Chapter Twenty-Eight
Gina woke up on the couch to a dark house and the TV asking her if she was still watching. Obviously not. She couldn’t even remember turning it on, and clicked it off. Her six-day stretch at the hospital had been a doozy, and there was no full moon to blame it on.
God, I hate night shift.
This was the day off that didn’t count—the one she spent in a coma.
Matt picked her up from work, and they had breakfast together before he tucked her into bed.
Gina loved how he took care of her. The little things he did, like having a cup of coffee from Stan’s waiting for her in the car or warming a towel for her when she was in the shower.
Out of habit, she got up the first time just as the sun was setting.
That had to have been around four. Matt had her coffee ready and made sure she was fed before he had to meet with Brendan.
The boys put in an offer for Mickey’s Place, and it was accepted.
Understandably, there were many details to iron out; hence, the meeting.
Gina tried to stay awake until he got back home. Truly, she did. She washed her hair and straightened it. Threw in a load of laundry. Cleaned out the old leftovers from the fridge. Anything to keep herself occupied. But somehow she ended up on the damn cloud sofa, and once that happened?
Lights out.
She stretched out her limbs and trudged upstairs to brush her teeth and splash cold water on her face.
Dark circles. Winter’s dry skin. Tired eyes.
Ugh. Matt should come home to someone who at least resembled a human instead of a sleep-deprived zombie, so she dabbed on some tinted moisturizer and glossed her lips too.
She made yet another cup of coffee. Most likely, she’d be up all night now, which wasn’t always a bad thing, especially with Matt beside her. But he kept regular hours, while it took her a day or two to switch back into her normal circadian rhythm.
Hunched over the island, she traced the blue and copper veining in the stone while sipping on the aromatic brew. Sensing a presence behind her, she turned around to see Sloan leaning against the wall.
“Hey there, Trouble.”
“Matt’s not here.”
“I know,” he said, strolling toward her. “I’m here to see you.”
“Me, why?”
“Make me a cup of coffee. Actually, never mind.” He got a bottle of whiskey out of the liquor cabinet. “This calls for something stronger. We need to have a little chat.”
The hell?
“About what?”
“You.” Taking the bottle and a glass in one hand, Sloan took a seat on the middle cushion of the too-comfortable cloud couch. “C’mon, sit down.”
Gina just stood and shook her head. “I’ll fall asleep again if I do.”
“Not with me, you won’t,” he said with a wink and pulled her down to sit beside him. “I hardly ever sleep.”
“How come?”
“I’m a gaming addict.” Laughing it off, Sloan shrugged. “Better than heroin, right?”
What an odd thing to say.
“How come there isn’t a ring on this finger yet, hmm?” He took her left hand, studying it, and softly kissed her palm. “When I know Matt popped the question.”
“He told you?”
“I knew he was planning on it, silly girl, and when you showed up on Thanksgiving with your finger bare, I got it out of him.” The blue eyes staring into her soul were almost as bloodshot as hers. “What the fuck is spinning inside that pretty little head of yours?”
“I didn’t say no.”
“But you didn’t say yes, either.”
“I wanted to, but…” At a loss for words, Gina gnawed on her lip.
“You are trouble.” With his fingers going through her hair, Sloan combed the freshly washed strands. “I can assure you, Matt is not bisexual—not in the usual sense, anyway. I mean, it’s no secret he’s fucked a dude on occasion, so technically, he fits the definition, but he’s not, you know?”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
“What is it then?”
“Kit.” And she placed her hand on top of his, halting the perusal of his fingers.
“Oh, him.” He waved away her concern. “He’s… fucked up. I don’t know where his head’s at lately.”
“But they love each other, Sloan.” The looks. The intimate touches. “I saw it with my eyes, and I know you did too.”
“We all love each other, Trouble.” The tip of his finger traced a slow path down the hollow of her throat to her breast. “And we have for a very long time. You think everyone would put up with me if they didn’t?”
“I see through you, Sloan Michaels.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Gina sat back. “I don’t know why you pretend to be such an asshole because you’re really not.”
“Figured me out, huh?” Chuckling, he poured himself a hefty shot of whiskey, slammed it back, and then his hands were holding her face. “Matt loves you.”
I know.
“I told Matt he should fuck Kit.” She wet her lips. “I encouraged him to, actually.”
“Why?” His eyebrow arched, and that smirk turned into a devious grin. “You wanna watch?”
“No, because I need him to be sure.”
His head tilting to the side, he let her go. “Suppose they did, and they wanted to be together, could you love them both?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“Are you looking for someone to wash your sins away, or do you want permission to embrace them?” He rose from couch and stood in front of her. “Because you sure loved playing with him.”
“And you.”
“Well, I’m right here, Trouble.” Holding her chin, he swept his thumb over her lips. “Should you and Matt ever want to play again.”
Matt agreed to this evening’s meeting only because he knew Gina needed her rest. She would have forced herself to stay awake otherwise, and she was beyond exhausted when he picked her up at the hospital this morning.
When he left, she was eating the Thai he ordered, and knowing Gina as well as he did, she was fast asleep on the couch by now.
He sat on a black leather sofa in Brendan’s office at the club, going over contracts that might as well have been written in Greek because he sure as shit didn’t understand what they said, and Matt wasn’t stupid by any means.
It kept the suits busy in their swank high-rise offices downtown, he supposed.
Whatever, man.
The only reason he needed to be here was to hand over the check. If Brendan and Phil said everything looked good, then it was. He trusted them implicitly.
“I drew up a new LLC for the property.” Okay, he knew what that was. Venery formed a corporate entity for the studio and their indie label, Euphonia Records. “This way, the band and the club are separate entities—for tax and liability purposes.”
“Gotcha.” He tossed the stack of paper onto the table in front of him. “Is that what all this gibberish says?”
“Pretty much,” Phil said with a polished grin. Why do all lawyers look the same? Starched shirts and silk ties so tight around the collar that they had to be cutting off oxygen. “And now that the contract’s been accepted, I’ll need a check for the remainder of the escrow deposit.”
Matt patted his breast pocket. “I’ve got fifty k right here.”
Insane. Considering there was a time when he couldn’t have come up with fifty cents.
“And here’s ours,” Brendan said, scribbling out a check. The Byrne cousins were partnering with them.
“They want to close in thirty days. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Financing is taken care of.”
“Excellent. Then, you’re all set.” And after returning the documents to his briefcase, the attorney stood. “Well, gentlemen, I’ve got to get home to the wife, but I’ll let the seller’s side know you made escrow.”
“Thanks, Phil.”
“Anytime,” he said, shaking their hands. “I’ll be seeing you.”
While Brendan saw him out, Matt made himself a drink.
They just handed over a hundred grand like it was peanuts, and in the grand scheme of things, it was because they’d have millions into this thing before the doors ever opened.
He swallowed the whiskey, reminding himself that their plan was a good one, and the investment was sound.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Right.
“All right, my brother.” And Brendan poured a drink of his own. “It’s time for us to get to work. We’ll start with the interior demo in February.”
We? Matt glanced down at hands that hadn’t seen manual labor in years.
“We’ve got people who do that, you goof. Jesse has a crew lined up already.” With a shake of his head, he swallowed the shot. “But we’ll have plenty of other things to do that would require everyone’s input, like building plans, branding, a name. Anybody come up with one yet?”
“Nope.” They’d been tossing names around, but nothing they’d come up with so far had hit quite right.
“We’ve got time,” Brendan said, adding another shot of whiskey to each glass. “UMG sent your dates over a little while ago.”
“Yeah?” Though at this point, Matt had a pretty good estimation of the timeline.
“The album is going to come out on Friday, May third, but they want to drop a few songs starting in March.”
It’s always on a Friday.
“Told ya, didn’t I?”
“You were right.” They clinked glasses and drank. “Your new producer will be here in January to record.”
“I was good with the one we had, but hey, it’s their dime.”
And UMG had no qualms about spending it.
They installed new recording equipment in their studio just last week.
World-class. All the latest technology. But the best part was they’d be recording at home, where they were most comfortable, the familiarity of the Park Place studio reminiscent of those days in Bo’s basement.
“You’re slotted for Germany and Download in June.” He knew that. The festivals were announced months ago. “Then, you get July to rest up. Tour starts August first, here in Chicago. They’ll announce it in January, and tickets will go on sale in March after the first track drops.”
That didn’t leave him much time. Matt wanted a wedding ring on Gina’s finger long before the tour started.
“I’m gonna need my own bus, dude, because Gina’s going with me.”
“Figured as much.” He winked. “Already taken care of.”
Thank fuck.
“How long?”
Brendan just stared at him, his eyebrows squishing together.
“The tour.”
“Three months,” he said, his deep voice unusually soft. “Fifty-six dates over fourteen weeks, and no more than two shows in a row, as per your contract.”
“Yeah, well, okay.”
“Katelyn and I will be there with you.” He squeezed his shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go home.”
The club was already vibing when they descended the grand stairs—early for a Wednesday night. Funny how the place held little appeal for him these days. Everything he’d ever wanted was waiting for him at home.
Poor dude.
Teo sat alone at the bar. After learning how Tony did his brother dirty, Brendan comped him a membership, so he wasn’t alarmed to see him, but beyond the bar, on a lounge chair in the corner, sat Luca swapping spit with…
Holy shit! Is that Kevin Cofield?
Yup, sure is.
“What the fuck are they doing in here?”
Looking up from his drink, Teo glanced over to the corner and shrugged. “Isn’t that kind of obvious?”
“What I mean is, how did they get in?” Matt asked, trying to remain calm.
Brendan would blow a gasket if Teo somehow got them in. Axel kept security pretty tight here. There was no way they’d make it past the red double doors.
“I dunno.” And he shrugged again. “They were going to Charley’s.”
“Wanna bet Kevin snuck them in through the kitchen?” A tick appeared in Brendan’s jaw. “Smart-ass kid thinks he knows all the tricks. I’ll handle this.”
That had to be it. The cousins owned both establishments, and Charley’s provided the food served at the club. There was a red-painted service hallway that connected the two.
“Sorry, bro. I had no clue they were gonna do that.” Teo shook his head as they watched Brendan exchange words with his wife’s younger brother. “It’s not like they needed someplace to go.”
That’s right. Kevin had the loft above Beanie’s all to himself now, didn’t he?
“It’s not your fault, T, but they’re not old enough to be in here.” He looked glummer than Kit, and that was saying something. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah.” And then, he perked up. “Hey, Gina tells me you guys are gonna open up a club. That’s pretty cool.”
“You know where Mickey’s Place used to be?” Matt smiled with him when he nodded. “We bought the building. It’s going to be a venue for live music once we’re done renovating it.”
“Food?”
“Of course—on all three levels and a rooftop bar, too.”
“You think maybe I can help run the place when you open, so I don’t have to work with Tony anymore?”
The way Teo said it nearly broke his heart. Matt wasn’t privy to all the details of what went down between him and his brother, but he knew enough. There’s a bro code for a reason, and thinking with his dick, Tony broke it.
“Is it that bad?”
He didn’t answer, but his face said it all.
“We’ll talk some more when the time comes, okay?” Matt placed a brotherly arm around him. Teo was his family now, too. “But if that’s what you need to do, you’ve got a place with us.”
“Thanks, man.” Then, his eyes went wide. “Cazzo! Here they come.”
Not appearing contrite at all, Kevin protested, gesturing wildly with his hands. Obviously, they were in the middle of quite a conversation. “But I need to learn everything I can about the lifestyle, so I can manage the club for you someday.”
“Everything?” The telltale tick in his jaw still ticked. Brendan was livid.
“Yeah, I fucking love girls, but I love Luca, too.” In an exaggerated huff, Kevin blew out a breath. “Why are you so surprised I’m bi?”
Color me surprised, kid, but I don’t think that’s what the big guy here is pissed off about.
“I am too,” Luca said proudly. “And poly.”
“You’re barely twenty, for fuck’s sake,” Matt shouted. Still a kid. “You don’t even know what that is.”
“Yes, I do. I love Kevin.” Then, as if to prove it, Luca kissed him. “For real and forever.”
“And one day we hope we can find a girl who’ll love us like Chloe loves Jesse and Tay,” Kevin added.
“Or maybe we’ll meet two bi chicks and all four of us can be together,” Luca said in all seriousness.
Kevin responded with a high-five. “Yeah, I could get down with that.”
Oh, boy.
Matt could just see the shitshow that was surely coming. “Does your sister know all this?”
“Does she need to?” Luca cocked his head, evidently offended. “Yeah, she knows.”
“Katie knows, too. I tell her everything.” Arm in arm, Kevin took up his boyfriend’s side.
Brendan sighed. “C’mon, Kev, you’re nineteen.”
“Yeah, and my sister was eighteen when she fell in love with you.”
Valid point, but this situation had disaster written all over it.
“So, will you teach me?”
“And me.”
Matt called the bartender over and asked for a shot.
“I can’t let you work here until you’re twenty-one,” Brendan said, softening, the tick in his jaw now gone. “In the meantime, if you’re both serious, there are books you can read and workshops you can attend.”
Teo glanced at him. “Mama’s gonna shit.”
Matt downed his whiskey.
“I know.”