Confessions After Dark (17 page)

Darian stopped and looked into Angel’s face as the moon bathed it in soft blue light. He could see the struggle on her features. “He’s okay.” His cryptic response did little to dispel her anxiety.

“Is that all?” She shook her head, her brow wrinkling as the words tumbled out, not knowing exactly how to ask what she wanted to know. “Did he tell you not to say anything to me?”

Darian could see the conflict dance on her features. “No, but he’s preoccupied. Not himself. He’s really been an asshole, if you want the truth. Even fifteen-year-old scotch doesn’t soften his mood.”

Angel nodded and unlocked the economy car that her insurance company had rented for her, using the remote on the key chain. “He’s angry with me. I apologize if he’s taking it out on you.”

Darian’s hand reached out and grasped Angel’s upper arm to stop her. “He’s worried sick about you. Alex is a good man, Angel. The best. Sometimes he screws up like the rest of us, but his intentions are always good.”

She nodded and looked at the ground, her teeth coming out to bite her lip. “I know, Darian.”

“You’re so alike in so many ways. I knew you’d shake him up, but it didn’t occur to me that he’d have you so off-balance.” She shifted uncomfortably in front of him, and Darian continued. “Alex has been different since he met you, Angel. You’ve changed him.”

“He’s changed me, too. He makes me weak.”

Darian’s face split in a knowing smile. “Needing someone doesn’t make you weak, doll. It makes you human.”

*****

The warehouse hadn’t changed much. It was still run-down, and the land around it still barren. There were a lot of good memories between these walls that Angel acknowledged as the familiar sounds of the band warming-up echoed around her. She and Ally walked through the heavy door, and it slammed behind them with a loud bang. She grinned when confronted with the same old sofa cushions nailed to the walls to absorb the sounds and create better acoustics than the old metal building allowed. Kyle and David had stolen them from three couches as they waited on curbs for the Salvation Army truck to come and cart them away. Kyle knew she was coming, but she wondered if the others did.

“So how is this going to go?” Ally asked.

Angel glanced over at her new friend and grimaced. The warehouse was an abandoned auto shop that belonged to Kyle’s grandfather. It still smelled of grease and cigarette smoke, and Ally looked completely out of place in her Dior get-up. Angel was in jeans and an old royal blue hoodie with the words
Northwestern
in white print, faded from years of wear and washing. “You should have worn sneakers and jeans,” she pointed out with a smirk.

Ally laughed. “I don’t think I’ve worn jeans more than three times in my life, and then only because my brothers forced me to build a fort or play football in our backyard when I was younger.”

“Ugh,” Angel groaned. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Ally’s nose wrinkled slightly as she shook her head. “No. My mother is very, um—” she stopped as she searched for the words. “Well, let’s just say proper young ladies wear frilly frocks and Mary Jane’s.”

Angel felt a small pang rush through her at her own lack of female intervention. “My dad didn’t know much about that stuff.”

Ally’s arm went around her. “From what I’ve seen, you have an amazing sense of style.”

“Angel! Is that you?” A freakishly large Hispanic man jumped up from behind the black pearl drum set with a huge grin plastered across his plump face. Angel scurried into his waiting arms, only to be hoisted up and then twirled around, and at the same time. bounced up and down. “My little Angel!” His accent was not as thick as she remembered, but the voice still bellowed.

Angel giggled despite the iron vice of his arms crushing her small frame. “Sa-Bad Ass-tian!” she squealed as her little arms wrapped halfway around his massive shoulders while her feet dangled almost two feet off the ground. “I’ve missed you!”

“Where you been?” he asked as he finally set her down. “I told Kyle to get you back countless times. Stupid ass!”

Angel’s eyes scanned the space and found five other sets of eyes on them. Kyle’s gaze burned into her as he examined everything about her. He looked good; his body was still fit but with more tattoos than she remembered, and his head was shaved. He looked tougher.

Crystal, in her cheap punk-rock style and spiky blonde hair laced with pink, stood with her hand possessively on his arm.
Don’t worry, bitch. Been there, done that
, Angel thought with barely hidden disdain. David, Owen, and Jay—the other members of the band—all came forward to hug her one by one, their smiles clearly communicating they were as happy to see her as Sebastian had been.

“Hi, Angel,” Owen said quietly. He was the bass player, and his mop of reddish hair still hung in boyish disarray above his bright blue eyes. David and Jay had a rougher look than she remembered, both of them with longer hair and more expensive holes in their jeans.

“Hey, guys.” Angel smiled brightly, trying to ignore the daggers that Crystal was shooting with her eyes. “This is my friend, Ally Franklin. She plays strings with the Chicago Symphony and wanted to check out practice. Kyle, you remember Ally?”

“Yes, hello,” he said softly and extended his hand in greeting to Ally. “It’s good to see you, Angel.” His eyes seemed sad, and his mouth twitched slightly at one corner. Angel took the three steps needed to slide her arms around his neck in a short embrace. Kyle left his arm around her waist a moment too long as she turned back to the others.

“Ally, this is Owen on bass, David plays keyboards, Jay is on rhythm guitar, and you’ve already met Sebastian, the drummer.” Her jaw shot out as she tried to stop herself from laughing, not really sure how she’d introduce the woman, but afraid of what word vomit would spill out. “And this… is… er, Crystal.”

Allison shook hands with them all one by one. “How do you do?”

“How do I do?” Crystal spat out, hatred dripping from her words. “I was better before she got here!” She turned on Angel. “Let’s get one thing straight! The band doesn’t need you to come back.”

Angel rolled her eyes as she peeled off her coat and flung it on one of the chairs that surrounded the open area where the instruments were arranged. “Kyle, can you do something with that?” she asked dryly. “All that screeching gives me a headache.”

Most of the guys did their best to hide their amusement, but even Kyle couldn’t keep the slow smile from creeping across his features, and Sebastian burst out laughing. Sebastian blamed Crystal for Angel’s speedy exit and so never even gave the other girl a chance. The band had suffered as a result. Angel’s fiery presence had been missed dearly.

Crystal took two steps toward Angel, her expression furious, when Kyle’s fingers clamped firmly around her arm. “I asked her to be here.”

“What about what I want?” she sneered.

“Look, I’m not all that thrilled about seeing you either, but this is for a good cause. So grow up already.”

Ally’s eyes widened, and she bit her lip trying to suppress a giggle. Sebastian and the boys didn’t feel the need and laughed out loud. Vivid color flooded the other woman’s face, and Kyle visibly stiffened.

“Look, Crystal! Your face matches your hair!” Owen said, as he strapped on his guitar. He smiled and winked at Angel. “Awesome!”

“Don’t worry; I’m not here to steal your boyfriend.”

“As if you could…” Crystal began.

“Oh, sure I could,” Angel stated matter-of-factly, still laughing as she took a seat on the bench next to one of the keyboards and ran her hands over the keys. Her eyes shot up to lock with Crystal’s.

“He left you for me!”

“Hmmm. That’s not the way I remember it. Kyle, is that the way you remember it?” Her words were soft and distracted, clearly communicating that she didn’t give a shit one way or the other. Of their own accord, Angel’s fingers began playing one of the songs she loved from the Adele’s latest album.

“Just because you can’t face it, doesn’t make it the truth. Right, baby?” she cooed and wrapped her scantily clad self around Kyle. His focus was on the woman at the piano, her thick auburn hair tied up in a knot and her face devoid of make-up. She could still make his heart speed up.

“Isn’t this fun?” Angel asked Ally with a wry huff, wrinkling her nose playfully. “I bet you’re so glad you decided to join.” The electric piano filled the empty space with the melodic strains. “Crystal, as enjoyable as it may be for you, this childish bullshit is not on my agenda. I’m here to work up a set list for the benefit, so can we get started?” Angel stopped playing and looked at Kyle. “Are you still doing any of our old stuff?”

“Quite a bit, but we should add in some new songs,” Kyle said.

“I want to do something from Britney Spears,” Crystal interjected.

“Ugh,” Angel rolled her eyes again. “Really?”

“Why? She’s a huge superstar!” Crystal protested.

“So is Barney the dinosaur, but you won’t see us doing his top ten songs for tots,” Angel said, unable to stop the start of giggle. This was too much fun. “We need songs with meat in them.”

“Lady Gaga!” Crystal was obviously unaffected by Angel’s snarky response.

Angel pounded out the first five bars of
Poker Face
and Crystal perked up. Sebastian added a light dusting on a cymbal and started singing “Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma,” clearly buying into Angel’s humor.

Crystal’s expression changed to a frown when Angel banged her hands against the keys in a loud clang, startling the other woman.

“Not that kind of
meat
,” Angel said sweetly, twisting her mouth into a sly smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sure, this airhead is so mentally challenged, she doesn’t get it
.

“It means, if you want me to sing about dick, okay, but I won’t call it a disco stick or vertical stick or any other fucking kind of
stick
,” Angel deadpanned with a bored look on her beautiful face. “Understand?” Her left eyebrow shot up. “Now, can we move on?”

The boys burst out laughing, even Kyle couldn’t keep the deep rumbles from bursting free. Allison put a hand over her mouth and tried her best to hide her amusement, but the shaking of her shoulders and sparkle in her eyes gave her away.

“Classic Angel!” Jay laughed. “I’d shut the hell up if I were you, Crystal. You can’t keep up; trust me.”

“Fuck you, Jay,” Crystal huffed.

“No, thanks,” he retorted.

Angel couldn’t keep the laugh from erupting. “Well, this is entertaining anyway.”

Crystal stomped to the opposite end of the warehouse and perched on one of the speakers as the others discussed the music.

“Kyle, I thought it would be fun if we let Ally sit in. She plays cello, and with that thingy you have for your guitar, we can do some cool stuff. I was thinking an Evanescence cover or two. It could be cool.”

“It’s called an E-bow,” Ally put in. “That thing for the guitar that makes it sound like a violin. Right?” Her eyes shot to Kyle.

“Yeah.” He nodded with a smile. “It could be cool.”

Ally’s face lit up with excitement. “Really?” Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad after all. He certainly looked tough enough. She took note of the tattoos that covered his arms, especially the one on his left shoulder.

“Sure.”

“Now there are two of them?” Crystal whined. “What about me?”

“What about you?” Kyle asked. “You’re still part of the band, babe.”

“Yes,” Angel agreed. “I’m only here for one gig, and I don’t want to upset the entire balance of the band.” No matter how much she disliked the blonde woman, she didn’t intend to misrepresent her intentions.

“I was hoping we’d get Angel behind the mic. Isn’t that the point?” Sebastian asked. His deep baritone voice matched his huge form.

Kyle nodded. “Fans ask about you all the time. It would be nice to have the old version of Archangel, at least for this one gig. Maybe more.”

Angel could see the jealousy burning in Crystal’s expression and couldn’t help a small bit of smugness at her discomfort but chose to ignore the last part of Kyle’s comment.

“I think we should do a mix: songs you’re doing currently, some of our old stuff, and brand new material. Don’t you think that would be best, Kyle?”

“I agree. We’re gonna promote the fact you’ll be with us that evening, so hopefully we can boost the numbers of attendees.”

“This is going to be so exciting!” Ally exclaimed.

“Joy.” Crystal’s face contorted in barely concealed disgust.

*****

Angel was satisfied with the result of the session. They’d spent three hours arranging the harmonies and practicing, and she and Kyle got right back into their groove on their old numbers. Crystal came around about halfway through, though she was still pouty, she did participate, and overall, the sound was solid. It was three weeks until the benefit, and there would be only four more practices. Ally was excited about playing with them, and they’d come up with several songs that could incorporate her cello or violin.

The evening air was getting colder and the breezes coming off Lake Michigan were chilly. Angel shivered and turned on the heater in her rental, and when she did, a stale, unused smell flooded the passenger compartment.

“I hate this stupid car,” Angel grumbled.

“Why don’t you get a new one?” Ally asked as she studied Angel with knowing eyes.

“This is a rental. My Lexus is in the shop.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Allison wondered if Angel would tell her the same story that Alex had.

“Oh, some vandals took a crow bar to it.” Angel didn’t elaborate, and Ally didn’t need to ask.

“That’s strange. My brother had his car beat up a few weeks ago, too.”

“Yeah, that is weird.” Angel shrugged.

“I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me!”

Angel smiled as she merged onto the interstate that would take them back downtown. “Oh, my pleasure. I wasn’t sure what we were going to walk into. Kyle was nicer than I expected him to be.”

“Really? I mean he was a jerk when we first met, but with your history, I expected today to go well. That Crystal is a bitch, though.”

“She’s always rubbed me the wrong way. Especially after she rubbed Kyle the right way, if you know what I mean.”