The Last Great Seduction

Chapter One

"Ju hurry up! We're going to be late, sweetie!" I yelled from the bottom of the staircase. I was growing impatient with this little boy acting like the world was going to wait for him to look good in the mirror.

"One second, ma!"

He said that ten minutes ago. We would be attending the Grammy's tonight, and I was set to perform. Like always, I was a nervous wreck, but knowing that my baby would be in the audience helped a bit with that. He ran down the stairs of our rented villa wearing the black tuxedo that Shawn had helped him pick out. I was more than satisfied with their relationship. Shawn had managed to keep in contact with Julian, making him a priority in his life.

"Why he can't be like normal kids and stay at home?" Milena asked coming from upstairs. She had been staying with me ever since I left the Caribbean. I told you guys I would be there for my sister. She gave birth to a beautiful boy that she named Daniel.

"Because," I started, "my baby isn't normal. You just want somebody here with Daniel."

"Well, it's not fair that Julian gets to go and Daniel doesn't." I rolled my eyes at her comment. She did this nearly every award show. We always had to argue about why Julian was able to go and her and Daniel had to stay at home. She acted as if these award shows just passed out tickets just to do it. I always brought two people with me when I went to these shows – my man and my child.

"She a hater, mama," Julian said as he fixed his tuxedo. I laughed as I followed my child out the door. I couldn't even defend Milena, because she was being a hater right now. We went out to our SUV, where Julius opened the door for the both of us.

Julius was the bodyguard that Shawn helped me pick out four years ago. Once Dangerously in Love dropped and I somehow got bigger than life, he felt as though I needed a bodyguard. He offered me his bodyguard, Tom, but I refused. Julius was interviewed and got the job immediately. Because he was with me literally everywhere, we began getting close. I mean, I couldn't just be around the man and not talk to him. Three years ago, I found myself in a relationship with Julius and we've been together since.

The speculation is in the media, but I never confirm or deny the rumor. I don't address it, because that is none of their business. When he's out and about, he's on bodyguard duty, not boyfriend duty. Is it hard to separate the two? Yes. But, it's not that hard. His job is to protect me, and I would think that a boyfriend would want to do the same.

He drove us to the venue, where I had been texting Shawn the entire ride. "Shawn is going to meet us on the carpet," I commented as we pulled up to the red carpet. Julius nodded his head, acknowledging that he had heard me. There wasn't really a carpet event that had passed that Shawn and I didn't take a picture. In the media, we were known for being best friends, and that was true. Shawn had grown on me. He had helped me in so many ways to become the woman that I was today.

"You ready to pose for your internet girlfriends?" I asked Julian before we got out of the SUV. He began dusting off his tuxedo and winked at me. Julius opened my door, and I opened the back door for my son. Hand in hand with my baby, we walked the red carpet. When it came to red carpets, Julian and I took pictures, and then we did separate ones. I didn't like doing interviews, so I generally didn't. While taking pictures, my eyes gravitated down the carpet to see Shawn posing with his girlfriend, Rihanna. A smile formed on my face, looking at the happy couple.

Shawn looked at me and extended his arm out for me to share a picture with the couple. Shawn and Rihanna had been dating for about four years now. He met her when he was still in the Caribbean finishing up his album. She was vacationing with her entire family, and after finding out that she lived in New York with us, they grew closer. Rihanna and I didn't have beef with one another. I was actually very fond of their relationship. From the way that it looked, she was the one that got Shawn out of his element. She was a bit of a free spirit. She did things to shock the world, and I didn't mind it.