“You have conference calls for work during the day, don’t you?”
“Theater people are night owls. Our office team gets in at nine, but we don’t have creative meetings until eleven or later. Zoe’s not a morning person. I can make a later schedule work. Easily.”
Rubbing my forehead, I nod. I need to see my girls as much as they need to see me, so this will have to be the way of things for a while since Raven is willing to do it. “It won’t be forever.”
“However long it takes is fine,” she says with a calm nod.
It hits me again how much I love her. Raven’s way of being with me suits me so well it’s like we’re lock and key. She already understands what she means to me, so I just say, “All right.” Icatch the baby in my hands and raise her over my face to give her a kiss. Then I set her on the bed next to Rachel. “Take her with you. I need a shower.”
“Okay.” She stands and picks up the baby.
“Put fruit in the pancakes.”
Raven smiles. “Since when?”
“Having some fruit is good,” I say, sitting up.
“I think what you mean is Irina likes fruit in pancakes, and you’re willing to go along with it. But, Sasha, she’s only going to eat a few bites. I can make plain pancakes and just smash a few strawberry slivers to put in her baby bowl with her pancake strips.”
“Either way.” I press the button on the side of my phone to power it on.
“Hey,” she says from the bedroom doorway.
“Yeah?”
“We love you, too.Somuch.” Then she’s gone, and I stare after her, ignoring my phone’s buzzing for a moment.
Our love started as a life-and-death struggle to stay together, and there are times when, deep down, it still feels that intense and dramatic. C Crue has my allegiance, and I would take a bullet for C in a firefight if it came to that. But the only thing that would make me lay down my gun in surrender would be a threat to Raven or our baby daughter. I would sacrifice myself for them and go to my grave without regrets.
Chapter
Thirteen
CONNOR
By the time I finish my drink in the lobby of the Limelight Theatre, the place is bustling. Things look good for a successful opening night for Zoe’s show. I’m glad. She and Rachel worked hard on it.
When I enter the theater and move down the aisle toward the front row, Laurelyn’s the first one I see. Her sexy blue-green dress hugs her body in a way that tells me Trick probably picked it out. She’s five months pregnant and wears it well. Anvil’s head appears above the rest when he joins them.
As I approach, Miller’s with me, looking more like Secret Service than C Crue. He’s wearing aMen in Blacksuit and talking into a com to other guys we’ve got in town as security. I’ve put Miller through the paces in the past week by taking part in New York night life and the BDSM dungeon scene. Back in the day, Trick was a better wingman. He was also a purveyor of all things wild. Still, I like the way Miller carries himself, especially on the road. He’s focused, stays silent except when a situation calls for conversation, and never reacts with surprise, no matter where I go on a night out.
When I reach the front row, I note that Trick’s holding Laurelyn’s hand and telling her some story that has her smiling. His words come back to me.I like to be popular with my wife.I don’t want his life, but I can’t deny that, at the moment, it seems to suit him.
I thought he’d be bored in a month with early nights and the company of a strait-laced and pregnant former Catholic school girl. Boredom, if it’s coming, hasn’t hit him yet.
Anvil nods a greeting at me as I approach.
“No baby tonight?” I ask when I shake Anvil’s hand.
“Not allowed. Too young.” He glances up at the stage, his frown deepening.
“Rachel’s nerves holding up?”
Anvil nods again. “She’s ready.”
I glance around. The theater holds about a thousand people, and the seats are filling fast. My gaze shifts to the stage, and I wonder how Zoe’s doing. She’s young, but she’s already a veteran performer. She was in the chorus of an off-Broadwayproduction when she was eighteen, and since then, she’s headlined shows both in college and on the stage at the Langston Theater in Coynston. That first show she and Rachel wrote was a big hit, drawing most of the town and outsiders too.
Tonight will be the first time I’ve seen Z since she left me. The way I’ve been hitting New York clubs lately is no accident. I’d hoped to run into her without specifically arranging for that to happen.
