reckless hearts: vegas nights (2 page)

“Brock my boy, were just about through here.”
Tom said thrilled how great her sound had enhanced.

“Well, what’d you think?”
Bella Rose asked excitedly.

“I think you’ve got power in your voice never seen you like this before you go to Italy and come back a brand new person.”
Tom replied.

“That was the plan, didn’t think it’d work so well.”
She said looking at Brock;

Feeling her love for him return.

“How long have you been here?”
She asked wondering if he believed she was really that surprised.

“Long enough.”
He said annoyed, mostly with himself.

   ***

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The restaurant her father chose had a beautiful setting; the lights were low with candles on the tables and roses in the center. It was the restaurant she wanted to go to for her birthday with her mother and father, but neither of them could be in the same room let alone breathe the same air.

“I’m sorry we haven’t spent much time together, if we had you might not have gotten involved with Brock.”
Her father said before they even ordered.

I knew this was coming
, Luanne thought.

A waiter approached their table.

She suddenly wasn’t in the mood for a meal she ordered a salad and tall glass of water. Her father didn’t order anything at all.

“He isn’t as bad as what people have said, I’ve seen who he really is.”
She said hoping to have changed the conversation quickly.

“You’ve seen what he shows you.”
Her father was trying to protect his daughter from being hurt, he was known as the Playboy of Vegas. He dated woman after woman after woman they were never sure if he was ever going to settle down, but no one knew how close they had become only what the media had always said.

Luanne was hoping to keep their relationship a secret from her work. She didn’t know what kind of gossip they would have come up with, but she knew it wouldn’t have been anything good. She wanted to enjoy their quietness while they could.

When Debra Andrews assigned Luanne to interview Brock Ashton she had something else in mind for him. She knew he was a star on the rise with his fame skyrocketing, she promised full exposure from her magazine. She could read it in Luanne’s face there was something she hadn’t told them which could have meant Debra’s career.

It was the big boss of Eye Candy Magazine that wanted the interview since he had been a fan of his father’s, if he didn’t get his way she wasn’t going to count the hours when she would have had to pack her office.

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Luanne’s father poured himself some whiskey the second he got down into the bar when he got home. He knew what kind of heartache his daughter was in for and she wouldn’t hear a word he was telling her, he was too late she had fallen hard for him and there was no turning back from it.

She waited for him at the penthouse after she had left her dad; she had a yearning to see him again, to see his smile, to feel his touch; to feel his heart beating next to hers. She wanted it all and over and over again.

He had gotten there after her anxious to write down a new song that had been running through his head continuously as if it was in a time loop that he couldn’t break. Luanne didn’t know much about musicians, if she had she would have known music was all they knew. They rarely had time for relationships, her father knew from personal experience that wasn’t what he wanted for her he wanted her to feel happiness not deserted and abandoned.

Brock hadn’t even said hello before he went straight into the room and grabbed his notebook and pen.

“Hello to you too.”
She said with frustration as she slightly slammed the door, not as though he would have heard it with his mind somewhere else.

She didn’t bother going into the room and causing an argument instead she began cooking dinner making the mistake of assuming he was going to make it to the table, he had written a whole  new album in less than the hour he believed it had been Bella Rose who had motivated him. She had always been the one have that effect on him and he had to admit to himself he missed it. He wasn’t sure how he felt about seeing her until his creative side kicked in.

He thought about her a lot while she was gone. His thoughts of her always ended the same with the same feeling he had the night they first kissed, she looked into his eyes with so much love and he could feel her heart melt the closer she was to him.

Bella Rose was always going to be a part of his life because of the child they had together; a secret they both kept from the media to keep her out of the limelight just so she could have the normal life they wanted for her; a secret he planned to keep from Luanne.

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He knew if Luanne found out any other way she would have left him and he didn’t want that but also knew he couldn’t just forget about Bella Rose. He kept telling himself after dinner he should have walked away from the studio not even let himself hear her recording. Luanne would soon question what was on his mind and what was he to tell her?

Not the truth, he didn’t want it to be the truth if he lied he would have made it so much worse. He had asked her to move in with him, he had already given her a copy of his penthouse key. He always wanted her there, he had hoped his thoughts wouldn’t have become distracting, he didn’t want to hurt her or lose her. What he found with her was far different than what he had with Bella Rose. Their son would always be a reminder of how love consumed them and gave them a world they had never expected. It was because of him their music changed and became what it was. Their son was most precious to Bella Rose when music had once been the only important thing. She had felt every feeling for Brock she had once hidden away rushing back as she held their son in her arms and stood by the window staring out unto the majestic cloud covered mountains; the air filled with the scent of rain reminding her of the night their son Christopher was conceived, that was a memory she could never let go of, a memory that had entered mind any time they were standing in the same room together.

Christopher continued to look at the photograph of him and his father as his mother massaged his back hoping to put him to sleep after the rough night they had. She had went home after the studio and discovered he had a cough; she did what any mother would do to get him healthy.

Christopher was named after Brock’s great, great grandfather who had gone into the army when he was eighteen.

“Are you ready for sleep yet Christopher Samuel?” She said tiredly ready to have a nap with him.

She hadn’t thought of calling Brock before but she needed the rest to take care of him.

“Brock?” She didn’t have to wait until he said a word to know it was him, “It’s Christopher.”
She said worriedly.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He asked looking at Luanne who was sleeping soundly.

“He’s got a cold.” Bella Rose didn’t have to say anything else before he ran out there door even left behind his coat.

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              He knew Luanne would have questions for him if she noticed he was gone, questions he wasn’t willing or ready to give answers to. He knew she would leave him and in his soul there would have been an aching he couldn’t have handled. He cared for them both and didn’t want to lose either of them.

When he was able to put him to sleep, he ended up falling asleep himself not knowing he had to leave or why she covered them with a blanket.

It was hard having him there, but their son needed him.

She went to bed that night, but never slept endless thoughts of him wouldn’t let her; she knew in the morning it would have been hard for her to watch him leave as well as for the baby.

When Luanne woke she hadn’t expected to find Brock’s side of the bed empty. She rose out of bed and found him sneaking in through the door when she entered the living room.

“Where have you been?” She said with a hint of jealousy in her eyes.

“I went for coffee and breakfast.” He answered showing her the bag and cup of coffee in his hand which he didn’t drink thankful that she did.

He placed them on the coffee table and got the donuts out of the bag, she sat next to him smelling a woman’s perfume coming from his clothing, but she didn’t want to say a word after all it could have just been a friend, lying to herself made her feel better knowing she wouldn’t have to go to her father and admit to him that he was right.

He hated lying to her, he knew it would be bad in the end if she found out he was not only with his ex all night but that they had a baby as well. No, none of that would have gone too good for him. She sat beside him dressed in his t-shirt with the smell of perfume filling the air, he got out the donuts, but she had something else in mind.

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              She turned his face toward hers and kissed him softly, a feeling rose within him making his toes numb. She had never kissed him like that since they started dating, he put the brown bag next to the coffee and wrapped his arms around her waist as he laid her down gently. He needed to be with her, it was impossible to imagine not being with her it was also impossible for to imagine his life without his son. He didn’t know what she would have said when it came to him having a baby and keeping it a secret for so long, but in his heart he felt he would lose her.  Luanne knew he had dated the famous country and rock musician Bella Rose but didn’t know how far their relationship, no one had he was on the verge of buying her an engagement ring when it ended.

Bella Rose didn’t tell Brock she was pregnant when she first found out, she hadn’t told anyone especially when the media would’ve had a field day. Brock was angry when he found she had been pregnant without his help, she might have had her mother and father, but he had wanted to be there. Life without his son would be meaningless, life without Luanne would be meaningless.

He hadn’t wanted her to leave for work and leave him alone with his thoughts, he thought music would have cleared his mind and sometimes it had except it had only left him feeling confused; left him wondering where his heart was taking him.

The love he felt for Luanne felt right, but what remained of what he felt for Bella Rose felt stronger so strong he didn’t know how to deal with it, but would walking away be the biggest mistake he had ever made, again?

Luanne walked into Eye Candy Magazine feeling a dark cloud hanging over her, it wasn’t where she wanted to be, she wanted to be held in his arms; she wanted to be looking into his eyes and touching his lips with her own, but Debra had called her in unexpectedly.

“Glad you made it in time,” She said as though Luanne had never arrived early to anything.

“If I didn’t it would mean my job.” Luanne said hiding how sarcastic she was actually being from her boss.

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“You bet your ass it would,” Debra said with a smile and handed her a file. “Victor Paulson, this is an interview you cannot screw up.”

“We don’t do actor interviews.” Luanne was confused on why she had made the sudden switch.

“Now we do,” Debra sat at her desk and began to eat her breakfast, “Victor Paulson can be found at the jail where he is being held for attempted murder.”

“What if they don’t let me in?” Luanne asked nervously.

“They will, I’ve already made a call.” Debra replied taking a bite of her food.  Luanne stood outside the door of the jail before she entered questioning him wasn’t going to be easy, she didn’t know how hard it was going to be. Victor sat in the chair before the glass window after the security guard had let him in, he picked up the phone ready to talk to anyone who would listen; Luanne picked up her end and turned on the tape recorder.

“Thank you for meeting with me, what you’re going through must be difficult?” She asked, not really needing to, knowing it would have been for her.