“Oh, tax evasion, for sure,” Reed said. “No way Price didn’t cook his books to hide all those hush-money payments.”
“So, listen, Georgie,” Leonard said. “Some of Gates’ victims are talking about filing civil lawsuits. Do you have any interest in that?”
I looked at Reed in that moment. Into his chocolate brown eyes. And, instantly, I knew my answer was a resounding no. Just that fast, I felt certain it was time for me to move forward. To build my career and a happy future with Reed, and not give another drop of my energy or time or soul to Mr. Gates. “No interest,” I replied to Leonard. “I’ll cooperate with any criminal investigations. But I’m done. Ciao, stronzo.”
Oh, the smile Reed flashed me then. If CeeCee and her PR woman hadn’t been in our hotel suite at the time, I would have ripped Reed’s clothes off and sunk to my knees to pleasure him, right then and there. Which is exactly what I did, only a few hours later, the minute CeeCee and Jane left.
And now, here I am, sitting in the back of a limo with Reed on Wednesday morning, scouring the curbside at JFK for Alessandra’s beautiful face. I’m ready to put the past behind me now. For good. And to have a fantastic time, during the rest of this trip, to celebrate. Playing tourist today and going to the concert tonight. Visiting Eleanor in Scarsdale on Friday. And then heading off to Sardinia on Friday night to start a weeklong vacation in paradise with my man.
“There!” I say, pointing excitedly when I spot Alessandra on the curb with her suitcase.
The driver maneuvers and finds a spot, and I pop out of the car and race to my stepsister. When I reach her, we hug and kiss and jump for joy. And a few minutes later, we’re heading off in the limo, excited to enjoy a carefree day of sightseeing in Manhattan, along with Reed’s sister and nephew, who we’re going to pick up now, while Reed heads off, separately, to the venue for tonight’s charity concert. It’s going to be a huge show, featuring, among others, some of Reed’s biggest stars. 22 Goats, Laila Fitzgerald, Danger Doctor Jones, Aloha Carmichael, Watch Party, and Fugitive Summer. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the first day of the rest of my life.
***
Laughter rises up from the other side of the long dinner table. Apparently, Davey from Watch Party has just told a joke to all the other River Records artists seated near him, as Davey often does—although this restaurant is too noisy, and our table too long, for the group at this end of the table to hear whatever joke Davey’s told. But that’s okay. I’m thoroughly enjoying my conversation with Alessandra and Fish. Who, by the way, have been joined at the hip since the moment Fish spotted Alessandra backstage at the concert earlier tonight.
This place is a chic eatery in Midtown. We’re here to enjoy a post-concert dinner party, hosted by Reed. As I’ve been chatting with Alessandra and Fish to my left, Reed has been engrossed in an intense conversation with Maddy and Keane Morgan, to my right, about tomorrow’s video shoot.
Without warning, however, Reed abruptly turns away from his conversation to address Alessandra. “Hey, Ally. Change of plans for your video tomorrow. I didn’t know Maddy was bringing Keane to the shoot to help her. But now that I know he’ll be there, I think we’d be missing a golden opportunity not to give him a starring role in the video. Keane says he’s up for anything, so Maddy and I just now put our heads together and came up with an entire storyline for him.”
Alessandra expresses excitement and enthusiastically thanks Keane.
“Happy to do it,” Keane replies. “It sounds like a blast.”
Alessandra looks at me, as if to say, Can you believe this is my life? And I don’t blame her. Keane Morgan’s show on Netflix is doing extremely well, from what I’ve gathered. With each passing day, he’s becoming a bigger star. Having him star in her debut music video is huge.
“Now, don’t feel any stress about tomorrow,” Reed says soothingly to Alessandra, his little lamb. Over the past few weeks, as they’ve worked on Alessandra’s song together, and fine-tuned it, exactly according to Reed’s specifications, Alessandra has grown to trust him completely, and Reed has often told me he thinks Alessandra is “absolutely adorable.” He continues, “From your end of things, Ally, you’ll still mostly be doing what we talked about, okay? You’ll still mostly be performing onstage at the coffee house.”
“Mostly?” Alessandra says meekly.
“Yes. Maddy and I have come up with two storylines. A love triangle involving Keane. Also, a cute little love story involving you and Fish.” Reed looks at Fish, who looks astonished to hear his name called. “If you’re game, that is, Fish Taco.”