by L. B. Dunbar
Arturo directed me to sit and this must have been a cue for the staff because they brought out dinner immediately. A mix of vegetables accompanied by small potatoes and filets were a rich compliment to the champagne that we finished while Arturo talked about his music and the band’s practice. Then we talked about my music and my practice as well as the upcoming interview. He assured me he would accompany me despite my admonishments that he didn’t need to go with me. Finally, he commented on spending time with me once we returned back to the city.
“I plan to spend lots of time with you, Guinie, when we return home. I don’t think I can handle not sleeping with you each night.”
I choked slightly on a swallow of my bubbly drink.
“You realize I still live with my father, right? I don’t have sleepovers, especially not boy-girl ones,” I giggled.
“We may need to change that,” he said as he took a bite of his steak.
I continued to stare at him as he ate without missing a beat. He didn’t seem to realize what he was saying. I wasn’t sure what he was saying. Did he want me to spend each night with him? Did he expect to sleep at my home with my father in the same house? What was he suggesting? I didn’t have the chance to answer when he looked up at me and must have noticed something in my face. He put his fork down and asked me to dance with him.
“There’s no music,” I said quickly as he stood and reached for my hand.
“I’ll make the music,” he said softly and wrapped his hands around mine. He pulled me close, holding one hand against his chest as the other circled his neck. His hand sat possessively low on my back. He began to hum a tune I didn’t recognize.
My love for you can only grow
One day I want to make you mine
Keep loving you when we get old
Stay the night to still the time
He was kissing my neck as he continued to hum the tune, no longer singing low against my skin when we heard another voice.
“Guinevere?” my father said in a firm tone.
Leo DeGrance did not have an imposing presence despite his regal appearance in his forties, but his tone of voice was one I recognized as a warning. Whether he was about to embark on a lecture of my behavior or an explanation of his disappointment in something like when I was a child, I knew he was about to say something to imply I was in trouble.
“This looks very cozy,” he continued in a slightly strangled voice as his eyes took in the ambiance of the candles in the dark outdoors and the glasses of champagne.
“Am I interrupting?” he continued when I could not find my voice and Arturo stepped back to put space between us, but still held his hand on my back. I felt it flatten then grip bits of my dress in his fingers.
“We were just celebrating my birthday … and Guinie’s job interview.”
My dad immediately looked at me. “Job? Where?”
Arturo began to speak but I cut him off instantly.
“There is a string quartet called the 4G. They are four girls who play string instruments and they travel throughout New England. Arturo has set up an interview for me.”
“I see,” Leo replied, glancing at Arturo before redirecting his eyes to me. “I had other plans for you, but we can discuss that later.” His eyes traveled back to Arturo. I saw something pass between the two men, but I was completely blind to its meaning.
“Celebrate with us,” Arturo said and reached for the champagne bottle. “I’ll go get another glass.” He kissed my exposed neck and walked past my father, patting him on the shoulder before circling the pool for the house.
I followed his exit like a homebound puppy watching his master drive away for work. I shook my head at the pull I recognized in myself to follow him and scorned myself for behaving so silly. I looked at my father.
“What’s going on here?” he asked, slightly gruff.
“We were celebrating, like Arturo mentioned.”
“Guinevere,” he said again in that warning tone.
“We were having dinner,” I tried again.
My father raised an eyebrow at me.
“I don’t know what’s going on exactly.”
“Are you … dating?”
“Dad. He’s hardly a man who’s exclusive.”
“He’s going to be if he’s with you.”
“Dad, please. Don’t make this more embarrassing for me. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ve been spending time together and…”
I didn’t know how to further explain.
“Are you sleeping with him?”
“Dad,” I said sternly.
He shook his head and ran his fingers through his aging hair.
“I apologize,” he said softly under his breath. He reached for me and hugged me quickly. He wasn’t an affectionate man and the embrace startled me. I stumbled slightly when he let me go.
“Have you been drinking?” he asked without accusation. I shook my head in a negative response.
“Be careful,” he warned. “This isn’t progressing like I planned.”
I looked at my father quizzically and was about to ask for answers when Arturo suddenly appeared behind Dad, a third champagne glass in his hand.
“Leo,” he said, presenting my father with champagne. He returned my glass to me after topping it off and raised his own.
“Twenty-six,” he began, “to another year, may the next be as amazing as the past few weeks.” He sipped his drink, looking at my father over the brim of his glass, and I noticed my father down his champagne in one long swallow.
Arturo
I walked Guinie to her room and kissed her deeply before returning to an office on the lower level. She seemed hesitant to allow me to enter her room with her father’s presence in the house and I was currently too fueled by the blood racing in my veins with anger to sleep anyway. I wanted to know what Leo DeGrance was doing at my home at this late hour and I wanted answers to the obvious aggression toward me. It made Guinevere quiet and I didn’t want her to fall into herself again.
I knew that Guinevere DeGrance could be labeled as a good girl, and she was, but she had a side to her that was blossoming in the bedroom at night and carrying over into her personality during the day. She was becoming more open in her affection toward me around the others and I liked when she would reach for me by placing her hand on my thigh, or an arm around my waist, or kiss me quickly before coming or going in the barn. It made me feel special in a way that no other woman had, and I felt wanted for more than being a rock star, but as a man, and I liked that her touch laid claim to me, as it announced she belonged with me.
I hadn’t been blind to the averting eyes of Lansing, but I didn’t want to ask what his issue was. I did notice Tristan’s constant jokes at my expense about being whipped or chained, but I gave as good as I got from my friend. Perk was relatively quiet with his opinion one way or another, but occasionally he told me I was a lucky man to find the one.
I wasn’t sure Guinie was the one, but I knew I liked her. A lot. I liked her laugh, her soft touch, and her kiss. I liked her eagerness in bed and the sounds she made when I satisfied her. I liked how well she satisfied me. I was in no rush to take things further, knowing her innocence. My one-night stands had always been with girls who had experience, but to take Guinie’s virginity would have been a big step and a bigger commitment. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, but I did enjoy our current physical experimentation.
I pushed the study door open briskly as I entered the room on this final thought. I wasn’t about to stop the relationship despite Leo DeGrance being her father. I immediately found the man nursing a drink of amber liquid as Kaye Sirs stood in the room near a cold fireplace.
“What’s going on?” I blurted into the silent space.
Kaye looked at Leo before turning to face me. He braced his back on the mantle and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at me.
“Leo and I have been discussing Camelot Records and its future.”
I was immediatel
y taken aback. This wasn’t what I was expecting. Kaye continued.
“As you know, your father bought the business, but left it on its own. It held its own for a long time, but struggled. It’s long been a conversation with you about your desire to grow the business. To fix it. And Leo and I think we have some answers as to how.”
I looked from one man to another as if in a tennis match, waiting for the player to score by a loss of the ball.
“I’m not asking for the company, Arturo. Let me be perfectly clear. And discussing things with Leo was not meant to be behind your back, but rather as a means to organize our thoughts before we talked to you.”
I felt my heart race slowing and a coldness filled my veins.
“We thought you might be interested in changing the management of Camelot. You, of course, would still be sole owner, but you need better management if you want to rebuild and grow. Knowing that the day-to-day business is not your thing currently, let someone else be in charge who’s organized and does know how to manage.”
I felt my shoulders relax as I suddenly thought I knew where this was going.
“You’d like to manage Camelot Records?”
Kaye glanced sheepishly at Leo before looking back at me.
“I would. It’s not that I don’t like being the band’s manager, but I can do it in my sleep and you’ve gotten so big I need an assistant. But I’m also ready to try something new, and I think I can do this. Plus I think you need some people you can trust.”
I looked at Leo as he took a pull of alcohol from his crystal glass.
“How does Leo fall into this?” I said a bit too sharply for my old friend and supporter.
“Leo knows talent. He’s run the Round Table for years and he knows how to build a band from the ground up from the music side. I know how to do it with the business side.”
The picture fell into place. Kaye and Leo wanted to run Camelot Records.
“Where do I fit in again?”
Both men looked at me.
“Excuse me,” Leo said as Kaye said, “What?”
“How do I fit? As you said, it’s been a conversation for a while. I love the band and I’ve been rejuvenated lately, as you know,” I paused to give a knowing glare at Kaye, “but what happens after this tour and the next album, and another tour. I want to be assured that the company will still be mine.”
“Arturo, your vision was to grow bands as well. You liked the idea of taking promising talent and seeing where it would go. Let Leo get things started in this matter. Let me help him financially grow them. We aren’t going anywhere. Whenever you’re ready, Camelot Records will be there for you to rule.”
I crossed the room to sit in one of the four leather chairs centered by a circular table and Kaye sat as well. There was still something missing from this new conversation.
“What does Guinevere have to do with this?”
Leo choked on another sip of his drink and Kaye hung his head for a moment.
“She has nothing to do with this,” Leo said. Kaye shook his head.
I held my stare at Kaye.
“I wanted to introduce you two and I had this crazy plan that if you liked her, it might soothe this whole question of asking for the company.”
“But you aren’t asking for the company?” I interrupted.
“No,” Kaye’s voice was firm. “Anyway, it was unforeseen to me that you might find Guinie interesting on your own.”
“Interesting?” I growled. “She’s fucking amazing,” I added and immediately looked at Leo, having forgotten for less than a second that she was his daughter.
Leo glared at me before he spoke.
“What are your intentions here, Arturo?”
I looked questioningly at him.
“I’m not trying to be old-fashioned, but I won’t use my daughter as a business pawn. She was meant to be an ally only. And if you’re playing with her, like one of your many ladies, I’ll walk away from this deal and let Camelot Records fall like it’s going to if something isn’t done to bring it into the Twenty-First Century.”
I admired the conviction in Leo’s voice. I wasn’t going to use his daughter and he wasn’t going to let anyone else use her either. Leo had always protected her from his lifestyle and for good reason, I now knew. She was an incredible woman and she didn’t need to be corrupt like I knew people could be in the music industry.
“What’s this about the 4Gs?” Leo interrupted my thoughts.
“I know someone in the group and they need a replacement for a member who’s pregnant. I think Guinie would be perfect. It’s temporary, so if she doesn’t like it, she has an out.”
“What if she does like it?”
“Well, nine months is a long time, and the woman wants some time with the baby. If she returns, Guinie will have the experience and she can start her own group.”
“What about Boston?” Leo commented.
I glanced at her father.
“You know she didn’t get the seat with the orchestra? She was greatly disappointed, but I was secretly thrilled. I don’t want her in Boston. I want her in New York. I was hoping she would be ready to learn the ins and outs of the Round Table and help take over some of the management.”
I was taken aback.
“What about her cello?”
“She’s talented and she would have found something else in New York. Sounds like she already did, actually.” Leo bit the smile that grew on his lips.
I clenched my own lips to prevent the words that proved I agreed with Leo. I didn’t want her anywhere else than in New York with me, and I hoped that she had found something else … me.
Arturo
I went through my own room to enter Guinevere’s. I didn’t want her father to know that my intentions included sleeping in Guinevere’s bed again despite Leo’s presence. I’d set Leo DeGrance up in a guest room down the opposite wing where Kaye had a room and Tristan as well.
She’d left a light on and I was hopeful it was for me, but the book laying on the bed might have been more truthful of her purpose while I was in the study with her father and Kaye. I looked at her for a long moment while she slept. Her chestnut-colored hair draped over the buttery yellow pillow, her lashes fluttering softly as they were closed in her slumber. I noted how tan her skin had grown compared to the creamy sheets laid under her arm. Her skin almost glowed and I wanted to lick her. I knew she tasted as sweet as she looked.
I thought about our stay at Camlann so far and knew that we would be returning back to New York in almost a week. I wanted everything to stay as it was. I wanted to be able to find her in a bed that I would share with her every night. She calmed me. She inspired me. I’d been on a high these weeks upstate as I began to write the songs for a new album. This would be our third and I was hopeful it would be our best yet.
I thought for a moment about Kaye’s proposal for Camelot Records. I wanted that business as well. The idea of growing bands from the start and seeing them rise to success would be another inspiration for me: a reminder of what we had gone through and why we were doing what we did. I knew the Nights were dedicated to making music and that would always be our mission, but I wasn’t sure the fame was all we originally planned. I felt we needed more focus than women and booze and parties.
I was still lost in my inner thinking when Guinie turned toward me and opened her eyes.
“Arturo?” she said softly as she blinked in her sleepy state.
“Hey,” I whispered back.
“Everything all right?”
“It will be once I’m next to you,” I said in return.
She smiled sleepily and reached out her hand for me. I stripped off my clothes to my boxer briefs and climbed over her to envelop her in my arms.
I awoke in the night to soft muttering and anguished moans from Guinevere. She tossed her head from one side to the other as I gently tried to wake her. I knew she’d had a bad dream a few weeks ago when we first arrived at the house and I hoped I’d been e
nough of a protector each night to chase those nightmares away. I stroked her arm and shook her shoulder again, softly calling her name. She moaned deeper as if in pain and spoke my name in her sleep. I kissed her shoulder now and said her name louder this time, turning her toward me.
“Guinie, wake up, baby.”
I nudged her rougher.
“Arturo,” she said as she sucked in air like she had been drowning. Her eyes blinked as she tried to focus on me.
“Look at me. That’s it, baby. It’s okay. I’m here,” I said, kissing her quickly. When I pulled back, she reached for me, plastering her lips to mine.
“Guin-” I tried to calm her frenzy, but she kept her lips to mine, forcing her tongue into my mouth when I spoke.
I returned her kiss just as aggressively before trying to slow her lips and calm her. Her kisses slowed on me and I took the lead. I caressed her softly, sucking her bottom lip into my mouth and swiping her tongue gently before pulling back only a breath to whisper to her.
“Guinie Girl, what happened?”
She shook her head, closing her eyes and placing her forehead against mine. She was on top of me, her legs straddled over my waist with my raging hard-on tickling her ass.
“Tell me.”
“I had a bad dream. You were with someone else. Then something happened and I couldn’t get to you.”
“Shhh.” I kissed her nose. “I’m not going to be with anyone else. Just you.”
She pulled back to see me better, her hands slipping to my chest. “Why?”
“What?”
“Why would you be with just me?”
I pulled my head back, as if it could go anywhere but deeper into the pillow.
“Guinie, you’re beautiful, but more than that you’re amazing inside. You’re great with Morte, you understand my situation with Ana, you like the band and maybe my music.” Here I smirked at her and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t complain about the band. You get it.”
