Crush (A Night Fire Novel Book 1) (14 page)

“Supreme to be more precise. What did you say your name was?”

“James.” I interrupted with delight. “James Andrews.”

“Thanks sweat pea.” he smiled at me, enjoying our little moment.

He turned back to the very pale James.

“I'll remember your name James. Hope to hell you don't ever cross my path boy.”

Take that you little bastard. James looked like he was about to start hyperventilate. He'd just pissed off a supreme court judge. Worse yet, he didn't recognize him. Sure he looked like an ordinary man but what lawyer didn't know the names of all of the judges? Yep, it wasn't a smart move.

My father stretched back, wrapping his arm over the back rest of my mother's chair.

“Seems to me that the system is overrun with people trying to make criminals out of good kids that just like to have a bit of fun. I'm not saying that everyone is innocent and that they shouldn't go to jail for it but there are many in the system that shouldn't be there. Take these kids for instance. Young Curtis here defended my daughter when patrons were being rude to her. A noble thing to do in this era of disinterest. A full restaurant and there was only one that could be bothered to say something. To me, that makes him a great man but to you, all you see is the criminal. But still the actions beyond that were to the extreme and they ended up in jail for it. By the way, did you bail your son out?”

Derek and Emma shook their heads, rather shocked.

“Didn't think so. Let me guess.” my father looked down the table. “You, Jerry was it? You bailed them, didn't you?”

“Yes sir, I did.”

“See, he's not even family yet he's there for them. Another noble gesture. We should be grateful to Jerry for doing that, instead of letting them sit there and tie up the system. They paid their compensation and all is well again. But you wouldn't have it that way, would you James? You see them as criminals and would want them locked up.”

“Oh preposterous!” Emma snapped. “As if he wants his brother in jail.”

“Oh but I think he does.” I interrupted. “Don't you James?”

James opened his mouth, pale and filled with fear.

“Come on James, show your true colors. Tell them what you really think.”

“She's goading you James.” Emma snipped. “Don't let the gold digger get to you.”

“I'm not a gold digger.” I said plainly. “If I need money then I will earn it for myself.”

Emma laughed.

“Oh do tell how the restaurant wages paid for that ring or that dress, is that a designer tag hanging out there Frankie?”

“Enough!” Curtis slammed his hands onto the table, the cutlery clanged against the plates. “I think we've all had enough of this. You can leave now.”

I looked at Emma and Derek who had supreme, smug smiles on their faces.

“I said you can leave!”

“What?” his father snarled. “You're kicking us out?”

“Yeah, I am. You don't get to speak to Frankie or anyone at this table like that. This is our house and if you can't speak to her properly then you are not welcome in it. I don't want our child being around such acidic and poisonous people. Now, get out.”

My mother looked at me with shock, mouthing
that
question at me. I offered an apologetic smile, mostly because it wasn't the best way to find out they were about to become grandparents.

Curtis stood to his feet, the chair scraping out across the floor so fast it nearly fell over. “Jack!”

“Sir?”

“Escort my family to their car and ensure they leave the property without issue.”

Jack did as he was asked, quietly ushering them out of the house, out of the property and out of our lives.

The heavy weight of a hand pressed onto my shoulder, I grasped it as I looked up at Curtis.

“I'm uh... I'm gonna hit the skins for a while. You guys stay and eat.”

He turned out of the room and I stood to follow.

“Frankie.” my father grumbled. “Leave it sweet pea. The man needs time to vent his anger and if that's how he does it then you should let him be.”

I sat back down, feeling the weight of the night bearing down on me. Quietly we ate, listening to the anger venting a thunderous beat that boomed through the cavernous house.

“You need furniture hun.” El offered. “Will dull the sound down a lot.”

I nodded, thinking about how much furniture would be needed.

“There are so many rooms. I wouldn't know where to begin. Why did he have to buy something so big?”

“I told you why.” Jaxon said with a mouth full of food.

Now we were being subjected to the real world, to the real people. It is amazing how the dynamics and moods of the people can change based on who are or aren't around.

“My princess for my castle. Remember, I said that he said that. I said that, right princess?”

“Yeah, you did Jaxon. You sure did.”

Chapter Seventeen

Eden was scraping the plates into the bin as Eleanor packed away the leftovers. My mother was stacking the dishes as I passed them to her. All in all it was an efficient little operation.

“You were right about tonight, it was certainly interesting.”

I nodded. “I appreciate the effort you went to, he needed that kind of support.”

“No offense to Curtis but his family are morons. I'm glad he chose to remove them from his life, he's right. You don't want those kind of people around an innocent child.”

My mother smiled at me, her eyes lowering to my stomach.

“How far along are you?”

“Couple of weeks. Haven't been to the doctor yet. Just did the test this afternoon.”

I passed the last stack of plates to her, the sound of laughter filled the house. The boys were still here, having a pleasant drink or two with Pete. Drink or two has been defined as not drunk and not embarrassing Frankie in front of her family.

Curtis hadn't come out of the study as yet, when the pounding stopped my father ventured into the room. His words were that the man needed a proper father and as much as it might be a weird thing to do, he'd be that man for Curtis. So I had to give him a little longer, I had to keep a distance for as long as I could stand it. Which wasn't going to be much longer.

“Are you coming on tour?” Eden queried as she washed her hands clean.

“I think Curtis would flip out if I tried to stay here. Can't imagine he'd want to be away from me while I'm getting fatter and fatter by the day.”

“When's the tour start?” my mother frowned.

“Couple of weeks. We want to marry before we leave. Hopefully I can get furniture here so you won't have to stay in the hotel again.”

My mother crinkled a smile at me, rubbing my arm in her motherly way. It was one that wordlessly said that while she might not be impressed that I was pregnant outside of marriage, she was happy we were marrying before the child was born.

I returned the smile and wandered through the house, searching out my two favorite men. The third was on the lounge enjoying the company of my other favorite men. No longer pests, it was truly crazy but I actually enjoyed their company now. I must have gone mad.

I found my father and Curtis still in the study. My father was lazing back in a tub chair, enjoying a whiskey, the bottle on the table beside him. Curtis was sitting on the drum stool, a stick broken at his feet, the other impaled through the skin of the snare.

“Hey.”

Curtis looked up with a subdued smile.

“Where did ya get that dad?”

“Settle down sweat pea, I brought it as a gift but Curtis said he's not drinking any more. Wasn't going to drink it but Curtis said it would be fine. People can't stop drinking around him just because he's in recovery. We were talking about the value of therapy sessions and AA meetings. I think that with time all will be just fine.”

I nodded and looked at the desk, the house plans were out again. The very same plans that bug was created on. Probably best not to dwell on that one.

“We were talking about the changes. Seems like some good ideas there.”

I nodded again, having no idea what changes Curtis had planned on making. Curtis sighed and pulled the stick out of the drum skin, he'd impaled it pretty deep. Warily I sat on the chair next to my father, watching Curtis. His mood was fluctuating, a deep storm like doom would burrow deep making him frown hard and then it would die off, leaving a lost little boy in its wake.

“You know I've seen a lot of people pass my bench son, many times in my days in the lower court system I'd see the same people come through again and again. Most of the time you want to help, to make them strive to be better, to do good in this world. Then there are times where you say, why bother? If they can't help themselves then what good can I do? There is no easy answer. You tried, you gave it your best shot and there isn't a single thing that you can do to change their minds. If you separating from them wasn't a wake up call then nothing will be. When this kid is born, you make sure you sell the pictures to a tabloid long before you bother to tell your family. In fact, don't tell them at all.”

He took a long swig and smacked his lips with the taste of it. To his credit, Curtis didn't take any notice. It was like the ultimate test for him, to ignore alcohol in a private place. Not sure if it was ideal and I mindlessly wondered what his sponsor would say.

“Did your mom tell you that Pete's talking of transferring out here once I retire?”

“Are you retiring to Nevada dad?” I grinned.

“Going to be a grandfather soon enough, do I want to miss out on that?”

I laughed, shaking my head.

“Looking forward to walking my little girl down the aisle Curtis, you going to do the church thing?”

“Does the little white chapel count?”

Thankfully my father could see that he was joking. Or at least I hope he was joking. I didn't care where we married, the drive through wedding would be fine so long as I didn't fall out of the car. But my father? Well that was a different story all together.

“Not sure if Frankie's family would fit in that little church. Maybe you might want to think a little bigger. Besides, don't you want some big flash to-do so that you can sell the pictures and rub more salt into the wounds?”

“Shit yeah.”

Curtis was off his seat and rummaging through a draw within seconds, my father grinned with a sly wink at me.

“We can do it here, right?” Curtis asked as he sat back down. “Security will be pretty crazy, the fans will be worse. If you want a church I'll build one and get a priest to do his mumbo jumbo on it to make it all churchy.”

My father chuckled.

“I'm sure that a large tent will do the job. I think having it here is a great idea, you've got such a large yard, why not?”

“Need to put Eden to use.” Curtis murmured as he wrote on his note book. “You'll need help, too busy throwing up all the time.”

He looked up curiously.

“When are you going home?”

“Tomorrow afternoon but I suppose I could leave Mavis here if you want.”

Curtis nodded and returned to writing things down.

“Should come back as soon as, think Pete likes the guys.”

“Yeah.” my father watched with interest.

“Eden!” he shouted as he stood from his seat, leaving the room.

I frowned at the doorway, wondering if he was going to return. He called out to Eden several times, god only knows where she had gotten to.

“You need to keep him occupied.”

I turned back to my father who had his serious and stern face on.

“See the shift in his mood when he had a goal?”

With a lot of shock, I nodded.

“It's a hard road Frankie, he will come in contact with the stuff regularly because of the life he leads. You need to be there for him, to reassure him that he is doing a good job at staying sober. Those boys out there, as much as they are his friends and are like brothers to him, aren't going to be very helpful to him unless they give up the booze as well. Boundaries and goals, Frankie. You can keep him in line if you are a smart girl.”

The sound of a confused Eden echoed down the hall, asking questions to Curtis.

“You picked a good man Frankie, beneath the problems is a lifetime of devotion and love.”

I smiled softly, remembering his two months of stalking.

“He picked me dad all I did was yell at him.”

Curtis entered the room, followed by Eden. My mother was trailing after them with a look of confusion.

“Are you planning the wedding?”

I shrugged at her, watching as the tension started to build.

“Well you can't do it in such a tiny room darling, come out to the dining room where everyone can help.”

She walked out of the room, followed by Eden and her laptop. My father chuckled with a shake of his head, taking the bottle of whiskey and the glass with him.

Curtis took my hand as we walked a slow pace out of the study.

“Did I tell you that Pete's going to take your apartment until the lease is up?”

“No.” I said rather shocked as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Said he's going home tomorrow, going to apply for the transfer and yeah.” Curtis smiled. “Your brother is pretty cool once you get past the quiet and the gruff nature.”

“That's the cop in him.” I said dryly.

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight as we continued our lazy walk to the dining room. The sound of laughter filling the air was making a pleasant end to a shitty night.

“Can't believe you kept that from me, your father is a freaking supreme court judge.” he chuckled. “And me with my pitiful lawyer brother. Even your mother can blow them out of the water. How come you never said about that little revelation?”

I fluttered my eyes with a coy smile.

“What? That my mother's a court stenographer?”

“Yeah, that's the one. She said that's how they met.”

I nodded, having heard that tale one too many times.

“And still, they didn't care that their little girl ran off to Vegas to be a dancer.”

The pain was still raw, I stopped and pulled him into my arms. His parents were such assholes. How could they not see what damage they had done to him? This life, the music he makes, it makes him happy. Their son's happiness should be their only concern, not what his occupation is.

“Parents want the best for their child, I guess somewhere along the way your parents forgot that happiness counts too.”

He nodded and took my hand, leading me out to the raucous group in the dining room. Apparently our wedding was going to have monkey butlers and topless waitresses. Jaxon and Evan were firing off great ideas as Fraser wrote them all down. A couple of go-go cages in each of the corners by the bridal party table, clothing optional. Elvis was definitely going to marry us and sing to us, the song was still to be decided. There had to be fireworks. That one wasn't so bad I guess, it was certainly better than monkey butlers and topless waitresses.

Apparently it was a great idea that I came in on an elephant until Eden suggested that it was quite possibly too high for me in a dress, that finding an elephant at such short notice wouldn't be easy and that it's mounds of poo would have the guests holding their noses for hours. They thought about it for a moment and agreed that an elephant was a bad idea and settled for a horse. It had to be a female horse, suggesting that a male horse would make Curtis envious.

Curtis and I stood at the entry of the dining room, looking at the mess that was our family. Jerry was talking to my father, El and my mother were chatting and laughing. Poor Eden was trying to subdue the threats of a pole dancer for each table as my brother leaned across with his own terrible suggestions. The guys laughed and added his suggestion, much to Eden's disgust.

“Do you see that Curtis?” I whispered with a grin.

He turned to me with curiosity, smiling back at me.

“What's that babe?”

“A family that loves you.”