Staccato (Magnum Opus #2) - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,112

said, like that was the best thing Nik could have told him.

“He is looking forward to meeting you. Well, Cedric especially,” Rémy cut in. “He’s been starving for new blood.”

Nik felt his cheeks flush but said nothing as the sever dropped off their salads. His fingers trailed around the plate before he picked up his fork, and he ate for a short while instead of trying to come up with a response. This should have been the most momentous day for him—his idols, his inspiration—knew who he was. The people he only thought about in his most secret career fantasies were now sitting at a table with him trying to convince him to pack up his things and commit to Rome.

Rome!

But all he could think about was what he was losing. One thing—one thing that someone else might have considered insignificant, but to him felt like the world.

“Rémy?” he asked after a beat. “You left your life behind for this, right?”

“I did,” Rémy answered. “Are you asking me if I had regrets?”

Nik chewed on his lower lip, then nodded. “Did you leave anyone behind?”

Rémy laughed. “Not as such, no. My dad was retired by then, and I was wasting away at this school I didn’t have passion for anymore.” He fell quiet a moment. “Did you know Cedric was my best friend when we were growing up?”

Nik hummed. “He was?”

“Before he was anything,” Rémy said with a smile in his voice, “before he was this world-wide phenomenon piano prodigy, he was this mouthy little twat sat at my dad’s piano, mimicking anything I could play. We spent every weekend together, planned our lives as pirates and adventurers. Then his dad whisked him off to the States, and I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.”

“And then I stormed into his life,” Alessio added, and as much as it hurt, it also made Nik smile.

“I didn’t know what the hell I was getting into when Alessio showed up with his offer to work with him. I didn’t know it would mean finding Cedric again or getting to sing in the bloody opera in Italy.” Rémy went quiet, and Nik had a feeling he was looking at his lover. “I just knew I wanted something more, and Alessio was offering that.”

It was everything Nik had been craving, but now, the price was so high. “I’m not asking because I have regrets. This town hasn’t been very kind to me over the years. I mostly grew up here, when we weren’t traveling for my dad’s work. I was the weird kid with no eyes who spent his weekends hanging out at the mall playing on some wanna-be Liberace grand piano. When I came back…” He trailed off with a sigh. “I thought I could be content with something small. I was teaching at the elementary school, and I had a handful of private students.”

“Will you be leaving them in a lurch?” The unfamiliar voice had to be Ben, and Nik shook his head.

“They weren’t on board with me being openly gay.”

At that, Alessio huffed something in Italian under his breath. “Better to leave then now, yes?”

“Don’t assume it’s that easy for him,” Ben retorted. “Not all of us have a clean slate to leave behind.”

“Caro mio,” Alessio murmured, but Nik heard a chair move, and then someone walking away.

“Let him go,” Rémy said quietly. “Sorry, Nik. Things have been a little weird here too for us. But we really want you to come back with us. If you can.”

He could. He could also stay here and use the money he got from his father to buy a small house and do his best to win Adam back. But Adam clearly didn’t want him. He’d blame himself, and the guilt would turn to resentment, and in the end, they’d both end up alone. So why fight it?

“I’m on board,” Nik told him.

“Those are the best words I’ve heard in a long time,” Alessio replied, and Nik only wished he could say the same.

The rest of the lunch finished quickly, and when Alessio offered to give Nik a ride home, he accepted. Ben was waiting out front, and in spite of the silence being awkward, Nik was left there as the couple went to fetch their car.

“Sorry I took off like that,” Ben said after a beat.

Nik startled a little, then shook his head. “It’s fine. I just…I hope you’re okay.”

Ben’s small laugh was strained. “I mean, it’s not fine. This isn’t professional of me,