Page 123 of Torrid Love
“Oh, I got lost. Remember my rehab days?”
“Who in this city doesn’t go to rehab?” he chuckles. “That’s behind you now.”
“Yeah,” I nod. “I wouldn’t be here without a great network of family and friends.”
“Well, I’m very proud of you. You were worth taking a chance on,” he smiles wide.
“Thanks for believing in me.”
Dom shot, edited and uploaded the videos that caught Gideon’s attention. They say show business is one part talent, three parts luck. I’m living proof of that. Patrick Dreiser was the band manager for Random Misconception. Their drummer Bower Connelly had to bail out because his father Fisher Connelly was running––and rumored to have pretty good chances––for Governor of California and he didn’t want to lessen his chances by having his son involved in the wild music business. Gideon knew Patrick well. An introduction and a few auditions later, and I joined Holt, Beckett and Jace as the fourth member of Random Misconception. My bandmates grew up in an upscale part of LA I was never privy to—until Gideon showed up in my life.
“You turned out great despite your parents. Is your dad still in hiding? I’m surprised he never came out of the woodwork even in your heyday.”
“He’s dead. So is my mom.”
“Whoa.” Gideon is speechless for a few long seconds. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“This may sound cruel and heartless, but it wasn’t a big loss for me, or my brothers.”
Everyone knew Mom had a vendetta against Dad, but no one thought she’d be willing to die for it. It took a while, but eventually Mom got her act together. She even got a decent job––she didn’t want to mooch off me. My brothers cut her out completely well before they enlisted. I covered a few of her expenses and gave her money every month. We didn’t have much to say to each other, so we didn’t talk often. One day out of the blue, Mom declared she was going to Buffalo on vacation. I was a bit taken aback by her choice of destination considering she’d never even set foot outside of California. Two weeks after she left, I got a call from Buffalo PD. I was her emergency person. Rachel Chalmers T-boned her rented SUV into River Wolfe’s pickup truck, killing both of them on impact. After her death, as I was sorting out her affairs, I came across a trail of papers showing Mom had hired private investigators to track my father. She had methodically planned the murder-suicide for a year.
“We don’t get to choose our parents.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Glad to see you’ve moved forward. How are Rory and Roark?”
I’m just about to answer, when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I say.
Marissa pops her head in. “Am I interrupting anything?” she asks. “Well, this will only be a minute. Since the boss left his afternoon treats upstairs, I thought I’d bring them down. I also brought a fresh latte for Mr. Wilding… just in case the first one was already cold.”
“That’s really thoughtful of you,” I say. Truth be told, I was looking forward to a sugar and caffeine high.
Marissa walks in pushing a tray. She displays a piping hot latte and donuts in front of me and places a cup in front of Gideon.
“You’re a doll,” Gideon smirks at her, his eyes traveling over my executive assistant’s body almost… sexually?Okay.“You’re a keeper. If Rod doesn’t want you anymore, call me.”
“You’re such a smooth talker, Mr. Wilding. The hubby would never forgive me if I left the boss. He likes Rod, and the boys love his music.”
“Fair enough. Remember, the offer stands,” he winks.
She blushes.
Good Lord.
“Best if I leave you two music execs at it,” she says.
“Thank you, Marissa.”
“Yes, thank you,” Gideon says.
Gideon watches Marissa leave the conference room, fascinated. It’s like he’s never seen a woman in his life. She’s attractive, but given his line of work, he’s surrounded by beauties all the time.
Weird.
Confusion about that strange interaction clouds my thoughts when I speak, “She’s lighthearted.”
