Wheels of Steel Book 4 (10 page)

He gasped and then tightly gripped her round ass. He pulled her body close until his cock was now buried so deeply into her that his testicles threatened to follow.

She nipped his lip in response and then the both of them were climaxing together.

When Jason and Robin could think again they were splayed out against each other, exhausted, sweaty but content.

Robin lifted her head from the pillow. “Don’t fall asleep yet, Jason.”

“Hm?” He said already halfway there. “You’ll have to get the washcloth, babe. I already took off my braces.”

“No, not that. What were you talking about when you said not to sign Mr. Edelson’s contract?”

Jason’s eyes popped open. “Oh shit, I meant to tell you that me and Peter got the low down from Hidalgo.” He spent the next few minutes telling her about Hidalgo’s thoughts and he had to admit that he was in agreement that Mr. Edelson and Mr. Choi were probably in it for the unrecorded Akita Tom music.

While Robin listened she went into the attached bathroom for a washcloth to wipe away their congealing body fluids before they found themselves glued together. She forgot to put on the bathroom shoes and Jason jokingly told her that she wasn’t allowed back into the bed until she washed her feet.

To which she gave him a blowjob and all was forgiven.

The ringing of Jason’s cellphone awoke her and Robin peeled her eyes open enough to look at the clock. It was just after eight a.m. Not an ungodly hour but her body had yet to adjust to being made to do so much with only a few hours of sleep.

Jason was so deeply asleep that he didn’t stir and she reached over him and picked up his cell phone from the nightstand.

“Hello?” She stated politely even though she wanted to cuss out whoever was on the other end for interrupting her sleep.

“Oh,” the male voice said, sounding unsure. “I was trying to get in touch with Top--Top from Wheels of Steel.”

“Top is sleeping.” She suppressed a yawn. “Can I take a message?”

“This is Hidalgo—a friend of Akita Tom.”

Robin sat up suddenly. “Hidalgo? I heard your boiler room set the night we arrived. It was amazing,” she gushed.

“Thank you. Is this Sweetheart?”

He knew her?! “Yes it is,” she beamed.

“I could tell by your voice. You talk like you’re singing—even though I was so ungracious to interrupt your sleep. Can you just ask Top to call me when he gets a chance? There’s a party tonight and I’d like to introduce him and Peter to some of the artists that will be working on the album.”

“I can wake him up if you need me to-“

“No. No, that won’t be necessary. He can call me later. Sorry for the early call.”

“No problem,” She smiled feeling like a groupie. I’ll have him call you as soon as he wakes up.”

She heard him chuckle over the phone. “Thanks, love.”

Robin showered and got dressed, admiring her funky new blue bangs. She put on shorts, sneakers and a sleeveless T-shirt in preparation for the heat of the day.

Jason was still asleep when she went downstairs. As always music was playing over the hidden speakers—this time a soft, hip hop, ambient tune. The shoji doors were again open, allowing for a vibe that was artsy yet homey.

Robin heard commotion in the kitchen so that’s where she went.

Y, Amberly and Belinda were having breakfast and chatting.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” Belinda said. She was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed wearing a vibrant floor length jumper dress that reached the floor and matched perfectly with the pink of her hair.

“Good morning Robin,” Y said.

“Morning,” said Amberly.

“Good morning,” Robin replied. “Where are Akita’s brother and sister-in-law?”

Y had been sitting at the breakfast bar and he stood and moved his dishes to the dishwasher. “They're sleeping in. The flight and getting everything prepared for the funeral has taken a toll. There's a conference plan to discuss Akita’s will and the legal aspects of the estate. Hideo requested that we all be present.” Y glanced at his watch. “Hideo and James should be here at noon.” Y moved to the refrigerator. “What would you like for breakfast?” He asked.

Robin shooed him away. “You don’t have to do that, Y. I’m going to make something for me and Jason.”

“There’s fried sausage and ham on the stove.” Amberly said quietly.

Yesterday Robin would have shrugged and then gone for a meatless breakfast but today she said thank you and grabbed a carton of eggs from the fridge to go along with it. She saw bagels and cream cheese and grabbed them as well.

“Did you sleep well?” Belinda asked.

“Yes finally, and would still be asleep if Hidalgo hadn’t called to invite Jason and Peter to a party tonight.”

“Awesome, I wonder if we can all go.” Belinda replied.

“Hidalgo is very cool. I like that guy. I’m sure he won’t have a problem with you attending any party that Peter and Jason are invited to.” Y said, which went a long way for confirming her own thoughts about Hidalgo. Since Y had given James the stink-eye it seemed that his judgment was probably accurate. She might ask him his thoughts on J at a later time.

As Robin cooked they talked a bit but Amberly was noticeably quiet. She was usually the most talkative of anyone. Robin saw that she was drinking tea and quietly reading The USA Today. Robin’s resolve began to crack as she felt a little bad for her.

Fuck it all! She was being childish. She had to get along with this woman because there just was no other choice. Amberly was here to stay … at least for as long as they were forced to be in Japan.

“You didn’t dye your hair yet.” Robin commented nonchalantly. Everyone grew quiet and Amberly’s eyes moved up from the paper that she was reading to meet Robin’s.

“I would have done it last night—with Belinda,” Amberly replied. “But she was too busy doing that with you.”

Y’s mouth formed a big O and then he turned and walked out of the room. Belinda opened her mouth and closed it.

“I’m sorry Amberly,” Belinda began.

“Well,” Robin interrupted. “We can dye your hair tonight in case we’re allowed into the party.”

Amberly lowered the paper and met Robin’s eyes directly. “Why? Are you planning to burn out my hair or something?”

Robin suppressed a grin while Belinda gasped.

“No.” was Robin’s response.

Belinda got up and walked out the room. She seemed to know that it was time for Amberly and Robin to finally hash it out.

Robin moved the skillet of eggs from the burner and turned it off before facing Amberly again. “I’m sorry,” Robin said with a smug grin. Amberly’s face began to form a smile before Robin continued. “Sorry that you don’t seem to understand why I don’t trust you.”

The smile fell away from Amberly’s face. She paused before responding. “Well, it seems that no amount of apologies is going to change that.”

“No,” Robin agreed while crossing her arms in front of her. “But we still have to figure out a way to get along.”

“Maybe … maybe not. I don’t like you either, you know. But that doesn’t stop me from being polite.”

Robin’s brow moved up. “Good to know that up front.”

Amberly’s eyes narrowed and she slammed the newspaper to the table. “You need to get over it Robin! We were drunk and stupid shit happened! You forgave Jason-“

Robin pushed her body off from the cabinet that she was leaning against. “Wait a minute, first of all I love Jason. And even still I turned my back on him. What you think of as a ‘little’ thing crushed my heart!” Robin tapped her chest while she narrowed her eyes.

“I wasn’t like the rest of you. I didn’t know that I was smart or pretty or talented. I thought I was dumb and ugly and that no one would ever value anything about me. When Jason loved me I fell into it with everything. I didn’t hold anything back!

“That
stupid shit
, as you called it, made me realize that it wasn’t deep. It wasn’t as important as I had thought-“

Amberly shook her head. “Robin! Jason was high. He was drunk and he was high!”

“And you were a fake!” Robin yelled.

“Fake?” Amberly raised her hands in confusion.

“You lied right in my face and told me that you wanted us to be friends. You told me that you didn’t have any hidden agenda and you asked me to trust you Amberly, and I did and then you stripped in a pool and tried to fuck my man!”

Amberly shook her head in defeat. “Yeah … well it wasn’t just me, Robin. Jason played a part in that-“

“And that’s what-!”

Amberly interrupted. “AND you found it in your heart to forgive
him
. I’m not going to keep begging you for forgiveness.  I am more sorry than you will ever know. I lost my best friend. I lost the respect of people that are more important to me than my own family! I’ve tried to move past it but you won’t let it go.”

Robin’s eyes moved to a spot behind Amberly while she tried to focus on calming down her thudding heart.

After she got control of her anger Robin met Amberly’s eyes. “You made me feel stupid.” She said evenly. “For the first time in my life I belonged—I was a part of something. What some people would consider normal wasn’t for me. I never had that and suddenly I was smart and talented and wanted. And then suddenly I had to reconsider everything that I thought I’d learned about myself. That’s why I can’t do that again.” Robin said adamantly. “If I trust you, or let down my guard it makes me stupid all over again.”

Amberly’s brow drew together. “Where do we go from here?”

Robin shrugged almost imperceptibly. “I don’t know.”

Amberly inhaled deeply. “Here’s what I suggest. You trust Jason. Just keep doing that. He won’t ever let you down again. You don’t have to trust me. As long as you trust him I can’t affect you.”

Robin felt her eyes sting. She looked away and hoped that tears weren’t going to form, because that would just be utter bullshit. Amberly was right, of course. She was holding on to a lot of pain for no good reason. She didn’t have to trust Amberly, she just had to trust Jason.

And Robin knew that she already did.

She looked at Amberly and this time her expression softened. “I don’t want to be enemies. I don’t know what that means for us but-”

“It means that we make the best of our situation without making it hard for everyone that cares about us. We have the same set of friends and they care about the both of us.”

Robin nodded.

Belinda suddenly scampered into the kitchen. “Thank God you two cleared the air!” She pointed a finger at Amberly and narrowed her eyes.

“And for your information I wasn’t trying to play favorites. I want to rebuild my trust with Robin, too. You and I don’t have to do that.”

Robin gave Belinda a grim look. “You don’t have to do that, Belinda. I love you and I know that you love me. We’re good, okay?”

Belinda hugged her. “You were there with me during the toughest portions of my life,” She whispered. “I love you, too and I will never take your trust for granted again.”

“I’m sorry,” Robin whispered, squeezing her friend. “I’m sorry for pushing you away.”

Peter wheeled into the kitchen and paused at the sight of his woman and Robin hugging.

“Did I miss something?”

The two friends released each other and wiped tears from their eyes and cheeks while chuckling.

“Nah.” Belinda said. “Everything’s good.”

Peter’s brow gathered. “B, I thought you and I agreed that you’d stay out of it.”

“I did,” she said innocently. “It worked it’s way out on it’s own.”

Robin shook her head and finished the eggs. “Amberly,” she called over her shoulder.

Everyone froze.

“Yes?” Amberly asked.

Robin turned and looked at her. “I’m sorry.”

Amberly smiled. “Thank you Robin.”

In that moment everyone could feel the change in the air—there was a new easiness amongst them all.

“So after breakfast can we get with dying your hair?” Robin asked.

“Yep.”

“Good, I’m going to take this up to Jason before it gets cold-“

Jason tentatively stepped into the kitchen. “Is it safe?”

Robin’s mouth parted and her cheeks began to instantly burn. “How much of that did you hear?” she asked as she tried to remember all the things that had been said.

“Enough,” He said while watching her closely.

Robin quickly set the plates she was holding on the table and got orange juice from the refrigerator. Jason was suddenly there, grasping her hand and pulling her to a stop. He placed his arms around her body and looked down into her face.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything—not just for what happened in that pool but for picking an argument with you and for acting like you owed me anything. Anything you offered to me was offered from your heart and I realize that. I didn’t give you half as much as you gave me, Robin. I was stupid. I was really stupid and I’ll never do it again. I hope you know that.” He hugged her, burying his head against her neck.

“I love you Robin Mathena. You are everything to me, honey.”

Robin relaxed, settling against the man she loved as she finally began to release months of anger and feelings of betrayal. They held each other that way until Belinda squeaked out her feelings.

“Awww, that is soooo
cute
!”

J and Hideo arrived while everyone was passing around yesterday’s newspaper of Wheels of Steel arriving at Genius Records. Y was reading it to them and Peter was shaking his head in disbelief that there was more discussion about their arrival than about the reason for their visit to Japan--Akita’s death.

“Greetings everyone.” J spoke.

“Hey, James. Did you see this article from yesterday?” James came close and when he saw the large photo spread his smile broadened.

“Can you get us some more copies of this?” Jason asked.

“Certainly, James replied.”

“Hello Hideo,” Jason greeted remembering the way Hidalgo had referred to him as hidey-ho. The man sure wasn’t fond of these two. But J had been good to him during Akita’s life and he would not discount any of that now that Akita was dead.

He and Peter had talked about it some in the wee hours of the morning while they were being driven back from last night’s boiler room, Peter playing the devil’s advocate.

“Well what else is he supposed to do, Top? If James doesn’t acquire new artists and there is no more Akita Tom music to produce then all their doing with the label is selling off rights to use the music and collecting royalties. James doesn’t seem the type to be satisfied with that.”

Jason had to agree and he wondered how much more lucrative they could make Wheels of Steel by signing with the label, knowing what they knew.

After everyone said their greetings Amberly and Belinda went off to gather refreshments. When Robin moved to help them J stopped her.

“Robin, will you sing at the funeral?”

Her eyes grew large. “What?” She stammered.

“There are going to be several artists involved in the music which will play throughout the day. Our producers are putting it together now. But we could use a more … soulful approach right before the ceremony.”

“But I didn’t really know him-“

“No, but he admired your voice and although there are several singers involved in the industry, most of the artists he worked with are not as accomplished when it comes to singing.”

Jason and Peter gave her hopeful looks. “You should do it Robin.” Jason encouraged. Robin smiled.

“Of course I will. Akita was important to Wheels of Steel. It would be my honor to sing at his funeral.”

Y had been quiet but he smiled. “That would be wonderful. You have a very good stage presence, Robin.”

Hideo looked at Y. “You’ve seen Robin perform?”

“Yes, in the states she plays with a band.”

Hideo looked at J. “Perhaps the band, featuring Robin of course, would be a good idea for the label.” He asked Robin about Orange Crush and seemed thrilled when he discovered they were an all-girl band. Robin chuckled.

“I haven’t made any decisions about signing with a label.”

J grinned. “What is there to decide? Sign and we make you into an international star.”

Y’s brow drew together. “And I’m sure you’ll put that in the contract, right Hideo?”

Hideo just smiled.

J’s face was serious. “We’ll put whatever you want in the contract, Robin.”

“You’ve never even seen me perform,” Robin said, not sure if this was a serious offer or not.

“Yes I have. I’ve seen the video tapes and listened to the recordings that Jason created.” Hideo opened his briefcase and after leafing through a stack of folders he produced a document and handed it to Robin.

“A contract of interest. You wouldn’t be obligated to sign with us, it just means that we have first right-“

Y took the contract from Hideo before Robin could accept it. He spoke in sharp but even Japanese and then thrust the document back to the man. Hideo gave Y a cold look before responding in Japanese. But he accepted the document and placed it back into his briefcase.

Jason, Peter and Robin exchanged looks and Y spoke to Robin.

“My apologies, Robin. I reminded Mr. Choi that there is no rush in pursuing his interests in you. He should allow your attorney or manager to look over any contract before expecting you to sign it. That is always the course when dealing with legal matters.” He looked at James. “Wouldn’t you agree, James?”

James gave him a polite smile and inclined his head slightly. Y rose to his feet. “Excuse me, I’ll get Bob and his wife and then we can begin discussing the true reason for our gathering.”

They reconvened in Akita’s office and James set up an audio conference with other key members of the label along with artists that Akita had worked with. Included in the conference was Hidalgo.

Bob and his wife sat at the head of the table while Hideo sat the opposite end. Other than Y, the past and present members of Wheels of Steel were the only other people present.

“Before we begin,” Hideo spoke, “I want to thank you for gathering here today. There are large portions of Thomas Chancellor--henceforth to be called Akita Tom’s will that won’t be discussed today. This includes the continued employment of all salaried employees of Akita Tom Productions, henceforth to be called the label, and the terms for that employment.” Hideo looked over his glasses at Amberly and Belinda who were on salary to produce music videos for Akita Tom’s music.