Page 64 of Tommy
When classical music comes on,I finally grin. But I hide it from her as I walk to the elevator to get back to work.
Or what little work I plan to do, knowing full well I have cameras in here and will be staring at her the entire time.
We both missed lunch. Her due to dancing and me because I got pulled onto a conference call to figure out how we can help Milly and the Hounds find their missing person. Not a lot to go on, but we set up another time to call once we get some information from a few contacts Vinny has.
It’s almost past dinnertime for most people, which is not how I would describe eitherof us.
My phone rings, and I answer it before seeing who it is.
“Yes?”
“Problem at the club.”
I close my eyes at Dante’s words and breathe deeply. Not what I wanted to hear. I was planning on giving myself a reward tonight. The kind where I take the night off with Payton and show her how to enjoy her free time. Not that I was thinking it would go likethat, but if it did, I wasn’t about to say no. Instead, I was planning on Chinese takeout in front of a movie or something. Just basic shit, but it would keep her close and satisfy one of my instincts that keeps screaming at me lately.
The one that says I need to take care of Payton, and that feeding her and keeping her clothed and warm is something I should focus most of my attention on.
“Right, be there soon.” I hang up and go to the elevator. If Dante says it’s a problem, that means it’s something he can’t deal with on his own, which doesn’t happen often. And I don’t have time to question it if I want to fix it and be back soon.
Taking out my phone, I pull up some of my favorite restaurants and decide that if I can’t be here to watch her eat, then I plan to make sure she has more than enough. I order a wide selection of food and then text the guy I have watching the place to bring it up once it’s here.
After what happened with Carl in my club, I’m not taking anything for granted. I put a detail on Payton, even when she’s in my home. Something that will be tripled now that I’m leaving her alone.
As soon as I exit the elevator, my eyes track her movements in the glass box. She’s magnificent. And she has no clue I’m here.
I watch from a distance at first but then notice her eyes close as she moves. She’s going off memory, not even needing to see the space to know it.
With a stealthiness that Danny taught me years before, I open the door and step inside, pressing into the corner to bring minimal attention to myself. She doesn’t even flinch as she continues to spin. The music is loud, blocking out almost all my thoughts except for how beautiful she is when she dances. It’s classical, perhaps even a popular tune, as I swear I’ve heard it before at some ballet I went to with Mama, but I can’t name it. Even if I could, it wouldn’t distract me from the elegance of just her.
She pulls more than the eyes. She dances with her soul, and it calls out to those near who possess one. Surprisingly, I have one left, despite trying to sell it to keep myself alive in Russia. And it’s screaming at me to reach for her. To embrace her.
And never let go.
Chapter 24—Payton
Ijump a foot when the music stops and the clapping begins. It’s then that I realize I closed my eyes again. I did it often when I danced. Something my teachers hated, but I couldn’t help it. I could concentrate better with my eyes closed, blocking everything out and surrendering to the music and the flow of movement with each step.
Keeping my eyes open, I saw the crowds. Or the other dancers judging me. Or that I was in Tommy’s place and that everything has changed and led me to be here.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
I push my hair behind my ear and smile at him as I walk to the stereo and turn it off. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have had my eyes closed.”
“That a routine you made up or one you knew?”
“Both. It was a piece I created that was meant to be used in a showcase.”
“Was?” He takes a step toward me as I pull the mats off the wall he put them on and try to set them back in place. I struggle with it, as they’re pretty heavy, not that he made it look like that. “Let me. They’re heavier than they look.”
I move out of the way as he takes over easily. “I left school before I was ever given a chance.”
He works quickly and silently, and when he moves to the door, I follow him out and to the elevator.
“I have to go to the club. I ordered some food to be sent over. Eat what you want, no worries on what you don’t like.”
“You make it sound like you ordered food for a small army,” I murmur as I glance up at him from under my eyelashes. Heat spreads up my neck at his sheepish grin as he nods.
“I might have. But don’t worry, I’ll eat whatever you don’t once I get back. Whenever that is.”
