Crystal joins them on stage, microphone in hand. “Wow,” she says. “Just wow. Two of the most talented people on planet earth right here on our stage. And I have even more of a treat for you. The violin Kace played on tonight and Chris’s painting are both up for auction. And be generous, please. All proceeds will be given to The Addiction and Suicide Prevention Society, an organization that will be supported by each of the four shows Kace and Chris will do together over the next month in various locations. Each event will include different music and a different work on the canvas. You can look those events up online or we have brochures for you at the door as you leave. And without further ado, our auctioneers for the night.”
A man in a tuxedo steps in front of Kace, and Kace hands off his violin. Chris and Kace walk to the side of the stage and the next thing I know, they’re headed toward us. Only then do I realize that there are two empty seats next to me. I quickly move over to allow Chris a spot next to Sara. Kace sits down next to me and his hand is instantly on my leg as if we’re a couple when we’ve only just met. The charge between us is electric.
“The show was, of course, amazing,” I whisper. “Being here for it was amazing. That you did it for charity is special.”
Something flickers in his eyes—surprise, I think—though I’m not sure why. He leans in and kisses me, which is sure to garner attention I don’t need. Actually, every moment I spend with a rock star like Kace is attention I don’t need, but I just can’t seem to care. The auctioneer is now covering the auction rules while Kace and I reluctantly, it feels, settle into our seats.
The auction begins with Kace’s violin, which is not a Stradivarius, but rather an authentic Guadagnini—also a masterful instrument, donated by a local billionaire who is in the audience. The bid starts at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and quickly becomes competitive. Kace sits there, staring at the stage, and I can feel the tension in him, the man, the human being, who is nervous, who feels performance pressure. His fingers tense on my legs, and when finally, the bid ends at the insane figure of one million dollars, his shoulders ease, his fingers relax. Next up is Chris’s painting, which ends at one-point-two million dollars.
Kace and Chris lean forward, sharing a look of pride and a connection that radiates between them. Tonight matters to them. The charity matters to them. Suicide has touched both of their lives and there is no joy, only tragedy in such a thing. In that moment, I remember Sara saying that they are just men. I expand on that in my mind. They have loves, likes, passions, and pain because we all have pain. We all have pain. We are the sum of all of those things—I am the sum of all of those things. I find myself wanting to understand and know Kace but I warn myself that you have to give what you get.
If I begin a journey to know him, he, too, will begin a journey to know me. I’m not sure that’s safe for either one of us. But then he looks at me and laces his fingers with mine, and I remind myself that Gio likes his adventures. Gio has disappeared before. He may well be off roaming the world with Sofia. And here I am, right here, alone.
Except that I’m not alone. I’m with Kace.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The spell between Kace and I is broken when the auction of the Stradivarius is announced, sold by an anonymous seller, an instrument the auctioneer claims to once have been long lost. More like an imitation of an instrument long lost, I think, which of course, Gio would have figured out as well—if he’d seen it. But Mark didn’t even allow Kace an early viewing. Gio couldn’t have seen it. Maybe he had a tip that it was fake?
The auctioneer continues his chatter, diving into a lengthy history of the violin that is not true since it’s a fake. On and on and on he continues, hyping the audience for what will likely be a ten-million-dollar-plus final bid. That’s big money and I wonder if Mark really will take my warnings about the violin’s authenticity to heart. With the bidding quickly approaching, I wonder if Kace truly will as well. Kissing me doesn’t equal knowing me. Neither Kace nor Mark understand my exceptional credentials, and how could they? I am a ghost hiding behind another identity.
I inhale and my gaze lands on Kace’s hand on my leg, the hand of a gifted man. The hand of a man who has touched the violins made by my ancestor, that I myself, have not touched since I was a young child. The hand of a man who has stormed into my life with his presence and stirred forbidden desires in all kinds of ways. My hand settles on his, a desperate attempt to control him, to control me, but it doesn’t work. Now, I’m touching him, and he’s touching me, and his presence is fluttering through me in all kinds of ways.