Yeah. It was, and I wasn’t sure how much of that was the music she was singing or the person she was stuck out there singing with. Forcing my fists to uncurl, I slid my hands into my pockets. I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet.
I wanted to be out there.
Fuck that. I wanted her back here, with us, and off that stage. I wanted to put her behind me so no one could do this shit to her again.
An image of her glaring at me from the pond where I’d shoved her crawled out of my memory to flip me off. Right, the only ambushes she needed were the ninja kisses from me. She liked those.
The rest of this…
It seemed an eternity that they performed, but it couldn’t have been more than twelve, maybe fourteen minutes tops. I wasn’t sure. But she started a song without Gibs playing.
“Microphones,” Aubrey snapped to the stagehand.
“Please,” Yvette added a little softer, but not by much. As soon as they had microphones in hand, they were striding onto the stage and into the lights. The audience roared to greet them and Gibs started to play, his solo accompaniment to their three powerful voices.
He was so outclassed.
Though I had to admit, the moment those girls hit the stage with her, I saw their friendship live and in full color. It was in how they sang together, how they passed the lead of the song, the way they moved together, and how Yvette and Aubrey framed her to put themselves between everyone and her.
To make this relationship work, I would have to get them on my side. Jonas shifted next to me, and Ramsey stood on my other side. Fine, get them on our side. That would be easier said than done. Dragging my hands out of my pocket, I folded my arms.
Waiting was not my strong suit. Patience was something the coach always gave me shit about. My dad, too. This was not how I wanted to master patience. Finally, they were done, and the girls were striding off the stage as the crowd went absolutely ape shit.
The ferocious look in Ace’s eyes had me straightening and I wasn’t the only one. She stalked right toward their manager, curling her sweet little hand into a fist. Oh, she wanted him punched?
Even as Ramsey caught her fist to keep her from hurting herself or maybe from getting an assault charge—what did I know? I went ahead and finished the move for her. The collision of my knuckles against the asshat’s face sent pain throbbing through my hand. Still, I enjoyed the way the guy went down like the sad sack he was.
Gibs suddenly showed up—it made sense he’d come backstage, but I’d kind of hoped he’d gone the other way. Only there he was, so I moved to block him. This? This I could do. Ace didn’t have to deal with a damn thing she didn’t want to.
All around us, stunned workers stared at the unfolding tension. Guess there weren’t a lot of brawls at these events. Not like there was going to be one now.
Then, a screech of sound that didn’t remotely belong to anything human pierced mine and everyone else’s ears. “You son of a bitch… ”
I twisted in time to see a woman not much taller than Ace, with platinum blonde hair, and delicate features, charge right at Gibs. It took a split-second to register that it was Jennifer Crosse. Not that I knew that much about her.
Actress. Gibs’ former wife.
Ace’s mom.
She was slapping Gibs over and over again. No one moved. Gibs barely defended himself; he lifted his arm as if to block her blows but didn’t make a move to touch her.
Now would be an excellent time for security to show up. Music pounded out on the stage, the drums and bass, hopefully covering the inhuman noise Jennifer Crosse released as she cursed at Gibs.
Warmth brushed my side as Ace pushed past me and I was right behind her as she stalked toward her parents. Just as she got there, a guy stepped in, but Ramsey all but shoulder-checked him.
Didn’t know him.
Didn’t care.
Not getting near Ace.
“Mom,” Ace said as she finally got there. She grabbed her mother and dragged her away from Gibs. “Mom, stop it.”
The actress whirled to face her daughter. All at once, her eyes filled with tears and she was clutching Ace. “I’m so furious for you. How dare he ruin your night for you… ”
“Oh my god, shut up,” Ace said, then peered around. She blinked at Gibs once, then shook her head. “We don’t have time for this, Mom… ”
“Baby, I wanted you to meet—” Jennifer’s tone and manner had changed entirely from furious to almost simpering. So not Mom.
“I’ve met him. I didn’t like him then, and I certainly don’t like him now.” He had to be the guy Ramsey blocked. Good to know. “Where’s Dix?”
“Why do we need Dix?” Jennifer asked. “I came here to support you—”
“Yeah, no. You need to go, Mom. Both of you do. Tonight is not about you or your drama or any of this… ”
“I’ll take her.” It took me a minute—Jackie. Her name was Jackie. She was Bronson’s mother. She was also Penelope’s guardian. The dark-skinned woman reached out to wrap an arm around Jennifer.
“Jackie…” All of a sudden, Gibs seemed to have found his tongue. More security and the backstage handlers were suddenly flooding the area.
“You should know better, Gibson,” Jackie said to him in a clearly dismissive tone. “Now, Jennifer—let’s get you out of here.”
“I’ll take her… ” The guy offered but Ace rounded on him,
“You shouldn’t even be back here, no one cleared you. In fact, where is security?”
“You want him gone?” I offered, but security was already taking the guy by his arms and marching him out. Jennifer stared after him then looked at Ace almost helplessly.
“Go with Jackie,” Yvette said as she approached the woman. “Let her look after you. We can come see you when we’re done with the show.”
“Boys,” Gibs said, and I cut a look at him.
“Not the time,” I said, then Ace’s hand brushed mine and I gripped hers lightly. If she wanted to pull away, she could. “Tonight isn’t about this—drama.”
“If not now, then… ”
“How about you answer messages,” Ace said, sliding her fingers in between mine as she glared at her father. “How about you do it anytime that isn’t ambushing me on a stage like we planned this as an event.”
“Kaity—”
“No,” she said. “I can’t do this right now. Jackie, can you take my mom home? I can send Dix to get her, or I’ll come find her after the benefit.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll look after her. You take care of yourself.” Then, the woman pinned a look on me. “You look after my girl.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll help you get to your car,” Jonas said, then he glanced at Ace. “I’ll be right back. Promise.”
“Thank you,” she said, leaning into me and I let her. How did she sound both powerful and lost at the same time?
The music from the stage hit another crescendo and the applause bled back to us. Teddy had made it to his feet and another agent was trying to get Gibs’ attention. Mom wasn’t here, which was weird, but I didn’t care right now.
“What do you need?” I asked Ace. “Besides some water?”