Encore (Stereo Hearts Book 2) (11 page)

And Carmen’s face. That
face.

Aria swallowed again. Her face was a thing of dreams. The kind of angelic features empires were built for. A face that made you want to stop and stare forever. Her green eyes screamed out against her skin, but whether or not they were contacts never entered Aria’s mind—it was apparent they were natural on sight. Rare. Exquisite.

“You’re just stunning,” Aria breathed, before she could stop herself.

Carmen blushed, letting her head fall just enough to cause a blonde bang to tumble into her eyes. She reclaimed her hand and pushed it back with a manicured nail, before meeting Aria’s eyes again. “Thank you, boo. You’re so sweet.”

“I’m sure you hear that every day,” Aria said.

But as she lingered on Carmen’s eyes, Aria saw what Yoshi had been talking about in the bathroom. She saw every little girl in their old foster home.

“Did I mention what a relief you are?” Carmen asked, taking both of Aria’s arms in her hands and shaking her playfully. She shot Gus a look, who raised his eyebrows. “The girlfriend of the last guy I worked with tried to kill me by spiking my drink with cyanide. When that didn’t work, she had a nervous breakdown and had to be admitted to a mental institution. And to think,
I’m
the one who helped her boyfriend pick out the ring he was going to propose to
her
with once our contract was up…” She smiled warmly, as if she’d just told a bedtime story. “Some women just don’t have the skin for this town.” She winked. “But I can already tell you’re different. You get it.”

Aria exhaled when she heard Yoshi pounding down the stairs.

The heat of his body was behind her in an instant. His arm came into her view as he exchanged a handshake with Gus. Then that arm came around Aria’s waist. He tugged her in to him.

Aria turned her head and met Yoshi’s eyes, just in time to see him leaning down.

She accepted his sweet kiss, and when Aria pulled away and looked at Carmen, he popped another kiss on her cheek.

But Carmen wasn’t looking at Aria. “It’s good to see you again, Yoshi.”

Aria lowered her eyes. Carmen clearly had no idea Yoshi had told her about the spread-eagle incident in Simon’s office. It appeared Carmen believed it was their little secret.

Looking at Yoshi from under fluttering lashes, Carmen held her hand out to him, once again palm down.

Instead of kissing it, Yoshi shook Carmen’s hand in the same manner he had Gus’s, slapping their palms together and then locking his fingers around hers, giving them a thorough shake.

Carmen endured that dude-bro handshake with her eyebrows pulled tight, reclaiming her hand with a breathy laugh once it was over. She held it in the air, still palm up, as if he’d just spat on it before shooting a look at Aria.

Gus tapped his watch and pointed to the front door. “Yosh, we really need to jet. So very late.”

Blinking rapidly, still taken aback by the treatment she’d just received, Carmen turned and followed Gus to the door. As she stepped onto the porch, she gave Yoshi another look over her shoulder before jogging outside, catching up to Gus, and entwining their arms on the walk down the cobblestoned driveway to the limo waiting on the curb.

Yoshi tightened his arm around Aria’s waist and waited for her eye to meet his.

“You ready for this?” she asked, smiling.

His eyes fell to her lips. “I’ve been ready my whole life.”

7

Los Angeles’s new hot spot, Butter, was wall-to-wall with fans, industry insiders, and the who’s who of the music industry. With dim red lighting, two stories of lush décor, and a winding gothic staircase at both ends of the expansive club, Aria couldn’t help but think it was perfect for Yoshi—not too casual, not too try-hard. Attractive young attendees leaned on the exposed brick of the grand staircase, which led to the lower level where there was a large dance floor and VIP seating. No one was sitting tonight though, the floor packed as the opening acts tore the house down.

Outside, the red carpet crawled with names and faces Aria had only ever seen on TV and in movies, and as she found herself leaning on the spiral staircase that overlooked the stage, bopping to one of Yoshi’s opening acts, she could hardly believe how far he’d climbed and how fast.

Just six months before, she’d been in tears in that cab in Miami, heartbroken over leaving Adam and The White Keys behind, dreading that it was all a huge mistake.

Now, standing there with a sweaty glass of vodka cranberry in her hand and a mega celebrity over her shoulder every time she looked, she felt like an idiot for ever doubting him.

“Oh,
heeeey
…”

Knowing the voice over her shoulder before she even turned around, Aria swirled on her heel with her arms out, immediately taking the tiny Asian woman who greeted her into a tight hug. A full head shorter than Aria, Kimmy Nguyen’s head was forced squarely between Aria’s breasts during the embrace. If Kimmy minded, she didn’t show it.

“You look stunning, my love,” Kimmy said, pulling back and fluffing Aria’s hair.

Aria had decided at the last minute to wear it down. It was longer than it had ever been, halfway down her back, and she was no longer shy about her huge, fluffy, natural hair. She’d begun to feel proud of it, basking in the attention it seemed to draw in effortlessly. She thought about how much time Yoshi spent with his nose planted inside it, the small smile lighting up his face as he breathed in the scent of her coconut conditioner.

“Seriously? Seriously. You hair is just… Ugh.” Kimmy looked pained, still fluffing. “
Ugh
. You are a treasure. An African
princess.
I seriously just cannot with you.”

“It’s so good to see you.”

“
Loving
the diamond-encrusted eye patch, but I’m a sucker for diamond-encrusted anything, so…”

“Yoshi got it for me.” Aria adjusted the patch as her gaze traveled down Kimmy’s low-cut red mini dress, red high-heeled sandals, and cherry-red toes. “If only I had a Jillian Michaels body like yours so I could pull off this amazing dress. What I wouldn’t do for your breasts.”

“Stop it. The man of the hour adores the shit out of you, which makes him a proud member of the itty-bitty-titty committee. That’s all that matters.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Aria mumbled as they leaned on the spiral stairs together, facing the stage again. “Do you see all the gorgeous women walking around this place? All here just for him? Some of the conversations I’ve overheard on this staircase alone…” Aria didn’t finish, already feeling sick at the thought of all the beautiful women in the room who wanted to sexually violate her boyfriend. “Have you seen the woman Simon Brady hired to be on his arm?”

“Carmen.” Kimmy rolled her eyes. “Yes, I saw that jezebel in the back hallway. Following Yoshi around like a puppy, laughing incessantly at everyone’s jokes, so damn thirsty it’s a miracle she hasn’t passed out from dehydration. Yoshi couldn’t be less interested, by the way. Every time she speaks, he looks like he’s praying for death.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to reassure me.”

“I’d be a fool to believe it didn’t bother you. It would bother any woman. I don’t think I could do it.”

“Yoshi says it’s common in the industry. You know, for the label to fabricate relationships. Carmen just broke up with that English soccer player, so even the European papers are saying Yoshi’s name now, wondering if he’s the reason her last relationship ended.”

“Her last ‘relationship.’” Kimmy put up air quotes. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that the guy she ‘broke up’ with just moved to LA and signed on to play the lead in
Spiderman Reloaded
? The people who put Carmen in that ‘relationship’ and ended that ‘relationship’ are the same people who are calling the shots for Yoshi right now. They’re smart, they’re powerful, and they know what makes money. Girls like Carmen make money. If you look back on all her ‘relationships,’ you’ll always find her on the arm of an up-and-comer. Then, when that up-and-comer explodes, she’s on to the next one.” She smacked her lips. “That girl wouldn’t know a real relationship if it sat on her. She’s an industry whore. Point. Blank. Period. No man in this city would ever date her seriously.”

“That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“And that’s why I only date writers and producers. Just as rich, but there’s nobody in the background pulling their strings like a puppet. Carmen’s been passed around all over town for years. Started when she was sixteen and has been full speed ever since. She can’t get anyone to put a ring on it, especially now that she’s pushing thirty. Yoshi might be her last chance at starting a career of her own—off his back, of course—and I have no doubt she’ll slit anyone’s throat who gets in her way. Watch out for her, okay?”

Aria changed the subject, feeling her stomach getting sick again. “Has Phil played you the bonus track he and Yoshi just finished working on?”

“Just this morning. Fire. Those two are a hell of a team.”

“They are.” Aria nodded. Phillip Gold was a well-known producer/songwriter in Hollywood, responsible for some of the most successful albums of the decade. When Yoshi got the call that he was going to be working exclusively with Phil for his first album, he’d been near tears with excitement. “I still remember the night Yoshi got the call that Phil was in. I’ve never seen him so happy in his life.”

“They’re a beautiful fit, with their goofy asses.” Kimmy laughed.

Aria chortled. “Sometimes I’ll wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of them giggling in the studio. I’m not worried about Carmen. If I’m in danger of losing Yoshi to anyone, it’s Phil.”

“Just look at what they’ve done in six months. Just listen to the beautiful album they’ve recorded. It’s impossible to create something so groundbreaking without deep love in the mix. Honestly, I think most artists and their producers are one drunken night away from a dick in each other’s mouths.”

“Okay, it was funny at first, but now it’s freaking me out,” Aria said. “I could really see Phil stealing my boyfriend. And it’s scaring me. Can we please talk about something else?”

They laughed, bumping each other’s shoulders. Soon, a silence fell between them and Kimmy leaned over, trying to catch Aria’s eye.

“What about you?” Kimmy asked.

“Me?”

“Yeah. Yoshi writes the songs. He sings the songs. He’s living
his
dream. What’s
your
dream?”

“What’s yours?” Aria nudged her.

Kimmy smiled proudly. “Fashion. After Phil and I got married, he gave me the money to start my own line. I had him paid back within six months, and then tripled that number by the end of the calendar year.”

Aria shrugged a shoulder. “Yoshi got me a gig on his first tour. Backup singer.”

“Is that your dream?”

“So what if it is?”

“I’d tell you to dream bigger.”

Aria blinked. “I guess I never really thought about it.”

“So often women in relationships with powerful men forget to think about themselves. What they want. What their dreams are.”

Aria lips fell at the corners. “I guess some part of me always wanted what Yoshi has now. My own album. My own fans. My own rise.”

“I knew it from the moment I saw you,” Kimmy said. “So, what’s stopping you?”

“I can’t make it about me right now. Not when it’s about him.”

“I’ve got news for you, girl. It’s never going to stop being about him. And the bigger he gets, the harder it’s going to be for you to break free from the background. If you want to come to the forefront, the time is right now.”

“Seems like Simon Brady is really against that. Yoshi won’t tell me the whole story, because he’s trying to protect my feelings, but I know the reason Simon brought Carmen in is because she’s so damn beautiful, and I’m…” Aria shrugged again. “Well, I’m—”

“A breathtakingly gorgeous African queen. Did I say princess earlier? Retracted, bitch. You are a
queen.”

Aria met her eyes, smiling sheepishly.

“And you deserve your bliss just as much as he does.”

“One day…” Aria whispered.

“Or… To-day. Today.” Kimmy paused, appearing frustrated. “You know you’ve got fans on Instagram, right? You and Yoshi? They call you guys
Yaria
.”

“I know. We’ve been deeply amused by them for the last five years. They’re very passionate.”

“They’ve already got this fake shit with Carmen completely figured out.”

“They should really go out for the CIA. Their investigative skills are simply unrivaled.”

“They see what I see,” Kimmy said, pulling up Instagram and showing her the ‘Yaria’ feed. “That boy loves you more than he loves himself, and his fans can see it. Carmen has always been Simon’s hole in one, but he’s making a mistake this time. Yoshi’s moving mountains because
you
are by his side, and the public knows it. They know Yoshi will never move those kinds of mountains for a caricature like Carmen, but Simon Brady is too fucking stupid to see that. All he sees are dollar signs and he thinks industry whores are the only way there.” She let her phone-clad wrist go slack, shooting Aria a look. “You know what? You’re having lunch with me tomorrow.”

“I am?”

“It’s done.”

“It is?” Aria giggled.

“You’re just such a wide-eyed angel. I have so much to teach you, and since I can’t
slap
some sense into you without being arrested, I’m just going to have to take you under my wing instead.” Kimmy snaked their arms together just as the low lights of the club dimmed even more, a spotlight illuminating the host onstage.

The moment the host announced Yoshi’s name, the room roared with applause. When he stepped onto the stage, the cheers grew deafening, forcing Aria to cover her ears, squinting against the painful ringing, all the while laughing.

Carmen stepped onstage behind Yoshi and came to a stop beside him, snaking her arm around his waist with a beaming smile on her face.

Yoshi’s arm went around her shoulder as he accepted the microphone from the host.

As he went on to thank everyone who bought the album, his label, and his fans, his eyes rose to the staircase, and somehow, through the thick crowd of adoring fans and industry powerhouses, his eyes locked with hers. He smiled at her just as Carmen took his jaw, turned his head, and kissed him square on the mouth.

Yoshi yanked his head away instantly, and his eyes shot back to Aria as the crowd screamed with applause at the kiss. He faltered and then his eyes searched the room. He seemed to realize he still had a job to do, because he continued his speech with a wobbly voice.

Aria rolled her eyes the moment they filled with tears, trying to hold her breath to stop them from multiplying and boiling over.

It didn’t work.

Feeling Kimmy’s eyes searing into her, and her hand massaging her back, only made the fire roaring in Aria’s gut burn ten times hotter, until she couldn’t take it anymore. She turned and raced down the stairs, shouldering her way through the crowd, which had grown thick even on the staircase.

She heard Yoshi’s voice break the moment she broke their eye contact, heard him hesitate in the middle of his speech as she bounded down the stairs, and heard the way it had changed when he spoke again.

He continued going down his list of thanks, and she raced towards the bathroom near tears.

She waited for the one thing that would dry her eyes in an instant.

She waited for him to say her name.

By the time she’d gotten to the women’s restroom, and he still hadn’t said it, the tears were flowing freely, and as the bathroom door swung closed behind her, a sob left her lips.

The young, scantily clad girls leaning over the bathroom sink and freshening their makeup in the mirror all snapped their eyes to her. One particularly young-looking girl with stick-straight blonde hair that touched her ass gasped at the sight of her.

“Oh, my god, what’s wrong?” she begged, her high valley-girl voice catching the attention of everyone else in the bathroom. Soon, all eyes were on Aria.

Aria slapped the tears from her face, trying to breathe, and when she felt an arm coming around her waist from behind, she knew it was Kimmy.

“Come on,” Kimmy said. “There’s a more private bathroom in the back hallway.”

--

Licking his teeth, Yoshi stomped through the nightclub’s back hallway, hearing three pairs of shoes chasing after him, including the click of the heels that had sent him flying off the stage before he’d even finished his speech. In the distance, the first song on his album blasted through the club, pounding dully on the walls of the service hall. It was the song he’d been set to sing
live
before Carmen had pulled that stunt onstage.