Chapter 21

"Are you ok?" Edward asked as he drove them home. The whole way he held Francesca's hand, caressing it in the hopes that he could in some way help her feel better.

"This is what I wanted." Francesca said bravely, but deep down she felt her heart breaking into a thousand pieces.

"You don't have to pretend to be strong in front of me." Edward told her. "I know you are strong, but with me you can be fragile, you can cry, you can be hurt."

At Edward's words Francesca broke down and began to sob. They had just driven into the apartment complex's garage so Edward pulled her into his arms and comforted her.

"Edward, why?" Francesca asked.

"Why what?" Edward said with a laugh. "You need to complete your sentences Francesca."

"Why would you do this for me? My family is dangerous and are you sure you can afford to offend them?" Francesca asked.

"For you I can." Edward simply answered.

Francesca didn't know how long she cried in Edward's arms, once she had collected herself Edward walked her up to the apartment.

"Will you be alright?" Edward asked as they arrived at the door.

"I don't know, probably not. But I'm not weak, I can manage." Francesca said with a half meant smile.

She stared at Edward as he looked at her. Edward placed a hand on her cheek and smiled. She thought he would lean in to kiss her, but she was surprised when he simply smiled and dropped his hand.

"You have a long week ahead." Edward told her. "Your dance classes will start tomorrow then you'll start filming for the commercial."

"Oh right." Francesca said as she tried to hide her blush, she was embarrassed that she had expected Edward to kiss her. "Thank you again." Francesca said with a shy smile.

"I'll see you then, go in." Edward said with a nod as he opened the door for her.

The next day Francesca woke up early and wore something more casual for her dance lessons. She was glad that Edward had hired Ruth since Francesca didn't know the first thing about living on her own.

"Francesca!" Karen greeted her as she arrived.

"Hey Karen. So where will I be taking my lessons?" Francesca said with a smile as she entered the building.

As usual the women at the reception ignored them while fawning over some of the more established artists.

"Well you're in luck, Mr. Edward and Alvin managed to arrange a really good teacher for you!" Karen said excitedly.

"Who?" Francesca asked as they walked towards the elevator to the rehearsal rooms.

"Mr. Jakob. He's the choreographer for K2D. He agreed to teach you." Karen told Francesca as the elevator doors closed. "But you have to keep it a secret, it'll paint a bullseye on your back if people find out that Mr. Jakob agreed to teach you. Gabriella asked him last year and he refused. They'll probably say you slept with him to convince him."

"Don't worry I'll keep it a secret." Francesca said.

When they finally arrived Francesca was surprised to see the hallway deserted.

"Where is everyone?" Francesca asked.

"It's too early. Only K2D works at this hour." Karen explained as they walked down the hall. "I guess that's what sets them apart."

"Francesca!" Alvin waved as he spotted her and Karen approaching. He was waiting outside of K2D's rehearsal studio.

"Hi Alvin. Thank you for this." Francesca said with a smile.

"Anything for my artist!" Alvin said with a wink. "Now come, I'll introduce you to everyone."

"Everyone?" Francesca asked as she suddenly stopped walking.

"Yeah, Mr. Jakob only agreed to teach you if you came during his sessions with K2D." Alvin explained with a shrug.

"I can't. I'll only embarrass myself." Francesca said in a panic.

"Francesca, Mr. Edward and I put in so much effort to convince him. You have to." Alvin told her.

When she heard that Edward had placed a lot of effort in arranging the lessons for her, Francesca quickly decided to put her shame away and walk into the rehearsal studio.

"Good! Good!" A handsome well built man said as he clapped at the dancers.

Francesca assumed that this man was Mr. Jakob as the dancers he was training were the members of K2D, one of the hottest idol groups.

K2D had five members Ron, CJ, Jon, Jordan, and Rich. Rich was their leader, he was roughly twenty five years old and the eldest in the group, he had been a singer under Ver Industries when Edward approached him to create K2D when Edward first arrived in the company. He recruited several young talents he found on the street.

Ron was discovered when Rich was walking home one day and the young man was dancing for money, a crowd had gathered and Rich was impressed with his skills. At the time Ron looked like some rebel, but with some makeover magic he was quickly turned into the perfect idol that young girls swooned over.

CJ was the second one Rich found. He, like Francesca, was born into a rich family. Their difference was that CJ's family supported his dreams of entering the entertainment industry. He was singing in a school talent show, Rich happened to be there in support of a cousin. He quickly spoke to the young man and invited him to join K2D.

Jon was discovered in the oddest way, he had made a bet with a friend to run up to a random stranger and challenge him to a dance off. Ron and Rich were walking in the park at the time and bumped into Jon. The young man was shocked that the men he had just challenged could dance as well as him.

Jordan on the other hand came into K2D in the most traditional way, he was an aspiring artist at Ver Industries, and Rich had heard him singing one day. He was so impressed by the young talent that he had to recruit him.

When Rich presented the odd group to the managers of Ver Industries people laughed at him, in the end they got the shock of their life when they discovered that Edward Vernon himself, the son of the CEO would be their manager and that he had even helped build them.

K2D had gone through intensive training, they practiced everyday from sun up to sun down, Edward made sure that they were a well oiled machine before launching them. Edward even gave them an odd debut, choosing to make them go viral on the internet even before announcing that they were talents of Ver Industries.

It was this group and Gabriella Forest that kept Ver Industries as one of the top agencies despite their small size and despite the dominance of Lights Entertainment.

"Ooooohhhh fresh blood!" CJ said as he noticed Francesca arriving.