Chapter 54
Nick dropped Fiona off at the club, giving her a kiss and promising to be back to pick her up long before the club closed down for the night.
"Here’s my cell phone number if you need to reach me," he said as she got out of the car. "Don’t flirt with too many guys tonight or I MIGHT get jealous."
Fiona laughed, waving him away as she saw John approaching.
"Was that Nick?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah" Fiona giggled.
"I"m lost. I thought you left with Kevin the other night."
"I did, but then I met Nick and now we are dating. I think..."
John laughed and rolled his eyes. "I can’t keep up with my brother and his bandmates. I guess it’s better that way."
"Hey John – what are you gonna do about a live act now that Kris and ‘D’ are back together?" Fiona asked as she put her things behind the bar.
"Funny you should mention that, because Kristina just informed me that she’s gonna continue to sing here."
"Really?" Fiona asked, surprised by the news. "What did Howie have to say about it?"
"Yeah, she said that she’s going to be back Saturday night but Howie doesn’t seem too happy about it."
"Uh oh!" Fiona groaned.
"I know" John said laughing. "My brother is not going to give up that easy on trying to talk her out of it."
"Kris is hard headed though, John. She loves Howie but she’s not going to back down from this either if it is what she wants."
"Sounds like things are going to be interesting over the next couple of days" John said cocking an eyebrow towards Fiona.
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Thirty minutes later the club opened and the DJ got cranked up, the dance music filling the air as the club soon filled to capacity.
Fiona had been so busy that she didn’t realize that Nick had entered the club and was now upstairs talking to John.
"So, how do you feel about my brother’s girlfriend?" John asked casually.
Nick grinned from ear to ear. "Kristina? She’s great! I’m really happy for them, ‘D’ really loves her."
"Yeah, I know. His face lights up when he’s with her. He even took her to Mami’s tonight to meet the family."
Nick started laughing. "Dude, I give it six months and those two will be married. They can’t keep their hands off of each other."
"You think?" John asked as he tried to decide if Nick knew about Howie’s plans or if he was just making a statement based on a gut feeling.
"Oh yeah!" Nick shouted.
A sudden knock at the door caused Nick to turn around in his chair as John stood and called out.
"Come in."
Fiona opened the door slowly, peeking around it until she saw that Nick was sitting there.
"I didn’t know you were back," she said as she made her way over to him and kissed him lightly.
John watched the two of them, laughing at how they ‘ogled’ each other. "What’s up, Fi?"
Snapping back to the moment, her face became serious as she stared at John. "There’s some guy downstairs asking for the owner. He’s been there for like twenty minutes demanding to talk to someone."
"Who is he?" John asked.
"I don’t know but something about him creeps me out and he’s rude" Fiona said sourly.
Nick stood, a disgruntled look washing over him as he turned toward Fiona. "Did he get out of line with you?"
Fiona shook her head and kissed Nick’s cheek as she started out the door. "Do you want me to get security?" she asked.
"No. I’ll handle it. Thanks" John said turning to Nick. "I’ll be back in a few minutes."
Nick followed behind him. "I’m coming with you, dude. I’ve got a bad feeling about this."
John and Nick found themselves about ten steps behind Fiona as she went over to the guy she was talking about and said something to him. He nodded his head and straightened his posture, looking directly at John and Nick.
As they got closer, both men realized that this man was seriously angry about something, his jaw set and locked, his eyes full of fury. He was tall, his dark hair cut short, his face chiseled and handsome. He was dressed in black jeans, boots and a black dresshirt. The thought crossed Nick’s mind that despite his obvious dissatisfaction over something, the man was handsome enough to be a male model.
John walked over to the man and extended his hand politely as he asked, "May I help you with something, Mr..." but the man ignored his request for a name and refused his hand.
"Are you Howie Dorough?" the man snapped.
Nick stepped closer to John, ready for anything as the man stared at him angrily.
"No. Is there something wrong?" John asked once again.
The man looked up towards the VIP area of the club and said, "Is he up there?"
Becoming frustrated, John said, "Look. He is out of town on business right now. I’m his brother. If you will just tell me what the problem is, I’ll do my best to fix it."
"Is he expecting you?" Nick asked wanting to know why this guy was so angry with his friend. The man smiled for the first time since Nick and John had approached him and the smile was ominous, a newfound twinkle in his cold dark eyes.
"Just tell him that I will be back to discuss what he took from me and to collect penance," the man said as he turned and walked out the front door of the club, leaving John and Nick confused and worried.
"What the hell was that all about?" Nick asked.
John stood silent for a moment, his mind trying to rationalize what had just been said. Then, the thought hit him and his blood ran cold, his face losing all of its color. "Oh shit, Nick. I think we just met Stephen, Kristina’s ex-boyfriend."
Nick shuddered at the thought. "We better call ‘D’ and warn him. And someone needs to call the police as well. We need to take a look at some mug shots or something."