Chapter 124

“Hey,” Ava greeted Allegra, slouching down in a chair next to her at the kitchen table.  It was early Saturday afternoon, and Allegra had been steadily working at her computer for most of the day.

The last two weeks had gone incredibly well for Allegra due to, she knew, a lot of hard work on Richie’s part.  Ever since the Family Dinner from Hell, he had made every effort to ensure that her life was as pleasant as possible.  Not to say they hadn’t had disagreements, because they had – the biggest of which was the new state-of-the-art laptop that was sitting before her.

When they’d arrived back in California, Richie had promptly put feelers out to find what he called a ‘puter tutor, that would allow her to move forward with the computer training she wanted to do.  It turned out that Carmen’s nephew, Brandon, had just completed his third year as a Computer Science major at UCLA and had some spare time on his hands, so Richie hired him to work with Allegra while they were in town.

At their first meeting, Brandon said that her laptop was perfectly fine.  A little later in the conversation he clarified, saying that it was fine for what they were going to do in the next few weeks, but mentioned that she might want to upgrade at some point.

Of course, out of that, all Richie heard was ‘upgrade’ and immediately wanted to go out and find the best computer money could buy – despite Allegra’s repeated protests that it wasn’t necessary.

“Richie, I don’t have a job and very little money.  It’s killing me that you’re pretty much my sole support at the moment, but I’ve kept those reservations to myself.  Please don’t make it worse by buying me things I don’t need.”

“Sunshine, I’m well aware of how graciously you’re dealing with this, and I’m thankful.  BUT…”  He lifted his finger and gave her a stern look.  “It’s not like I’m out there buying you diamonds, furs and all that shit.  This is an investment in your future.   I have no idea what the plans for your newfound knowledge are, but if you don’t have a way to showcase it, why bother?”

And that was that.  It was logic she couldn’t refute, and she would simply view it as a gateway to earning potential.  She was still determined to make her own way.

There hadn’t been opportunity for many more disagreements considering the crazy schedule he was trying to maintain while at home.  His phone was always ringing with a work-related call from Jon or Nikki – mostly Nikki – more often than not requiring him to run to this fabric supplier or that showroom to offer an opinion or talk Nikki off some figurative ledge.  It kept him from bed until the wee hours of the morning, when he would crawl in beside her, exhausted. 

Regardless of how tired he was, Richie would cuddle up with her, coaxing her awake so that they could make love before he succumbed to sleep for a few short hours and started the cycle all over again.

It was starting to take its toll on him, evidenced by the pronounced frown lines and the puffiness around his eyes.  Concerned that this would morph into another pre-LA fashion show meltdown, Allegra had spoken to him about it just this morning, asking if Nikki had to have him at her beck and call every time she got a wild hair up her ass.  Of course, she’d done it a little more tactfully than that.

“Honey, are all of Nikki’s questions and calls to you time-sensitive?”   She’d broached the subject from the comfort of the oversize bed while he pulled yet another White Trash Beautiful t-shirt over his head, this one black. 

Morning sickness was still mysteriously absent, but the fatigue was taking its toll, making it harder and harder to get out of bed.  She fervently wished her body would get used to its new passenger already, but he had been wonderfully tolerant, waking her only after his morning shower each day so that she could get ready for Brandon’s visit to the house. 

He looked up through his overlong bangs, moving to extract a pair of black loafers from the closet.  “What do you mean?”

She shrugged in an effort to appear indifferent.  “You know, all the calls she makes that have you jumping here and there.  Are they all crisis circumstances that need your immediate attention to keep things afloat?”

Richie focused on stepping into his shoes, staring at his feet for a long time after they’d been safely encased in the supple leather.  Allegra had a fleeting concern that her question made him mad. 

“No,” he finally sighed, shoulders slumping and running a tired hand through his hair.  “I think she’s so excited about going international – which I’m completely psyched about too – that she’s going nuts over every little thing.  As a matter of fact, I think most of this stuff would probably resolve itself if she would give it five minutes.”

The façade was starting to slip.  He wasn’t doing quite so well at pretending everything was great, and a pang of sympathy had her flipping the covers back so that she could stand with him in the center of the room.

“You think you could maybe mention that to her?”  She brushed his now messy hair back from his forehead.  He was a handsome man under any circumstances, but getting opportunity to see his whole face, forehead included, was a special treat she indulged in when he would allow.  Most times when she bared the upper part of his face, he’d withdraw, shaking his head to settle his hair back in its assigned spot.

This wasn’t one of those times.  He allowed her to smooth the faint furrows from his brow with her tender touch massaging away the building tension that had settled there.   Heavy arms draped around her waist, and he shook his head regretfully.

“As much as I’d like to, I just can’t make myself do it.  She’s just a kid and I’m afraid to stifle her creative energy with that kind of negativity.”

“Sweetie, it doesn’t have to be negative,” she chided, cupping his bristly jaw and scraping the whiskers with her thumbnail.  He hadn’t shaved for a couple of days and the scruff was providing a sexy change of pace for her.  “You just can’t stand the thought of being the source of anyone’s unhappiness.”

He just chuckled and kissed her fondly.  “As long as you, Ava and the munchkin are happy, I’m happy.”

As unwilling as he was to admit it, she knew there was more than a grain of truth to what she’d said.  Richie was a peacemaker, no matter what the cost.  It would take a little time and thought, but Allegra would make sure Nikki got the picture somehow.

“Yeah, we need to talk about that too.  I’m starting to dream about flying monkeys.”  She shuddered in his arms.  “Can’t you find something else to call the baby?  Something that won’t give me nightmares?”

He graced her with a genuine laugh at that, and nuzzled at her neck, cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West.  “Mwahahahahaha!  What’s the matter, my pret-ty?  Don’t you like flying monkeys?  Afraid the baby will come out with a big ole set of wings?”

Her giggles fell silent and an internal cloud cast a shadow in her eyes.  “I guess we don’t really know what the baby might come out with,” she remarked neutrally before gripping his forearms.  “I’m starting to think we should have the paternity test.  What if there is something wrong with the baby?  Shouldn’t we know in advance that there’s a huge question mark in the family medical history column?”

But Richie refused to discuss it.  He remained adamant that it didn’t matter and there was no foreseeable benefit to a paternity test, only the potential for heartache.  His final word on the matter was that this baby was his child – just like Ava.

Speaking of Ava…

“Hello yourself,” she returned, coming back to the present and greeting the dejected girl before her.  “Why so glum, sweetie?”

Ava huffed in the way only a pre-teen girl can – pulling the oxygen from every cell in her body, down to and including the cuticles on her toenails.  “Daddy was supposed to take me to The Grove so we could have lunch and I could get some stuff, but he says he’s too busy right now.”

“Oh, well I’m sure he’ll free up in a little bit.  I know how much he loves having lunch with you.”

Richie coveted their daddy/daughter lunches on the weekends.  He told her that was when he got the chance to reconnect with Ava and catch up with her world.  It was the time when he could stop being a celebrity and got to be just Daddy. 

The first weekend in LA, he’d been hesitant to leave Allegra behind, but she had insisted.  These were cherished moments that Ava would look back on as an adult, and Allegra was hopeful that he would forge a similar tradition with the new baby when the time came.

“No,” Ava lamented with another toe-deep sigh.  “He says things are crazy right now, and we’ll try to go at least once more before Europe, but it won’t be today.”

Allegra’s mouth puckered as though there were a bad taste in it.  The time had come to deal with Nikki’s neediness and it obviously had to be from someone besides Richie.  A grown woman wasn’t going to take precedence over his daughter without a damn good reason.

“Ava, why don’t you go on up to your room for now?  Let me talk to your dad and see what I can work out, okay?” 

Blue eyes looked intrigued and hopeful.  “You think you can?  Daddy doesn’t usually change his mind.”

Allegra smiled encouragingly, putting the lid down on her laptop with a click of resolve.  “Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask, anyway.  I’ll come find you after I talk to him.”

Shuffling the girl off to her room, Allegra went in search of Richie.  Not that it was hard.  He spent most of his days lately holed up in the office.

Through the open door she could see his dark head bent over the laptop, a scowl on his face and the fingers of his left hand curled around his iPhone.  Knocking softly, she stepped into his private domain and doggedly kept her frustration in check.  “Richie, do you have a minute?”

His dark eyes flicked to her, face immediately relaxing into an easy smile.  “Sure baby, what’s up?” he asked, tilting his head until she could hear faint cracking from his neck. 

Positioning herself behind the big desk chair he was occupying, she guided her fingers under the soft hair covering his neck and massaged with deliberate care.

“Oh baby, that feels so good,” he groaned, tipping forward to give her better access.

“You’re working too hard,” she noted quietly, fingers crawling along his scalp and applying a recurrent pressure as they traveled upward.  “When are you going to talk to Nikki?”

He sighed deeply, evidently having learned well at the pedicured feet of his daughter.  “I can’t.”

“You can.  You have to.”

“Why do I have to?”

Allegra leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on his puzzled brow.  “Because it’s interfering with the limited family time you get with your daughter.  She was really looking forward to today’s daddy/daughter outing.”

He wilted back in the chair, reaching out to mutely guide her into his lap.  “I know,” he said once she was settled.  “And I hate it, but it’s better not to go than to be interrupted a thousand times.  It’s not fair to her.”

“And this is?  Richie you need the break and Ava-time as much as she needs Daddy-time.  Talk to Nikki.  Let me talk to her.  I can make her understand,” she assured him with a wicked grin.

His chest rumbled under her with masculine laughter.  “I have no doubt, baby, but I still have to work with this woman afterward.”

“I know that.  Don’t you remember how nice I was to that bitchy chef in Hawaii?  I can play the role when I have to.”

“Yeah, but that bitchy chef was poaching on the man you wanted.”

She grinned at him from within his possessive hug.  “But I didn’t know I wanted that man at the time,” she reminded him.  “Let me talk to her.”

The phone took that cue to begin its vibrating shimmy against the surface of the desk.  Looking over, she made out Nikki’s name about the time Richie’s huff blew her through her ponytail.

“Please?  You take such amazing care of me.  Give me the chance to do something for you.”

“You do stuff for me every night.”  His husky drawl sent tingles down her spine, and she dove for the phone before he could distract her from the mission at hand.   He was way too good at distractions.

Asking silently one last time with the quirk of a brow, she received his reluctant acquiescence.

“Hey Nikki!” Allegra chirped cheerfully, causing him to roll his eyes and make a gagging gesture. 

Scrambling to her feet, she smacked his thigh as she moved to the loveseat on the opposite wall.  “I stole Richie’s phone so I could talk to you for a minute.  How have you been?” 

She paused nodding as she listened. 

“I know you and Richie are both excited about the London show, and you’re trying to cram as much work in as you can while he’s available.  But here’s the thing Doll – this is supposed to be his break from work.  A chance for him to rest, recover and relax.  You know, spend some time with Ava and get grounded again.  It’s been a real challenge for him the last couple of weeks, and I think he looks more tired now than he did when he got home.”

Richie gave her a look that asked “Really?” but she wordlessly flapped her hand at him to hush.

“I realize how vital he is to what you’re doing, but do you think that he could check in with you two or three times a day instead of you having to call him so often?  That way you’ll have a chance to organize everything that needs his attention and it will save you both some time.  Yeah.  Mid-morning, in the afternoon sometime and maybe once again in the evening?  Aww, you’re such a gem!  I told Richie you’d understand.   He’ll call you later on, okay Doll?   Buh-bye!”

During the latter part of her conversation, he’d snuck up behind her, arms banding around her midriff, lips softly dancing over the nape of her neck. 

“Doll?  Gem?  Buh-bye?  What the fuck was that?” he chuckled bemusedly in her ear. 

Allegra leaned back against the hard wall of his chest with a smug smile of satisfaction, fingers petting at the light dusting of hair covering his forearms.   “Hey, I was trying to speak her language – and it worked.  Now go get your girl and forget about everything else for a while.”

“Like I could forget about you.”  He spun her around, claiming her lips in the softest of kisses, tongue sweeping inside with a tenderness that turned her knees to water.  “I love you,” he breathed against her mouth.

“You do, huh?  I’m not just a charitable contributions writeoff then?” she teased, licking at his sultry bottom lip with a grin. 

A sharp pinch to her bottom had her squealing, and he took her open mouth as invitation to deepen the kiss.  Their bodies melded together as the all-too familiar heat began to simmer between them.

“So this is why you can’t take Ava to the mall?  You’re too busy screwing around with your live-in?”

“Fuck,” he cursed, holding Allegra steady as they untangled themselves.  She was startled at the unexpected voice with its accompanying venom, and Richie held her hand tightly as they both turned to face its owner.

“Heather, what the hell are you doing in my house?”