Chapter 16

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“Why are you stopping?” Rich said, trying to stall as he saw the elevator door quickly shut with Dorothea on it.

“That looked just like Dorothea,” Jon said.

“Well, we did figure out she is in Italy bro,” Rich said. “Maybe she is staying here.”  Jon watched impatiently as the elevator went up and the lit up numbers paused on Richie’s floor and the elevator started its descent back to the first floor.

“Maybe,” Jon said thoughtfully. “She got off on your floor. The elevator only made one stop.”

“I’ll be sure to say hello if I run into her bro,” Richie said as they got on the elevator.

“But it’s odd,” Jon said. “If she’s staying in the hotel, why doesn’t she want see us?”

“Jon,” Richie said, “She’s trying to have a vacation with her new man. Don’t you think she wants a little privacy with her new man instead of having her ex husband hanging around them? Let alone the fact that the poor schmuck probably thinks he has to better than you. It’s probably not easy for an average guy to live up to dating the rockstar’s recent ex wife. Let her have a little privacy Kidd.”

“You’re right,” Jon said as the elevator stopped at Richie’s floor. “I hate it when you’re right. Have a great night bro.”

“You too, Kidd,” Richie said stepping off the elevator and breathing a sigh of relief. Hopefully by the time Steph was finished with her little surprise, he’d forget all about the fact that Dorothea was in Italy.

Richie entered his room, to where Dorothea was waiting for him.

“What were you thinking?” Richie said. “Jon thought he saw you.”

“Let him,” Dorothea said. “Babe, I’m so tired of hiding our relationship.”

“Let the ink dry on the divorce papers sweetie.  This needs to be done just right.”

“I know Jon. I was married to him for twenty years. There’s no way that any way we do this will end without him blowing a major gasket.”

“And I know Jon too,” Richie said. “But if done here while he’s in the middle of touring, he’ll blow a gasket and make all of our lives miserable for the next six weeks. At least if we wait until we’re back in the states and done touring, it will give him some time to cool off. And hopefully Steph will have a great calming effect on him.”

“I guess you’re right. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not staying more than a couple of weeks.” She walked up to him and snaked her arms around his waist. “Can I come to LA with you when he finds out all of this?”

“Baby, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I’ve talked with Heather, and she’s ok with this. I’m going to move back to Jersey soon.”

“But what about Ava? And where will you live in Jersey? I love you, but do you really want to live in the Red Bank house?”

“No silly woman,” Richie said kissing her forehead. “I’d buy my own house. If eventually, you want to live me and leave the Red Bank house, that would be great. As far as Ava goes, I’ll fly out to visit her plenty, and Heather said I can have her for school vacations, including summers when we’re not touring. Wait a minute. When you asked if I would really want to live in the Red Bank house, did you mean you’d like to live with me?” He grinned.

“It would be nice,” she said, “And you buying your own place would make it a place where we could build our own memories, instead of you having to live in the house that I lived in with Jon.”

“I think we need to get through the rest of this tour first and tell Jon before we make our living arrangements. He can only handle being pissed off by one thing at a time.”

Dorothea laughed. “If we told him about us and that we were going to be living together all at once, he’d probably have a mini coronary.”

“It won’t be that bad,” Richie said. “He’s got Steph, and she is a great at making him see the good in situations.”

“And what good would that be Mr. Sambora?” Dorothea said smiling up at him.

“Like how happy we make each other,” Richie leaned into kiss her.  “And if it weren’t for us finding happiness, then he would’ve still been stuck in the loveless marriage with you. And Steph may not have finally admitted to wanting to be with him.”

“All very good points,” Dorothea said. “But it will take a Jon a long time and a lot of anger to see that. He’s the most stubborn man I know.”

“Did you come here to talk about how Jon is going to react or to be with me?” Richie said, taking her into a kiss that left her a little breathless.

“Both,” Dorothea admitted. She was a strong, independent woman and this was going to be hard on him eventually, and she wanted to make him realize how hard it would be on him.

“I know he’s going to be pissed, but I love you Dot, and you’re here now, so let’s not waste anytime.”

There was no point in arguing with him. Truth be told, she did come here to spend time with him, even though the circumstances were very sneaky. She let him lead her over to the bed.