Between Never and Forever: Part 2 – Chapter 5

“Do I have to look at your sad face for the next six months every time I bring up my brother? Because I can’t handle it. I hate when women cry.” Dimitri sighed and sat down on my hotel room’s couch next to where I was getting my makeup done.

“I don’t look sad. And I’m not crying.” I looked up from the book I was reading to stick my tongue out at him in his stuffy navy blue suit. My best friend had grown into a successful businessman over the years, just like each of his brothers. The Hardy Elite All-Access Team, HEAT for short, had expanded globally as a hospitality and real estate empire. They now even had a technology brand that rivaled the best in the world. Each of them were billionaires and well-loved. Yet, when it came to showing me any manners that people claimed Dimitri had, he failed miserably.

My overly ambitious intern-turned-PR strategist and hairstylist, Olive, pulled my thick dark hair into a bun as she wrinkled her tiny nose and snorted. “You look like a sad little seal who got stranded out of water even while you’re trying to disappear into another book.”

“Olive, seals don’t get stranded out of water.” I turned off my phone’s reading app so she couldn’t glance over my shoulder to see exactly what I was reading. The romance novels were my escape and mine alone. I frowned into the mirror at her but ended up smiling because Olive was too sweet to get mad at. Her bouncy curls and the pink little plumeria flowers she always put behind her ear brightened my day along with her personality. “I think they can wiggle their way back in, maybe?”

“You think they wiggle?” Dimitri lifted a brow.

“They probably shimmy or crawl or whatever.” Olive tried to help me out but then Dimitri gave her a look. He’d officially labeled us the dummies of our group.

“Why don’t you go back to working on whatever you do.” I rolled my eyes in the mirror.

“I invest money to make people more of it, Keelani. And your ass needs to let me start investing for you.”

I would if I had money to invest but I wasn’t going into details about that with him. Ever.

“Maybe one day.” I glanced up at Olive who was now brushing my hair. “How’s class, by the way?”

“Online classes suck and I hate them. You know I have that one professor. He’s great but other than that, I just want to work,” she blurted it all out, her dark curls dancing around her face, as her wrist shoved her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose.

“Probably because your online classes aren’t teaching you shit,” Dimitri grumbled, but the new makeup artist who had been brought in heard him.

Although she’d been working quietly for the past twenty minutes, she scoffed loudly as she pushed her razor-straight pink bob out of her face. “Like you learned so much more from sitting your ass in a college seat?”

Interesting. The woman seemed quiet, but her tone had bite. Her tan skin seemed to shimmer, and her pixie-like features made me glance more than once at her ears to confirm she wasn’t an elf.

“Pink.” Dimitri didn’t even look up from his phone as he sighed. “I’m not saying we learned anything from college at all. I learned from practice and from getting my feet wet.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do with Keelani,” Olive pointed out as she smoothed my hair bun. “And because of that, I know that unfortunately Dimitri is right, Kee. You’re only performing for Dom and Clara’s wedding tonight, but they’ll have media coverage obviously. You can’t start your Vegas residency being mopey. It’ll kill your vibe.”

“Okay, but I’m contracted for a month of rehearsal starting after tonight and then five months of real performances,” I pointed out. I wanted extra time for rehearsals to get everything right before I got on stage. It’d been stipulated in the contract I’d been on site at the Black Diamond or in the city for those next six months.

“Yes, but they’ll still write about it on socials. I can already see the comments,” she whined, because as the person who was basically handling my PR at this point, she was going to have to put up with it the most. “Maybe if we talk about—”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I snipped out. My dress started to constrict over my chest at the thought of what they wanted to discuss.

“So, what you’re saying is we’ll all be drinking and talking for hours later tonight?” Dimitri muttered.

“You’re buying,” Olive said, and then they waited silently for me to cave.

I wouldn’t. Not even if a whole hour of quiet passed.

After one minute though, I blurted out, “I mean, I’d hoped to never see him again, but instead, tonight I’m walking into his ridiculous resort.”

“That’s a very luxurious, state-of-the-art casino and resort that is one of the best in the country, I might add,” Dimitri finished for me because he was part owner of the Black Diamond Resort and Casino.

“I know it’s the best, Dimitri. You Hardy brothers did it again.” I waved my hand around theatrically, and the makeup artist—who I didn’t know very well—snickered while Olive laughed outright. The HEAT empire grew every second of every day. I was proud and happy for Dimitri. As for Dex, well, I avoided any news regarding him.

“Stroke my ego some more tonight, and I’ll forgive you.”

I scoffed at his meaningless flirting. Dimitri and I had never so much as kissed. He was a manwhore, and I was the damn good girl of the century.

“Honestly, I do love this resort and casino.” There wasn’t a thing not to love. The casino had high ceilings, crown molding, beautiful views, crystal chandeliers with dim lightning, not to mention world-famous celebrities better known than I who didn’t give a damn what I did. It felt freeing to disappear in a crowd and only be wanted for what I did best, which was sing.

“I know, Keelani.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, rubbing a thumb over my knuckles. “You okay?”

“Fine, just trying not to focus on what is bound to be a shitty night.” I glanced around the suite that he’d provided for the night. The plush cream fabrics that draped over the furniture along with the abstract artwork adorning the walls in the living area showcased how much Dimitri was spoiling me. I knew the bedroom had an unparalleled level of comfort and the bathroom was a sanctuary with luxury stonework, expensive toiletries, and a rainfall shower full of buttons with nozzles from every side. “Distract me. How much did this ridiculous room cost?”

Dimitri wrinkled his nose. “It cost less than you’ll be paid for a night of letting people listen to your voice for an hour, that’s for sure.”

“In my defense, I don’t see all that money.”

“I know.” Shifting in his seat, he narrowed those green eyes that looked so much like his brother’s at me. “That’s why I asked to see your contract.”

“I have it handled.” I didn’t need him knowing that I barely saw any of it.

He hummed like he didn’t believe me. Rightfully so since it was well-known my record label had me doing dodgy shit all the time. “And I’ve got you here for the next six months for assurance. Dom and I did good work with that.” He smiled big.

Dimitri didn’t really push where he didn’t need to. He handled things with a soft hand, one where he manipulated things before they were a problem. I’d finally admitted to him that the record label was a stressor for me, and I could still picture the way his face dropped in disappointment that I’d kept my pain to myself. The next thing I knew, I was offered a residency in Vegas, with creative control to sing anything I wanted, at the Black Diamond, which was now partially owned by HEAT. No one had made that happen other than Dimitri.

He knew I only had six months left before my contract with Trinity expired, and he’d built a bridge that I could be protected on with a contract that lasted exactly that long with his resort in Vegas.

“Months at the Black Diamond Resort and Casino under your—and Dex’s—watch. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Not much.” Dimitri wasn’t going to hide his viewpoint though. “Unless you decide to sneak around with him again.”

My gaze cut to him. We didn’t bring up the past so easily. He knew that. “I would never. I’m with Ethan, and we both know your brother hates me.”

“I wouldn’t use hate. He’s just pissed you broke his heart.”

“I didn’t. That was all a silly mistake.” I gave Dimitri a look because I had no idea who the woman doing my makeup was. No one was supposed to know about us. We’d buried that story long, long ago.

Dimitri patted her head and smiled at me. “Don’t worry. Pink doesn’t talk to anyone outside the casino.”

She stopped doing my makeup and squinted her smoky-eyelined blue irises at me before she turned her ice-cold gaze on Dimitri. “Pat me like that again and I’ll talk to everyone, including Bane, about how you’re petting me like a fucking dog.”

Dimitri held up his hands like he was being held at gunpoint. “Duly noted.” He started to back away. “You look drop-dead gorgeous, Kee. Come say hi before you go on stage, okay?”

“I don’t want to,” I whined.

“I know you don’t.” He smiled big and winked. “That’s why I’m telling you to. Call me if you need me.”

“Not if, always when,” I recited the line, and Olive mouthed it because she knew it was our saying by now.

After Dimitri exited, I let Pink work in silence while Olive tried to pep talk me. “It’s going to be fine.”

“It’s going to be a disaster.”

“Well, okay.” Olive wiggled the frames of her green glasses and nodded. “Probably, but I can have ice cream and drinks waiting after the show.”

“You know it’s bad when that doesn’t even sound good.” I blew out my dark-red painted lips.

Her honey-colored eyes widened. “How dare you? What if it’s turtle sundae?”

“Then I amend my answer, damn it. Still, this is going to suck.”

“It’s only one night. And maybe he won’t even be listening. I bet he doesn’t even know half the songs are about him.” What a pep talk.

“Olive!” I tried to correct her as my gaze flicked to where Pink stood. “They’re not about him. They’re about—”

“Don’t lie on my behalf.” Pink straightened. “I don’t care about your love life,” she deadpanned, brushing powder on my face.

“Sorry,” Olive squeaked. “Her love life is very much only about Ethan.”

“Ha,” Pink barked out. “I mean, you and Ethan are only seen together before an album hits. It’s obvious that the on-again, off-again relationship you have is for the media. If I don’t believe it, I wonder how much of your fan base does.”

I slouched in my chair as I stared at the girl who now held back a smile. She was abrasive but in a sort of loving way, like she might hate the world, but she’d fight the whole world for you too. “If I’m being honest, I bet like thirty percent believe it.”

“Probably more like ten,” she said back.

Olive’s mouth made an O, and there was a whole beat of silence where we tried our best to be professional.

And then we all started laughing. Hard. Tears were in my eyes because my record label had pieced together this sham of a relationship so abysmally over the years that I couldn’t even feel bad that it wasn’t looking great. I needed that laugh, too, because I was about to endure what would most definitely be months of torture.

“Don’t you dare blink and have those tears fall over onto my work of art.” Pink pointed at my face, trying to stop her giggling.

I took deep breaths. “Okay. No more jokes about my terrible career and dating life.”

“It’s not terrible. It’s fantastic considering you’re performing in a HEAT and Black Diamond resort. Artists kill to get these contracts,” Pink told me, showing she knew a bit about who had performed here in the past. “You get rehearsal time correct?”

“Yeah, a month.” I shrugged. “And then five months of performing every weekend.” It wasn’t the norm, but again, Dimitri had pulled the strings to make it happen.

Pink nodded as she moved to finish up a deep-violet eye shadow on me. “Perfect. You can survive that. Especially looking like this. Stand up and let’s see if the dress works.”

I sighed and got up to straighten my deep-purple dress. Although I had dark-brown eyes, the purple of the dress made them seem violet, and my hair up in the bun accentuated my high cheekbones. My eyes were now as smoky as Pink’s. My lips glistened. Everything was in place. I smoothed my hair again.

“You should wear it down.” Pink chewed her cheek, and when I glanced at her, she shrugged. “You’ve got beautiful hair, and you look uptight with that bun.”

I turned to the full-length mirror now and frowned. “I always wear it up.”

Olive held up her brush. “It’s her brand.”

Pink pursed her lips and then shrugged. “If your brand is you and you love it so much, then keep it up.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said softly, trying to hold back my irritation.

“That good-girl act, the all-American sweetheart thing, has got to be a load of shit.” She turned to my friend. “Am I right? No one can possibly doll up like a cute Hawaiian Barbie all the time and say yes, please, and no, thank you twenty-four-seven.”

Olive didn’t even hesitate. “She’s got the sweetheart down pat for about as long as the cameras are rolling and not a second longer.”

“Olive, what the hell?”

“What? You already told her you and Ethan are fake. What’s the point in lying now?”

“I knew it.” Pink clapped her hands together and smiled big. “I was nervous I was going to have to do boring makeup for a half a year.”

“Well, that is my brand, and I—”

“You’ve got the casino backing you now. Do you know what that means?”

“Well, no, because—”

“It means you can do whatever the fuck you want. Bane and Dex aren’t going to let anything happen to you.”

“You know Bane?” I asked with a bit of hesitation. The man was ominous. He had dark hair, piercing blue eyes, wore black, and seemed to have a dark soul. Even when he talked, it seemed the whole room quivered. Yet, he was equal partner in the casino deal with HEAT. I knew his last name was Black and that he had enough money to stand beside the Hardys.

I wasn’t sure how he came about that money, but I was sure I didn’t want to find out.

“Yeah, I know him.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about him. Or the Hardys. You know they take care of what’s theirs. So, show them what you’re made of. We should have some fun.”

She said the word with vigor, like it was the only way to live, and I remembered the days I felt the same. The days back before I’d sold my soul to a devil named Trinity Enterprises. “Um…”

Olive was supposed to be my sidekick, but she nodded along with Pink. “She might be right. Maybe it’s time to show them what you’re made of. You know, for after your contract is up.”

“What?” I whipped my head to look at her.

“I’m just thinking”—she wrinkled her nose like she hated what she was about to say—“maybe it’s time to start putting a little more of yourself out there, sing some of the songs you want, be a little more yourself, and—”

“Definitely screw Dex once or twice. See if the dick still fits,” Pink finished for her.

My jaw dropped. “Wow.”

“I know.” She stared at me with those eyes, no shame in them at all. “I’m a lot. It’s fine. Love it or hate it.”

I glanced at Olive who whispered, “I kind of love it.”

I turned to look back in the mirror and sighed. “I have a good brand.”

“That you hate.” Olive nudged Pink, like they were a team.

“Right. You need to show him and everyone that you’re more than a brand. Plus, sounds like you loved little Dex at one point or—”

“I… Honestly, Ethan is—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, I’m not an idiot.” Her eyes lit up with fire then. “Don’t waste time treating me like one. I get that enough. You’re here for a while, so don’t lie to the crazy makeup artist who will be doing your face every night.”

Silence descended on the room, heavy with questions from me and judgment from her. Yet, I immediately envied how direct she was with nothing to hide, and part of me wanted it.

“Fine,” I whispered and glanced at Olive. “Redo my hair. Add more eyeshadow too.”

Pink laughed almost maniacally, and Olive whooped.

“Please make me look amazing. I want him to salivate even if he hates me.” I admitted it quietly, worrying my hands over the fact that I had to sing the love songs I’d written about him in front of him tonight. Some songs were ones I’d literally sung to him years ago in the lilacs, where I’d begged him to do more with me when we were just kids. And he’d always said then, “You want to keep me a secret, you can wait to do more with me until I’m not one, Kee.”

The problem was that I never wanted him to be a secret. I just needed him to be. My songs were apologies to him, love notes to him, heartbreak about him. He’d hear the words and know. He’d have to know, and all I would have tonight would be my looks for armor.