Dirty Letters(68)

He sighed into the phone, and I could sense his own relief. I had to pick my battles. With enough going against me when it came to our relationship, the least I could do was let the photos slide.

“I’m still shocked they haven’t figured out your identity. If they were to find out your name was Luca, all hell would break loose. I could only imagine the headlines.” He fell silent for a moment before he changed the subject. “Speaking of tabloids, I called my father today.”

That surprised me. “Really . . . ?”

“Yes. I don’t know what possessed me. I guess I felt like it was time. He wants me to come to London for a visit. He seemed apologetic about what he’d done and wants to make amends.”

“That’s great, Griff.”

“Yeah. I have to tread lightly, though. I don’t want to get hurt again.”

“I understand.”

Hearing him say that broke my heart a little. I didn’t want to be the one to hurt him.

I heard someone call his name, and then he finally said, “Shit. I have to go.”

“Go. Get ready for the show. Thank you for calling.”

“I love you, Luca.”

“I love you, too.”





CHAPTER 28

GRIFFIN


A little girl caught my attention as I walked to the stadium door. I backed up and motioned to my security that I needed a minute. They hated when I ventured into the crowd, but I couldn’t resist going over to say hello. A few dozen fans yelled from behind wooden barricades that lined the walkway between where we’d pulled up and the entrance to tonight’s venue. One little angelic face happened to look a hell of a lot like Luca.

I bent down to her level. “Hey there. What’s your name?”

She was probably only six or seven years old and really could have passed for Luca’s daughter with her long, dark hair; giant green eyes; and thick black eyelashes.

“Frankie.”

“Frankie, huh? That’s a cool name. Is it short for something?”

She nodded. “Francine.”

Her mum interrupted. “She knows every word of all your songs. Seriously, we thought of writing to you to ask you to sing the multiplication tables for her.”

I smiled. “Is that so, Frankie? You like my music, huh?”

She nodded her adorable little head rapidly.

“Do you think you can sing me something? What’s your favorite?”

“‘I Stand Still.’”

Wow. That was sort of a heavy song for a little girl. Most people assumed I’d written it for a girl I’d been hung up on, but in actuality it was written for my mum. It was a slow solo ballad, and the lyrics talked about how I didn’t realize how important she was in my life until she was gone. “Can you sing me a little bit?”

The little girl looked at her mum, who prompted her. “Go ahead, sweetheart. It’s okay.”

Frankie looked nervous, so I figured I’d help her out. “I’ll tell you what . . . how about if I start, and you can join in when you’re ready?”

She nodded.

Softly, I began to sing the first verse. By the end of the first sentence, little Frankie started to rock back and forth with the biggest smile plastered on her face. She was really freaking adorable. I could easily imagine Luca and I might have a little girl who looked a lot like her. So I just kept singing. When I got to the end of the first verse, I stopped. “You ready to join me yet?”

Frankie nodded again. This time, when I started singing, she joined right in. My brows jumped hearing how pretty her voice was. I didn’t know why, but I hadn’t expected she could really sing. Her voice was tiny, but she sang in perfect pitch and had the sweetest sound I’d heard in a long time. I lowered my own voice to hear more of hers, and she kept going. Eventually, I stopped singing altogether and just watched her take it away.

The resemblance to Luca was really uncanny, and I thought my girl might get a kick out of seeing Frankie sing, too. So I dug my phone out of my pocket and motioned to her mum that I’d like to record and got her blessing. I seriously couldn’t have conjured up a better part of any song to capture on video to send to Luca than what unfolded as I pressed “Record.”

Since the day that you left

I felt a hole in my heart.

Going through the motions

Through the window I thrive

But behind the curtain I only survive

I hit the button to turn the camera around to face me and leaned in to join little Frankie for the chorus while holding my arm out to keep recording.

The world keeps spinning without you.

The world keeps spinning round and round.

The world keeps spinning, but I stand still

I stand still

I stand still

When I was done, the crowd around us started to applaud. I put out my hand to shake little Frankie’s and then kissed the top of her hand before kissing her mum’s cheek.

“You stay right here,” I said. “I’m going to send my manager back out in a few minutes to get you some backstage passes so you can meet the rest of my mates and see the concert from the first row.”

“Oh my God!” Frankie’s mum covered her mouth. “Thank you so much.”

“No, thank you for sharing your daughter with me today.”