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picture of us during a moment that couldn’t deny we were together.”

And the plot thickened. When I spoke to Demitri this morning, he seemed content in

keeping his relationship with Phoenix on the down low. Yet, they didn’t seem to get how

obvious they were being around each other.

“I think you two suck at hiding a relationship.” I shook my head, a smile creeping up my

face. “If I see it, I’m pretty sure your fans have seen and continue to see it.”

The prettiest blush covered Phoenix’s cheeks. She covered the lower half of her face with

the pillow, her nose sticking out over the top. “I told him we were being too obvious.”

“I don’t know why you have to hide it. You’re obviously in love with one another. Wouldn’t

your fans be happy for you?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“I’m starting to get that nothing about Vicious is simple.”

My comment brought out a giggle from Phoenix. If I didn’t know she was my age, I would

think her so much younger. Probably even younger than Yana from the way she acted right

now. On stage she exuded the sexy siren—a total contradiction from the woman across from

me right now.

A soft knock interrupted the question I opened my mouth to ask. I moved to stand when

Phoenix waved me down.

“I’ll get it.” She hurried to the door and peeked out.

After exchanging a few hushed words with someone on the other side, Phoenix returned

with a dainty tea service. She poured some of the steaming amber liquid into flower trimmed

teacups while I picked up a tiny cucumber sandwich from the three-tiered serving plate.

“Do you take milk with your tea?” she asked, comfortable in the role of host.

I glanced at the selection and said, “Some lemon and honey would do. What kind of tea is

it? It smells floral.”

“It’s actually a blend of Moroccan mint and jasmine.” She squeezed a lemon slice onto

mine and added a dollop of honey.

I inhaled deeply, enjoying the floral minty scent. Phoenix handed over my cup then mixed

a cube of sugar into hers. She settled back into her sofa and leaned her elbows on the throw

pillow while she took a sip.

“I’m not really a tea drinker, but this is really good,” I said, drawing a shy smile from

Phoenix. “And I can assure you no one will see those photos besides me. I can even show

them to you and delete them if you want.” It had to be said.

Only then did Phoenix completely relax around me. “Keep them. It makes me happy to

know that someone has a moment between me and Demitri.”

“I have to admit that it was beautiful taking pictures of you two. It isn’t every day that you get to see such passion between two people. You seem meant for each other.” Again with the

envy in my voice. I may be comfortable being single, but I got lonely too sometimes.

“You think so?”

“You don’t?”

A flicker of doubt danced along Phoenix’s features before it was replaced by a fond smile.

“I guess we are.” She took a sandwich for herself. “I heard from Demitri about your shoot. I’m surprised you didn’t talk about it at dinner.”

Grateful for the change in topic, I scratched my cheek. “I think Demitri is still feeling

chagrined about it.”

“He said you dressed him up like a king.” Phoenix giggled and wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“I so want to see those pictures.”

“It’s not as silly as he thinks. I got some superb shots when he wasn’t scowling at me.”

“Don’t you just love teasing him?”

“Yeah.” I really did. “He can come off as this mischievous guy, but when you turn the

tables on him he can’t take it.”

Phoenix laughed whole-heartedly now. “Oh, he’s always been that way. It gets so much

worse when Luka teases him. Demitri can get uptight sometimes.”

“Luka? Teasing?” I pursed my lips at that. The two words didn’t seem mutually exclusive

to me. “I can’t imagine it.”

The mood in the room shifted abruptly. Phoenix seemed to shrink into herself. I leaned

forward, finally able to look her in the face. Her lower lip trembled slightly, as if she was

about to burst into tears, but her eyes remained dry. A distant look entered those brown

depths, and I cursed myself for not having my camera handy. If I moved the moment would

disappear.

“Luka didn’t used to be so serious,” she said so softly I almost didn’t hear her. “When he’s

writing, he retreats into himself. It’s really hard to reach him when he’s like that. Like he’s in his own world and nothing else matters. It can get scary sometimes.”

“Is that why I don’t see him around?” I pressed for information. If Phoenix wanted to chat,

I’d take advantage of the situation.

She nodded, using the throw pillow as some kind of shield. “He’s been editing the video

from the other day. Yana wants to launch it when we start our tour again at the beginning of

next year. But mostly he’s been writing, yeah.”

The hurt on Phoenix’s face baffled me.

“But,” she continued and I held my breath. “He seems better now.”

“Better how?” I forced myself to ask around the sudden lump in my throat.

She pierced me with a level stare. “Something in him changed ever since that night at

Sacrifice. Ever since he met you.”

Her words rang in my ears. They were eerily similar to what Yana had told me in the

recording studio. I couldn’t bring myself to believe them. My interactions with Luka were

limited. I hardly saw him. So I had no idea what changes they were talking about. Since they’d worked with Luka for years, they should know right?

I felt the air around me closing in. My chest inflated and deflated, but it didn’t seem like I breathed in enough of the mint-jasmine-scented air. Aching for a subject change for the sake

of maintaining my sanity, I brought up the subject I’d been meaning to ask Yana about when

I got her alone.

“Do you think I could go into the city sometime within this week?”

Like my question snapped her out of a funk, Phoenix brightened up. “A shopping trip?”

Hearing the word shopping brought goose bumps to my skin. “Hell no!”

Phoenix jutted her lower lip out at me. “Boo! Then what do you want to go into the city

for?”

I wanted to pay my favorite framer a visit. The holidays were fast approaching and I had a

gift idea for each of the band members. When it became clear Phoenix was waiting for my

reply, I filled her in without spilling the surprise.

“Oh, well, that can be arranged. Take the helicopter,” she said. “It’ll be quicker.”

The what?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Daytrip

By midmorning the next day, Phoenix made good on her promise to take care of

everything
I needed for my daytrip into the city. Yana called while I was having my breakfast saying the helicopter was good to go and that Eli would be coming with me. I wanted to

argue, but from the tone of her voice she made it seem like I was lucky to even get this

chance to leave the manor grounds. She reiterated that I wasn’t a prisoner in any way when I

made a joke about it. A part of me suspected she wasn’t kidding.

At the perfunctory knock at my door, I swallowed the last dregs of my coffee, shrugged on

my coat, and pocketed the USB containing my holiday gifts for the Vicious band members.

Camera dangling from my neck, I opened the door to a somber Eli. I hadn’t seen him for close

to two weeks, but I got the feeling he missed me from the way his lips twitched.

“Hey, Eli,” I greeted with a smile.

“Miss Dakota.” He nodded. “The chopper is waiting on the grounds. Please follow me.”

I motioned for him to lead the way. He entered my room instead. Confused, I whirled

around and followed him to the terrace doors. He pushed them open and a gust of wind

ruffled our clothes. I lifted my arm to shield my eye. My hair flopped at the sides of my head.

When Eli said
the grounds
, I didn’t think the helicopter would be right outside my room.

Man, sometimes I forgot just how rich the people I lived with were.

Eli grabbed my arm and escorted me to the waiting transport that would take me into the

city. The sleek machine gleamed in the sun. It resembled a giant dragonfly. We didn’t speak.

Not like we could above the whirring blades above us. Eli ducked and so did I. He stood a foot taller than me, so if the chopper were to decapitate someone it would be the somber

bodyguard. Still, I didn’t want to risk a close shave. I’d been on planes, but never a chopper.

My stomach flipped. How bad could it be?

Opening the door, Eli lifted me in. Thanking him, I scooted to the farthest leather seat.

The pilot fiddled with the controls and spoke into a small microphone attached to his

headset. Something about a Charlie Niner and a flight plan and an ETA. Eli pointed at the

headset beside my seat and motioned for me to buckle in. Without protest, I did as

instructed, way too excited about my first ever helicopter ride. My belly thrummed with the

vibrations of the machine.

Once settled in, I readied my camera. I’d wanted to take aerial shots of the manor since my

arrival. A huge grin stretched my lips until my cheeks hurt. My first ever aerial shoot. Tingles raced from my fingertips up my arms.

“Do you want us to circle the property?” Eli’s voice sounded crisp and clear in the

headphones snug against my ears.

“Is that possible?” I blinked at him, my heart performing cartwheels in my chest.

Eli gave the order to the pilot and in seconds we were off the ground. My stomach

plummeted, causing giggles to bubble out of me. Duh, of course what I wanted was possible.

What if I asked the pilot to perform loop de loops? The breakfast currently digesting inside

me pushed the thought aside. Better not request anything crazy…no matter how tempting.

“It’s like being on a roller coaster,” I said.

“Infinitely cooler.” Eli wiggled his eyebrows at me. Yup, he missed me. I couldn’t help but

laugh at his antics. When we were with Luka, Eli acted nothing short of professional. Around

me he seemed more comfortable. This made me really giddy. I didn’t want to be treated

special just because of what I represented for the band. Okay, they were lending me a

helicopter to go into the city. Insert obvious favoritism here. I wondered briefly if Luka had anything to do with this. Phoenix said he was busy editing the video, so maybe not. A girl

could dream, right?

When we reached a certain altitude, the helicopter leveled off and I aimed my camera

down. The higher we got the more I got to see of the property. We went from little picture to

big in seconds. With every picture I snapped, my jaw dropped lower until I felt the joint pop.

“Lunar Manor is on a freakin’ island?” I asked, unable to stop myself.

“Yes, and it’s connected to the mainland by a manmade land bridge,” Eli explained. He

pointed out his window and I leaned across his lap to get a better look. Sure enough, a long

gravel path stretched from the island to the rolling hills I never saw because I slept the whole time we drove to Lunar Manor. Scratch rich. Luka and his family were in a class of their own.

The pilot circled the property as promised, which gave me the perfect view of the hedge

maze, a manmade lake with a gazebo I made a mental note to visit, and the sheer scale of the

manor itself. If I thought it looked huge from the ground, up in the air it stretched out like a leviathan surrounded by a sea of green. I couldn’t press on my shutter release fast enough.

“Are we good?”

I gave Eli a thumbs up and leaned back in my seat, closing my eye to ease some of the

motion sickness taking pictures in midair caused. I breathed in through my nose and out

through my mouth.

“Do you need an airsickness bag?”

Shaking my head no, I swallowed. “I just need a minute.”

“If you need it we have a couple here. Generally we have them for Master Luka.”

That tidbit erased all my nausea in an instant. “Luka gets airsick?”

Eli grinned. “He hates flying.”

“Is that why we took the car instead of the chopper the first time around?”

“If he doesn’t have to fly he avoids it like the plague.”

I made sure to tease Luka about flying when I saw him again as the chopper zoomed over

the bay. Sunlight bounced off the water, giving the vivid blue golden highlights. In the

horizon stretched the magnificent Crescent City cityscape. The skyscrapers gleamed like a

shining mirage. I took one more picture before I closed my eye for a catnap. Eli said we would arrive in thirty minutes.

***

escorted me into an elevator that took us to the ground floor. A black SUV idled outside the

building. Eli opened the door for me then positioned himself in the passenger seat in front.

“This is Andrew.” He pointed at the bald guy in a similar black suit sitting at the wheel. It

seemed, like the servants, all the bodyguards employed by the band sported the same look.

This bordered on creepy, but who was I to judge? “He’ll be driving us around today.”

“You’re not driving?” I almost felt disappointed.

“I only drive for Master Luka.”

Interesting. Why was it I learned more about the band outside of the members’ proximity

than when speaking with each of the members individually? I rolled my eye at that and gave

Andrew the name of the framer and the address. The SUV pulled into traffic without a word

said from our driver. Andrew took his job very seriously.