Chapter 140

Richie pushed his head into the sleeveless purple t-shirt he would wear onstage.  It was one of his favorites, with the peace symbol bedazzled on the front – at least that’s how he still described it to himself.  Allegra had asked him in Paris, after wondering for some time, why he had a Mercedes symbol splashed across his chest when he didn’t drive a Mercedes.  Turned out the damn thing was missing a line and he’d never paid that much attention.

Shaking his head, he justified that he was still supporting his clothing line and it was comfortable.  Nobody had to know it was never intended to advertise luxury cars.

Although it seemed like his clothing line was getting its share of support.  The show this evening had gone unbelievably well.  How the disaster from this morning had turned into a flawless event was no less than astounding.  He only regretted that he didn’t even get the chance to speak to Allegra at the show.  He’d seen her across the room a couple of times, laughing and talking to someone – the crowd was such that he couldn’t see who it was – but he’d been kept so busy hopping from one person to the next, he couldn’t get close to her.

The dressing room door banged open with no warning and Jon sauntered in, making himself comfortable.

“Your fashion gig went good,” he complimented, crossing his ankles on the coffee table that sat in front of the black leather sofa.  The set up was almost identical to his dressing room.  “Steph was happy as a clam to be strutting down that runway.  Thank God she said she doesn’t want to make a living of it though.”

“She was a knockout.  I’m glad you decided to let her do it.”  Richie dropped next to Jon on the sofa, relishing the few moments before they needed to get to down business.  He hadn’t gotten to rehash the show with anyone yet and was still riding a bit of an adrenaline high.  “She made the clothes look good.”

“That she did,” Jon agreed, rubbing his hand across his jawline, absently thinking that he should have shaved again.  “Thanks for brushing up on her song for tonight.”

“Aw man, that’s no problem.  I was glad to do it.  I’m looking forward to seeing how the crowd reacts.”

Jon looked at his friend from the corner of his eye, debating on whether he should risk the wrath of his wife.  She’d instructed him not to breathe a word of the afternoon’s real agenda to Richie, but he thought Richie should know. 

He would’ve been fine with Richie and Allegra getting more permanently attached weeks ago, but this stint in Europe had erased any doubts that he had about his cousin spending the rest of her life with his best friend.  They needed each other.  So for that reason alone, he hoped this news would give Richie a little extra push in that direction.

“You know why that show went off without a hitch, don’t you?”

“Because of a lot of fuckin’ hard work,” was the laughing reply.

That may have been true, but the love of one woman had allowed his guitarist to spend the afternoon playing with him instead of being stuck in Fashion Model Hell. 

“Did you know the models pitched another fit this afternoon?”

“What?”  Richie’s brows slammed down over his eyes.  “No, I didn’t know.  What the hell happened? And why do you know?”

Jon sighed.  Of course Nikki didn’t tell him.  Why would she want to jeopardize their partnership by admitting that she couldn’t pull it off alone?

“I don’t know the details man, but I do know who got it all straightened out.”

“Nikki?”

“Well, that’s supposed to be the story, but it was your girlfriend who walked in that viper’s nest and cracked the whip on the models.  Dottie told her she deserved something big and sparkly for her efforts, but she didn’t want you to know.  Said Nikki had a problem and Nikki took care of it.”

Richie was stunned.  “Allegra didn’t even tell me there was a problem.”

Jon folded his legs and planted his black tennis shoes firmly on the floor before rising.  “That’s because she’s trying to take care of you, dumbass.  She loves you.  You’ve been about to snap all week and she kept the straw from breaking the camel’s back, so to speak.”

Jon took the handful of steps that put him in front of the door, with the full intention of leaving Richie to stew on that, but he paused with his hand on the knob.  A look back at his friend found him staring at the floor with a puzzled frown on his face.  This did not look like the face of a man who was ready to commit to his undying love and gratitude to his girlfriend.  Apparently he needed a more decisive push.

“Haven’t you held onto that engagement ring long enough, bro?”

Richie rolled his head on his shoulders, the question replaying itself over top of the other thoughts rambling around.  Was it time?   She had made everything seem better since she came to join the tour, even after having more family drama dumped in her lap.  He loved her; there was no doubt about that.

Something had him hesitating though – a sense of foreboding pulling at his gut.

How was her ‘rescuing’ him from the latest WTB disaster any different than keeping her pregnancy a secret?  She’d made a decision deemed to be in his best interest without consulting him – again.  Of course he was grateful for her help, but did it make everything okay just because he liked the outcome this time? 

The bottom line was that she still was making decisions for him.    She hadn’t learned anything at all.

At his prolonged silence, Jon snorted and treated him to an icy glare that was an eyelash away from being the Stink Eye. “If you don’t want to give her the commitment she deserves, maybe you should let her go.”

The slamming of the metal door echoed through the room as harshly as Jon’s words.

Let her go.

Richie thought he was going to be sick.  It wasn’t something that he’d even considered but, hearing Jon lay it out that way...  Well, he thought of life without her almost brought him to his knees.  But on the other hand, how could he be expected to live with the fear that she may eventually devastate him with one of those decisions?

♥ ♥ ♥

Allegra was swaying her hips in time to the music, grateful that Matt had once again found her a spot on Richie’s side of the stage to enjoy the performance.  And her guest, too.

“So you’re still not going to run away with me, huh Beautiful?”  His voice was loud in her ear to be heard over the strains of “You Give Love a Bad Name”.

She shook her head with a smirk and looked down her nose at the arm he’d placed around her waist.  Turning to put her lips near his ear, she said as quietly as she could to still be heard, “Criss Angel, you’d better use your magical powers to get that arm back where it belongs before I permanently remove it for you.”  Her smile was sweet, but there was no doubt that she meant her words.

He had turned up at the WTB show excited to renew their acquaintance and she was much more pleasant to him than she had been in Las Vegas.  That was all it had taken for him to attach himself to her side and spend the evening engaging in outrageous attempts to lure her away from Richie.  He was no more serious than a chicken in a frog suit, but he was having fun teasing her – and to be honest, Allegra was having a little bit of fun flirting right back. 

It was a nice distraction since Richie had been tied up and Jon, Dot and Stephanie were all having a family moment after the show.  She’d felt in the way, a little lonely and bored, and Criss was harmless enough.  Even when he’d convinced her to join him in his limo for the ride over to the O2, he had been a perfect gentleman by suspending the flirtation while they were alone.  He was good company.

But now her feet hurt, she was getting tired and becoming decidedly antisocial.  All she wanted to do was get lost in the show, and more specifically, Richie’s performance.  It was hard having him near, yet so far away.  He’d been within her range of vision all evening, which should have helped, but only served to make the separation more pronounced.  She missed him. 

The one thing she wouldn’t have missed, however, was this ridiculous dress he’d selected.  She wondered why she had bothered wearing it, because he probably hadn’t even seen her in it and she sure wouldn’t have chosen for herself.

The black leather dress was short – very short – hitting her above mid-thigh, with sleeves long enough to reach her knuckles.  A zipper ran down the center of her torso from neckline to hem and the ornately cut openings over each breast showed more skin than she was comfortable with.  Besides the fact that she felt like she was on display for everyone but the man she wanted to display herself to, leather was freaking hot in a crowd like this.

“You look hot in that dress in case nobody’s told you,” Criss spoke once again into her ear, arm never moving from its comfortable spot at her waist.

“That’s because it’s a hundred degrees in here!”  She wrinkled her nose, moving her hands to tug at the skirt.  “I’m too old to be wearing something this short.”

“No.  You’re not.  Trust me.”  He took in the exposed length of her legs, their shapeliness emphasized by black, open-toed pumps, his look of appreciation plain to see.   “Definitely not.”

She arched her brow with a pointed look.  “Move your arm, buddy.  Don’t make me call security.”

“I’d be gone before they could catch me,” he bragged.  “You know. Magician. Vanishing.”  Even so, he moved to comply, his open palm brushing across her stomach as he did.  Feeling the firm little bump hidden under her dress, Criss’s eyes widened questioningly.  “Are you…?”

“Yeah,” she nodded with a grin, inexplicably pleased to have someone – anyone – actually notice.  “We’re having a baby.”

“Well that deserves at least a hug!”  He spun them in a circle, lifting her from her feet with his enthusiastic embrace.

Without thought, her arms encircled him just as tightly as he twirled her.  When he put her back on the ground, Allegra looked up to find Richie staring at her with cold eyes, lines of displeasure framing his mouth with an uncharacteristic harshness.  A scowl briefly darkened his features before he returned his focus to the crowd, head bent over the frets.  To any casual observer he appeared to be absorbed in his music.

Allegra knew better.

Crap.  He can’t seriously be jealous can he?

Criss, unaware of what was happening, placed a light kiss on her lips while keeping his arms looped around her.  “Congratulations!  I hope that Sambora knows what a lucky bastard he is.”

She smiled absently at Criss before returning her gaze to her cousin’s right-hand man.  Locking eyes for a split second, he then deliberately turned his back on Allegra and strutted to center stage, contorting his features into the infamous sex face as he worked the guitar to its full potential.  The women in the pit squealed with delight.

I hope so, too.