Right Now (The Seduced Series) (11 page)

Chapter Twelve

I
drove back down to the estate to make sure everything was ready for Angelina’s party. The place looked great, Jamie outdone herself for sure. I had to pick up Angelina’s family at the airport but Jamie called me and insisted that I had to come back here. I called Krystal and told her that I was running late so I will be sending a car and driver to pick them up, I hope they didn’t think it was rude of me to not be there in person. So I sent Jared to go pick them up. I hope they’re on their way and don’t hit any traffic on the way here. The sun was setting, that meant it was time for the party to start soon. My phone rang as I finished doing a sweep of the party preparations, when I glance down at my cell it was Carmella.

“Hey, is everything alright?” I asked.

“Everything’s in place and I activated the necklace. She’s wearing it at this very moment,” she replied.

“How is she?” I asked because I knew I was going to be in trouble for everything I made her do today.

“She’s happy Dennis,” she said softly.

“Great, I’m on my way to pick her up. I just stopped back at the estate to check on things. And thank you Carmella, you can head back,” I said.

“All right, goodbye,” she said and hung up.

As
I made my way back inside of the estate, I was met by Jared and three other women by the living room. They all were in shock as they took in their surroundings. One was maybe around Carmella’s age, slightly younger though. That must be Krystal, Angelina’s mother. The other was probably my age maybe a little older; she also had brown eyes and short brown hair, I’m guessing that was Jenifer. The other woman had dirty blonde hair and green eyes, I didn’t know her name or who she was but it’s probably a friend of Angelina’s.

“Your Mercedes SLR McLaren is ready for you sir,” Jared said as the women all turned around to look at me then, they looked even more surprised to see me.

“Thanks Jared,” I said walking up to them smiling warmly. “I’m so glad you all could make it,” I said as I extended my hand to Krystal.

“Well i
t’s a pleasure to be here, Dennis right?” She asked and I nodded.

“Yes the pleasure is all mine. I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up at the airport myself. Things are kind of crazy around here.”

“Oh no, it’s no problem,” she said as she turned to introduce me to the others. “This is my oldest daughter Jenifer,” she said. I was right again, I shook her hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard great things,” I said.

“You did?” She asked surprised.

“Yes, Angelina talks about you a lot,” I said because Angelina adored Jenifer and it was an honor to meet someone who held a special place in her heart as she did.

“And this is Ryder, Angelina and her go way back,” Krystal said referring to the blonde.

“You’ve got an extraordinary beautiful home Dennis,” Jenifer added looking around.

“Thank you. The party is in the back. You can go there and get settled,” I said.

“Thank you, where is my daughter?” Krystal asked.

“She’s at my other house a few miles from here, I was just leaving to go and pick her up. I didn’t want to blow the surprise by having her here,” I stated. “Please, if you need anything Amber will be around to assist you,” I added.

“Thank you Dennis. I guess we’ll see you when you get back,” she said smiling.

I smiled back at her and then headed through the living room towards the garage. As I made my way to the garage I thought that went reasonably well. I hopped into the McLaren and drove off to collect my love.

****

I parked the car in the driveway to the house. I was a little more than excited to see beautiful girl. I walked in the living room only to find her on the balcony staring at the woodland scenery. She looked dashing in that dress. I have to personally thank Pamela and Rebecca for making my love look incredible hot for tonight. I sneaked up behind her and hugged her from behind. She didn’t jump so I guess I didn’t fool her.

“You look stunning Ms. Moore,” I murmured into her ear. She turned around in my arms and eyed me.

“Why thank you and you look rather dashing
yourself Mr. Evers,” I shrugged leaning in to kiss her. I tried to make it a quick kiss but the way she looked, smelled and tasted drove me crazy. From the way she stood there and looked, it took me every ounce of will power I had to not take her upstairs and into bed.

“Did Pam and Becca behave themselves?” I whispered against her soft lips.

“They were wonderful. I like them,” she said smiling. “You really mean a lot to them, you know that right?”

“I know, I’m just glad you had a good time,” I said as I put my hand on the small of her back. “Shall we?” I asked and she nodded.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked.

“It’s a surprise,” I chuckled at my own little private joke as we walked out.

“Wow, new car?” She asked eyeing the Benz.

“Yeah, I had to find something t
o replace the Lamborghini,” I said helping her into the car.

“This fetish of yours is a little much at times,” she murmured.

She told me about her day with my cousins
as I drove us back to the estate. I quickly phoned Carmella on the in car phone, trying to sound concerned if she made it back to the estate okay. That was codenamed, so she could have everyone in place when we walked in. I turned onto the driveway of the estate as she looked at me in surprise.

“The estate? This is where we’re going?” She asked as I parked the car in the driveway. The estate was silent which meant everyone must be ready for our arrival.

“Why not go back to the place you love the most,” I said helping her out of the car. She gave me a confused smile but didn’t say anything. We entered through the garage and into the empty living room.

“Where is everyone?” She asked.

“Probably outside,” I said taking her hand and leading her to the backyard. The backyard was completely dark, damn they were good, as I thought to myself. Then all of a sudden the lights turned on and everyone shouted…

“Surprise!” I laughed at Angelina’s expression as the crowd cheered and the music boomed to life. Our backyard turned into a serious nightclub. She smiled and waved to the people that raised their glasses at her.

“Dennis Evers, I’m going to kill you,” she hissed through her teeth only low enough for me to hear.

“Angelina Marie Moore, take a look over there and tell me if that’s such a good idea or not,” I pointed towards Krystal and Jenifer who started to approach us. I saw the expression on her face turn from shocked to pure joy in seconds. She looked at me while shaking her head in disbelief. “Look who decided to join the party,” I said. I was glad that I did this for her, to make her special day even more special.

“You didn’t!”

“Angie!” Jenifer called out rushing towards her and hugging her.

“Jenifer! Oh my God, how in the hell are you guys here in New York?” She asked still in shock.

“Well, we have Dennis here to thank for that. He called and invited us here to come up here,” Krystal said.

“Mom, it
’s so good to see you. I missed you so much,” Angelina said while hugging her mother. She lifted her head to look at me and mouthed, “Thank you.” I smiled back at her. She didn’t need to thank me, making her happy was the one and only job that I loved. I had almost forgotten Ryder was here until she came up from behind us. “Ryder?” Angelina asked even more shocked than before.

“Hey Ang, your mom invited me. I hope that’s cool,” Ryder smiled nervously. “Look, I know I have no business being here but I really wanted to talk to you.”

“Um okay, I guess,” Angelina replied stiffly as she turned back to look at me. Her eyes showing me she wanted me to save her from this. So I kissed her forehead in encouragement. They both walked away and I thought about stopping them for a moment because I truly didn’t understand why they needed to talk.

“Let them talk it out Dennis,” Krystal said bringing me out of my inner conflict I was having. “I’m not sure if Angie told you about their history but they need to talk, to have some closure,” she said and I nodded back.

“I still can’t believe you invited her, poor Angie. She probably just wants to get away from that poison mess,” Jenifer stated and walked away. Krystal rolled her eyes at what Jenifer said then looked at me.

“Can we talk?” She asked me.

“Sure.” We walked along the edge of the grounds, it was less crowed than by the pool area.

“Don’t mind Jenifer, she’s just a little protective of her little sister,” Krystal said.

“So I’ve heard,” I replied smiling, glad I had an alliance in protecting Angelina. “I’m sure all this and myself included must come as a shock to you,” I stated.

“It does but this is not the same Angelina that left home, she’s happier now. The light in her eyes that ceased to exist is back and that’s all I ever wanted for her.”

“I’m glad you feel that way Mrs. Moore,” I said.

“Please call me Krystal,” she smiled.

We talked about
everything from how I met Angelina, to my family, my lifestyle and my beliefs and values. This conversation seemed reminiscent to the one I had with Angelina when she first came here. I only gave a fraction of the truth of course. The only difference was that Krystal could never know the full truth of Angelina’s situation. It would only endanger her safety and the well being of Angelina if Benny ever found out.

“You seem like a nice guy Dennis and I can’t seem to find anything wrong with you.”

“Were you trying to?” I asked.

“Quite frankly, yes. I just want to make sure my daughter is in good hands, she’s been through a lot over these past few years. She deserves nothing but happiness.”

“I care about your daughter Krystal, I could never dream about hurting her in any way.”

“You better not
,” she said firmly turning her gaze back to me. “Or else you’re going to have to answer to me.”

“Fair enough
,” I said with a smile and she smiled too.

“It was good talking to you Dennis, I truly wish the both of you the best,” she said.

“Thank you, your support means a lot to me
,” I said as she gave me a pat on the shoulder and walked away.

People I didn’t know greeted a
nd thanked me for inviting them. I tried to make small talk where I could but it seemed almost all of Angelina’s colleagues from her work made it. I spotted Jamie ever so busy like she always was.

“Jamie, you’ve truly outdone yourself this time without a doubt,” I said.

“Yes, well you know how I operate
,” she smiled smugly.

“Yes, you’re good,” I said sarcastically laughing and she did too. Angelina came up from behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. She looked happy, so I was guessing that the talk went well then. “Hey, are you ok?” I asked looking into her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m okay. That went better than I expected,” she said a little baffled.

“
Well I’m glad,” I said. “Let me introduce you to your party planner, this lovely lady is Jamie Gordon. Jamie this is Angelina Moore.”

“Hello, it’s good to finally meet you,” Jamie said pleasantly while extending her hand to Angelina.

“Pleasure,” she said and shook Jamie’s hand. “Wow, this must’ve taken some work to pull this off.”

“You have no idea
,” Jamie chuckled, “Speaking of, I need to see the next performer through. Dennis and Angelina enjoy the rest of the party,” she said.

“Thank you again Jamie for pulling this out for me,” I told her and she walked away to the small stage by the pool.

“What performer?” Angelina asked a little confused by what Jamie said.

“You’ll see
,” I said grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the stage as Jamie introduced one of the bands she was able to book to come perform here tonight. I had the pleasure of seeing Angelina’s mouth drop as Anya Marina came out and wished her a happy birthday then started playing.

“I can’t believe you,” she said in a shocked voice.

“What can I say, she was in the neighborhood,” I teased and she laughed and started to dance along to the music. I watched her move to the rhythm of the music. She was a joy to watch and I’m glad that I made her feel this happy. The song ended and then she played a slower song, something called, ‘Satellite Heart.’ “May I have this dance?” I asked, extending out my hand and flashing a smile.

“I’d love to,” she said as she put her hand in mine and I pulled her to the dance floor.

I pulled her into my arm
s and we started swaying to the melody that was playing. Everyone cleared the way and started to watch us instead. Angelina seemed oblivious to all of the attention we had. She was singing the lyrics of the song to me. When I dipped her I noticed a figure that I recognized all too well stare at us from the shadows. So when the song ended and the people came back onto the dance floor, I bowed to her like a gentleman and kissed her hand in a silent thank you then walked towards my visitor.