Haunted(52)

“I am going to name him Rhage.”

He gave me a weird expression.

“Rage? Why he looks so sweet, why would you name him that?”

“It is spelled R-H-A-G-E.”

He looked at me as though maybe he thought I couldn’t spell.

“Okay, you’re not going to get this, but Eve and Phoebe will. Rhage is a character from the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. It is from this book series by J. R. Ward. I always told myself I would name my cat after one of the original five vampires.”

He looked at me as though I just told him I was smoking crack. “So, Rhage was your favorite?” he asked.

“No, Vishous was but he was into kinky sex.” I picked up the kitten and talked in a baby voice to the little ball of fur. “But you can’t have any kinky sex because you need to be neutered. Isn’t that right? Isn’t it?” I put down the kitten and he started to walk away. I grabbed him and kissed him on the head and handed him to Roman.

“Okay, Rhage, let Roman hold you.” I went to the tree and picked up Roman’s present. I handed him my gift as Roman handed me Rhage. He opened it and genuinely seemed to love it. It was a necklace with a leather cord. On the cord was a bronze guitar pick engraved with the words When words fail, music speaks. I’d seen it on Etsy and knew I had to get it for him.

“I love it.” He leaned over to kiss me.

“Ready for your second gift? I want to warn you it’s a little cheesy.”



Chapter 39 – Roman



She handed me the kitten again and stood. She walked to the piano, and I couldn’t imagine what she was up to. She didn’t play, but she sat down and her fingers moved over the keys. I didn’t recognize the song at first, but then I realized she was playing “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?” by Stevie Nicks.

I got a bit choked up. First of all, I loved to hear Beth sing Stevie Nicks. She could actually sing her songs, if they were slow. I guessed those were better for her because Stevie Nicks had that lower, gravelly voice. Second, the song was written as a tribute to Joe Walsh of The Eagles. There was actually a moving, but sad story behind that song that was too personal to think about now. Right now, I watched the love of my life playing the piano and singing a song for me. It must have taken her weeks to learn it on the piano. After she finished, I sat there and stared at her. Rhage was kneading on my sweatpants, and I picked him up and laid him on the couch.

She pulled at her hair and I could tell she felt as though she must have done a bad job because I hadn’t said anything. I hadn’t said anything with the fear of the possibility of crying. I didn’t cry often. Hell, I never used to cry at all until I met Beth. We had experienced many trials and tribulations since the moment that we were first thrown in the car after we were kidnapped.

How did I tell her it was the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given to me? How did I tell her that, yes, I used to be the one she had admired, but here and now I didn’t think I could exist without this woman in my life. I felt so naked and exposed. I needed to tell her. I had to tell her. If I didn’t, she would never know. She would never know how much I needed her. I stood and walked over to her. I got down on one knee.

“Beth, that was the most beautiful gift anyone has ever given me,” I told her while a single tear fell down my face. Her face lit up brighter than the Christmas tree. “It was beautiful…will you play it again?”

She smiled and I could tell she was proud of her hard work. She started playing it again. I sat down on the bench with her, and I let the tears fall. Life was too short not to show deep emotions. Why hide them? It was the cheapest gift anyone could give someone. Rhage walked over to me, climbed up my pants leg, and landed in my lap. I petted this little creature that would take away some of the very valuable doting that I usually got from Beth. I would have to learn to share, especially if we were to ever have a baby together.

I listened to my wife play while the snow fell harder outside. I didn’t think I had ever been happier in my life than I was at this very moment.



Chapter 40 – Beth

New Year’s Eve



“Let’s get you ready!” Phoebe said to me with a gleam in her eye. We were at Phoebe’s house getting ready for the New Year’s Eve party that I was throwing at our house. Yup, I was throwing a party. But a small party.

The guest list included: Roman, me, Phoebe, Dennis, Eve, Seth, Berg and some model chick, Jensen and some model chick, and Paul and some model chick.

I told Roman he could invite all the members of Phantom to the party. I really didn’t think any of them would show but they had all RSVP’d. The keyboardist, Tommy, couldn’t come because he had a “real” party to go to. Good! One less model at my house, damn it. I was already regretting this party, and it hadn’t happened yet.

Which was why I was at Phoebe’s house. Eve, Phoebe, and I were getting ready like twenty-two year olds going out to a club tonight. I expressed my insecurities with my girls, but not my guy. Why? I heard on Oprah that women shouldn’t point out their flaws to people because sometimes people don’t look at them as flaws as much as women do. So I couldn’t say, “Honey, I don’t want all the models to come to my house because they are beautiful and I am pretty and they are thin and I am…well, point made.”