Conquest (8 page)
He brought his gaze forward, his mouth dropped open as he saw their destination. Standing tall against the night, the front illuminated in the soft glow of ground lights, was a mansion of white brick accented with light gray stone, reminiscent of an English Victorian manor. The private road ended, and Evan swung into a drive on the right where twelve-foot high steel gates connected to a ten-foot wall made of a white brick topped with upward pointing jagged stones.
The gates opened at Evan’s approach. Jesse went through, noticing the wall stretched on and on, enclosing the entire estate, and security cameras were mounted atop the wall at various intervals. Like the first set of gates, these closed behind him.
He coasted up the long drive behind the Ferrari, staring at the mansion. He didn’t know why he was shocked at the size of it. With the way Evan’s career had been he must have ridiculous cash, but the house and property were the largest he had ever been to. The high two-story had a long front and sharp peaks rising to the roof that made it look more like a three-story. A castle-like stone tower on the far end from the attached three-car garage rounded the corner with stained glass windows.
He saw to the left, the driveway circled around in front of the double oak front doors, to the right it wove around to a separate building off to the side that looked like a Victorian coach house and stable, though judging from the six large doors on it, he assumed it was actually another garage and from the depth of the building, it could easily hold more than six cars. The doors to the attached garage opened, and he saw two empty bays. The third held a restored black ‘67 Mustang Fastback. He pulled in and got out of his truck.
Evan climbed the couple steps to the access door. “Yeah. It was my dad’s. You probably saw the twelve-car garage when you came in, but all it’s got in it is my beater and my baby.”
“What’s your baby?”
“Enzo Ferrari.”
“What’s your beater?”
“Cadillac Escalade. My car collection is pretty lame right now, but I’m trying to build it back up. I put in an order for a new Lamborghini Murcielago a couple weeks ago, but it won’t be ready for a while.”
Jesse followed Evan inside and closed the door behind him. While Evan punched his code into the security system keypad by the door, Jesse stepped down a short hall to the entrance room with walls paneled from the floor to the vaulted ceilings in richly colored wooden rectangles carved in relief. An open flight of broad, dark wood stairs was directly across from the front doors, and the wood floor beneath him shone with polish. Across from him, he could see into the family room through a wood-trimmed open doorway that arched in a sharp Gothic peak.
Everything in the house looked new and immaculate, yet underneath it, Jesse could feel the weight of history. From the architecture and interior design, he guessed the latest the main structure could have been built was the 1920s. He noticed a few cardboard boxes near the doorway to the family room.
Evan led the way across the entrance room to the right of the stairs and through another open arched doorway to the kitchen.
Jesse’s eyes roamed around the kitchen. It looked larger than his apartment. It had all stainless steel appliances, dark cherry cabinets, countertops of beige granite flecked with black, and tile flooring in mixed shades of browns and tans. A breakfast counter with stools tucked underneath was across from the refrigerator.
“Thanks. It had been on the market for a while waiting for someone with the cash the buy it, so I was able to move in pretty quick. Everything from the first set of gates to a half mile beyond where the private road dead-ends and on both sides is mine, too.”
Jesse’s mind staggered at one person owning so much. “Even the beach?”
“Yeah.” Evan bent down to look in the fridge. “Is Guinness okay?”
Evan pulled out two beers and popped the caps. He extended one bottle toward Jesse, then paused with it just out of his reach. “You’re not going to tell on me for corrupting a minor if I give you this, are you?”
Jesse stopped his mind before it galloped away with thoughts of all the ways he’d love to have Evan corrupt him, and chuckled. “No, don’t worry about it. It’s not like it’s my first drink, anyway.”
Evan handed him the beer. He lifted his own to his lips, mumbling against the bottle, “And it’s not like you’ll be leaving tonight.”
Jesse put the bottle to his lips. Having never tasted dark beer before, he took a tentative sip, then a longer drink. “That’s really good,” he said, lowering the bottle.
sake
in Japan when I was there.”
A quizzical look fell on Jesse’s face. “Is that where you ran away to after you quit performing?”
“I didn’t run away. I was just on an extended worldwide road trip.” Evan reclined back against the refrigerator. He hooked his thumb inside the top of his jeans, splaying his fingers near his crotch.
Jesse stared at where Evan’s hand rested, then realized he was staring and turned his head as if looking around the kitchen. “That sounds like a good time.”
A hint of a smile touched Evan’s lips. “It was. And I did it the good way. I backpacked, staying in small local places most of the time so I could get a feel for the different cultures.”
Evan shoved off the refrigerator. Leaning one elbow on the counter, he reached his other hand toward Jesse and slid the tips of his index and middle fingers under the sixteen-rayed gold sun pendant dangling from the choker around Jesse’s neck. “That’s really cool.”
Jesse studied Evan’s eyes even though they were focused on his pendant. He didn’t think eyes so sharp and bright a blue could actually exist in real life. He had thought Evan might wear colored contacts to make his eyes such an astonishing blue, but now he saw that wasn’t the case. He took a breath, calling his voice back to work.
“Thanks. I got it at a little jewelry artistry shop in Greektown. It’s the Vergina Sun. I kinda got a thing for classical culture.”
“I was in Delphi at the Temple of Apollo just before I came here. I enjoyed learning about him, being the god of music and arts.” Evan lifted his gaze to Jesse’s. “I especially liked the stories of his exploits with his many lovers.”
Jesse nodded and followed him through another door out of the kitchen into the family room with thick tan carpeting covering the floor. Against one wall was a wide, long, light brown leather couch. In front of it sat a dark mahogany coffee table with intricate carvings on the legs, and at both arms of the couch were matching end tables. Underneath the coffee table, an oriental area rug added further to the warm feel of the room. Two plush, dark brown leather recliners were at the ends of the coffee table. A massive stone fireplace was set into one wall with a dark walnut mantel above. Directly across from the couch hung the largest flat screen TV Jesse had ever seen. A cherry entertainment cabinet held the DVD player, stereo, and various gaming systems.
Evan headed toward another open doorway leading to the back of the house. “Do you like video games?”
“I play whenever I get a chance. I love games like the Legend of Zelda.” Jesse stepped into the next room and stopped short, his eyes widening at the sight that met him.
Evan strolled into the center of the room, holding his arms out at his sides. “And this is the music room.”
The music room was the largest room yet. In the back of it, windows ran from the hardwood floor to the vaulted ceiling with white columns topped in Corinthian capitals spaced every few feet between. They overlooked the back of Evan’s property and the lake, but what stopped Jesse was the vast collection of instruments in the room. A Steinway ebony grand piano sat in front of the windows, where Evan stood leaning back as he watched him.
Jesse walked further into the room, turning in a circle to fully take it in. Electric guitars of numerous styles and brands hung on one wall with bass guitars and acoustics. Of the electric, Jesse guessed there had to be over thirty. Against one wall, dark walnut shelves displayed several violins and violas with two cellos and a full-sized harp sitting close by. On the other side of the room, shelves and wooden tables held still more instruments, though many of these were exotic, some of which Jesse didn’t even know existed until that moment. He moved across the room to them, his fingers all but twitching to touch.
Evan could see on Jesse’s face how he battled for control to not finger the instruments. “Go ahead. You can touch them. From the moment it’s created, an instrument’s only wish is to be held by a loving and skilled hand.”
Jesse gently laid his fingers on a zither near its strings and caressed the wood. “It’s true, isn’t it? Sometimes I think they’re almost living, the way each one has a unique voice. Kenny thinks I’m nuts. He says, a Strat is a Strat. But to me, every instrument has a subtle pitch difference that makes it its own, and when it gets held in the hands of someone who respects and understands it, the sound of that instrument becomes as individual as the soul of the person playing it.” He looked over his shoulder at Evan and smiled. “You probably think I’m mental, too, for thinking like that, don’t you?”
“No, not at all,” Evan said softly, in awe at the serene beauty that came over Jesse’s face when he was surrounded by instruments.
Jesse stopped before the violins, admiring each one. “They’re so beautiful. I’ve always wanted to learn to play, but I haven’t had the chance.”
Evan headed over to him. “I could teach you. I’ve seen all the instruments you can play. Picking up one more would be easy for you.”
Evan pulled down a violin case from the top shelf and set it on one of the lower ones. He opened it, revealing a violin inside with a rich brownish-gold finish. Though it lay silent, as the light in the room washed over it, Jesse swore he could hear the echoes of the countless songs the instrument had known, and all the emotions its voice had evoked from its listeners, joy, sadness, hope, seemed to have become as much a part of it as its neck, body, or stain.
Evan lifted the instrument from its case with the tenderness of a father lifting his child from its crib. He set it against his left shoulder to check the tuning, placing a soft white cloth where his chin would go since the model didn’t have a chinrest, and when the final adjustments were made, he said, “It’s been a while since I’ve played, so don’t laugh at me if I screw up.”
Evan raised the bow and closed his eyes, calling the song he wanted to play to his mind. The music flowed through his mental ear, telling him the notes he needed. He settled the bow on the strings and played the first gentle notes of Pachelbel’s Canon in D major.
Jesse’s lips parted, the pure, divine sound of the violin stealing his breath to add to its essence. Like a heavenly being residing in the mortal realm, Evan wove the notes together with expert fingers and created a blanket of music that wrapped around them both. Though the piece normally called for more violins, Evan’s rendition and skill made it so the other instruments weren’t missed. Enraptured, Jesse stared at him, at his lips that looked so soft, at his fingers of such deft skill, and in that moment, the newly awoken part of himself became fully alert, and he knew then it was his very soul that Evan had roused. It responded to Evan, called to him, and there’d be no silence within himself until Evan was his.
Evan summoned softer notes from the violin as he brought the song to its end. He lowered the bow and opened his eyes. “So, what do you think? Think you can do it?”
Jesse blinked himself out of his daze. “What?”
“Play the violin. Do you think you can do it?”
Jesse sat silent. He had been so wrapped up in his internal musings he hadn’t paid attention to Evan’s fingering or strokes of the bow.
Evan laughed. “Weren’t you paying attention?”
Jesse lowered his eyes. “I got wrapped up in listening.”
“That violin has a beautiful voice.”
“He should. He’s a Stradivarius.”
Jesse fixed his eyes on the violin, in shock at sitting so close to such a piece of musical history. He caught how Evan spoke of the violin as a “he,” not an “it,” showing the level of respect Evan held for the instrument, and thought it was only proper to do so. “They’re so rare, where did you get him?”
“I had been looking for a Strad ever since I could afford one. Actually, I had come across one at an auction a few years ago, then had the opportunity to view two others from private collections, but I passed on each one. For some reason, even though they were Strads, they didn’t strike me. Then I saw him.” Evan ran his hand lovingly over the body of the violin. “He was part of the collection at the Nippon Music Foundation. It took me several months, but I finally convinced them to sell him. I had to have him and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.” He chuckled softly and lifted his eyes to Jesse. “I guess I was a bit obsessed. Sort of like when you see someone you want so badly for your lover, your mind won’t let go of them. It creates images and sounds so sharp, you feel like you already know their touch from your dreams.”
Jesse glanced down at the floor. Evan couldn’t know how he felt, but those words made it seem like he understood perfectly. How was he supposed to respond to something like that? His emotions would betray him no matter what he said. He turned on the stool toward the harp and ran his fingertips over the strings, creating a cascade of harmonious notes.