Part One
CHAPTER ONE
New Orleans
Ebony Verlaine stared at the plastic stick in her hand in dismay. God, no. She leaned her head against the cool tile of the bathroom and let a few tears escape, feeling utterly hopeless. Her whole world shifted at that moment as she saw everything she’d worked so hard for disappear.
Pregnant. Pregnant and alone at twenty-six. God dammit.
Outside the bathroom, she heard a voice and pulled herself together. She was at the Gabriella Renaud Foundation, the charitable organization which had been mentoring and supporting her over the last two years. Her best friend Juno Sasse, now her sister-in-law, had at first been her tutor, guiding her through singing lessons and songwriting, preparing her for a career in the music industry.
Since she was young, Ebony had loved singing and performing. It was a no-brainer that she would follow that love into a career, but while the executive she had met had praised her smoky, rich voice, and been even more enthusiastic to exploit her dark beauty, all of them had balked at releasing jazz and blues. She’d lost count of how many of them tried to steer her into a pop career – something she had no interest at all in.
As word spread and she was painted unfairly as a diva, the offers dried up. Despondent, she continued to sing in New Orleans’s jazz clubs until Livia Chatelaine approached her.
Herself a musician, Livia was the head of a charitable foundation which focused on giving opportunities to musicians outside the mainstream, along with those who couldn’t afford a place at a traditional college. To Ebony’s amazement and delight, Livia was crazy about jazz and a real kinship developed between the two women.
“We’re moving toward releasing our own recordings in partnership with Quartet,” Livia told her at that first meeting. “We’re keeping it small, keeping our roster tight and exclusive, and we won’t release anything until we’re sure you’re ready.”
Ebony laughed. “You realize you’re handing me my dream…for free? It’s incredible.”
“Don’t get too complacent,” Livia teased. We ask for full commitment. We’ll work your ass off if we think you’re worth it – and I do. Your voice is once-in-a-lifetime, Ebony. It would be a crime not to champion you.”
Ebony sipped her iced tea, her mind whirling. “Livia…you must have heard the rumors about me. That I’m a diva? That I’m never satisfied?”
Livia’s smile faded. “Let me put those rumors into perspective. They were put around by old white men who run recording companies that only deal in profit. They also like to tell women what to do, how to dress, what to eat…I don’t believe the rumors. You’re clearly a strong woman who follows your passion, and who is unwilling to compromise to make a quick buck. That, Ebony Verlaine, is why I reached out to you.”
Ebony remembered her mentor and friend’s words now as she dumped the pregnancy stick in the trash – carefully hidden. This wasn’t going to derail her life, she decided firmly. She could only be two weeks pregnant – she’d only been with one man in months – so she had plenty of time to think about her next steps. She washed her hands and splashed water on her face before making her way back to her small recording studio.
Juno was waiting for her, and to Ebony’s delight, Livia was there too. She hadn’t seen her friend for a few weeks – Livia had just given birth to her fourth child, a girl called Amita. It was an odd feeling, holding the gorgeous little girl, knowing she could one day have one of her own. “She’s so beautiful…and so tiny!”
Livia and Juno laughed. “They come like that,” Livia said, “although they don’t feel so tiny when they’re coming out.”
Both Ebony and Juno winced, and Livia grinned. “You wait and see.”
Ebony turned away, pretending to grab some work from her bag. “Hey, I finally finished that song we were working on.” She handed over the score to Juno, who rolled it out.
“This looks good…maybe a couple of tweaks, but we’ll run it through. Anyway, before we start work, there’s a reason Liv is here. We have a proposal for you.”
“What’s that?” Ebony asked, putting aside her worries about the future in favor of curiosity.
Juno grinned. “Romy called me last night. The organization she works for is having a huge fundraising event and they need someone to perform at it.”
“Juno called me, and we both agreed – it has to be you, Ebony. You are so ready for this. You’ve been working your ass off, now it’s time to get some more actual experience. It’s going to be a pretty big deal.” Livia looked as excited as Ebony felt.
“Really? God, that’s incredible.” Ebony had missed performing, but the next moment she was filled with anxiety as Livia told her the scope of the event.
“Although the facility is for people with few means, this event is high society – it’s a few thousand dollars a plate, all the money going to the facility, of course.”
Ebony felt her legs shaking and had to sit down. “So, I’ll need to perform a song?”
“A set, maybe seven to ten tracks. It’ll be in Seattle,” Juno added as an afterthought, “and it might mean spending Christmas in Seattle. Romy says she’d be happy to have you stay with her if you don’t want to be stuck in a hotel.”
Ebony smiled. “Back home to Seattle.”
Juno grinned. “Word. Obe and I will come up for the holidays so you won’t be alone, but we can’t actually be there for the performance, sadly.”
“Atlas Tigris is the chairman of the event. He told me that if the performance goes well, he might need you for more charity events and has offered to pay you twice the going rate. You can do this, Ebony, you could do it in your sleep, and working for the Tigri family comes with immense benefits. Their step-dad, Stanley Duggan, is a heavy hitter in the music industry, and he’s a sweetheart too.”
“You don’t have to sell me on this, I’m in. When is the gig?”
“December 20th, for the fundraiser, but Atlas may need you for the New Year’s Eve party too. Think you can handle that?”
Ebony felt a wave of relief flood over her. Worrying about the pregnancy could wait until after this. “I can handle it.” she grinned at her friends. “I won’t let you down.”
Seattle
Atlas Tigri glanced at the clock. Almost ten p.m. Even when he had been in pharmaceuticals, he’d never worked this late, this often.
“It’s because you’re doing something you love,” his brother Mateo had once said to him mildly. “You’re going to go that extra mile.”
Mateo was right. Ever since Atlas had decided to set up this facility to take care of battered men and women who needed surgical and medical help, he’d been putting in twenty-hour days but never once felt exhausted.
The only time he felt lonely was when he spent time with his friends, Romy and Blue. Both surgeons, they were madly in love with the other. They welcomed him as part of their family, but as much as he adored them, their happiness made him realize how much he missed having someone in his life. Someone for just him.
His family was his life. His twin brother Mateo was the person he was closest to; he shared not just the same glorious handsome face, black curls and green eyes with Atlas, but a similar personality – although Mateo tended to be louder than Atlas. Mateo had a seven-year-old son, Fino, whose mother had dumped the newborn on Mateo and taken off, never to be heard from again. Mateo adored Fino, and his son worshipped his father.
Seeing them together made Atlas yearn for kids of his own, but the truth was, he didn’t have time to seek a partner out. At various fundraisers for the facility, he’d attracted the attention of some of Seattle’s socialites, but he just couldn’t create a spark that wasn’t there. He found them shallow and vapid.
“Hey, you. Still awake?”
Romy Sasse was at the door to his office now, her long hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, spots of fresh blood on her white coat. She flopped into a chair opposite him. Atlas studied her pale, drawn face.
“You okay?”
“Just had an emergency brought in. Women got cut up pretty badly by her ex. Asshole.” Romy’s jaw tightened. “She didn’t make it.”
“God, I’m sorry, Romy.” Atlas saw how exhausted his friend looked. Romy had given birth to twins only three months previously but had eschewed most of her maternity leave. Now Atlas wondered if she regretted leaving her job at Rainier Hope Hospital to come here. It wasn’t like she got paid to do this – not that Romy or her husband needed the money.
For the last nine months, she had worked tirelessly with Atlas to set up this center for abused partners, and for the most part, they knew they had done a great thing for Seattle. Days like today, though, and Romy looked downhearted. “You can’t save them all, Romy.” Atlas got up and poured her a cup of hot coffee. Romy took it gratefully.
“I know, boss.” She sighed, sipping her drink. “Look, let’s focus on something else. Harriet told me that everything is planned for the fundraiser?”
Atlas smiled. “It is indeed. Juno called me, told me her singer friend was all set.”
“Ebony? That’s great…honestly, Atlas, when you hear her sing…she’s incredible. Such a lovely person too.”
“Stanley told me she had impressed some recording people in L.A. but they didn’t pick up her option because she wouldn’t change her genre to pop?”
“That’s right.”
“Good for her, sticking to her guns. Shows integrity.”
Romy nodded. “You got that right.” She ran a hand over her face. “Good, so it’s all settled.” She glanced at the clock. “Do you mind if I take off? Clark’s in to cover, and my babies will already be asleep.”
“Of course, small fry.”
Romy grinned at him. “And you go home too, Atlas. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how late you’ve been working.”
“I haven’t got the impetus to go home as much as you,” he brushed away her concern but got to his feet anyway. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your car.”
Mateo was still awake and eating a ridiculously overstuffed sandwich in their huge kitchen when Atlas walked in. He offered the other half to Atlas, who, suddenly starving, thanked him.
“How’s business?” Mateo asked, his mouth full. Atlas’s brother’s curls were even shaggier and in need of a cut than Atlas’s own. He wore a simple white cotton shirt, even in the middle of a Seattle winter. Mateo’s business, wine importing, took him all over the world, and he still retained a tan from a family holiday in Italy. The twin’s mother was Italian, and their elder sister, Clelia, lived in Sorrento with her husband and five children.
“How’s Fino?”
Mateo grinned. “He aced his test today. Molly says she’s never had a harder-working kid. Sometimes I wonder if I do the right thing, homeschooling him, but it’s the only way I can do my job and still see him every day. Do you think I’m selfish?”
Atlas got up to grab a beer from the refrigerator. “Not at all. Fino’s the most well balanced child I’ve ever met.” He grinned at his brother. “Just please, don’t go and screw Molly, like you did the last one.”
“Oops.” Mateo drained his beer and Atlas groaned.
“Really?”
Mateo sat forward, his smile fading. “Okay, I’ll come clean. I’m crazy about her, Atlas. I swear, nothing happened for a couple of months, but when we were in Italy…I don’t know. Something happened to us, a moment. We talked about it, what the implications were and decided we couldn’t do anything about it, for Fino’s sake.”
“So, what changed?”
Mateo sat back, regarding his brother with a steady gaze. “I fell in love with her.”
Atlas’ eyebrows shot up. Now there was a word Mateo didn’t use often, particularly not in conjunction with women. He wooed them swiftly and just as swiftly moved on.
“Yes, love,” Mateo repeated, undoubtedly noticing Atlas’ expression. “Not just because she’s gorgeous, Atlas – although let’s face it, she is – but when we talk, we really talk. No barriers. She doesn’t treat me like the rich boy playing at being a dad. She encourages me, she adores Fino, and she pushes him too, to the best of his abilities.”
His voice gravelly with emotion, Mateo smiled a little shyly. “We decided that we would take things slowly – Fino is the priority, after all. But, god, Atlas…I think about her all the time.”
“Calm down, bro,” Atlas laughed and punched his brother lightly on the shoulder. “It’s about time. Go for it. We all love Molly – even Clelia, which is a modern miracle.”
Both brothers laughed – their older sister was fiercely protective of them, to the point of being blunt and rude to people she thought were taking advantage of the twins’ good natures.
Mateo nodded, his eyes shining. “I think I would like to make it formal, Atlas. Bring it out into the open. We have to tell Fino first, of course, and it’s really his opinion that counts here. And yours, of course,” he added hurriedly.
Atlas grinned. “You have my blessing, bro, but what the hell do I know about love?”
Atlas lay awake until just after midnight. Mateo had been the one who had always slept around – his drop-dead gorgeous looks making sure that he could have any women he wanted – but when Fino had come along, Atlas had seen his brother grow up overnight, becoming a man. Now, he was clearly crazy about the lovely Molly. Yeah, you go for it, bro. If she’s the one, go for it. He was proud of his twin.
Atlas turned over, trying to find sleep. He wasn’t someone who dwelled on his single status, but lately, he’d been feeling it.
You’re a billionaire, you have the looks, the charm…why is love so hard to find? Atlas shook his head. Because I want a best friend as well as a lover, someone who gets me.
He sighed, turned over and tried to get some sleep.