Chapter 18
She sat in her seat, her fingers laced with his and her heart racing. It had only been a week since Dominique had ‘escaped’ her nightmare and this was her first time leaving her ‘safe’ place but she had her ‘Prince’ to protect her.
Richie looked at her. “Are you okay, ‘Princess’?”
“No! I feel like I’m going to be sick,” she whispered.
“Are you sure you want to go?” questioned Richie with concern.
Putting her head on his shoulder, she squeezed his hand. “I want to be with you but yeah, I’m scared.”
“Relax, Dominique. Your dad said you’re safe…that Santadio can’t hurt you. Besides, we’ve got security to protect you too.”
“Is security going to protect me from Jon?”
“You don’t need protection from him, Dominique. The guys are going to love you.”
“Isn’t Jon going to be pissed that I’ve taken you from him?”
“Not at you.”
“What about my past?”
“They don’t need to know. I haven’t told them anything about you, ‘Princess’, so you have a fresh start with them.”
“Didn’t they see me dancing?”
“Baby, we were in Miami on Valentine’s Day. They had their girlfriends and wives there with them and I was alone. Relax.”
“Do me a favor?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Don’t introduce me as a Santadio.”
“You’ve NEVER been a Santadio. There may have been a slip of paper saying you were and you may have been his wife in his mind, but that’s it. Until you say ‘I Do’ to me, you will be a Corinthos.”
Dominique looked up. “Your wife?”
“Yes! We DID talk about having children. Can’t have them without getting married. The church isn’t a fan of unwed mothers.” Richie knew they’d talked about this before and that the drugs were taking their toll on her memory. He heard her sigh contentedly as she put her head on his shoulder again. “Besides, I’ve got one more dream to make come true for my number one fan.”
The jet began its final approach but Dominique was over her nerves. Richie was good for her. She just hoped he truly meant it when he said he was in it for the long-haul.
When the jet came to a complete stop, the couple stood but Richie turned to face her putting his hands on her face and looking into her eyes. “Dominique, I love you and when you begin to doubt it, I’ll tell you again…as many times and in as many ways as you need.”
“You are so good to me.”
“Because you deserve it. Stay close to me when we get to the stadium. If you get separated from me, just find William.”
“Will it be that bad?”
“At the hotel and stadium, yes.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”
“I’ll be right beside you, ‘Princess’, holding your hand tight,” he promised as he placed a soft kiss on her lips.
The couple exited the jet to find William waiting with a car. He was completely surprised to see Dominique with Richie but he greeted her happily.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Dominique hadn’t missed the look. “You weren’t expecting me, were you?”
“No, but I’m glad to see you. How are you doing?”
“Better than the last time I saw you.”
Richie handed his guitar to the driver who put it in the trunk. “Where are the guys?”
“They’re meeting us at the stadium,” answered William as he opened the door for Dominique. When she was inside, he closed the door and eyed Richie. Quietly, he asked, “Was it really smart to bring her along?”
“I wanted her with me.”
“But is it SAFE?”
“Her dad gave the okay. How pissed is Jon?”
“Extremely.”
“I’ll handle him. What are the crowds like?”
“Crazy! It took us an hour to make a ten minute trip and five minutes to get from the cars into the stadium,” said William as they got into the car.
Dominique heard him and a look of terror filled her eyes. “Richie?!”
“Relax, Dominique. William will get us into the stadium without any problem,” reassured Richie but he was worried too. Dominique really didn’t need the added stress.
William looked as his boss and could read his thoughts. “I’ve got you covered. The car is going into the garage area so you won’t have to get out in the crowd.”
“Thank you,” breathed Dominique with relief.
Richie wrapped his arm around her protectively and she put her head on his shoulder. He turned to her to place a soft kiss on the top of her head. “I’m sorry, ‘Princess’. I really didn’t think it would be that bad.”
Playing with his shirt, she said, “It’s okay. It’s part of your world and I want to be a part of it too.”
“I could have and should have waited a little longer.”
“I didn’t want to say good-bye, Richie.” Dominique closed her eyes as she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She’d gone the entire time Richie had been with her without taking the medicine Noah had been giving her for the withdrawal. Most of the time, she was okay because she had stayed busy showing Richie everything she loved about the island – which was pretty much all of it. Being in his arms helped too but the stress of having to face the rest of the guys and the crowd situation was getting to her.
Softly, Richie said, “You can go straight to my dressing room if you want to and hide there until the show.”
Dominique shook her head, “No, I want to know EVERYTHING about you so when we can’t be together, I’ll still know what you’re going through.”
Richie smirked, “EVERYTHING?”
Dominique heard the innuendo in his voice and looked up with a smile. “Well, not the other guys, but you….yes….EVERYTHING!”
“In time, beautiful, in time.” He leaned to her and whispered, “When YOU’RE ready.”
Dominique let out a sigh as she put her head back on his shoulder.
The trip to the stadium was quick but as soon as they got within sight, fans realized it was Richie and tried to get to him. The driver had to slow to a crawl as girls pressed themselves against the car. It didn’t matter that there was a barricade they were supposed to be behind or that local police were trying to keep them back. They wanted a glimpse of one of their favorites.
Richie waved to them but he kept his arm tight around Dominique. He recognized a couple of the girls and pointed them out to her. “They were at the Miami show and all the other Florida shows.”
“WOW! How do they afford the tickets AND traveling?”
Richie shrugged his shoulders, “Don’t know. I do know that a lot of times, there are tickets given away on radio stations and we always find fans camping out in the lobby of our hotels….no matter how quiet we keep it.”
“Don’t they get in trouble?”
“Sometimes but we always speak up for them.”
“This is crazy, Richie. Doesn’t it bother you?”
“Sometimes but then I remember that if they didn’t do this, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
“True.”
Dominique grew quiet watching the fans. How would they feel about Richie being ‘taken’? He was the only one without a girlfriend or wife. And how would they react to her being with him, especially if her past got out?
It took the driver fifteen minutes to get into the garage area of the stadium where Richie helped her out of the car.
“William, would you put my guitar with my equipment?”
“Sure. See you later,” answered the head of security as he grabbed the guitar.
Richie laced his fingers with Dominique’s and stood facing her. “Ready to meet the others?”
“What if I said ‘no’?”
“Then I’d take you to my dressing room and let you stay there.”
Dominique looked up into his eyes to see the promise he’d made that first night, to protect her. “My ‘Prince Charming’ riding in to save the damsel in distress. I’m ready to meet your friends, Richie. I want to be a part of your life and that includes Jon, Tico, David, and Alec.”
“Let’s go then. You can watch us do sound checks.”
Hand in hand, the couple made their way through the back-stage area of the stadium towards the stage. They stopped to talk to the key crew members and Richie introduced her to them.
Reaching the stage, the guys were in various stages of getting ready to do soundchecks when Richie called out, “Hey guys!”
Jon spun around; anger etched in every line of his face, ready to chew Richie out but stopped seeing that he wasn’t alone. “So, is this the reason you’ve been disappearing?” he asked, the irritation with his guitarist plan in his voice.
“Yeah. Jon, I’d like you to meet Dominique Corinthos. Dominique, this is Jon.”
Completely blown away by her eyes, Jon reached out to take her hand, “Nice to meet you, Dominique.”
“Please, call me Nikki. It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.”
The other guys wandered up and Richie introduced them to her.
“So, are you the reason Richie has been such a space case since Miami?” asked Tico.
Dominique grinned. “A space case?”
“Yeah, he’s missed notes and screwed up songs that he could do in his sleep,” teased David.
“Really?!” she smirked.
Blushing, Richie said, “Yes, she’s the reason.”
“So where have you been hiding yourself? Richie usually likes to flaunt the beautiful women,” said Alec.
“She’s been on her dad’s island in the Caribbean,” explained Richie. “Her dad wants all of us to join him there after this show.”
They looked at each other knowing that Jon was steaming about Richie being gone so much as Jon spoke up, “We have work to do, Richie, and your being gone so much has put us behind.”
“He’s
got a music studio with state of the art equipment that is ours whenever we need
it.”
Jon shrugged, “Sounds good. Let’s do sound checks and we’ll talk more about it
later. Nikki, are you going to watch?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I thought she could sit with Gary, off with my guitars.”
“That’s fine. You also need to get her an ‘All Access’ pass so she can move about freely,” conceded Jon.
“Come on, ‘Princess’. I’ll show you where you can sit,” prompted Richie as he led her towards his area of the stage.
When the couple was out of ear-shot, Dave said, “She’s definitely his type…GORGEOUS! And those eyes….damn!”
Jon frowned, “She’s connected.”
“What do you mean?” asked Alec.
“Her father is Sonny Corinthos, a known mob boss in upstate New York.”
“So? Are you worried that it’ll cause problems?” asked Tico.
“She’s already caused problems. We’re behind on the new material. Let’s get this rehearsal done so we aren’t behind starting the show.”
