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“Is that when you opened it?”
Yes. I used some of the money my parents left me and bought the farm outside of town and converted it into what it is now.
I remembered my mother’s story about how his brother had tried to keep him from getting any of the money, but I didn’t bring that up.
“By yourself?”
He stiffened a little, then nodded. He didn’t type anything, so I took that as a silent message that it wasn’t a topic he wanted to discuss.
I bumped his shoulder with mine. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
Despite the cold weather and my numb ass, I found that I didn’t want to leave the quiet solitude around us.
Until Dallas typed out his next message.
Tell me about the stolen violin, Nolan.
Chapter Eight
Dallas
I didn’t think he would answer and he certainly didn’t owe me one.
Especially considering the lengths I’d gone to the previous night to point out I was his boss and that what had happened between us had been a mistake.
A mistake I would have killed to repeat.
God, fucking Nolan Grainger had been pure heaven. And I was hopelessly addicted. But it wasn’t just his body that I wanted to lose myself in.
And that was what was scaring the hell out of me.
“Um, did you know I went to Juilliard after graduation?” he asked.
I nodded. You have an amazing talent.
He looked up at me in surprise. “What?”
I shrugged. I’m no expert, but whenever you played…I couldn’t take my eyes off you.
“What?” he practically squeaked.
I smiled and gave him a gentle bump. You were saying about Juilliard, I reminded him.
“Right. So, um, after Juilliard, I got hired to play in a couple of big name orchestras – in New York first, then Boston. But San Francisco was the crème de la crème. They hired me as First Chair three years ago.”
I didn’t know what First Chair meant, but I assumed it was a big deal.
“Within a matter of weeks, I was meeting really important people in the music world. Other musicians, composers, benefactors…it was really overwhelming, but it was also what I’d always dreamed of, you know? They didn’t see me as ‘Nerdy Nolan’ or ‘Grungy Grainger.’ They saw me as someone who belonged among them.”
You fit.
Nolan’s eyes hung on my screen for a moment before he looked at me and nodded. “Exactly,” he murmured. “Anyway, I met this man named Trey. He was a well-known patron of the arts – he donated tons of money to the symphony every year. He even funded a couple of scholarships for kids to go to schools like Juilliard. For whatever reason, he took a liking to me…beyond just musically speaking.”
I was pretty sure I knew why the man had taken a liking to Nolan. He was gorgeous and he practically vibrated with goodness. I’d met plenty of Treys in my own climb to professional stardom, mostly in the form of sports agents who’d wanted a piece of me. I’d been offered all sorts of perks to sign with them and take a shot directly at the majors without the benefit of college, but my parents had been adamant that their kid wasn’t bypassing the prestige of a degree with the Vanderbilt name on the top of it.
Nolan would have been a lamb among wolves in that kind of world.
“Trey began following my career really closely. It took me a long time to realize he was interested in me for reasons other than music. When I did figure it out, I was flattered. But I hadn’t ever…you know,” he said with a tilt of his head. “I mean, I almost did with this guy at Juilliard, but…”
Nolan laughed and shook his head. “Trey saw me coming from a mile away,” he murmured. “It started when he bought me a violin. Have you ever heard of a Stradivarius?”
They’re very expensive.
“Yes, they are. The one Trey bought was worth over a million dollars. But it wasn’t a gift or anything – it was for me to play with, but it belonged to him. I think he liked the prestige of knowing a professional musician was using an instrument he’d provided. I tried to tell him no, but the second I played it, it was like…it was like an extension of my arm. I fell in love with it.” He shook his head. “And that was when he had me.”
Jealousy curled through my system.
You began a relationship with him? I asked.
Nolan nodded. “It happened so fast. Within a month I was moving into an apartment he was paying for. By the end of the year he was managing my money. You want to know what the kicker was?” he asked, his voice sad.
I nodded.
“He wasn’t even out. And he had no intention of coming out.” Nolan’s eyes drifted back to the raccoons. “No one in the industry would have cared, but he kept saying his job depended on him giving off a certain impression. He was some kind of investment banker or something. It was something we fought about a lot, but he was insistent. He even had a girlfriend.”
