Encore! (Tudor Saga Book 1) (12 page)

Silence. "Which hand? Is he going to be all right?"

"He will be fine in a few months. Unfortunately, it was his left hand; but the doctor assured him he'd be playing again as soon as it's healed."

"Oh my." I heard her say, half to herself. "Do we need to come? Where exactly are you?"

"We're in Seattle," I replied. "Why don't you wait on making any plans until Daniel's out of surgery and I've had a chance to speak with the doctor. I imagine we'll have to stay here a couple of days before he can travel."

"You're right, of course. Daniel would think we're all being foolish if we were to hop a plane now and show up at his bedside."

"He’s already insisting it is no big deal."

"So stubborn, that one. You will call me the moment you have spoken to the doctor? I don't care what time it is. Please call us," She begged.

"I will, just as soon as I've had a chance to talk with the surgeon."

"It was good to finally talk with you, Mary, even under these circumstances. We'll be waiting for your call."

"Good night, then. I'll speak with you soon."

I turned to rejoin my family and Neil and wait for Daniel to come through surgery.

A couple of hours later, I was seated next to Daniel's hospital bed. He was awake, but groggy, sleeping in spurts. The damage was bad, but not as horrible as the surgeon first speculated. Daniel would play again, just after a minor two to three month vacation. Secretly, I was looking forward to seeing him relax, as it was a rare occasion when he actually did.

His parents were called and updated. I told his mother I would call the next day or if anything changed. I assured her, again, that her son was going to be fine, but told her to call any time—going so far as to give her my cell number.

Family, including Neil, had been sent home for the night. I was exhausted and planned to spend the night right next to Daniel.

"You sure you don't want to go back to the hotel and sleep?" A very drug-groggy Daniel asked as I made myself comfortable in one of those strange chairs hospitals have that make out into a bed. Sort of. "I wouldn't blame you a bit if you did."

"No, I'm not going anywhere, tonight."

"Did Neil take care of everything?"

"Yes, he did. Got the wheels in motion anyway, for this leg and Europe. I also called your mother and let her know what was going on. I thought it was better than her finding out about it on the news or someone calling her with it. I hope you don't mind."

"Thank you, sweet. You're right; she would be quite upset if she found out through the media. How was she when you told her?"

"Concerned, but she is your mother. I told her I'd update her daily and if she had any questions or anything, to be sure to call. I also gave her my cell number."

"Good. I'll try and talk with her tomorrow, once I'm not so stupid sounding."

I chuckled remembering him just a few hours prior. "Yes, that would be best."

"Why? What did I say?"

"Nothing, nothing important. You were rambling in French and English so it was sort of hard to understand." I snorted, snuggling under the short blanket.

"Mary, what did I say? Obviously it wasn't too garbled from the way you're snorting over there."

"Daniel, it was nothing. You were full of drugs and talking silliness. And I'll have you know, I don't snort!"

"I want to hear, sweet."

"Oh all right. You said you loved me and asked me to marry you. Are you happy now? See I told you, you were out of it from the drugs."

"Well, I do love you; and I have thought about marriage. I never intended the subject to be brought up under the guise of drugs, however."

"There you go. And I know you love me, Daniel. Now try and sleep if you can."

****

After an extra day in the hospital, Daniel was released. Arrangements had been made for us to stay in Seattle for another day before starting the long journey back to London.

Peter offered his private jet for the journey. Plans were made for us to fly to New York and stay over one night before making the last leg over water.

Amadeus had remained silent. Probably a good thing, since I wanted nothing more than to throttle the living daylights out of him. If it hadn't been for his smart mouth, Daniel wouldn't be where he was. So, imagine my shock when I opened the door to our suite, on the night before we were to leave Seattle, to find Amadeus standing there.

"What do you want? Don't you think you've caused enough trouble?" I spat at him.

"I came to apologize to Daniel and you, Elizabeth. Don't make this harder than it already is for me."

"Well, if you're doing this merely to appease Mother, you might as well turn around and go back to where you came from, Amadeus."

He brushed past me and into the suite. I shut the door and followed him. He turned around to look at me.
What happened? Where was the one brother who had always been so fiercely protective of his twin sister?

"Look, Elizabeth, I admit it, my remark was uncalled for. I've simply been unable to wrap my head around the fact that all these years of worrying about you, wondering if you were okay, you were alive and well and living in London. Living right under our noses, I might add. What you did was selfish and right now I'm not hopping on the ‘let's welcome Elizabeth back with open arms’ bandwagon." He sat down in one of the chairs, brooding like he always knew how to do so well.

"Fine, I don't want you to. If it hadn't been for that photo, and the fact that someone recognized me, we wouldn't be having this conversation and Daniel's hand wouldn't be broken."

"And Elizabeth Tudor would be off living in her magical little world in London."

"Enough, Amadeus. Right now I don't have time for your pity party. Let me tell you this, though, and listen carefully to what I say. The reason I left was in part due to the fact that none of you thought I'd ever amount to anything. It was all about you boys and how great you were going to be. I was merely to be appeased. I would marry and any thoughts of a career would be a dream. Funny, though, I look at who you married and have to laugh, because Zara's the total opposite. She's a strong woman who has had a successful career. Well, hear me and hear me well, Amadeus fucking Tudor, I am just as good, if not better, at what I do than you. Now I don't want to hear any more on this subject right now."

I turned at the sound of the bedroom door opening and saw Daniel come through—his long hair hanging over his shoulders and his arm in a sling, close to his chest. He was clothed only in gym shorts and a t-shirt he'd insisted I help get over his head, and was barefoot.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, did we wake you?" I asked, throwing a dark glance at Amadeus.

"No, I couldn't lie there anymore." He noticed Amadeus and surprisingly acknowledged him as he joined us. "Amadeus." He nodded his head.

"Here, sit down in this chair and I'll get you something to drink." I walked to the refrigerator at the bar. I found a bottle of tomato juice and poured it into a glass. The room was awfully quiet.

"I won't stay long," Amadeus quietly began. "I didn't want you to leave town without seeing you and apologizing, Daniel. My remark about my sister was uncalled for and I'm sorry. It's obvious you love her very much for you to have taken a swing at me like that."

Daniel said nothing for a second, taking a long swallow of the juice. His eyes darted between Amadeus and me. "Yes, I do love her. More than you can fathom. Apology accepted, Amadeus." Raising the arm held in a sling slightly he added, "Next time, however, I'll make sure you're not standing up against a wall or hard surface."

"Hopefully there won't be a next time," I added. "Next time Amadeus will keep his mouth shut. He and Angus are known for their open mouth, insert foot way of conversing."

I heard a chuckle from my brother. I don't know if he was trying to avoid another bitter confrontation or merely agreeing with me. "She is right, Daniel. Angus and I do get wound up from time to time."

"I can relate. I was always the hot headed one in my family."

"Which I find hard to believe." I added, looking down at Daniel. He had that grin on his face.

Amadeus got up and shook Daniel's good hand. "I'm going to get out of y'all's way. Welcome to our crazy-ass family, Daniel."

"Daniel gingerly stood up under his own steam. "Thanks, Amadeus, and no hard feelings. They tell me I'll be good as new in a month or two."

Amadeus nodded, then came over and hugged me. "Keep in touch, sis. I mean it. Don't make me come hunt you down this time."

"She's not going anywhere unless it's with me," Daniel assured him.

"Okay, enough of the goopy sentiments. Think about what I said, Amadeus. Hopefully we'll all get to meet up under better circumstances, soon."

"We will. You didn't get to meet your namesake, sis, in the midst of all the chaos, or Logan." He winked at me, grinning as though he thought he had the last jab. Elizabeth was a toddler. Hard to imagine my brother running after one so small. Then there was Logan. There had to be an interesting story there. Logan was a love-child of Amadeus’ he supposedly knew nothing about. One who’s mother died and was now permanently part of his and Zara’s life.

"Amadeus," I called after him as he opened the door. He turned to look at me. "You're still an asshole, but I love you, anyway."

Shaking his head, laughing, he closed the door behind him, knowing I'd had the last word.

Daniel stared at the door and then looked at me, beckoning me to sit nearby. "How did he come to be named Amadeus?"

"I suppose it had something to do with the fact that my mother was a concert pianist and Mozart is her favorite composer. I'm not sure."

"Well, it suits him quite well."

"How's that?" I asked, taking the empty glass from his hand.

"He can be charming when he wants, but he has a dark side, like Mozart."

Chapter Nine

We settled into Daniel's place in London for his recuperation, but I quickly wished I'd pushed harder to go to Provence to visit his parents for a couple of weeks. The endless stream of people made me quite irritable.

Neil made it by a couple of times a week, bringing Daniel whatever he thought he needed and keeping him up to date on business. Likewise, John, from his management team, gave regular updates. There were others, too. I hadn't realized just how many different organizations and people it took to manage Daniel's career. Some dealt solely with his classical roots, while John Parker, and his mega management firm, Lunar Management and Media, dealt primarily with his brand, taking on everything from the tours to the advertising and television deals. Daniel, it seemed, was his own corporation.

He kindly opened his rehearsal area up for me to work out of, but it had been months since I'd taken on any new clients. But that didn't deter me. I had set out from the time his injury happened in Seattle to chronicle the entire journey.
You never know when it might come in handy for some future project.
Daniel humored me by allowing me to photograph him in ways I’m sure he'd prefer no one see him and would never have allowed others to photograph.

One evening, about three weeks into his recovery, I'd had my fill. I was tired of the circus, the hangers-on, and, of course, let's not forget the women. Oh yes, every woman who could gain entrance, it didn't matter whether with another man or boldly on her own, as long as she could get within five feet of Daniel, thought she had a shot at "assisting" in his recovery.

I was headed back into the apartment one afternoon from the studio; but as I neared the door, I noticed it seemed quieter than usual. Good, perhaps he finally had sense enough to clear everyone out. Then, just as I was shutting the metal door between the buildings, I heard a female voice.

"Excuse me, and you are?" A very feminine, very European voice asked.

I spun around to find a raven haired, rail thin model-type lounging where Daniel usually sat. I instantly recognized her as one of the women from Daniel's past.

"I could ask the same of you. I live here."

"I'm Gisele. And you must be Daniel's nurse?"

Gisele, of course you are. God forbid you have a more normal name.
I stood my ground trying to think how best to break it to her.

"Nurse? No, although I suppose I do fit into that category at times. I'm Mary, Daniel's significant other, lover, or however it's referred to now-a-days." I smugly replied.
Claws out. Meow!
"By the way, where is Daniel?"

"He had a call to take. He said he'd be back in a minute."

"Okay."
Now get up and leave. Don't make me throw you out or get ugly with you.

She wasn't budging. In fact, she sat back and appeared to be eyeing me up and down. "Tsk, tsk. Poor Daniel, he must be all work and no play if you're what he's had to resort to."

Okay, you want to play cat fight? Well I can meet you one for one bitch.
"Well, Gisele, I imagine without all those nips and tucks and Botox treatments you've obviously had, you'd send a man screaming in the opposite direction."

My comments were interrupted by the sound of a man's quiet snicker. Daniel. Standing in the shadows, watching as this all played out.

"Ah, sweet, I see you've met Gisele."

"Yes, she's a fascinating creature, Daniel." I didn't have to move an inch; Daniel walked slowly to me and stood—his good arm tightly around my waist. Gisele finally got the point and quickly made a hasty retreat.

I locked the door behind her and turned to Daniel. "We need to talk."

He cocked an eyebrow, his sable brown eyes intense as he lay on the sofa, which I secretly referred to as his throne because that was where he spread himself out when company came. "I can tell by your tone, you are not happy about something, sweet."

"Danny, this has got to stop."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"All these people. This non-stop parade of human-kind. It starts first thing in the morning and does not let up, unless you're taking a nap, until late at night."