Relentless (Renegades 4)

He dragged out his wallet and flashed his ID for the security guard, then said, “Can you point me toward Brook Dempsey?”

The man gave him directions, and Troy wove his way backstage, passing the cast and crew, finding his way through the complex areas like the second home they’d become. When he spotted Brook monitoring the show from behind a pair of crimson velvet drapes, relief swept through Troy’s body.

He pressed a hand to his heart as he slowed. And for the first time, his hearing seemed to come back online, and Giselle’s gorgeous voice filled his ears, then his heart, then his soul.

When he reached Brook’s side, he stopped, closed his eyes, and just listened to Giselle stretch her voice to the fullest, cleanest, most resonant deep belt he’d ever heard from her. From anyone. And even before he could fully appreciate the practice and skill she’d achieved to master that pitch, she utilized a lightning-quick melisma to traverse the registers, ending the song with her higher, brighter, lighter, more feminine voice, one that was crystal clear and airy, giving the song its cotton-candy, fantasy-inducing sparkle with an effortless beauty that had kept the song at number one on Billboard’s Top 100 chart for fourteen weeks running.

When the song ended and the audience exploded in applause, Troy reached for the nearest vertical structure to steady himself.

Brook rushed over to him, her pretty face glowing with joy. “You’re back in one piece. That always makes Giselle happy. How was Boston—? Whoa.” Concern dragged her grin down a few watts. “Are you…okay?”

“She still takes my breath away. I can hear her sing in the shower, wander through the house humming, rehearse every damn day, but when she performs”—emotions welled up and tightened his throat— “she still steals my heart, every damn time.”

Brook’s grin returned. “Well, that’s good.” She set down the clipboard she was holding and dragged a small box from her pocket. “Because I got it.”

“Oh God.” Troy couldn’t take the box. He just stared at it. “Are you sure it’s the one?”

Brook gave an impatient sigh. “I’m sure. She dragged me around to two dozen different jewelry stores before she picked out half a dozen to take Nathan to. I know which ring stole her breath.”

Giselle was performing another song from the soundtrack of Shangri-La, a Disney movie that hadn’t even been released yet, but the music for which had nonetheless hit record sales and prompted a major prerelease promotional Disney on Ice tour. Music Giselle had both written and performed for the film.

She never had to work another day in her life if she didn’t want to, and she would never have to compromise her standard of living either. Her decision to live her life and take control of her career had given Giselle more than she could ever have asked for out of life.

And Troy couldn’t have been more grateful.

“Do you want to do this or not?” Brook’s prod made Troy reach for the box.

“Did you clear it with Max?” he asked. Troy didn’t want anything causing problems for Giselle’s career or between Giselle and her amazing new manager, Max Collins.

“He’s on board. Just told me to remind you this is a Disney theatre, so no sticking your tongue down her throat while the kids watch.” Brook’s grin turned a little whimsical. “She’s dressed like a princess, so I’d suggest you go for something Prince Charming-ish.”

Grinning, he glanced through the curtains and onto the ice, where Giselle sat atop a platform decorated like a castle, wearing a sparkling purple gown, her hair up in a mountain of curls, surrounded by a tiara. “She certainly is a princess.” He opened the box, and his smile fell when he saw the single, simple diamond. “But…this doesn’t look like a diamond fit for a princess. Maybe I’ve been in Hollywood too long, but isn’t this kinda small?”

Brook laughed. “Giselle insists that it’s not the ring you get but the man who gives it to you that’s the real prize. She sees the ring as a sort of metaphor for marriage. Giselle believes that keeping the ring simple grounds a couple. You know, keeps them from getting caught up and distracted by all the flash. Helps them remember, when they look at the simplicity of the ring, the real reason they chose each other in the first place.”

“Beautiful, talented, rich, and smart.” He huffed a laugh an

d shook his head. “How in the hell did I get so damn lucky, Brook?”

Brook squeezed his arm. “Funny thing is, she thinks she’s the lucky one.”

Giselle couldn’t stop smiling as she signed programs and hugged children and shook parents’ hands around the ice rink’s border. She was really going to have to learn to ice skate so she could get off this darn platform she always ended up stuck on and move freely.

She was exhausted, but in a good way. A great way. And as she reached for another chubby little hand and took in another toothless little grin, she knew she was exactly where she was meant to be. The only thing that could make her life perfect was having Troy with her.

But she’d talk to him when she reached the hotel. And see him in a few days when she flew back to Los Angeles from this leg of the tour in Miami.

“Attention, ladies and gentlemen.” A familiar male voice filled the theatre and sent a sizzle down Giselle’s spine. “We have a special announcement.”

She turned and found Troy in the middle of the ice. Troy, holding a microphone and wearing ice skates. Ice skates. In fact, he wasn’t only wearing them, he was skating in them. Gliding around the ice as smoothly as if he were walking around a movie set.

“Today is a special day here at Disney on Ice, and we hope you’ll all share in our celebration.”

“What are you doing here?” She turned on the platform to face him and lifted her hands. “You ice skate?”

He just chuckled as he glided by, but expertly managed the crowd, slowly leaking information about whatever he had up his sleeve, dragging the audience back from their exit strategies, gathering them around the rink again.

“Today is Miss Giselle Diamond’s birthday.”