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On stage, Raphael jammed with Stevie and moved close to Lauren to sing before moving to one side of the stage to play for the crowd. A minute later, Lauren reached another pause in the song. She smiled and looked to the side of the stage opposite where Raphael had come from. From behind one of the stage levels came two more people. One was wearing a long coat and playing guitar. The other wore a simple black t-shirt with jeans and held a microphone in one hand. The singer high-fived Lauren, and both were laughing as they started to sing together.
Next to him, Cole’s friend Lola grabbed Cole’s arm and yelled, “Oh. My. GOD!” That’s Dario D’Scala and Luke Mayweather from Big Mac Daddy! IloveDario! Is he going to be at the thing after the show?”
“I hope so,” sighed their other friend, Rebecca.
Danny didn’t like the way Dario was looking at Lauren and had to remind himself that he had no right to be jealous. He shoved the emotion aside—these were the last few minutes of the show, and he didn’t want to miss any of it.
After tonight, she’d be gone.
Even after everything, that knowledge hurt worse than he could have imagined.
On the stage, Lauren, Ox and Stevie gathered at the central microphone. Their musical guests closed in around them, and they finished the song with a crescendo. As DJ and Augie came down to join the rest of the band, Lauren encouraged the crowd to cheer for their guests. Raphael, Dario, and Luke waved before disappearing backstage.
“Thank you all so much for coming out tonight,” Lauren said to the audience. “If it wasn’t for all of you, we couldn’t do this. We had so much fun playing for you, and we appreciate you supporting us all these years. You’re the best fans in the world.”
Her statement was greeted with another roar of approval. The Kingmakers gave the audience one final wave.
“We love you, New York! Thank you—and good night!”
The stage went dark, and Danny felt an unseen door slam shut.
ChapterFifty-Two
Lauren arrived at the after party still wired from the show. Opening night had been everything she’d hoped it would be, and the audience’s enthusiastic embrace of the band and their new album washed away any lingering doubts lurking in the corners of her mind. Now it was time to celebrate.
She grabbed the door handle and pulled. Inside, the room teemed with guests, all laughing, eating, and drinking. She could see members of her family, and of Augie’s, mixing with the others. Steph was in an animated conversation with Tisha. Nearby, the members of Atomic Alcatraz and their entourage of friends and groupies were raising their own ruckus to one side of the room.
She loved this. Every last bit of it.
Lauren made her entrance quietly, but it didn’t take long before Carolyn’s excited squeal alerted everyone to her presence. Drained from doing her best to dance during the concert, Lauren’s sister was in a chair rubbing her belly. Lauren sat down next to her to talk, but before long, she was shooed away and ordered to get something to eat. Starving, Lauren didn’t have to be told twice.
As she dusted crumbs off her hands, she spotted Richie and Joey. Danny wasn’t with them, and she wondered if he’d come to the show. Part of her hoped he had, but another part was relieved not to see him.
“How long will the tour be?” Joey asked.
“At least eighteen months. IfStone Heartdoes well, we may extend our dates.” Lauren was smiling as she talked about being out on the road.
“I don’t think you have to worry about ‘if’,” Richie said. A vague call of “Grampy!” distracted him, and he excused himself from the conversation.
“He saw the whole show,” Joey said without any preamble. “He thought you sounded great. But I think a couple of the songs hit too close to home.”
Lauren didn’t try to hide her sadness. She’d poured all of it into those songs—every bit of love and pain, joy and heartbreak. And she knew some of them would have hit Danny right in the bruised, broken part of his heart, too. For a moment she was disappointed he wasn’t there, wishing she could hear right from him what he thought of the songs.
But her melancholy train of thought derailed when the rest of The Kingmakers joined them. Joey let his inner fanboy shine through as he shook hands with all of them. They toasted the band’s successful show, and Joey gave them a glowing critique of the “Leaving” video.
“Incoming,” Ox said.
Maggie was walking towards them, surrounded by a cyclone of teenage girls.
“Dude, that’s terrifying,” Augie said.
“That’s Jacka—I mean, Danny’s sister, right?” DJ asked.
Lauren stuck her fingernail in his ribs. She knew he didn’t like Danny, and she was well aware DJ referred to him most of the time as “Jackass.” But if he said it in front of Joey, she was going to kick DJ’s ass. If Joey didn’t do it first.
“That’s Maggie,” she said. “And Cole. And—I’m guessing—Cole’s entourage.”
“Doesn’t look like the kid who came to the studio.” Stevie said it, but Lauren was thinking the same thing. Gone was the conservative school uniform Cole had worn when she dropped in at Velocity. Tonight, Danny’s niece was decked out in black jeans and a ruby shirt with cut-outs that exposed her shoulders. She wore chunky earrings and had several bangle bracelets on one arm. And with makeup on, she looked several years older than seventeen.
