Chapter 18 #2
Lafayette Rhodes was a tall man, looking just as acclimated to having height as he looked friendly.
He almost seemed like he had a permanent scowl tattooed on the front of his face.
It wasn’t until he realized that we could see him that his expression changed from one of pointed apathy to one of cautious kindness.
He smoothed out his hands over the pressed white suit that he was wearing.
Bold of a man to wear this much white while traversing a hectic stadium, but I’m sure his dry cleaner absolutely adored him for it.
Veronica Rhodes looked more familiar to me, probably having seen her from television in one way or another, though I couldn’t recall an exact time.
Her blonde hair mimicked her husband’s perfectly, only contrasting by hers being long and tucked back into a messy ponytail while Lafayette’s was short and slicked back with violent intention.
Her green eyes paired well with his blue ones, and she had an admittedly adorable freckle just underneath her eyes that he didn’t, making her instantly more interesting looking.
She did a small squeal when her attention swung away from her husband and was rightly aimed at Van and I. Her verdant eyes shined with a brightness they hadn’t held previously, and it made me think she was genuinely happy to see me approach.
“Alistair Finn,” Veronica said with her high pitched voice, full of saccharine silkiness.
Her satin powder blue dress looked less intentional as her husband’s attire.
She was instantly more personable than him, and it made me give her a warm smile as I stopped to stand in front of her.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to meet us.”
I gave Van a sideways glance, making sure he was still within arm’s reach, just in case.
Van gave me a tight nod, letting me know that he was more than ready.
Once he stood just a foot or two away and folding his arms behind his back, looking every bit of the intimidating bodyguard that I needed him to be in that moment, I returned my attention back to Veronica and Lafayette.
She’d outstretched her hand in way of a greeting, and the only polite thing to do was to grasp her hand and shake it accordingly.
I took a glance at her husband when I did, and something about his stare made me completely uneasy.
It wasn’t that he was looking at me with a glare or giving me a look.
He just seemed…off. Off in a way that I couldn’t put my finger on, and I had to tear myself away from his eyes before I got lost in the enigma of their void.
When I didn’t respond right away, Veronica kept the conversation flowing. “I know you’ve already booked an interview on The Gab, but I’m such a huge fan that I’d hoped to meet you beforehand.”
Lafayette finally stirred from his stoic stance, crossing his arms as he gave his wife a pointed stare.
It seemed affectionate, but I still wasn’t buying it.
“She bought tickets to no less than five of your shows.” He scoffed playfully.
“Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and you just had to have tickets to the hometown Charlotte show—”
“Oh hush,” She giggled, swatting her husband the way she would a pestering fly. I wasn’t swayed he wasn’t some sort of insect in a human suit anyway. “You’re going to make him think I’m sort of deranged fangirl.”
“You are, darling.” Lafayette chuckled, wrapping an arm around his wife so that his arm disappeared behind the small of Veronica’s back. “But it’s one of your many charms.”
Absolutely ignoring the insincere vibe I was getting from Lafayette, I smiled brightly at her. “Thank you so much, I really appreciate you wanting to seek me out. I hope you enjoyed the show.”
“Oh, it was excellent!” She praised, clapping her hands together in a praying stance. “Being able to hear you play this new tour version of Are You Really That Weak? as well as stripping it down closer to the original during the acoustic set was nothing short of paradise.”
I stifled my laugher and shook my head. Okay, Veronica was quite charming. And how could she not be? Praising me and my art was a sure fire way to get into my good graces. But her husband was so…I don’t know. I just didn’t like him, and I had no reason to, other than the ties to his family.
Deciding to play with fire a bit, I decided that little Lafayette needed a poke.
Maybe then I could make heads or tails of him.
“I’m surprised to see you out and about,” I said, directly to him, not even bothering to make eye contact with Veronica.
“You know, with all the bad press surrounding your family.”
I saw something unreadable pass across his face, my words seeming to have hit a nerve. Or, for all I knew, he was restrengthening his wards, because he wasn’t wavering at all like I’d expected. Veronica kept staring between me and her husband, already sensing that the vibe had shifted.
“Ahh, I see Mr. Finn here isn’t too busy to read up on all the family woes we have, dear.” His words indicated that he was speaking to Veronica, but his eyes had yet to leave mine. “Color me surprised.”
“Mr. Finn isn’t necessary.” I scoffed, keeping my stronghold on our stare. “Alistair is just fine.”
“Well then, Alistair,” Hearing my name come out of his mouth was like acid being poured directly into my ears.
It was wrong and twisted and sinister. Sure, he’d delivered it with a bit of a bite, but I felt like I needed a bath just hearing it from him.
“You should know that my wife and I don’t endorse any of the horrible things that my siblings have decided to do with their lives.
” He tilted his head. “We all have houses with dark corners.” Lafayette’s glare narrowed, his pupils looking more like the slits of a snake than human.
I don’t know how, but in that moment, I realized suddenly that he absolutely knew about my mother.
I couldn’t explain it, but I just knew. This man knew my past. “Don’t we? ”
I tensed. He’d hit the nerve that I didn’t allow anyone to strike. Thankfully, Van stepped up. Whether or not it was because he knew this was leading nowhere good or he was just that good at reading me, I’d never know. “Alistair, you have that meeting in five.”
There was no meeting, but I was washed with a sense of relief that Van had saved me with a perfectly poised excuse. I erased whatever animosity from my face and plastered on the fake mask I’d grown accustomed to keeping whenever I was in the presence of people I didn’t want to be anywhere near.
“That’s right.” I said to Van before looking back at Veronica for the first time. “My apologies. Well, thanks again for coming to the show, and I hope you enjoy the future ones as much as you did tonight.”
“Oh for sure!” Veronica pipped up, any indication that her husband and I had had a very intense standoff long forgotten.
“Thank you again for making the time. Your music is incredible and after the show tonight, it’s easy to see why your the hottest name being talked about in music.
Congrats on everything and I’ll see you when you stop by The Gab! ”
I thanked Veronica by giving her a quick hug that she hadn’t been expecting, the adorable sound of her little yelp as she hugged me back making me want to smile. But that was hard to do when her husband was still here.
After coming out of the embrace, I stuck out my hand to him, wanting to regain the power between us. I didn’t want him to think he’d gotten the best of me. He stared down at my outstretched hand before resting his eyes back on mine yet again.
“Thanks for stopping by, Mr. Rhodes.”
Smirking, Lafayette grabbed my hand and squeezed it just a little too tight before shaking it appropriately. “Mr. Rhodes is my father.” He gave me a wink. A fucking wink that made my very spine tingle with fear. “Lafayette is just fine.”
His mimicry of my words caused me to break the physical contact more abruptly than I would have under normal circumstances.
I was rattled, but I tried to not let it show as Lafayette and Veronica took their leave, waving goodbye like the pair of Stepford robots they looked like.
Once they reached a certain point, a security person with the crew began to direct them elsewhere down the hall, finally out of view.
“Are you okay?” Van asked me, stepping closer to me even as I kept staring into the void of where the Rhodes’ had just been.
“I’m fine.” I shook my head, closing my eyes so that I could cleanse the hold they were having on me. When I looked back up at Van, I smiled. His expression told me that he didn’t believe me in the slightest. “Thank you for jumping in. I appreciate the lie.”
“I was worried you were going to deck the asshole.” Van scoffed, chuckling. “I was just trying to avoid having to tackle the man.”
“There’s something wrong with him.” I admitted, feeling safe enough to say as such. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something seriously wrong with Lafayette Rhodes.”