BorntobeWild

by Lynne Connolly

  Leaving Janey to explain the rationale behind what they did, Cyn went to the other case and unlocked it. She’d wear one. That was the reason for the black. She had designed an intricate pavé diamond collection and she put on the earrings, necklace and bracelet set. She’d juxtaposed the diamonds with huge, heavy stones, like the ones she’d collected yesterday. Rubies with deep flaws, that she’d set as carefully as the perfect diamonds, the stones that passed the four-C test with flying colors. Perfection and imperfection, existing together.

  Riku had torn his attention away from the case to watch her and when she turned around he examined the pieces with a connoisseur’s eye. “These are amazing. I love them.”

  “One of a kind,” she said. “Truly, because the flawed stones are unique.”

  “Beautiful color.” For once he was examining what she wore rather than her. Except she’d designed them, so he was still looking at her, in a way.

  “I’m not above heat treating if I have to so I get the right effect.” She didn’t mean to practice her spiel on him but he appeared interested. “I have some new designs too. I don’t have to work at being off-the-wall. I get ideas from everywhere.”

  “So do I,” he said instantly.

  Still in harmony today with a few deep flaws. Like the jewels around her neck and in her ears. Perfection and blatant imperfection, flaunting its difference. She was the imperfect one. Riku had been diamonds all the way. He still was.

  A sleek black limousine pulled up outside and they were on. “Showtime,” Janey murmured and Riku moved to open the door for the visitor. Then he disappeared into the back room when Cyn showed him the way. “You don’t need me for this one,” he said as he kissed her cheek.

  That gesture moved her more than anything he’d done. It demonstrated his faith in her and what she was doing. Her mother had taken no interest, apart from the money and while Cyn kept telling herself that was okay, it was enough, she knew it wasn’t. But she had to accept it. Her mother couldn’t enter into this new world she’d made for herself and Cyn suspected she might have wished the enterprise was a failure so she’d go back to singing.

  She loved that Riku revealed no disappointment, even after she’d told him her secret. His encouragement was to leave before he proved a distraction to the buyer, although he could probably have gotten her the sale merely by endorsing her jewelry. She’d have hated that but ever-practical Janey might not have. Maybe she’d design something for the band. They had a great logo, simple and effective and they didn’t do the obvious and stick a raven on everything. Although some of their fans did. Besides, she liked the idea of raven jewelry.

  She filed the notion away for another time and concentrated on her client.

  At the end of two hours he’d made his order and Janey gave her the wink as she showed the man out to his car. When Cyn went into the back room to find the coffee machine Riku was sprawled on the small sofa, arms folded, head back, snoring gently.

  He opened his eyes and blinked at her. “Can’t imagine why I’m so tired.” He eased into a smile. “How did it go?”

  “Great. He wants our exclusive stuff and he’s interested in the cheaper lines too. We have to design a line especially for the high-end stores he has in some top hotels. Lots of work but this could be our breakthrough.”

  He grinned, showing her the face the public rarely got to see. His delight shone through and she loved him for his pleasure in her success. “After I saw your designs I never doubted it.”

  “Did you before?”

  He got to his feet and stretched. “I didn’t know how a brilliant soprano, the future Kirsten Flagstad could turn into Elsa Schiaparelli.”

  “She was a dress designer.”

  “She also designed jewelry.”

  Cyn did what she’d wanted to do since she walked in here and threw herself into his arms, feeling them clamp around her like living bonds and relishing her captivity. “Do you know how impressive it is that you know of both those people?”

  He laughed. “I just collect things, people, I guess. I get inspiration from everywhere. Once I find something that interests me I go find out about it. Don’t you?”

  “Some.” She tended to focus her concerns. Her fascination with jewelry came from creating it, not researching it. She’d learned how to set gems and work metal and she’d studied how stones were cut and polished, although she left that part to the experts. Otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten the designs done.

  She leaned back in his arms, laughed up at him. “I can go now. Janey’s called her assistant and she’ll come in to cover me for the day.”

  “You’re the owner, can’t you take all the time off you need?”

  “Like you can fail to turn up onstage one night?” From his expression she knew the answer. Laughing, she pulled out of his embrace. “So what’s in store for you today?”

  “I did the sound check yesterday. If they alter any of my stuff I will commit murder, apart from my assistant.”

  She interrupted him. “You have an assistant?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, well. A roadie. We have key personnel, people who stay the same and travel with us. We didn’t want an entourage so we established a small team of prime staff and they employ who they need.”

  So that was why they reacted to her in that way last night. A close-knit, efficient team at the end of a long tour would resent an intruder. “Presumably you’ve introduced women backstage before?”

  Bright color tinged his high cheekbones. “You know I did.”

  She forced her smile back. This could be fun. “So I’m one in a line?”

  “No!” vehemence now as he gripped her tighter. “You’re Cyn.”

  “Pure Cyn,” she murmured, taking advantage of his heightened hold by moving closer and kissing him. He tasted of pure sin himself. She folded her arms around his neck and went on tiptoe, stealing his response for herself, giving back as much. She touched his lips with her tongue, slid it into his mouth to caress and explore his, as he did the same. They might have been carried away again had Janey not cleared her throat behind them.

  Flushing hotly, Cyn withdrew. “Not so sinful, then,” he said. “Before we got—yes, before, you asked me about my day. I’m skipping the sound check unless they call me, which Chick will do if he needs me but I’d like to go home and change. Maybe choose something for tonight.”

  “We can pick up the kimonos from my place,” she suggested. “I need to change too.”

  “Will you come tonight?”

  “I don’t have a ticket.” She stopped, aware of how pointless that was now, flushing from her gauche response.

  He laughed but with pleasure, sharing the joke. “You don’t need a ticket.” He glanced at Janey. “Would you like to come?”

  Janey grated out a harsh laugh. “My days of standing in line to buy an overpriced beer before I squelch my way to my narrow, uncomfortable place are gone. I have a big TV and the best seat in the house.”

  Riku grinned. “You have a point. So that’s a no?”

  “You got that right.” She shrugged and glanced behind her as the bells on the outer door tinkled. “Thanks for the offer though. Are they televising your concert?”

  “It’s being filmed for a live release,” he said.

  “I’ll get a copy.”

  “Yes, you certainly will.”

  She felt relief that Riku and Janey got on so well. This was getting on well for Janey, whose brusque attitude to everyone except customers could deter people. She was a hell of a designer though and she could work filigree wire better than anyone Cyn knew.

  If he went home with her there was little doubt where they’d end up, particularly if she had to change. Reminded of which, she put her hands around her neck and removed the necklace, taking it back to its case. Janey was busy serving someone but she didn’t need any help and batted Cyn out of the way, so she led the way from the shop.

  Riku stared at the sidewalk, frowning. “You’re a great jewelry desig
ner.”

  “I do cheap and cheerful too. It’s fun. Even the pricey stuff is fun. People shouldn’t take themselves too seriously.”

  He shrugged, didn’t look at her. “Like me you mean?”

  “No, why would I think that?”

  “Because I do tend to take things seriously. Shall we get a cab?”

  “You get one.” She shot him a sideways grin, which he caught and returned. “Dressed like that you need it. I’ll go home and change.”

  He seized her hand, held it close to his chest. “Will you stay with me? Bring a few things so you don’t have to rush off? I want to spend some real time with you.”

  “So what’s this?”

  “Rushing around, fixing shit.” When she would have pulled away he drew her nearer so they stood chest-to-chest. “I want some leisure time with you. After today the tour is done. We’re due in Chicago for group sessions for the next album but there’s not as much pressure. I have playtime, Cyn, for the first moment in what seems forever and I want to spend it with you. Are you game?”

  “Sure.” She could ease off going into the stores even though the income from the second store was down. She’d intended to work there a few days to try to understand what was wrong. She could skip that for a while.

  No, she was getting carried away. This was a fling, nothing else, although hopefully she’d have a friend at the end of their affair. That was all. Finito.

  Before he got into his cab he kissed her, long and lush, ignoring the whistles from the cab driver and a few passersby. “You want to be careful, with so many mobile phones around these days.”

  “Why should I care? Do you?” Tension entered their embrace, his muscles stiffening.

  “No, I don’t care. They don’t know who I am anyhow. But dressed like that and with hair like that they’ll recognize you.”

  He grimaced. “How long will you be?”

  “An hour?”

  “Make it two. I’ve an errand to run first.”

  She didn’t question him. Eventually she got into his cab, just to share a few more moments with him. He dropped her off at her place before ordering the driver to turn around and go to the other end of town, to his home in Tribeca. While she appreciated the ability to get taxis everywhere and for him it was a necessity, she didn’t intend to get one to his place. Besides, if she had two hours she could call the other store and ensure everything was running well there.

  A little over two hours later Cyn arrived at the converted warehouse that Riku called home. He buzzed her in and she took the elevator to the top floor—the penthouse floor, naturally—and stepped into a huge space.

  She wasn’t sure that if she had the kind of money Riku commanded these days she’d spend it on this but she had to admit the place was spectacular. Huge windows covered what had probably been loading bays for whatever goods they had stored here once upon a time. They afforded great views over this part of the city, the skyscrapers of downtown clearly visible past the lower buildings between. A view of some of the most iconic edifices in the world, one people would pay to experience. In a way Riku had done that but he wasn’t taking much notice of it now, striding around on the polished wooden floor talking to someone on his phone. “No, I don’t want that. Can you deliver it here? Sure, I’ll be in.”

  He turned to her and smiled, waving at the sofas set facing the window. His hair was black, shiny black, rain-straight. He looked more like the Riku she remembered from their institute years. He wore jeans and a T-shirt and only simple gold studs in his ears. Last night he’d worn diamonds. She recalled when he had his ears pierced and the fuss his mother had made. Riku had a small, perfect and polished mother who’d intimidated Cyn. Not that she’d ever known Riku and Cyn were lovers.

  Instead of sitting Cyn wandered around the huge room. Three sides of it were floor-to-ceiling windows. A landing area split the other long wall horizontally and underneath an open space led to more rooms. She stared out the window at the dock area, the place that would have held working men and the wealth of a great city coming in via the great ships moored there. She remembered old pictures of London docks, the forest of masts, sails furled and the warehouses lining the edge, some rickety, some sturdily built edifices that compared in size and self-importance to the cathedrals of Europe. This must have looked like that once.

  Now it was a playground for the people who could afford to live here. When it started to get fashionable, long before she got to New York, Realtors and wealthy individuals grabbed the old, dilapidated warehouses to convert them to trendy apartments. Even the warehouses didn’t have windows like this, whole walls of them. They must have knocked out the walls to make this and used hyper-modern materials to render it strong enough.

  He slid his arm around her waist. “Like it?”

  “I’m not sure,” she said frankly.

  “You look great here. I like you this way.” He plucked at her full, cotton skirt in an imitation tie-dye. Vivid purple, so unlike the severe black of her dress this morning.

  “I like it better myself. It’s comfortable.”

  He kissed her neck. “It makes you more accessible.” He cupped one of her breasts, confined by a light bra. She preferred not having her boobs stared at in the subway so she gave that much concession to convention. She had on the matching top to the skirt but added a thick, blue knitted jacket that flowed in soft folds to mid-calf. Warm too. She’d dumped her weekend bag inside the door. Unsure what to bring she’d packed knickers, jeans, a couple of T-shirts and the black dress, in case she needed to gussy up. “Will you wear this tonight?”

  “I thought I’d wear jeans. It’s concert uniform, isn’t it?”

  “Wear this for me. I might be able to see you in the crowd. Though I admit it’s a long shot. Difficult to see anything from the stage. Sometimes Zazz tells them to turn up the house lights and they love it. I might ask tonight. I know where you’ll be sitting. That’ll help.”

  “You got me tickets?”

  “The band always gets complimentary tickets. If we don’t use them Chick lets the media sit there. So you could find yourself next to some unsavory characters.” He kissed up her neck. “It’s forever since I saw you last.”

  “Sweet-talking bastard.”

  He laughed, oscillation tickling her throat. “You always used to say that.”

  “I know.” She suppressed her shiver. Why make it easier for him? Already her mood was lifting and she was looking forward to the gig. She’d always wanted to see the band, had never gotten up the courage to go until now because she didn’t know how she’d react to Riku. In any case, this was the lineup she longed to experience most. The previous version of Murder City Ravens had been a great rock band. Now this lineup was breaking new musical ground. Exciting and different. Cyn adored exciting and different.

  Maybe that was why she’d imagined herself in love with Riku nine years ago.

  Of course she couldn’t have been. That would be stupid. Even though they planned to go to Europe together and study in places not too far from each other. Their trajectories would have gone in different directions, he as a concert pianist, she as a dramatic soprano. As it was they had moved so far apart now that only friendship remained for them.

  Keep telling yourself that, Cyn.

  “I love that you’re not a conventional dresser. Even the dress you wore this morning had an edge. Sharp shoulder pads, that little split up the back.”

  “Without the slit I can’t walk. And it’s not indecent, just to mid-thigh.”

  He growled, moved to her ear and licked the rim. This time she couldn’t suppress her shudder. “Oh yes, that’s the way. But we can’t get naked yet. They’re delivering my costume any minute. I’ll go straight to the Garden from here. We’ll eat here, if you want.”

  “You cook?” He hesitated, so she added, “Don’t lie to me.”

  He chuckled. “I wouldn’t dare. My caretaker service packed the freezer and refrigerator for me. Want the tour?”

&n
bsp; “I want this first.” She turned around, hooked an arm behind his head and brought him down for a kiss. When he opened his mouth she followed suit and they spent some times lost in each other, the world a distant memory.

  After some minutes he lifted away and smiled into her eyes. “The trouble is whenever I have you close I want you naked.”

  She glanced around at the windows. They seemed so open here. “I take it this is privacy glass?”

  “For sure.” He swung her around. “Come on. Let me show you the place.”

  Chapter Seven

  He’d furnished the great room sparsely but with comfort in mind. He didn’t have much wall space for works of art but the lamps were twisted columns of bright chrome with circular, white glass shades that must look like moons when lit. Matching lamps adorned the low tables. He had rugs on the floor at intervals, mostly in front of the large, squashy sofas. Leather, of course, very man-friendly.

  “Did you buy the place ready furnished?” Cyn asked.

  “They offered but I got rid of it. It was so show-home, you wouldn’t believe it.”

  They passed a bookcase crammed with dog-eared books, all shapes and sizes. “Okay, I can see you’ve left your mark.”

  “I should think so. It’s my home. I get here whenever I can.”

  She laughed as she caught sight of a music room through an open door. Small but state-of-the-art if she was any judge. Not that she’d set foot inside one for some time. “Ever thought of a solo project?”

  He stopped dead. “How did you know?”

  She blinked, stared up at features gone grave. “That’s a studio. And you’re so inventive, one band can’t hold you.”

  He nodded. “You can’t tell anyone yet but I’ve taken a job to write the music for a new film. A big film. They’ve not accepted my proposal yet but Chick says they will.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. I had an idea, told Chick and he made it happen. It’s amazing. They actually want me.”