Chapter 21: Brotherly Love

The blaring of horns outside startled them apart. “What the hell was that?” Richie asked, exasperated.

Julianna sighed. “It’s my brothers’ signal that they’re here. They always blow the horns when they come so I know they’re here. They’ve probably come to use the studio.”

Richie looked at Julianna longingly. “I suppose they just let themselves in, yes?”

“Yeah, and if they see you here with no truck in the driveway, they’re going to have questions. If we hurry, we can get into the house before they get in here.” They heard the door to the studio open. “If you don’t want a lot of questions, you better get out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Richie said. “I’m not starting this, whatever it is, by lying outright to your family. I’ll tell them that I’m staying up at the house. It’s the truth, and they don’t need to know the rest.”

“The rest of what?” Nicky asked as he entered the studio.

“It's a secret,” Richie answered with a smile. “Nice to see you again, Nicky.”

“Likewise, man. Hey, where’s your truck?”

The two men shook hands. “The truck is up at the house. I’m staying there for a while, while Julianna’s show is in progress. The studio up there is perfect, and it’s close enough to your sister’s place that I can review things with her without making countless trips to and from the city.”

Julianna interrupted. “Keep it under your hat, okay Nicky? If it gets out, the reputation that ‘J. Frances’ has for discretion will be shot.”

Nicky kissed his sister’s cheek. “I won’t tell anyone, but Sal and Gianni are on their way in; they’re gonna know, too.”

Richie nodded. “Not a problem, man. Julianna trusts you guys to do the right thing; that’s good enough for me.” He looked at Julianna. “Well, I did interrupt your workout for a reason. I have a question for you about the finale for the show. Give me a call later, and we’ll discuss it, alright?” As if it were as natural as breathing, he leaned in to kiss Julianna briefly on the lips. Nicky’s jaw dropped. Richie turned to extend his hand to the other man. “Good to see you again, man. Catch you later.” Richie left the studio, snagging his boots on the way.

Nicky looked at his sister. “What the hell was that all about?”

“What?” Julianna asked, puzzled.

“Richie Sambora just kissed you like it’s an everyday occurrence, and --” he broke off. “Holy shit, you aren’t, you know, dating him, are you?”

“Dating who?” Gianni asked, as he and Sal padded into the studio.

“You know, sis,” Sal said, “you should really consider letting us putting in a separate entrance for the upstairs studio, so we don’t have to take off our shoes. I feel like I’m in Nonna’s parlor or something.”

“Off topic, little brother,” Nicky said. “Gianni asked ‘dating who’. Dating Richie Sambora. He was just here, and he just kissed her, and little sister here acted like it was no big deal.”

Julianna looked at her brothers. “It is no big deal,” she said. “You know that’s how those artistic rock-star types are – they kiss everybody. Anyway,” she looked at each of them in turn. “It’s none of your business who I do or do not date, but I wouldn’t talk about it with you in any case.”

Sal smiled. “Methinks she dost protest too much.”

Julianna flapped a hand at him. “Whatever. Did you guys come here for some reason? Or did you come just to bust my ass?”

Gianni answered. “We wanna use your studio upstairs; we need to blow off some steam. Most people hate Mondays, for us it’s Tuesdays. We need to get the ick of today off of us.”

The three brothers worked for the restaurant, and Tuesday was meeting and ordering day. The three of them met with suppliers, advertisers, accountants, public relations, marketing, doing whatever had to be done. They hated the administrative side of the business – they were not suit-and-tie guys.

Julianna laughed. “Go on up. I’m going to go clean up and get dinner started. You guys staying?”

“Sure,” Nicky said. “Unless you have other plans?” He emphasized ‘plans’.

“Nope,” Julianna said, purposefully ignoring his tone. “No other plans. I’ve got lasagna ready to go and this way I won’t have leftovers. I’ll be back in a little while. Ciao!” She air kissed her brothers, and left.

“What do you make of that?” Nicky asked as soon as Julianna had gone.

“I think there’s more going on here than she’s saying,” Gianni said. “You saw them together last week, the chemistry was palpable. I think even Dad noticed.”

Sal said, “But Mama came over here Thursday, and didn’t come back all concerned.”

“That just means she approves of whatever is going on here,” Nicky answered. “Should her first foray back into the dating scene be with a rock star?”

Gianni shook his head at his brother. “Nick, it’s not for us to decide. Jules is a big girl, and she can see who she likes. Frankly, I’m just glad she’s interested in something other than her work. If nothing else, he’ll be a good distraction for her. He seems like a pretty regular guy, once you get past the rock star thing.”

Nicky wasn’t convinced. “If he hurts her, I swear, I’ll break both his hands.”

Sal put a hand on his older brother’s shoulder. “We’re with you on that, brother. Now, let’s go up and play before dinner. I’m dying here!” The three of them laughed, and went up to the studio.

It was close to midnight before her brothers finally left. As soon as she closed the door behind them, she was diving for her phone. Richie’s voicemail picked up. His velvety-smooth speaking voice sent a shiver through her. “Hey, it’s me, speak.” At the tone, she left a brief message. “Hey, it’s me. Julianna. Sorry I missed you. My brothers just left and, well, I thought I’d call to say goodnight. Goodnight, Richie. Sleep well.” After a moment, she hung up and went to bed.