Chapter 15

“Emmilia what is going on? Your mother is in a fit and going on about heathen guys in leather pants and whose bus is that?” He looked at his daughter and then at his niece and shook his head as he peered around them both to gawk at the two young men sitting on his veranda being served by his house staff. “Well.. they certainly are strange looking I’ll give you mother that but Emmilia? Gianna? Someone tell me what the heck is going on here?”

“Uncle Danny ? So good to see you , Oh these are our friends and Auntie Regina is being her well you know ? They’re really sweet honest , they want us to go with them for a few days or longer .  “Gia paused giving her uncle a chance to digest what she just said “ Please can we go? I - we really like them ? “ She gazed up at her uncle , her emerald eyes pleading with him

“Gianna your 21 years old, I cant tell you not to run off with a...” he paused, squinted his eyes thru the window and shook his head perplexed. “Is that man wearing pink animal print pants??”

Emmie stifled a snort “Uh, that’s Jon Dad, Jon Bon Jovi.” She paused for effect. “He has an um... unique sense of style.”

Gia joined in the laughter “See he needs me to help him for some fashion tips but “She leaned in a whispered voice to her uncle “He-they’re from Jersey and he’s Italian ‘

Daniel raised an eyebrow and really took a good look at Gia’s face. So that’s what was up. He glanced back out the window. Bon Jovi, wasn’t that a band? A popular one if he wasn’t mistaken. When would they have had the time to make friends with guys like these? He silently thought. Jamaica. It had to be. He looked at his daughter and wondered at her cool reserved expression. Sometimes she was more like her mother than she wanted to admit. “So, I think I know what’s going on with Gia here, She’s obviously been bitten by the love bug.” he teased. “ but who’s the other guy?” his eyes challenged his daughters.

Emmie shuffled her feet and tried to out stare he father but failed. Her eyes dropped to her toes and she mumbled “ That’s Richie.” a bit nervously.

Daniel bit back a smirk ‘Rchie huh , well whats about this Richie that wants my young daughter traipsing around the US? “ he asked already knowing the answer , and knew he couldn’t deny either girl anything within reason . Though if he did , he was in for a long confrontation with his lovely wife.

“Well I....” She paused unsure of how to explain herself. She wasnt about to tell her father: this is Richie we had a hot steamy affair out in Jamaica and now I wanna go running around on his tour bus boinkin his brains out. No that wouldn’t go over well at all. So she simply said, “ I like him, and he likes me and well he wants... we want to .. spend some time together.”

Daniel gazed intentionally at his daughter then shot a gaze out to the young man sitting at the table. “Do you mind if I meet your gentlemen friends first before I  say yes “ There was definitely more goin’ on than either girl would care to divulge but both girls were of age and he really didn’t have to give his consent for either girl to go but it was nice that they still respected him enough to ask. If it had been his wife neither girl would care and go .

Emmie looked at Gia and sighed, “Alright but.... be nice please?” she pleaded knowing full well her father would never be intentionally rude. She only hoped he didn't come off as intimidating as he was rumored to be in the press. Jon and RIchie had both had enough hostility from her family today.

“Now Emmie when am I not to be nice “ He said with a wink , letting the girls walk back outside , with him following right on their heels.

RIchie looked up and swallowed hard , Great this must be the father , he shot a nervous glance to Jon then immediately stood.

Jon groaned inwardly and stood up, the man looked so damn serious. His suit was impeccable his hair styled to perfection. He was a walking fucking GQ fashion plate. He looked down at his own clothes and swore to himself I’m never wearing these pants again.

“Good afternoon Gentleman, I’m Senator Caden, Welcome to my home.” He extended his hand to both men. “And please let me apologize for the welcome you received earlier, I’m afraid my wifes a bit sheltered and she doesn’t mix well with people who are a bit more... adventurous in life than she herself is.”

Richie shook his head, man had a confident grip   “No problem sir, I’m sure we were quite the shock “ He chuckled  Damn if I haven’t been this nervous since first show if front of over 10,000 people.

After shaking both men’s hands he said “Please sit...” he sat with them and poured himself a drink. “So.. Bon Jovi huh? THE Bon Jovi?” He looked at Jon.

Jon cleared his throat and spoke, he hoped confidently. “Yeah, the one and only.” Ok, so the guy knows of us... is that good or bad? Shit.

Daniel smirked “ No need to be nervous , sons , I promise no shotgun wedding from me unless you give me a reason too. “ He gazed at the two men whose faces blanched . “Do I ? “ he arched his eyebrow.

Gia piped in to the rescue “ Uncle Danny! You promised! “  She ran over to stand in front of the two men .

“What?” He looked at his niece innocently, “I’m just jokin’ They know I’m jokin don’t ya guys?” he grinned and patted Richie on the shoulder nodding when he finally laughed a little . “Or am I?” his expression went stern once more and they all went silent again.

He couldn't keep a straight face so long the second time and ended up snorting in laughter “Look relax guys ok? I just wanted to come out here and say hello, apologize and have a look at the guys who are kidnapping my girls from me. I only have two rules. One: No drugs. Ok I can't stop YOU from doing drugs but I get wind of either of my girls doing the stuff I’ll drag them back home by thier ponytails. And two: make em happy. whether your just a bunch of young kids playing the field  for the weekend or whatever I don’t care just make em happy ok? oh, ok, three rules, rule three is dont tell her mother I said ANY of this.”

“Yes, sir , can promise you no drugs for your girls , and yes we hope we can make them happy and three I can definitely promise not to tell Mrs Caden anything “ Richie answered eyes gazing truthfully into Daniel’s .

Once Gia knew they were safe , she backed away a few feet listening to her Uncle . She did really love him , he had been her substitute dad since she lost her parents .  After he finished his speech to the boys , she walked over to him , giving him a big hug “ Thank you Uncle Danny , thank you so much “ kissing him on the cheek.

He smiled and returned her hug “Yeah yeah,, Dont you girls have some packing to do?” he playfully shooed them off.”GO on now hurry before your mother catches wind of this diabolical scheme. Carla! Get my Cognac! I need to loosen these fellows up! They look like they’ve died, gone to hell and been sent back up 3 times over!”

Gia turned to Jon flashing him a smile , before running after Em , to go upstairs and pack leaving the men together have a glass or two or even three of  Cognac

Daniel sat down with the boys  “Relax , honest I won’t hurt you . -- But I do have one more thing to say with the girls not around “ He paused when Carla returned with the Cognac , poured three glasses of the auburn liquid then continued “ Have fun , make them happy but if you hurt them in anyway I can promise you I won’t be so nice “ His voice stern ,picked the glass , downed it , then replaced the glass on the  table “IF its just a casual thing for you , let them know now . MY girls -- well Em hasn’t much experience with boys and Gia plays it off that she has but deep down the girl just wants --to be appreciated “

Jon watched as Richie took a long time sipping his drink and wondered how to answer. The man really wasn’t that bad, not as far as fathers and family go. It had been so long since Jon had dealt with a woman who wasn’t following him on the road that he didn’t know how to react in this situation so he opted for honesty. “To be honest Senator, I’m not sure whats going on in my head, I just know I met Gia during my break and well...Yeah we parted ways thinking it was fun thanks and that was that but.... now I’m not so sure that was the right choice so... Thanks To Richie being smart enough to get Emmies Address... here we are.” He cringed a little knowing the truth sounded a bit harsh but it WAS the truth.

Daniel always appreciated honestly so he returned it as well “So if it was just a ‘fling’ as you put it , why are you here ? I don’t know if you noticed but those girls have more than a fling in there minds “ He poured another round for himself and the boys , picked up the glass , and took another swig. while waiting for their answer.


Jon shot Richie a dark look. Payback's are a bitch! Just sitting there calmly letting Jon take all the heat. Jon had to chuckle a bit as he answered “I don’t know, I guess I’m here to find out..... why I’m here.”

Richie bit back a chuckle , he hadn’t intended for Jon to take all the heat but, when he realized how it would have sounded if he had spoken up , the fact that Em wasn’t exactly legal when they had their tryst , he didn’t want to be picking out buckshot out of his ass.

Daniel glanced at the two  “ Well , thank you for being honest -- oh one more thing , you did use condoms didn’t you ? He asked with an arched eyebrow.

Richie definitely wasn’t gonna answer that one just simply stared into his glass , he had but to admit that would have put that buckshot in his ass.

Jon looked the man dead in the eye and said with just a hint of cockiness “You know anything about the rock n roll life Senator Caden?” When the Senator nodded affirmation Jon continued “then you gotta know, I may be stupidly brave sometimes, but I am NOT playing Russian roulette with the family jewels for nothing! An unplanned kid is the LEAST of your worries when your messin around these days.”

Daniel nodded , whether his wife would ever approve of these boys , he certainly did and though he didn’t want  to see his  girls hurt and prayed they didn’t these two seemed to come from good stock and for that he gave his approval.  “Well then nothin’ left to say then , Care for another round boys , have a feeling you’re gonna be around awhile, you know how long it takes girls to get ready and besides I need to tie one on before facing the wife after you leave “

A round of nervous laughter twine with the clink of glasses as the men settled back to wait.