“I know,” she said softly.
“I do know that you're an adult, honey. In my head anyway. My heart has trouble with that one sometimes. But I promise, I'm working on it,” he smiled sadly.
“Okay,” Mercy smiled back at him.
“I am so proud of you,” he said as he gazed at her. “You are going to be a hell of an asset in this business, you know?”
Mercy's smile suddenly faded as she felt her stomach lurch anew. “Yeah, about that. I, um … I don't want to go to law school, Mike. I'm sorry. I know that's what you really want me to do but, I just can't. The thought makes me cringe.”
“Mercy …”
“I think I want to pursue photography instead. I'm not sure in what capacity yet but … the thought of it excites me.”
Mike took another deep breath and then let it out really slowly. He had to let her make her own choices and her own mistakes. He had to let her follow her passion, not his. He nodded his head, saying nothing. Then he stood up and walked over to the mirror, fixing his still disheveled hair and examining the colorful bruise forming on the left side of his chin where Noah had hit him.
“I'm going to talk to Noah. We'll discuss your photography career later,” he said quietly. Then he turned and went to face the music.
*****
Noah stood looking out the window of his hotel suite, thinking about the events of the afternoon and wondering where Mercy was and how she was faring with Mike. The door to his room was open but the only sound he heard was the hum of the traffic on the street below. The guys had all gone once their talk was over, and he suspected that Otis and Buz were probably halfway through a bottle of bourbon by now. Although O had looked to be pretty lit already as they were arguing.
Cory, of course, refused to leave. And Noah smirked at the reflection of his friend he saw in the window. Seated on the small couch near the door, Cory looked concerned as he stared at the floor, and Noah knew he believed he was keeping an eye on him.
Suddenly, he saw another reflection in the glass and it surprised him. He saw Cory sit up as he turned around to face Mike standing in the open doorway. Cory stood as Noah slowly crossed the room with a determined look on his face as he approached Mike.
They stared at one another silently for several long seconds, and finally Cory spoke up, saying, “Okay, I know that I should excuse myself right now and let you two talk privately. But honestly, I don't know if leaving you alone together is a good idea or not.”
They continued to size each other up as they took in Cory's words. Then Mike said quietly, “We'll be fine, Cory. In fact, if it'll make everyone relax, why don't you just sit back down.”
Cory hesitated for a brief moment and then decided that both men had calmed down considerably. “I'll wait outside,” he said softly, glancing at Noah once more and returning his quick nod. Then he turned and walked out, leaving the door open as he waited in the hallway.
Noah took a deep breath and then walked over to a chair, motioning Mike to the opposite one as he took a seat. The tension was thick as they eyed one another, and Mike was suddenly unsure of what to say. He knew that he needed to apologize for attacking him. Perhaps he should start there.
“Listen, Noah … I'm sorry. I know that I owe you an apology for the fight and I …”
“Mike, can I just say something here?” Noah spoke up, cutting him off. “Please … let me go first.” He looked at him with expectancy, waiting on a response, and Mike nodded silently. Noah took another deep, unsteady breath, letting it out slowly as he ran his hand over the back of his neck. Then he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees as he searched for the words he needed.
“Mike … I understand where you're coming from. I do. I mean, she is your daughter and you love her, and you probably don't want her anywhere near me or this whole crazy, rock and roll lifestyle. I do understand that. But … the thing I want you to know is that this is not some random hook up. This is not just some tour fling, okay? Look, I don't know how much Mercy told you about us but … this all began a long time ago. Back before JI got our record deal.”
Mike frowned at him. “Well, she mentioned something about you sharing a past but, all I know is that she and her friends used to follow the band around back then. She told me it was just a casual thing. That she didn't know any of you well.”
Noah nodded his head slowly, not surprised that Mike didn't know the details. “That's partly true. She didn't know me well back then but … it was much more than casual,” he said quietly. And he looked down at the floor for a moment when he saw the understanding bloom in Mike's eyes. He could see Mike growing angry again, but he knew that he had to press on and say what he needed to say.
“What happened between us back then,” he continued, looking up and holding Mike's gaze. “It was brief. But it was meaningful. At least, it was to me. But when we got our record deal and things started to happen for the band … I honestly never thought I would see her again. I had no clue that she was your daughter! And I still don't know how we managed to go all this time without knowing that!”
Mike looked somewhat sheepish at his words, knowing that he had purposely kept Mercy from hanging out with the band once he'd signed them as clients.
“When she showed up here with you,” Noah was saying, “God, you could have knocked me over with a feather! Part of me was overjoyed to see her. But another part of me was scared to death.”
Mike frowned at him once more, looking at him intently. “What exactly are you saying, Noah? Are you telling me that you're in love with my daughter?”
Noah swallowed anxiously at his question, but his eyes never wavered from Mike's steady gaze. “Back then … those words would never have even entered my mind. But I have spent the last four years wondering where she was and what she was doing. Writing songs about her and wondering if she knew … or if she ever suspected that they were about her. And when she showed up and I saw her again … those words were suddenly screaming at me. So, yes. I am telling you that I love her. And if she loves me too … then there is nothing that you or anyone else can do to keep me away from her. I let her slip through my fingers once before because I was young and stupid. I won't make that mistake again,” he finished, his eyes burning with sincerity.
Mike said nothing as he stared at him for the longest time.
“Mike … you've been with us almost from the beginning. You helped us negotiate our record deal. You are such a huge part of JI's success, and I have so much respect for you. But I will do what I have to do. I will walk away from our business relationship if I have to. But I'm not walking away from Mercy.”
“That would mean you leaving Jagged Ivory,” Mike countered.
“Not necessarily,” Noah responded. “It would just mean I'd have my own manager, separate from the band's.”
“You know as well as I do, that almost never works out. It causes nothing but headaches and hard feelings and leads to groups breaking up.”
Noah lowered his eyes for a moment and nodded his head. “I know.”
“Does Otis know you're giving me this little ultimatum?” Mike asked.
“It's not an ultimatum, Mike,” Noah said sadly as he looked at him. “I'm just informing you of my next move. Mercy means so much to me. And if it means that I'm going to have to choose between her or our working relationship … I'm choosing her. And no. Otis doesn't know.”
Mike snorted. “But when he finds out … his only logical course of action would be to simply fire me and hire another manager for the band. Anything to keep you from leaving.”
Noah sighed, shaking his head as he looked at him. “Mike, that is not what I meant. I am not trying to threaten you! I'm not trying to strong arm you, or back you into a corner. I'm simply telling you that I'm in love with your daughter! I love your daughter,” he repeated, looking at him imploringly. “And I want you to be okay with that. I don't want anything to change!” He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, and then sat with his chin r
esting against his fists. Silently, he wiped a few stray tears with his thumbs as he avoided eye contact with Mike.
The room was deathly quiet for the longest time as Noah stared down at the floor, and Mike stared at him. He couldn't believe it. This immensely talented, incredibly temperamental, usually silent and brooding musical genius was sitting in front of him with his heart hanging out, begging for his acceptance. Reduced to tears at the prospect of having to choose between his two great loves. His band or his girl. His girl. His beautiful, brilliant, little girl. Only she wasn't so little anymore. Finally, Mike took a deep breath and sighed.
“You are nowhere near good enough for her,” he muttered, and Noah looked up at him, meeting his gaze.
“I know,” he quietly agreed.
“If you ever hurt her … or treat her with anything less than the respect she deserves … I will kill you with my bare hands. Or at least, hire someone to do it for me,” he sighed.
The trace of a smile crossed Noah's lips at Mike's words. “I know.”
“And I do respect you too, you know?” Mike said matter-of-factly. “I respect all of you.”
“I know that,” Noah replied with a nod, feeling his heavy heart lifting with each word Mike uttered.
“You are not allowed to procreate with my daughter,” Mike said suddenly, and Noah wasn't sure if the look in his eyes surprised him more than the statement itself. He sat stunned as Mike continued, saying, “Condoms are your friend!”
“Uh … um,” Noah grunted, still in shock as Mike continued to lay down the law.
“And if you cheat on her, I promise you, I will cut it off!”
Noah suddenly burst into laughter, unable to contain it any longer. And when he looked up, he was relieved to see Mike smiling at him. He composed himself, clearing his throat and feeling as if an immeasurable weight had suddenly lifted off of his chest. “Okay so … just so I'm clear … Mercy and I are free to be together as long as I remember that she's way too good for me, I never do anything to hurt her or disrespect her in any way, and I never impregnate her?”
“That's correct,” Mike nodded, trying to hide his smile.
“Okay,” Noah smiled. “And uh … for future reference. If Mercy and I were ever to … obtain the proper legal documentation, so to speak. Would we be allowed to procreate then?”
Mike looked at him with an 'are-you-kidding-me' expression as his mood clouded once again. And he rolled his eyes at him.“I suppose so,” he said grudgingly. “But only then!”
Noah nodded his head, still smiling at Mike's obvious discomfort with the turn this conversation had taken.
“You are not thinking about pursuing that legal documentation anytime soon, are you?” Mike asked with all seriousness. And he actually held his breath in anticipation of Noah's response, but it came immediately.
“No!” Noah's reply was emphatic, and he smiled. “No. It is way too soon for any type of … legal documentation. I just want to be aware of all the rules up front.”
Mike sighed in relief and rolled his eyes at him once more. He knew it was very possible that he might end up with Noah Ivory as a son-in-law someday, but thankfully it wouldn't happen right away.
Suddenly there was a light knock on the door, and they both looked up to see Mercy standing in the doorway. “Hi,” she said almost timidly as she looked from one man to the other.
Noah stood abruptly when he saw her. “Hi,” he softly replied.
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah, come here,” he smiled, holding his hand out to her.
She crossed the room quickly, reaching out to take his hand as she neared him. And her answering smile made his heart skip a beat.
“Cory said he heard laughter in here a minute ago,” she said, and Noah frowned.
“Cory's still waiting in the hall?”
“Mmm hmm,” Mercy nodded. “He said he was giving you privacy but staying close, just in case.”
Noah smiled and shook his head slightly. That was just like Cory.
“So … what was so funny?” Mercy asked, smiling at them both.
Noah looked at Mike, who said nothing as he watched them together. “Uh … well, Mike was just spelling out the rules for me,” Noah answered, turning back to Mercy.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “The rules?” Noah nodded at her, saying nothing. “I come with rules?”
“Oh yeah,” he answered with a serious expression. “A very serious set of rules that must be adhered to at all times. Or else … the consequences are pretty scary. So scary that I had to think long and hard before deciding if I wanted to continue seeing you or not.”
Mercy narrowed her eyes at him as a smile played at the corners of her lips. She let go of his hand and placed her hands on her hips. “Oh, really? And what did you decide Mr. Ivory?”
He smiled slightly as he answered, “Well, lucky for you, I decided you're worth it, I guess.”
Mercy gasped in mock offense, and punched him in the chest.
“Ow!” Noah yelped, clutching his chest. He looked up at Mike, smiling as he said, “I think I'm the one you should be worried about getting hurt in this relationship!”
Mike shrugged his shoulders, smiling proudly as he said, “That's my girl.”
Noah laughed slightly as his response. Then he turned to Mercy, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her quickly to him. “That's my girl,” he smiled.
He kissed her lips sweetly, and Mercy blushed slightly. She ran a hand through her hair, feeling a little embarrassed for some reason. Then she turned to look at Mike. “Does this mean you're okay with all this?”
Mike took a deep breath, saying nothing for a moment as he looked at her. Then he shrugged his shoulders once more. “Noah and I have had a good conversation. I think we understand each other as far as you're concerned.” He paused for a second as he studied Noah. “And I think our working relationship can survive. Although, you do realize that we'll be building a precarious house of cards here, Noah. If things don't work out between the two of you … you may suddenly find working with me a difficult thing to do.”
“No, Mike! No matter what happens between me and Mercy …”
“Dad,” Mercy spoke up, cutting Noah off. “Can you please stop thinking like a manager for a minute and just be happy for me!”
Mike chuckled at her. “Okay. I can be cautiously happy, how's that?”
“I'll take it,” Mercy smiled as she stepped into his arms and gave him a bear hug.
Mike closed his arms tightly around her and sighed, as Noah stood smiling at the two of them.
Chapter Twelve
Mercy wandered out of the bedroom in her pretty, red cotton boy shorts and a matching tank top. She ran the towel over her long, damp tresses as she meandered into the large kitchen and went about pouring herself a glass of red wine. She took a sip and savored the cool liquid as she walked back into the other room, and her eyes lit on the large box of books that needed unpacking. She sighed to herself as she stared at it. She hated moving. Packing and unpacking, it was all such a hassle. But she loved the thought of being here, and she smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she walked through the doors and looked around. It was gorgeous, and Mercy had fallen instantly in love with it. It wasn't a large house. Certainly not as huge as Mike's place, even though it was on the outskirts of his neighborhood. But it was every bit as swanky, with nice big rooms and a beautiful pool out back.
Setting the glass of wine down on the table, she laid the towel down on the back of a chair and kneeled down beside the box. Opening it up, she went to work, unpacking the books and placing them neatly on the bookshelf. She worked absentmindedly, her thoughts occupied with memories of concerts and photographs and travel. And passionate nights spent in the arms of Noah Ivory. She remembered the fun she'd had hanging out with the guys, partying with them until dawn. And she frowned when her thoughts turned to sitting in that hospital waiting area in England. Most of her memories of being
on tour with Jagged Ivory were wonderful, and Mercy wouldn't trade them for the world. But she had to admit, she still worried about Benji and wondered how he was doing. She knew that he was never far from Noah's thoughts. All the guys missed him terribly, and even though Joe had done a decent job with filling in for him on the remainder of the European tour dates, they were all really hoping that Benji would be mentally fit enough to rejoin the band when their tour resumed in a few short weeks.
Mercy was secretly hoping that she might be able to fly out on a few of those upcoming tour stops as well. She really did love the feeling of being on the road. And the fact that she could be with Noah in the process only made her want to go even more. But she had just started her new job, and she doubted very much if her new boss would appreciate her just flying off on a whim for weeks at a time.
She finished unpacking the box and then picked up the box cutter and carefully broke the box down, folding it up and setting it aside. She would place it with the others near the recycle bin in the kitchen. She still had a large box of clothing that needed to be unpacked and given a home in the closet, but she would tackle that later after dinner. Or maybe even tomorrow after she came home from work.
She sighed and stood up, reaching to pick up her glass and take another sip. As she did, she heard her cellphone beep and ventured over to her purse to retrieve it. It was a text from Amber, asking how she was settling in and how her new job at the management firm was going. Mercy smiled as she replied to her friend, telling her that she was settling in just fine, and that the job was okay but her boss was a sort of a dick.
She put her phone away as she thought about her job. It was just okay. The people were friendly and it could be terribly interesting at times. Plus it paid well, but Mercy suspected that was the result of a little nepotism and not the normal pay for someone in her entry-level position. But deep down, it wasn't what she really wanted to be doing. She wanted to take pictures. Specifically, she wanted to take pictures of rock stars, and she was still looking into ways of turning that into a profitable enterprise.
The Essential Jagged Ivory (Jagged Ivory Boxed Set) Page 20
