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“Kitchen is this way.” Carmen grabs Rosalie and me by the hand and yanks us down the long hall until we enter the largest living room I’ve ever seen.
A glass wall soars far overhead to a peaked roof. The view looks out at the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean. From the top of the hundred-foot cliffs, we can’t see the waves crashing against the shore, but the ocean clearly extends off in the distance where it finally meets the sky on the faraway horizon.
“This view is stunning.” I can’t keep the grin from my face. “The sunsets must be phenomenal.”
Too focused on the view, we completely miss the interior. I take a second to rectify that and turn around. The living room is a massive space. It holds several separate groupings of sofas and coffee tables. Each one could be its own living room. Together, they kind of flow into one another.
I like it. Seeing as how there are five band members, their wives, and an assortment of children, the arrangement of separate spaces makes perfect sense.
“The nights are just as stunning, especially when the full moon floats over a black sea.” I’ve never heard a melodious voice like that, and spin around in shock.
TWENTY-FIVE
Kaye
I don’t wantto admit to anyone I’m an Angel Fire superfan, but I am. The man belonging to that voice is none other than Blaze, lead singer of Angel Fire, although he’s been transitioning to his real name, Ash, lately. My belly does a little fluttery thing. Which makes it impossible to play it cool.
“Welcome toInsanity. My name’s Ash.”
Mouth open, jaw agape, I’m beyond a little star struck, and can’t help but stare at the iconic tattoo decorating his neck—a black spiderweb dripping in blood. A dragon perches in the very center of the web, holding a raven in one of its claws.
“Um, thanks for opening your home to us.” Somehow, I manage to stammer out something that doesn’t sound like I’m hopeless. “This place is…”
“Insane?” He rubs the back of his neck. “We get that a lot.Insanityis Forest’s brainchild. We let him run with his crazy ideas and this one just worked. Between you and me, we believe he wanted all of us living in one spot so he could have us all to himself.” Ash’s hypnotic green eyes hold me enthralled and render me speechless.
I can’t believe I’m standing in front of a rock legend, in his home, and get to spend the entire night here.
“It’s definitely impressive.” Rosalie sticks out her hand. “I’m Rosalie and this place is crazy, insane, and absolutely stunning. This one…” She nudges me in the ribs, “with her mouth hanging open, is Kaye.”
“This is surreal.” I gather enough nerve to shake hands with Ash, while Zeb, Rafe, and Hayes chuckle at my expense.
“Let me give you the nickel tour.” Ash gestures for us to follow, then pauses and looks at Rafe. “The kitchen is yours. Forest bought everything on your list. It should be all there.”
“How many do we have tonight?” Rafe asks.
“Forest said Charlie and Delta are out on missions, so that only leaves Bravo and Alpha. Our menagerie is all here. They’re down on the beach with the kids checking out the tide pools. Forest and his throuple will be here as well.”
“Cool.” Rafe looks to Zeb and Hayes. “Congratulations. You’ve just been drafted to help with dinner.”
“I’ll be back to help after I show the girls around.” The smile on Ash’s face is enough to make any girl swoon.
I don’t know how Skye doesn’t live with constant jealousy considering the charisma rolling off Ash. The man’s got one of those magnetic personalities. “Ladies, we begin the tour with the garage.”
Ash begins with a garage that’s nothing like any garage I’ve ever seen.
“This is Forest’s pride and joy.” He pats the sleek hood of one vehicle. “He’s a collector of every supercar built.”
“I hate to ask, and don’t mean to be rude, but what does something like that run?” I remind myself to not gape.
“Millions.”
“For the collection? Wow.” There’s simply too much to look at, and I’m not about to open my mouth and reveal how little I know about cars. They’ve got pretty colors. That’s as far as I get.
“Oh, no. Millions for each car. They range in price from a few hundred thousand to several million.” Ash gestures to a few of the more expensive cars.
Dozens of cars easily fill what must be the entire basement of the main building. I try to count, but lose my way several times when I get to double digits and keep going. There may not be a hundred cars in Forest’s collection, but it’s close.
And it’s totally insane.
