“Right
now, I’m fending telephone calls, interview requests, going over legal stuff.
Plus, Ethan owns some buildings here and he’s supposed to set up a time for me
to look at some space.”

“He
owns buildings?” Amadeus blurted.

“Yeah,
evidently he invests a lot of the money he’s earned. He’s got two in Seattle
and one in Bellevue.”

“I’m
impressed.”

“Yeah,
we need to do some sort of family thing. Get him inducted. Not sure that can
happen until after his tour ends.”

“Might
as well wait until Mother and Peter can join us,” Angus drawled.

“Peter
and I have been talking some in the last few days about all this business
stuff. He said Mother’s in her element, but is sure Mary’s going to tire of it quickly.”
I chuckled to myself. Then, I remembered what I’d seen. “A, what’s the deal
with that house in the cove? I couldn’t get a good look. I didn’t even know
anyone had bought that land.”

“Yeah,
some California couple. The house is up for sale. Unfinished. I think there was
some sort of family issue that put a halt to it. You interested, Dame?”

“Wouldn’t
mind looking. What’s it like?”

“Big.
The entire side facing the water is windows.”

“Rather
than sit here and gab about it like old ladies, let’s go look.” Angus snorted.

“Can
we get to it?”

“Yeah,
we’ll have to take the ski boat. There’s a fence and locked gate on the road.”