Page 14 of Hope & Harmony

Sing For Me

CHAPTER 1

LUCCA

I stare at my phone, reading the text from my brother repeatedly in disbelief.

Rocco: We’re pregnant…again.

I’m overjoyed for him and Callie after years of battling cancer and complications from the treatment. They are the best parents, but I remember not so long ago, they said they were done having kids.

I feel behind the ball. They are on kid number three, while I haven’t even found someone who can stomach me and my creative mood swings for longer than a few months.

Not that my brother is easy. There is no person more intense than he can be, especially when he feels there is danger nearby. And his life is riddled with bad guys and life-threatening situations. I don’t know how my sister-in-law deals with the knowledge that he may not come home from work someday.

Everything about us is different—always has been, and I assume it always will be. I’m creative where he’s calculating. I was always carefree and silly where he was always plotting and planning. But even with our differences, we always got along andloved each other. That had more to do with our parents and the importance of family than the two of us having much of anything in common.

“Need anything else?” Caleb asks as he wipes down the bar to my side. “It’s last call.”

“Nah, man. I’m good,” I tell him, ticking my head toward the glass of whiskey I’ve been nursing for over an hour.

I grab my phone, sending a quick text to my brother because I have had no greater joy in my life than being an uncle to his children.

Me: Congrats, brother. I hope it’s twins.

He’s quick to reply, no doubt glaring at the phone, wishing he could crawl through the screen and choke me for even whispering those words.

Rocco: I don’t care if they’re triplets as long as they’re healthy.

His words cause me to jerk my head back and blink a few times in disbelief. “Wow,” I whisper to myself in shock.

I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more loving father than him. He dotes on his children as much as he does on Callie. My brother loves deep and hard, leaving no doubt about how he feels for those closest to him.

There is a sudden movement at my side as a leather bag is thrust on top of the bar. “Hit me with a double, Caleb. I’ve had a long night, and I have a feeling it’s about to get even longer.”

My heart picks up its pace at the sound of her voice. Madeline Hart. She could make the strongest man weak in the knees.

Madeline is well-known in the New York City bar scene as one of the premiere local singers who performs original compositions instead of covering other musicians’ songs. Shenot only has a killer voice, she is also stunning, with big green eyes, wavy red hair with hints of brown sprinkled throughout, long legs, the perfect lips, and just as beautiful as any popular musician out there today.

She has everything and yet…she hasn’t hit it big. I’ve asked her a few times if I could share her music with the industry people I know, but she’s always turned me down. She wants whatever happens to happen organically and not because she knows someone who knows someone.

But the thing she doesn’t seem to understand is almost everyone knows someone who knows someone. I wouldn’t have gotten my start if it weren’t for my brother. He made a few calls, cashed in a few favors, and things have never been the same for me.

I’m now one of the most sought-after songwriters in the pop music industry today, with a specialty in lyrics that could shred even the most black-hearted.

Madeline tosses her long red hair over her shoulder before she turns toward me. “Hey, Lucca.” Her gaze dips to the notepad in front of me. “Writing your next smash hit?”

I give her a wry smile. “Something like that,” I mutter.

She taps her fingernails against the polished wood as she raises her other hand to her cheek, resting her face in her palm and her elbow on the bar. “Must be nice. I don’t know where you get your inspiration from, but I wish you’d send a little my way.”

She doesn’t know it, but sheismy inspiration.

Her beauty.

Her voice.

Her smile.

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