AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was getting it ready to celebrate but I can’t do anything until she finishes singing.
It’s always the same. Whenever she’s singing in the club, everything comes to a halt. Everyone listens to the voice of the bestselling artiste up on stage.
The club’s more popular than ever since she started appearing on the billboards. I’ve bought and converted an apartment block nearby, turning it into a hotel to accommodate the increasing number of people traveling across the country to hear her sing. Even from abroad.
Last week Giancarlo came over, bringing his wife with him. I put them up in the penthouse, comped their meals. They treated her well while I was in my coma, made sure she didn’t sink too far into a depressive funk. They deserve looking after.
Kelly’s parents were here last night. They’ve come in about once a month to hear her sing. Even managed to get an apology from her father at the end of the night. “I was wrong about you,” he said, holding his hand out toward me. “You’ve been a good father to Albert and a good husband to Kelly. I’m not too ashamed to admit that.”
I took his hand, giving him a nod. That was that. I’m not going to lord it over him. What would be the point?
What matters is that everything worked out. The city is mine. Our baby is nine months old and thriving. Little Albert. Only yesterday he started crawling for the first time. I’ve never been so happy in my life as when I saw that. Even better, I was at home when it happened.
The two of us sat on the sofa watching him try, legs wobbling, face in a constant frown. Then he barked out a yell of frustration and suddenly he was off, chasing down a toy ball that had gotten away from him.
Kelly’s finishing up her song and at last I can focus again on the drinks. I pour out a couple of glasses in time for her to emerge from the backstage area. She comes over to the table, beaming and thanking those who compliment here singing. There are a lot of them. She signs a few autographs before she reaches me. With a click of the velvet rope in its holder and a swoosh of the heavy curtains, we’re cut off from the public in our VIP area. We can still hear everyone but they can’t see us at all. It feels good to have some privacy for what I’ve got planned.
“What’s this in aid of?” she asks when I pass her a fizzing glass of bubbly.
“You are looking at a free man.”
“You’re kidding? It’s over?”
I tip my glass toward hers. “Prosecution accepted the self defense angle. Case is over.”
“Without even going to court?”
“Doesn’t need to. Alessandro and his father both died in tragic but non deliberate circumstances. Self defense both times.”
“You have good lawyers.”
“And the judge has a new yacht.”
“Which I’m sure is entirely unrelated.” She drains her champagne before setting her glass back down on the table. “Fill ‘er up.”
“You’re not the one giving orders, Kelly. I’m in charge around here. You forget that. I run the entire city. That includes you.”
“You don’t run me.”
“Don’t I?”
“No, you don’t.”
I straighten up in my seat. “Remove your panties.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
She looks at me, her cheeks flushing pink. “All right,” she says a moment later. “But only because I want to, not because you told me to.”
She looks around her. The curtains are still in place. She stands up, hooking up her dress and reaching inside. She bends her knees as she lowers her panties to the floor. As she steps out of them, she scoops them up, tossing them to me. “A gift from your wife.”
I pocket them. “I’m glad you can still obey instructions now you’re a number one singer.”
“I just happened to want to take my panties off, that’s all.”
“So if I told you to bend over that table right now, you wouldn’t do it?”
