Boston Avant-Garde 2 - Crescendo (7 page)

The applause wound down, and the camera zoomed in on Donna. “Today we’ve been discussing nontraditional relationship lifestyles.”

Okay, they’d piqued her curiosity.

Donna droned on. “So far we’ve explored the homosexual relationships as well as the Sugar Daddy and Cougar phenomena sweeping our culture. But what about long-term relationships between more than two people?” There was a wave of titillated laughter from the audience. “What about the threesomes we almost never talk about?”

Leslie’s mouth went dry. The picture changed to show the inside of a lovely home. A cute brunette in her midthirties sat on an overstuffed couch flanked by two men. All were smiling pleasantly. It could’ve been fake. How hard would it be to hire people to do this just for ratings? But something in the dynamic between those three people said otherwise. The man on the left sat with his body angled toward the woman, one arm slung across the couch behind her. The second man held the woman’s hand lightly in his own, his fingers gently stroking her skin. They were so obviously comfortable together, it made Leslie ache.

“This is Gina. She and her two partners, Frank and Todd, have been living together for over seven years.” Donna’s voice-over led to a montage of family photos showing the threesome at home and vacationing together. Sometimes in twos and most often in threes, it was a snapshot of a life Leslie would have never believed possible.

“Wow, only in America.” Jen’s voice was filled with awe.

“I know, right.” Anna sighed. “I can’t find one guy who’s decent in bed and has a steady job, and she’s got two!”

Leslie couldn’t speak. Her chest grew tight until she was having trouble drawing breath.

“So, I’m sure the big question out there is how can you trust these two guys not to cheat, Gina?” Donna paused for effect. “How can you trust both Frank and Todd when most of us can’t keep one guy out of other beds?”

The three of them shared a knowing smile. They seemed as if they’d not only faced the fear and doubt but put it well behind them. Leslie envied their strength.

Finally Gina answered. “Actually, with three of us, there’s much less chance to be lonely. Most traditional cheating happens because one partner spends too much time alone while the other is working or vice versa.”

Frank seamlessly picked up the conversation. “I’m an investment banker. When I work late, I know that Gina’s not sitting home alone or going out and having other guys hit on her. I know she’s with Todd. And when Todd has to go out of town on business, he knows Gina is cared for like she should be.”

“And I never have to worry about them going out with the guys and being tempted.” Gina placed a hand on each man’s knee. “They have other friends, but they hang together a lot too. That means they can take our relationship with them on their boys’ night out.”

Leslie wanted to believe that. She wanted to see the startling sense in the happy woman’s statement. It was her heart that wouldn’t listen to reason. If one betrayal hurt, what would it feel like when two men did it at the same time? Love wouldn’t save her then. It would only make it hurt more.

Donna wasn’t done stirring the pot. “And what about all the people who say your lifestyle is just wrong? What do you have to say to them?”

Frank’s rakish grin set off a round of hoots and hollers from the audience. “They’re just jealous that the sex is triple amazing.”

Gina laughed, a pretty blush staining her cheeks. “Let’s just say that I never lack for attention.”

“And nature provided her with a body to satisfy both of us at once.” Frank leaned over and pressed a kiss to Gina’s lips.

Cue the catcalls. Donna waved her hands for everyone to quiet down.

“It isn’t for everyone,” Todd said quietly. “Communication is more important than ever. And our families took a long time to adjust. We’ve had a commitment ceremony, but we’ll never be able to get married in the traditional way.”

Gina looked at Todd. The love she felt for him was obvious on a flat television screen. She obviously didn’t care about doing things the traditional way. “Nature made women to be a bridge between two men. Whenever I have doubts, I just remember that, and I’m reminded of how much I love these two men and how much they love me. We belong together.”

The camera panned away, and Donna started in on her wrap-up. Anna flipped the television off and sank into a chair at the table.

Jen looked momentarily dazed. “Amazing.”

“I know, can you imagine?” Anna sighed. “Two mouths, two sets of hands, and two cocks.”

Jen made a face. “Put that way, it sounds like more work.”

“Not to me. Sounds like double the orgasms.” Anna headed toward the door. “I’ve got five minutes before my next class. Sorry to barge in like that. I just wanted to catch the end of the show.”

Leslie wrapped the rest of her uneaten muffin in a napkin and tossed it into the garbage. Her thoughts were spinning around and around inside her head. She had to get out of there before she had a meltdown.

Jen frowned. “Hey, where are you going? I thought we could review some music options for tomorrow night.”

“We’re going to use the same program we did at the last wedding. I liked the selections, and we can shuffle the playlist a bit to keep things fresh.” Was she babbling? It was either that or start screaming.

“All right, if you’re sure. Call if you need anything. Otherwise I’ll meet you here, and we can all share a cab.”

Call if she needed anything? How about a head check? Surely at some point Leslie would have to admit she’d gone completely crazy. Why else would her traitorous heart be considering something her brain knew was nothing more than a fairytale dream?

* * *

Seth looked up when Josh walked into the office. “So, how was the date with what’s-her-name?”

Joshua grunted and flopped into his chair, obviously in a bad mood. “Oh, it was going great until she mentioned she’s the opposing council on Niles’s case.”

“Is that right?” Seth absently picked up a stress ball and rolled it from one hand to the other. “Did she give you any insight into their case strategy before the two of you realized the conflict of interest?”

Joshua looked uncharacteristically sheepish about the incident. “I have an idea she figured it to be an open-and-shut case. But I’d sort of tuned her out by that time, so she could’ve unloaded their whole strategy and I’d have missed it.”

Seth tried to hang on to his neutral expression, but a grin threatened to undermine his efforts. Obviously Joshua hadn’t been as into his date as he’d pretended to be. “So are you up for spending tonight with me and Leslie?”

“About that.” His expression turned stony. “Could you fuck in your own bed? I didn’t much appreciate walking in on you two.”

“Now that’s a lie.”

Tension rippled over Joshua’s features, framing his mouth in thin, unforgiving lines and hardening the defensive hunch in his shoulders. “You keep pushing like this and you’re going to get your ass beat.”

So many years Seth had lived and loved with Joshua. He’d never seen his friend this torn up about a woman before. Women drifted in and out of their collective lives on a monthly and sometimes weekly basis. Never had he been this adamantly opposed to one. In fact they rarely shared a difference of opinion at all when it came to women. But Josh didn’t dislike Leslie. The arousal on his face when he’d wrapped his hand around his own cock was proof enough of that.

That left one other possibility. Why was he afraid to let Leslie into their lives?

Josh clenched his hands into tight fists as he strode toward the window. “Why are you so determined to keep her in our life?”

“I love her.” Seth rose from his chair. He had to tread carefully. So much rode on this conversation. “And I think you could too. We’ve talked about this happening. We’ve waited for years for the right woman to come along.”

“It’s not her.”

“How could it be anyone else?” He was getting emotional, and his words came out harsher than he’d intended. “It’s possible to have a two-sided conversation about almost any topic, and she can hold her own. Leslie is damn smart, plus she’s fun, sassy, and sexy as hell. Has there ever been another woman that doesn’t subconsciously favor one of us? She’s passion incarnate, whether it’s me demanding kisses or you giving them.”

It might have been grudging, but that was agreement winding its way over Joshua’s stubborn features. Equal response was something they’d longed to find in a woman. Sharing aside, Seth and Joshua were vastly different in their bedroom styles. Never had they found a woman who enjoyed them both the same. Either they preferred Seth’s forceful nature or Joshua’s gentle one. Until Leslie.

Seth took a hesitant step toward closing the distance between them. “Understanding us comes naturally to her.”

Joshua’s face was drawn. “She might understand, but she’s already left once. Don’t you get that? She’s already made the decision to walk away. Why would you believe things could be different now? Why even take a chance?”

And there it was, out in the open, like a snake about to strike. Ignoring Joshua’s prickly body language, Seth grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him close. They grappled, Joshua pulling away for the span of two breaths before giving in to the embrace.

There was nothing sexual between them. There never had been. Their relationship was a bond between two men who’d spent years in a hellish existence with only each other for support.

Joshua pressed his forehead against Seth’s and gripped his shoulder. “I’m not going to let her hurt you again.”

“You can’t spend the rest of your life protecting me, Joshua.”

“The hell I can’t.”

Seth thought back to the beginning, when a ten-year-old Joshua had transferred to Seth’s boarding school. The two boys had become friends during the winter quarter while dealing with a tenacious bully. Seth had never had a best friend before.

He chuckled at the memory. “Leslie isn’t a fourth-grade bully.”

“I never said she was.” Joshua pulled back and met his gaze. “And I don’t expect her to get drunk and beat you black-and-blue with a horsewhip either.”

Seth would never forget the look of terrified determination in Joshua’s blue eyes. Joshua had spent spring break at Seth’s father’s estate on Cape Cod that year. Seth had never anticipated his new best friend would step between him and his father during one of the old man’s angry, drunken bouts. He had. A school bully could never compare to Seth’s mean-natured father, but Joshua hadn’t backed down. Not then and never since. It was a decision that changed their lives forever.

It had only been two years since his father’s funeral. On some level, Seth had forgiven the dead man for his physical abuse. Josh still struggled with the idea of closure, and Seth suspected his friend would never let go of his protective habits.

“You were the only one who ever gave a shit about me, Seth. How could I not at least try to put a stop to that kind of treatment?”

Neglect had been Joshua’s parents’ way of handling their offspring. Until the visit to the Cape with Seth, Joshua had spent every vacation and holiday break at school. His parents hadn’t even arranged for him to spend summers at home. Their idea of parenting was a nanny until he was old enough for boarding school and college after that.

Which brought them full circle and landed them in this predicament with Leslie.

“Do you trust me, Joshua?”

“Without question.”

Seth cupped Joshua’s jaw in his hands. “Then please trust me where Leslie is concerned.”

Joshua opened his mouth to argue, but Seth placed a thumb against his lips to prevent any words from coming out.

“There’s more to this woman than you could possibly imagine. Please give us a chance.”

Seth saw the acceptance in Joshua’s blue eyes, felt it in his body when the fight drained from his muscles. Now he had to somehow uncover the third piece of the puzzle. His legacy was physical abuse, Joshua’s was neglect, and Leslie’s was still a mystery to be unraveled.

Chapter Six

Rosin danced on an updraft, turning to fairy dust in the sunlight streaming from the front windows. Leslie drew the green-tinted cake down the bowstrings and took comfort in the familiar routine. When everything else in life was uncertain, this was what she craved. That one moment when bow met string and all else melted away until nothing but the notes remained.

The first strains of Vivaldi echoed around the penthouse, resonating across the wood floors and rising in her ears until it seemed her heart beat with the key signature. Her worries faded into the background. The silly Donna Show, Jen’s warnings, her own traitorous feelings, and even the fledgling emotions for Seth and Joshua that she didn’t dare examine.

Why couldn’t everything be as simple as the melody flitting over her strings, as her fingers sliding down the neck of her violin to coax the highest notes from the gleaming wood? As simple as the rhythmic wavering of her wrist to create the plaintive vibrato.

The answer, of course, was that life was never simple. Decisions were rarely one way or the other. Instead, they all existed within the grey mist of possibilities.

The bow went still and the violin silent.

Lowering the instrument, Leslie turned it upside down and tilted it until a shaft of sunlight caught the red grain of the wood. She brushed her fingertips over the smooth, maple surface. The violin was as familiar to her as the face she saw in the mirror each morning. The only unique thing about it was the unusually bright color.

She closed her eyes and lifted it to her chin. The violin was the last reminder of a time when she still believed in silly things like loyalty and true love. Her grandfather had given it to her as a gift, but it had been stored in her father’s study with the rest of his most prized possessions. Breaking into the flimsy display case hadn’t been difficult. She’d been leaving home for good. She’d had no intention of leaving her grandfather’s gift behind.

Drawing her bow across the strings, she wondered if her father was still angry about that night. If he cared anymore, it was most likely the instrument he missed the most. The violin dated back to 1707. An Italian nobleman had commissioned Antonio Stradivari to make it for his favorite daughter. When she died of fever only a few months later, he’d called the violin “The Pretty Girl” in memory of her. It was one of only 650 original Stradivarius instruments still in circulation. Leslie’s father would never recoup the investment on his daughter. But he might feel entitled to compensation for the three and a half million her grandfather had spent on
La Bella Ragazza.