Forty-Nine

They would their way through the various corridors, which Allegra thought of as back alleyways, out of the sight of most of the casino guests.  Their destination was an exclusive suite in the tower of the MGM Grand, overlooking the spotlighted golden lion perched outside the casino.  As exclusive as it was reputed to be, from Allegra’s perspective, the suite bulged to capacity before she stepped foot inside with Richie.

“Good grief, there must be hundreds of people here,”  she marveled.  “Isn’t there a fire code or something?”

Richie chuckled, guiding her inside with a well-placed hand in the small of her back.  “Certain things become… overlooked when there are enough well-known names floating around.  Would you like a glass of wine?”  He gestured toward the corner of the suite, where she could see a bartender serving a variety of beverages.

“Yes, please.  I’ll come with you though.  If I don’t we may never find each other again,” she joked.

He grasped her smaller hand in his, pulling her behind him.  “I’ll find you,” he assured her with a wink and a dimpled grin.

It was much like it had been all day, where he’d barely let her out of his sight.  Even at sound check, he’d asked her to stay and listen.  She wondered at it, but shook off the questions, accepting it at face value.  With only today and part of tomorrow, she didn’t have an interest in being anyplace he wasn’t.  They’d be separated again soon enough.

The bartender smiled in greeting, when they finally made their way across the room and edged up to the bar.  “What can I get you folks?”

“Merlot for the lady, and I’ll have a club soda with lime,” Richie ordered, arching an eyebrow at her in question. 

She nodded her approval, and let her gaze wander over the guests as they waited for their drinks .  Surprisingly, there was a face over by the window that triggered recognition.  Opening her mouth to ask Richie about it, she instead squealed at the strong arms enfolding her firmly from behind. 

“Dammit Lemma, you’ve got your own woman.  Keep your hands off mine,”  Richie grumbled playfully.

Twirling, she could see that it was, indeed, David who’d briefly held her captive.  “David!”  She threw herself into his arms, squeezing him tightly and burying her face in his neck. 

“Or maybe I need to tell HER that,” he amended.  “Allegra… remember me?”

“She can’t help her reaction to a real man,” David spoke over her shoulder as he returned her embrace.  “After two days with you, she’s craving the testosterone I’m oozing.”

Allegra put her lips to David’s ear, speaking quietly.  “He has more testosterone than any three men, sweetie, and he knows what to do with it.”

David jerked away from her abruptly, waving his hands as though she’d given him cooties.  “Jesus Christ, Legs! TMI! I didn’t fuckin’ need to know that!  Lexi, hold me!”

Lexi pretended to be concerned when he flung himself at her, patting him gently on the back.  “Oh, you poor baby...  Did Richie’s shadow scare you again?”

That earned her a nasty scowl and pout from her fiancé.  “Hey!  Whose side are you on, anyway?”

Her fingers reached up, snagging one of his curls for a quick tug.  “Oh please.  You couldn’t have passed it up either.  What did she say anyway?”  Lexi sought Allegra’s eyes in question.

Allegra just smirked, sliding her arm around Richie’s waist, and he looked down at her inquisitively.  “What DID you say, Sunshine?”

“I was extolling your male virtues,”  she said with a angelic smile.

Lexi and Richie both laughed, now understanding David’s reaction.  He, however, was still not amused – or at least pretending not to be. 

“Fine, fine.   Let’s move on, shall we?  If I’m going to hang out with you two at this shindig, then I can’t be thinking about HIS male virtues.”  David gave a shudder.

“Lemma, I tell you what,” Richie offered, draping his arm around David’s shoulder.  “Why don’t we leave the ladies here and go do the bullshit promoter rounds?  Then I can tell you ALLLLL about my maleness.  You can take notes if you want.”

David groaned dramatically, but allowed himself to be steered away from Lexi and Allegra, with only one pitiful look cast over his shoulder. 

“How do you keep your sanity around his IN-sanity?”  Allegra asked Lexi with a look of perplexity.

“Believe it or not, he realizes there’s a time and a place for his particular brand of insanity.  He’s the comic relief, and enjoys it to the fullest, but when it’s time to be serious?  Well, there’s no one I’d rather have by my side,”  she said with a tender smile, turning to Allegra.  “They all have their roles in the band, you know?”

“I do, but I’d be curious to hear what you think the dividing lines are.”

“Well…  Jon is obviously the forward momentum.  He keeps them active, relevant and working.  David’s comic relief,  Tico’s the voice of reason, and Hugh is background guy – quietly stable.”

Allegra agreed with Lexi’s assessment so far.  “And Richie?” 

“Richie tries to be everything to everybody, and does a pretty good job of it.”  She paused before going on.  “But he’s really there to take care of Jon.  Whether Jon admits it or not.”

Nodding, Allegra didn’t comment.  She hadn’t thought about it a lot, but it made sense in her head, when she sifted through the memories she had of him.  Richie was a natural nurturer, and he doted on those he cared about, doing things to make them smile, while Jon was a problem solver.  He just tried to force everything into the way it was ‘supposed’ to be.    

She refused to allow it as an excuse for the way he’d treated her yesterday morning though.  He could learn to be different if he wanted to.

♫♫♫♫

Jon caught Richie’s eye from across a small group of people and tipped his chin toward a quiet spot in the corner.  Richie flashed his dimples and inclined his head slightly.  Good.  Allegra still wasn’t speaking to him, and he wasn’t letting her leave Vegas until they’d settled things between them.  He’d known this was going to take more than a little charm when she’d barely acknowledged Chapel of Love tonight – to him, anyway.  Richie and Dave she’d fucking laughed and giggled with over it. 

“Hey, Bro, what’s up?”  Rich slung his arm around Jon’s neck familiarly. 

I can’t believe he’s not pissed at me over upsetting her.  Is it possible that she didn’t tell him?

“Hey, man.”  Jon downed the rest of his scotch in a single gulp and dropped the glass on a passing waiter’s tray.  “I want you and Allegra to have brunch with me and Dot in the morning.  Come to our suite about eleven.”

“Yeah?”  Dark eyes couldn’t quite pin down the blue ones darting around the crowd.  “Not that I don’t appreciate the invite, but why?”

Jon snagged a fresh drink from another server, who was circling the room like a shark, and lied through his teeth.  “I just want to spend some time with her before they all go home.  I haven’t talked to her much, and want to catch up on how the job search is going and all that.”

“Speaking of talking, what the hell happened yesterday?  I know she’s pissed at you, but every time I ask about it, she changes the subject.”

“You know how our tempers clash over every little thing.  Just come for brunch.”  This wasn’t the time or place to confess his sins.  There were too many photographers and cell phone cameras floating through the party to risk Richie’s anger right now.  They’d deal with it privately, just like they always did.

♫♫♫♫

“Well hello there gorgeous.”

The voice in her ear prompted Allegra to turn from the bartender, who was pouring her another glass of wine.  Meeting the man’s gaze with an arched eyebrow, she vaguely recalled Lexi telling her he was some kind of magician, or something.  He’d caught her eye in the crowd earlier with a smile, but she’d pretended not to see.

He was looking her up and down with a predatory gleam in his eyes, and Allegra realized that Richie wasn’t the only one who liked her boots with a tight pair of jeans.  She was grateful that she’d chosen to wear a more modest black off-the-shoulder sweater instead of the chain tank and leather jacket that exposed her cleavage.

Flipping her hair behind her shoulder, she regarded the man with a look of disinterest.  “Do I know you?”

“Not yet, but I hope to know you VERY well, if you get my meaning.”  His hand glanced her bottom as he moved to rest it familiarly in the lower curve of her back.  “I’m Criss.”

“Well, Chris, if you don’t get your hand off my ass, you’re going to be known as Stumpy.”

“Now don’t be that way, sweetheart.  Tell me your name,”  he encouraged with a smile.

He was a nice looking man, and despite the bold moves, he wasn’t giving her creepy vibes. Under other circumstances, she would be flattered at the attention.

“My name is Richie Sambora’s girlfriend,” she informed him with a cool smile.

To his credit, he immediately dropped his hand and slightly widened the space between them.  “Damn Sambora,” he grumbled.  “He gets all the beautiful women.”

With a laugh, she told him, “I seriously doubt you have any trouble getting women, but I will take that as a compliment – which, I’m sure, is what you intended.” 

“Hell yes, it was!  But I should’ve known that any new face of interest would have a musician waiting for her in the wings.  I should’ve stuck with the guitar a little longer,” he sighed with a wink.  “No offense intended, sweetheart.”

“None taken,” she assured him.

He swiveled his head slowly, obviously searching for someone in the crowd.

“Moving on to new prey?”

The sarcastic tone of her voice drew his eyes back to hers with a grin.  “I like you, Richie Sambora’s girlfriend, but no.  I’m not moving on to new prey, I was looking for your man.  I can’t believe he’d leave you unattended with a hundred men like me wandering around.”

“He’s working, and my friend just went to the ladies’ room.  I’m well taken care of.”

“Well, how about I just keep you company until your friend comes back?  It’s refreshing to find someone who isn’t starstruck or drunk off their ass at one of these gigs.”

“I might be starstruck if I knew who any of these people were,”  she told him with a chuckle.  “I’m out of the loop in the world of celebrity gossip.”

“Well, we can’t have that!  Let me catch you up…”  He leaned in close and spent the next twenty minutes pointing out the who’s who among the partygoers, and filling her in on their stories.  Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graff, Drew Carey were the few names she could remember, and she didn’t know if what he was telling her was truth or fiction, but he had her completely enamored with the tales he was spouting.

Spotting the man she’d recognized earlier, Allegra pointed.  “Wasn’t he in a show with a talking car back in the late seventies/early eighties?”

“You are definitely out of the loop, sweetheart!  Yeah, that’s David Hasselhoff, but lately he’s more famous for Baywatch and America’s Got Talent.  And just generally being a groupie whore,” he added with a laugh.

Just then, a mane of overly blonde hair caught her eye, and she focused in on it just in time to witness a scantily clad woman wrap Richie in a python-like hug and plant a sloppy kiss on his mouth.  She looked as though her face may crack with a smile.

“Who’s that?”  She pointed at the woman, now clutching Richie’s arm as though she needed his strength to even stand.

“Ahhh, I can see the green aura surrounding you quite clearly,” he teased.  “That’s Nikki Lund.  She’s in the music business, but I hear she’s got a fashion line going, too.”

Eyes fixated on the obvious intimacy between the two of them, she replied absently.  “Yeah, she’s working on a line with Richie.”

“Uh-oh.  Want me to help you make HIM jealous?” he offered with a waggle of his eyebrows.

She grinned and pretended to consider his offer, tapping her finger thoughtfully on her chin before shaking her head in refusal.  “Nahhh.  I’m not going to play those games.  He either wants me, or he doesn’t.  It’s that simple.  But thanks, anyway.”  She finally turned and focused her attention back on the man at her side. 

“Damn,” he said softly, respect evident in his eyes.  “I hope he knows what a treasure you are.”

She snorted lightly.  “I’m a just a girl.”

“Criss Angel!  Trust you to be huddled up with the most beautiful woman in the room.”  Jon clapped the younger man on the back in a familiar greeting, before leaning in to brush Allegra’s cheek with a kiss.  “Hey, babydoll.”

Criss noticed the stiffening of his new friend’s spine at the gesture, but didn’t comment.  “Yeah, I’m just working out how to make Sambora disappear in my next show.”

Jon threw his head back in an exaggerated laugh.  “See?  You’ve got the men swooning at your feet,” he told Allegra.

He should have been left bleeding in the floor, her eyes cut him so deeply.  “I wonder what’s happened to Lexi?  If you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I’ll go find her. Chris, thanks for keeping me company,” she said with a genuine smile.  “It was nice meeting you.”  With that, she turned and stepped into the flow of traffic moving around the room.

“Allegra!”  Jon called after her retreating form, to no avail.  The crowd had swallowed her up in seconds, and he was left to drop his head with a frustrated growl.   “Bartender?  Jameson’s neat,” he barked.

Criss looked at him with interest.  “Allegra?  Is that her name?” 

Jon nodded. 

“Well, Allegra obviously doesn’t like you, man.”