GIO (Interracial Rockstar Romance)

“Hmmm.”

“What?” she asked as the waiter brought our dishes. Savory smoke steamed from both plates.

“I don’t like that Ru upset you.” I let go of her hand as she prepared to eat. “Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?”

I could tie a rope around his neck and hang him from a tree. I could buy him a one-way plane ticket to the Middle East. I’m sure Midnight knows a couple of guys that wouldn’t mind kidnapping Ru.

“We talked about him overstepping today,” she said. “I’ve got it.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

She took a bite of her dish and then asked, “Do you think his worrying about you and me is rational?”

I hadn’t even picked up my fork as I considered the question. “On one hand, if I were him, I wouldn’t be excited that you were sleeping with me. Jason and I had a reputation in the industry. Mine comes more from partying with Jason and people assuming we love the same things.”

“But you don’t?”

“Not at all. As you can see, I prefer silence and snowy mountains to drugs, women, and the back-stabbing faux gold streets of Los Angeles.”

She giggled. “You should never do a commercial for LA.”

“No, I should not.” I decided to keep it real with her. “Yeah. If I were Ru, I would be worried and keep a close eye, but I wouldn’t have bought a building or created fake gossip about me having women in the house. All of that is a problem.”

She paused from eating.

“Regardless of what type of manager you have, you should be able to trust what he says and have faith in his actions. Can you say that about Ru?”

“I could, before today.”

I nodded, not wanting to push it any further. In the end, Ru had to go, but I didn’t know how I could do it without upsetting Simone. Thankfully, he was already stepping onto her bad side. I almost didn’t need to put my energy into it. He’d become desperate today. Another day, he’d do something else stupid and then I would happily point and laugh as she fired him.

She sighed. “I think I have a lot to think about with this situation but trust me, I’m going to take it one day at a time.”

“And anytime Ru or anyone else goes to you about me, and it makes you uneasy, come to me.”

“I will,” she whispered.

“Good.” I hit her with an intense gaze. “Because after last night, I’m not letting go. I’ll fight Ru and anybody else if I have to.”

She grinned. “You won’t have to fight anyone.”

“But I will. As far as I’m concerned, it’s me and you against the world.”

“Bonnie and Clyde?”

“All fucking day, princess.” I toasted to us and she followed, giggling the whole time. “But tonight...we forget about all of this. I’ve rented the whole place, including the private suites upstairs.”

“There’s a hotel up there?”

“Yes, for celebrities wanting privacy. We have the second floor to ourselves.” I’d been annoyed about Ru getting her out of my bed this morning. Tonight, we needed distance between him.

Sorry, Ru. You’ll have to dance with ghosts all by yourself this evening.

Chapter 17

Simone

There's nothing like music

to relieve the soul

and uplift it.

~Mickey Hart

Dinner finished with laughter and flirting. I couldn’t believe I’d allowed Ru to make me upset and unsure of Gio. Granted, I hadn’t dated in a long time. I still needed to relax and give whatever Gio and I had going a chance.

That night as I sat across from him at the table, listening to him declare how much he’ll be there for me, I decided to let all my assumptions and nervousness go. Maybe I should spend less time overthinking it and more energy enjoying the moments we shared.

Since he’d rescued me, I spent my days like a princess. And it was time I relished in each day, whether we stayed together forever or not.

Mama always would say, “Take a step out on faith.”

She’d said it to me the day I planned on moving to New York to chase my singing dream. I thought she would’ve talked me out of it and tried to get me back in South Carolina. But she understood.

And I took that step out on faith, as hard as it was, struggling and working to maintain my confidence in an industry that knocked a person down more than built them up.

Now, I must take a step out on faith with Gio, regardless of what Ru or anybody might say.

Sometimes, having faith that any situation will work out was the hardest thing to do. It meant that I would have to leave my comfort zone. I’d been all alone these years, partly due to being committed to singing and the other half hiding in fear. I was scared to get my heart broken again. I was terrified of wasting my time with some guy that wouldn’t treat me right and possibly drag me down. I was horrified at the possibility of someone I loved walking away.