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“Does she know you’re here at the ball?” Tempest asked, pulling him from his thoughts.
Needing a moment to regain his composure, he took a long drink of bourbon before replying. “No. We haven’t been in touch . . . in a very long time.” He honestly had no idea how she’d react to seeing him again—if she hated him for walking away from her when she’d pleaded with him not to, or maybe he was no longer even a blip on her mental radar and she wouldn’t recognize him. Yeah, that depressing thought made his fucking chest ache.
“Maybe you should sneak backstage and surprise her when she’s done performing the second set of her show after dinner,” Tempest suggested, smiling at him. “I promise to look the other way and not alert security.”
The other woman was being completely sincere, and Collin found himself giving her idea serious consideration. “Maybe I will.”
Tempest gave his arm an encouraging squeeze before continuing on her way through the charity ball, leaving Collin alone to think about how a reunion with Raevynn might play out and what her reaction to seeing him after all these years would be. He’d only come to the party tonight to get a glimpse of her, but now that he had, he knew just settling for watching her from a distance wasn’t enough. Given the opportunity, he wanted to see her, face-to-face. He wanted the chance to right a wrong. To apologize for what had happened all those years ago and explain his reasons and actions.
Mostly, he wanted to resolve the past with Raevynn so he could move on with his future.
Decision made, he spent the next few hours waiting impatiently for her to finish her last set of songs. The guests applauded and cheered after she performed her elaborate finale after dinner, this time wearing a sparkling black minidress that hugged more curves than she’d had at seventeen and a pair of black leather boots with a four-inch heel that made her look sexy as fuck as she strutted across the stage, her husky, raspy voice pure seduction.
Once the music ended, Collin watched her move toward the back of the stage and disappear behind a partition, and he automatically walked around the platform in that direction. Since he worked in this building, he knew the layout of the ballroom well enough that he suspected that at some point she’d be heading down the side hallway that led to the back parking area to leave for the evening.
Unfortunately, just as he reached that corridor, he met up with Raymond, a guy he knew as one of Maddux’s security officers from MadX-Tech. He was a burly-looking guy in a suit, and even though he clearly recognized Collin, he stopped him from going any farther by placing a hand on Collin’s chest.
“Hey, sorry, man. I can’t let you through,” Raymond said apologetically, obviously working for the evening and stationed in this area for the sole purpose of keeping anyone from getting close to Raevynn. “This is a restricted area for tonight.”
Collin didn’t think the other man would change his mind just because Tempest had given him permission to go through—not without her actually being present. Raymond was, after all, guarding a famous pop star, and if anything happened to her on his watch, Maddux would likely chop his nuts off, and they both knew it. Not that Collin was a threat to Raevynn, but Raymond was undoubtedly operating under strict internal orders, no exceptions.
Voices and footsteps drifted from down the hallway, and Raymond’s expression turned more stern. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Shit. Knowing he’d probably never get this close to Rae again, Collin decided the only person he would leave for at this point was her. If she looked through him. Didn’t acknowledge him. Or completely shut him out. Any of those scenarios were a devastating possibility, but as a guy who looked to be part of her personal security came into a sight, followed by Raevynn, still in her last outfit, who was looking straight ahead toward the exit, then another suited man close behind her, Collin acted on gut instinct.
“Rae!” he yelled out, using the shortened version of her name that only close friends and family had ever called her.
He saw her entire body tense as she stopped, then turned her head in his direction, a confused frown furrowing her brows as her gaze landed on him. Her bodyguards went immediately on alert and looked prepared to take him down if he tried to make any move toward Raevynn.
Collin waited, holding his breath as the moment of truth arrived. Would she acknowledge him or ignore him?
CHAPTER TWO
Raevynn took her last bow as the crowd in front of the stage applauded her final song and performance. She smiled and blew them air kisses, then, with a cheerful wave, she strolled toward the back of the stage. She pulled out her in-ear monitor and stepped down a short flight of stairs, where both of her security guys were waiting for her—Glen, her main bodyguard, who’d been with her since the beginning of her singing career and had become a father figure to her since she’d lost hers when she’d been a toddler, and Derek, a “plus one” whenever Glen thought Raevynn needed the extra protection.
Derek opened a chilled bottle of water and handed it to her, and she drank half of the cool liquid in a few long gulps that felt so good on her raspy throat.
“Do you want to change, or are you ready to go?” Glen asked her, giving her the option to head to her dressing room to switch outfits if she wished.
The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, where she was staying, was only a short drive away, and all Raevynn wanted was to get to her penthouse suite so she could relax and unwind without being crowded and fussed over by her entourage of people, who were currently in her dressing room.
“Hotel, please,” she said, then finished her water and tossed the bottle into a nearby trash bin.
Both men nodded. Derek moved in front of her, Glen positioned himself behind her, and together they walked down the empty, narrow corridor that led to the back exit and the limo that would meet them there. Normally after a concert, it was far more hectic, with fans and groupies doing anything possible to see her, but the guests at tonight’s party were a much more sophisticated crowd. They’d enjoyed her singing and performing but didn’t feel the need to demand anything more from her, thank goodness.
God, she was so tired. Not just physically from all her onstage choreography tonight but emotionally and mentally exhausted, as well. After spending the last couple of years traveling with back-to-back world tours, along with time spent in the studio on new albums, countless radio and magazine interviews, making and producing music videos, attending award shows, and anything and everything else her manager mother managed to book Raevynn for, she was desperately in need of a break.
The only reason she’d agreed to tonight’s concert was because it was for charity, and Raevynn felt like she had more money than God sometimes and wanted to give back—with a concert and a generous donation to the Wilder Way Foundation. What good was millions of dollars if you couldn’t help other people? That was her philosophy and not her mother’s, who kept pushing for more to pad both of their bank accounts.
Raevynn exhaled a weary breath, determined to make some much-needed changes in her life. Now that this obligation was over and off her calendar, for the next two weeks, she only had a few minor things scheduled, which had been deliberate on her part and a major fight with her mother, who never passed up an opportunity for Raevynn to promote herself, her music, and her latest album and tour.
Joyce’s major concern was that the empire she’d helped create and build for her daughter would come to an end if she stepped back from the limelight for any amount of time, whereas Raevynn’s biggest fear was that she was going to completely crash and burn and becom
e one of those celebrities who cracked under pressure and never recovered.
She was smart enough to realize that being in the spotlight twenty-four seven, not to mention constantly being scrutinized by fans, trolls, and the media, was all becoming too much—as evidenced by the overwhelming swarm of unwanted attention her breakup with Zane Bishop had garnered, even though their split had been amicable and mutual.
For some reason, Zane’s overly zealous female fans had painted Raevynn as the villain for breaking his heart, which, in private, she’d found laughable considering the truth behind their relationship. Publicly, however, she’d been raked over the coals, and those hurtful, derogatory comments she’d seen, heard, and read online had definitely chipped away at her self-esteem, while her mother’s sole worry had been stifling the crisis before it affected Raevynn’s bankability in the eyes of future sponsors and engagements.
