Page 7 of Passion’s Song

“Yeah, that’s it. Well, I own all of it now.”

April’s mouth scrunched up with confusion. “Why?”

“I’m in real estate, April. That’s what I do.”

“Yeah, but you’re in corporate real estate. Do you really think you can convince any of your clients to move their companies from the Central Business District to the Ninth Ward?”

“I have something else in mind for that property,” Damien said. “Something that can potentially be a game changer. But I can’t do it on my own. Alexander Properties does okay, but I’m still small potatoes when it comes to the kind of capital I’ll need to pull this off. It’ll require other investors—several of them—if I’m going to get this project off the ground. And that’s where you come in?”

April’s brow arched. “Just in case you’ve forgotten, you’re the one I come to when A Fresh Start needs some cash,” she said. “I’m just a lowly musician, getting work where I can find it.”

“Yeah, right. You’re turning down work left and right,” Damien said.

That was true. She’d just turned down an offer with an orchestra in Thailand.

“But that’s not the kind of help I need from you,” Damien said. He took another swig of coffee, set the cup back on the table then took both of her hands in his.

With an intense stare directly into her eyes, he said, “I need you to be my girlfriend.”

Chapter 2

April’s mouth dropped opened.

Seconds stretched between them as she continued to stare at him, her expression unreadable.

“Let me explain,” Damien said.

“Uh, yes,” she said. “Maybe you should.”

But before Damien could elaborate, there was a huge crash on the other side of the room. He and April both jumped. He looked over his shoulder and spotted one of the small round café tables on its side. Two girls were going at it, arms and thick hair braids swinging.

A group of kids swarmed the girls, egging them on, yelling, “Fight! Fight!”

Damien jumped up from his seat, but before he could break up the fight, April was already there. She stepped in between the two girls, her arms splayed wide, her chest heaving with the deep breaths she pulled in.

“Break it up! Break. It. Up,” April said.

The girl with the deep purple hair braids took another swing, nearly clipping April’s face.

Damien took an automatic step toward them, but April held him back with a hand.

“I’ve got this,” she said. She pointed at the crowd of kids still surrounding them. “The rest of you, get back to wherever you’re supposed to be right now. If it’s the café, find somewhere else to be until I say you can return.”

She turned to the girls who had been fighting. Bracing both hands on her hips, April blasted them with a glare that made Damien want to take a step back.

“What’s going on here?” she asked.

Silence followed.

The glare intensified. “Someone had better start talking. You’re only making it worse on yourselves.”

Still, silence ensued.

Damien noticed the first chink in her armor as she looked at the girls, who now both stood with their heads bowed, staring at the floor. April’s crestfallen expression showed him how hard this was for her.

“Dammit, Cressida and Makayla,” April said. “You both know there is a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to fighting.”

“You’re going to kick us out?” the girl with normal-colored hair asked.