“You wish, Pia,” Clariss said. “We’re going to the concert, so switch to something else. You’re not ruining this for us. Besides, you love Kain. I thought you were going to have his babies.”
Pia brightened. “I am. I so am.”
She threw her arms around Nicoletta and hugged her hard, staggering a little so they both nearly went down. Nicoletta had to balance for both of them.
“I’m sorry. I love you, my friend. I was so jealous for a minute because I had this idea that Mr. Hotness was going to marry me and carry me off to a place where my mother couldn’t yell at me anymore and destroy everything I try to do. That was a dream that will never happen though. Instead, I’ll have Kain’s babies.”
Bianca shook her head. “Mom will never stop trying to marry us to the richest men she can find. She’s not happy with Dad, but she still wants that life for us. I’m absolutely crazy about Enzo Gallo, not that he would ever look at me. If he did ask me out, Mom would be so ugly to him that he’d only do it once, but honestly, I’d be willing to sever ties with my family just for a chance with him. Not you, Pia, just her. I’m so tired of never being able to talk to a man who interests me.”
“I had no idea,” Nicoletta said. “You live on your own. You both work.”
“It was the only way to get out from under her, but we’re not out from under her. Every time we get a job, she goes to our boss and sabotages it for us,” Pia confessed a little drunkenly. “Then we’re behind on rent, and it sucks always looking for jobs because it looks like we keep hopping from one place to the next.”
Clariss sank into one of the seats, reaching for a strawberry, dipping it into the whipped cream. “That’s awful. You should have told us. I would have helped. You could have moved into my apartment. It’s small, but we could make it work.”
“I could have talked to Stefano,” Nicoletta said. “He would have found jobs that she couldn’t sabotage.” She nudged Bianca with her hip. “And I do know Enzo Gallo. He’s the Ferraros’ cousin. He works as a bodyguard. I can casually introduce you if you haven’t actually met him. In fact, I can arrange a few times to run into him when he’s not working. I kind of know where they’re going to be sometimes.”
Bianca shook her head but then changed her mind. “You’d do that?”
“I want to know if Stefano could really find us jobs Mom can’t screw up for us, Bianca,” Pia said. She slurred her words a bit, but she was looking very sober as she looked directly at Nicoletta.
“I honestly believe he would,” Nicoletta said. “Stefano can do anything. If you and Bianca really want to work, then of course he’ll find you a good job.”
“One where we make enough money where we can be independent? I don’t mean tons, just enough to pay rent and eat,” Pia persisted. “Not pity money. We’ll work for it.”
Nicoletta nodded. “I’m certain he would, but he’ll only do that kind of favor once. You can’t screw up,” she cautioned. “Stefano isn’t the kind of man you cross.”
Pia nodded. “I get that.” She stuffed a strawberry into her mouth. “That’s an even better birthday present than the Kain concert. And I love him. I’m going to have his babies.”
“No, you’re not,” Bianca protested. “I’m not going to get stuck providing for us while you get all the sex and stay home with the kids, you hussy.”
They all laughed and began dancing again. Nicoletta decided maybe she was better at picking friends than she’d thought.
CHAPTER TWO
The air was electric as only Kain Diakos and his band could make it. Nicoletta felt vibrations in the air, surrounding them, everywhere. The music pounded through her veins, set her blood on fire, so that she threw her head back and raised her hands in the air, her feet stomping out the beat while her body swayed. Like everyone around her, she had to be up on her feet. Dancing. Singing. Eyes glued to the stage and the magic happening.
The stage would be dark one moment and then light would burst across it, colors dripping down in all shades, and Kain would move through those various hues with his sensual body, delivering his lyrics in his beyond-sexy voice.
If Nicoletta hadn’t been so far gone on Taviano, she would have been pledging the heavens that, like Pia, she would be having Kain’s children. He was awesome. His songs were beautiful. Lyrical. His body was ripped. Hot.
His mother was Ethiopian, his father Greek, and he got the best of both worlds when it came to his looks. His eyes were dark chocolate, his hair black and very curly, wild enough for some of the curls to drip down his forehead when he moved on the stage, which only added to his sexy appearance. He produced his own music, wrote his own songs and burst onto the music scene so fast, no one saw his star streaking to fame until he was already there.
His following began online, his concerts were sold out nearly the first hour the tickets went on sale and he was winning every award possible. Nicoletta knew he was only going to get bigger and bigger in the music industry. She liked that he was up-and-coming but still hands-on with the stage productions so that his vision of music and stage went together. It added to the feel of the music and the way it was presented, so that when you were actually there, the notes vibrated through your body as the lights dazzled your eyes and put you into the song with him.
She loved his voice. She loved the lyrics. She loved the actual rhythms and the guitar riffs, the drums, the way everything came together with the lights, and the energy of the crowd. Pia, Bianca and Clariss were gyrating and waving their arms, jumping up and down and dancing with the others.
Nicoletta found herself pulling more and more energy off the crowd, the stage, the singer and the incredible music. It fed her soul. Her body sang, feeling renewed and strong. She loved going to concerts. Lucia had been the first one to take her to a concert, and the moment the singer had come out onstage and all those things had come together—crowd, music and singer—something in her had reacted to that energy, and she felt a difference almost immediately. It was healing to her. Spiritual almost. She’d told Lucia, and Lucia had acted on it. Wonderful Lucia. Giving her everything and anything she needed.
She’d been to many concerts and then she’d discovered Kain’s music. He’d just been starting out online, but she played his songs over and over and danced in her room to them. When she couldn’t sleep and the nightmares were too close, she listened to them, sang the lyrics and let them carry the worst of her past away.
His concerts were incredible, lifting her, elevating her to another place. Unlike the other women in the crowd, who came for the sexy man and his voice—most of whom were young and well dressed, many of them actresses, models or even singers themselves, well-known celebrities who followed Kain now—she came for the entire package, including the energy of the crowd. It swallowed her past. Ate it up. Gave her back her life.
Pia bumped her with her hip. “Isn’t he amazing?” She shouted it.
“He is.” Nicoletta had to agree.
“I’m in love!” Clariss yelled.
“Me, too,” Bianca said. “You can have his babies, Pia. I’ll work and support you.”