Stand: A Bleeding Stars Stand-Alone Novel

by A. L. Jackson

  “Let’s do it,” Zee said.

  Ash reached out and squeezed his shoulder. A statement passed through his eyes. Something that looked like encouragement. Maybe approval.

  Still, Ash’s expression brimmed with all the same questions I needed answered as well. It passed just as quickly, and the three of us were racing down the dank, dark halls.

  We headed in the opposite direction of the one Zee and I had originally taken. It looped around to the other side where there were a handful of dressing rooms and a big room to the back with a bar and sofas.

  The noise level grew, and we increased our pace. Heading down another hall, we broke into an open area where the crew was bustling around, and a bunch of people were gathered at the side of the stage.

  The emotion that had almost exploded back in that room softened when I saw who was waiting in the wings—Tamar, Shea, and Edie.

  Only Willow was missing from this group of women who’d somehow so quickly become important to me.

  Zee led me right up to them as if that was exactly where I belonged.

  Tamar saw me first. Her striking face twisted into a wry grin, eyes wide with suggestion.

  “Well, look who we have here.” Her grin grew as it landed on Zee. “If I wasn’t so proud of you, I’d tell you that you’re grounded for the rest of your life, going around and causing this kind of trouble. The audacity.”

  It was pure affection.

  Zee pointed at her. “I don’t have time to tell you to watch yourself…so take care of my girl, will you?”

  He dipped down and pecked me on the lips.

  Twice.

  So sweet.

  God.

  “Gladly,” Shea said, catching on while Zee walked backward, keeping his gaze on me, before he quickly spun around and joined the circle where the band was huddled.

  They all took to the stage, Sebastian included. There for the encore, a mandatory piece of this momentous farewell.

  Everything went wild. The screams and the cheers and the crushing wave of energy.

  Because these bad, bad boys meant something to these people.

  They had created something no one else could. Had a chemistry that could only be found in their bond. This mixed up, mismatched family.

  My lips parted in awe.

  Because this…this was beauty.

  It was belief.

  It was love.

  Shea slipped her fingers through mine. Gently, she squeezed. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

  I squeezed back, my voice a whisper as my gaze locked on these brilliant boys. “I really am, too.”

  Zee drove us back to my house. He parked in the driveway, and everything went still when he clicked open his door and came around to my side.

  He helped me out and then into the welcoming darkness of my tiny house, down the short hall, and into my room. The only illumination was the small bedside lamp he clicked on that radiated a dull, dim light.

  He glanced back at me, gently tugging me into the attached bathroom where he turned on the shower, slowly undressed me as the room filled with steam, my movements even slower when I helped him from his.

  Savoring.

  Relishing.

  We stepped under the warm spray, our bodies bare, and I swore I thought maybe it was that moment when our spirits were freed.

  His kiss was slow and tender as he washed my hair, his touch even gentler as he lathered a washcloth and carefully ran it over my body.

  Something about it felt…cleansing.

  As if we were leaving old promises behind and stepping into new truths.

  Our truths.

  We rinsed, and I could feel the moment slow as he turned off the shower and reached out to grab a towel.

  He ran it over every inch of me.

  In praise.

  In adoration as he knelt at my feet.

  I clung to him by the shoulders. “Zee.”

  “Alexis.” It floated over me like a song. He straightened, swept me into his big arms, and carried me to my bed where he slowly crawled over me.

  He threaded his fingers through mine and held me close as he nudged my legs wider and pressed into my body.

  Every movement felt in opposition to earlier when we’d both been undone.

  That was a plea.

  This was a promise.

  He looked down on me while the world spun around us. Shifting and changing and binding.

  “Fall with me,” I whispered.

  He leaned down, lips just brushing mine, and Zachary Kennedy murmured his truth.

  “I already jumped.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Alexis

  I jerked up in bed, disoriented, blurry eyed as I squinted and tried to make sense of what’d pulled me from the most perfect kind of sleep.

  Zee was in the middle of my bed, spread out, face down, naked.

  So insanely sexy.

  Totally out and completely at peace.

  I bit my lip, overcome by the well of emotion rushing to the surface at seeing him next to me.

  I tore my attention from him when I was prodded again by the sound I realized had pulled me from sleep—my doorbell ringing again and again.

  Quickly, I eased off the side of the bed, grabbed a robe, and slipped it on. Tying the belt into a slipknot, I padded across the hardwood floors and clicked the bedroom door shut behind me so Zee could remain asleep.

  Once in the hall, I hurried to the door and popped up on my toes to see through the peephole.

  Shock stumbled me back two steps.

  Then I shot into action, working the lock and ripping open the door.

  “Avril, what are you doing here?”

  She wasn’t even supposed to know where I lived. But still I was surging forward and wrapping her in my arms. Hugging her tight.

  She hugged me back before she unwound herself and put a few inches between us. Her face was pale, body too thin, clearly anxious. “I needed to talk to you.”

  I shook my head. “Why didn’t you call? How did you even know where I live?”

  This was the one privacy I’d asked of her. My sanctuary away from the ugly realities of the rest of the world. My safe haven.

  “I’m sorry…I went to the library and used a computer to find your address. I needed to talk to you. In person.” Anxiously, she peeked over her shoulder. “By myself.”

  “Why?”

  “Craig.” She whispered the word like a dirty confession.

  I sucked in a shocked breath.

  She’d never once said his name. She didn’t need to explain or clarify who she was talking about. I already saw it in her eyes.

  “What did he do?”

  She twitched. “He…he keeps asking about you. Asking me to call you.”

  Guilt blanketed her expression.

  “It’s always been money, Alexis. When he makes me call you.”

  Horror filled the harsh breath of air that pitched from my lungs. “You…it was never for you.”

  She looked so frail in my doorway, her shoulders slumped and her body worn from the lifestyle. “Everything I have is his. Don’t you get that? I keep trying to tell you.”

  I blinked through the torment. “What did you do, Avril? What did you do?”

  Her laughter was empty. “I sold my soul to the devil.”

  Grief nearly dropped me to my knees. “Avril.”

  She shook her head and backed away. As if she needed to keep space between us. “I just…I needed to warn you. To tell you he keeps talking about you. Asking questions. He sees an opportunity, and I think…I think he’s looking for a weak link. For a way to get to you. For a way to draw you into that world and keep you there. And I’m pretty sure he knows that’s me.”

  Fear twisted through my spirit. “What does he want from me?”

  Her mouth pinched in regret. “I don’t know. I think he’s angry that you got away that night. That he didn’t make you pay for what he believes you owed him. And if he looped you int
o this life with me? That would be quite the jackpot, wouldn’t it?” The words on her tongue were sharp with disgust.

  Nausea pooled in my stomach.

  Never.

  Shaking, I stretched my fingers for my sister. My twin. This broken girl who had always been my other half. “Just stay…we’ll figure it out. Whatever you think he has over you, he doesn’t. It’s not right. It’s not legal. He can’t own you.”

  Sadness rippled through the dawn as she looked away. “I could stay, Alexis, and you would do everything you could to help me, and you know I’d just end up right back down there, anyway. I’m not worth it.”

  She looked back at me. For the first time in a long time, her eyes were shining with resolve. “Just…stay away. I call you, don’t listen. Know it’s a lie.”

  The energy shifted, building in intensity, fierce and savage.

  I jerked my head to look over my shoulder.

  Zee was standing at the entry to the hall, wearing nothing but his underwear, every inch of him straining with the clear need he had to protect me.

  I had thought this house had been my reprieve, but it was Zee who had become my safe place.

  Avril startled. “Oh.”

  I looked back to her. “We can protect you.”

  She stumbled back, her gaze wary as Zee started across the floor.

  “Avril,” he said, “let us help you.”

  She fumbled a couple more steps back. “Protect her.”

  Then Avril turned, stumbled down my steps, and bolted.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Zee

  “I need to see him. Know he’s safe.” I squeezed the phone so tight I was pretty sure I could hear it crack.

  “Ten thousand.”

  I was done. So fucking done.

  “You think I’m just gonna hand over ten grand? Always knew you were nothing but a greedy, selfish bitch, but this time you’ve gone too far.”

  Pretty sure she’d crossed that line when she’d sold her house. The house I’d bought for them. To keep them safe.

  “You know everything comes at a cost. You want to see him, it’s ten.”

  I gritted my teeth, gripping at the back of my neck as I stormed around my loft, trying to rein it in. “He’s not a fucking pawn, Veronica.”

  “You know how it works.”

  “Not anymore, it doesn’t. I’m done. I’m going to see him, and you aren’t going to stop me.”

  She laughed. “Don’t fuck with me, Zee. You should know better than that.”

  The line went dead.

  A roar burst from somewhere in my chest, fury and anger and this fucking brick wall she kept landing me against. Rage had my phone flying across the room. It slammed against the hard floor, tumbling as it slid.

  I gripped handfuls of my hair, storming back and forth.

  Losing it.

  Forgetting the promises I’d made.

  Because that girl…that sweet, sweet girl had me wanting to make different ones.

  Would she get it?

  Would she understand?

  Could she ever look at me the same?

  It didn’t matter. I was finished letting Veronica control the situation. Yeah, I was fucking fed up. But I wasn’t doing it for myself.

  I was doing it for Liam.

  That precious kid.

  The one thing that’d been the permanent light in my life.

  Now Alexis glowed all around me. Adding and amplifying.

  Maybe the two of them together were enough to finally purge the dark.

  I jerked my car to a stop out in front of the shitty building, propelled by the frenzy that pulsed through my veins.

  They say there’s only so much a person can take before they finally break. Mark and Veronica and all the fucked-up choices I’d made had broken me a long time ago.

  But I was ready to change it.

  Shift paths.

  Take all the pieces that had fallen around me and put them back together. Build something solid.

  I was ready to stand.

  I jumped out of my car. My attention shot around the area, vigilant of my surroundings and every shady looking motherfucker lingering in them.

  That ball of anger pulsed. Fucking hated she’d brought him here. Before I left, I was going to make sure she was packing her shit and moving back to where it was safe.

  Yeah, I was terrified what this was going to cost. What the guys were going to think. How they were going to react to what I’d done.

  Because after this?

  No chance could it remain concealed.

  But I was finished doing her bidding. Thinking it was somehow protecting him and providing for him when the only thing it was doing was exposing him to the vile depravity of this seedy world.

  He deserved better than this.

  The building was five stories of dingy gray brick. Trash littered the sidewalk out front, and weeds encroached on the sidewalk.

  I jogged toward the building’s entrance. The lock on the main door was still broken.

  Surprise, surprise.

  I took to the stairwell, bounding up three flights to Veronica’s floor. Voices shouted from behind the thin walls and babies cried from behind the doors.

  I skidded to a stop in front of apartment 317.

  I pounded on the door.

  “Who is it?” Veronica’s voice shouted from the other side.

  “Me.” It was nothing less than a growl.

  “It’s a bad time.”

  I pounded again. “Seems like a pretty damned good time to me.”

  “You can’t just show up here.”

  Hostility wound tight. “Open the fucking door, Veronica. I’m not leaving without seeing him.”

  “No…I’m…I’m busy. Come back tomorrow.”

  “Open the door or I will bust it down.”

  “I’ll call the cops.”

  “Good.”

  Metal screeched, and the door just barely cracked open, one of those chain locks keeping it from coming all the way open at the top. “Please…just go away.”

  I thought maybe it was the first time I saw real fear on Veronica’s face. Guess maybe this time she had a real reason to be afraid.

  “Open it.”

  Cries echoed from somewhere inside.

  Liam.

  Devotion pumped fast, and I thought maybe Veronica saw the resolution written on my face, because she scrambled to slam the door closed. My hand was already on the knob, ramming it forward. It caught on the chain.

  I didn’t even hesitate. I reared back, lifted my foot, and kicked it in.

  The chain snapped and the door flew back, banging into the interior wall.

  Veronica screamed.

  My eyes jumped around the trashed out space, my heart going wild where it slammed against my ribs.

  No. There wasn’t anything concrete lying around, no needles or bags, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t been around long enough to know the signs. I knew exactly what I was looking at.

  Fear and hatred slicked like ice down my spine. I should’ve known. I should’ve fucking known.

  My head cocked as I shifted to stare her down. “You’re using?” It was a spew of revulsion that slid from my tongue.

  Memories spanning the last couple of years assaulted me. The shady, sketchy shit she’d been pulling that had gotten worse and worse. The secrets. The lies. The manipulation.

  God, how long had this been going on?

  “You don’t know anything,” she spat.

  Biting laughter rolled from my mouth. “Oh, I think I know enough. Where’s Liam?”

  I started for the hall, stepping over the clothes strewn about the floor.

  Veronica was right behind me. She grabbed onto my back, her nails digging into my shoulders as if her pathetic attempt might stop me. I shrugged her off just as I tossed open the first door I came to.

  I froze in my tracks, a shock of horror rushing from my lungs.

  Two women were inside on twin beds. One w
as passed out, face down.

  The other was curled on the opposite bed, her back pressed against the wall and her arms wound protectively around her knees. Bruises covered one side of her face, and there was a huge cut that was starting to scab on her upper lip.

  Avril.

  I blinked, trying to process. “Avril…what the hell are you doing here?”

  She scrambled onto her knees, her eyes wide when she saw me. “You.”

  Frantic, I looked around, gaze quick to land on the sheer terror sculpted in every line of Veronica’s face.

  My lips pinched. “You’re involved in this shit?”

  “No,” she begged.

  I swung back around to Avril. “Come with me.”

  She shook her head. “Hurry. Leave. Get out of here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without you. I’m calling the cops.”

  Veronica’s voice went hard behind me, floating around like a dark warning. “She fell down the stairs. Lucky for her, I found her at the bottom.”

  “That’s bullshit.”

  Veronica looked at Avril. “Tell him that’s what happened.”

  Avril nodded through the tears blurring her eyes.

  The girl looked so much like Alexis, it damn near destroyed me. “Avril, come with me. Right now.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t.”

  Muted cries bled from behind the next door.

  Liam.

  It struck me like an arrow. I pointed at Avril. “I’m coming back for you.”

  I jostled Veronica aside, and the second I turned away, she was on me again, pounding at my back and clawing my skin. I shook her off and tore open the door to Liam.

  Mark’s son.

  The boy on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chin, rocking.

  Blameless and innocent and caught up in a mess where he shouldn’t be.

  My entire foundation cracked by the force of my anger. By the force of the protectiveness that combusted somewhere within.

  Rushing in, I scooped him into my arms and ran right back out, because I sure as hell wasn’t wasting any time.

  Veronica’s voice was desperate. “You can’t just come in and take him. I’m calling the cops.”