by Thomas, C. M
“Is someone after you? Please tell me,” Zane said.
“Not today, I can’t. I will tell you after my birthday.” I didn’t want them to worry, but I knew they did.
“Fine, you get until the day after your birthday. If you don’t want to tell me, then tell Zane, okay?” Dax looked at me.
“No, we can’t wait anymore, Dax.” I could feel the tension in Zane’s body. I knew he was angry, but I just couldn’t do it today. He had a concert in a few hours. And in the next two days we were celebrating my birthday and Liam’s. It would have to wait; I just needed to pull myself together.
“Zane, give her the time. My team will protect her. Trust me.”
“I know, Dax. But I don’t want to see her like this.” He held me even closer than before. They talked like I was not even in the room. But I didn’t care; I just wanted to be safe.
“Do you think I like seeing her, or you, for that matter, like this? We need to give her time.” He looked down at me. “But Anna, we need to know soon. If someone is after you, I need to know.” With that, Dax left the room.
“Please tell me. I was so scared when I couldn’t come in contact with you.” Zane looked down at me.
“Not tonight, I can’t. But I will tell you after we’ve celebrated my birthday, okay? Please give me this time to get my head together.” I knew I was asking for a lot. But this was what I needed. I knew that telling someone would be good for me. The burden of all this was taking a toll on my body.
He leaned down and kissed me, soft and gentle. I wrapped my hands in his hair and pulled him closer. Getting lost in his kiss was just what I needed. We sat on the floor kissing and hugging for a long time. It was only when Zane’s phone rang that we got up.
“What do you want, Caleb?” Zane barked at his brother. “Fine, I will be down in five minutes.” He put his phone back in his pocket.
“I have to go; it’s time to go to the venue. Will you be okay?” He put his hands on my face, resting his forehead against mine.
“Yes, I just need a shower, then I will join you.”
“Okay, baby. See you in a little bit.” He gave me another kiss before he started to walk over to the door. Just before he reached the door, he pulled something from his pocket. “Oh, I forgot to give you this.” He handed me a keycard. I must have looked confused.
“It’s for my room. Then you can just go there tonight.” He smiled at me before he left my room.
I stood still for several minutes looking down at the keycard in my hand. What just happened? I called Zane? I didn’t even remember. The last thing I remembered was trying to get my breathing under control. But between then and now, I must have called Zane or Dax. Shit, I needed to tell someone about “D.” I would tell them after my birthday, just like I promised.
I was just stepping out of the shower when I heard my phone ring. I wrapped a towel around my body while running into the bedroom and answering my phone.
“Hello.”
“Anna, we leave in ten minutes, you ready?” Kylie asked. Shit, I didn’t know time had passed so quickly.
“I just stepped out of the shower, so I have to go if I have to be done in ten minutes.” I hung up before she got a chance to reply.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, I went down to the lobby. I saw Marco waiting for me.
“Sorry, I’m late.” I ran over to him.
“No problem. The others just left.” With that, we walked out to the car and drove to the stadium.
The evening proceeded like normal. Five minutes before the concert started, Kylie called the band out of the dressing room. Then, two minutes before, they stood in the corridor, ready to get on the stage. I stood in the corridor like always and just felt the music. So, a normal concert night. Until the concert was done. I had a bottle of water in my hand for Zane. He smiled at me when he walked off the stage and over to me, but instead of just taking the bottle, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. And before I got a chance to react, his lips were on mine.
“What are you doing?” I asked through the kiss. That was the moment where he realized what he had just done. He broke the kiss and looked down at me.
“Sorry, baby, I was just happy to see you.”
“About time,” Caleb said, at the same time Cole said, “Finally.”
Wait, what? They said what? I looked at Zane, and he looked as confused as I was. I looked to the side just to see Liam, Caleb, Cole, Kylie, Marco, and Dax looking at us. Quickly, I looked back at Zane and then rested my head against his chest.
“Stop standing there looking like idiots. You’re embarrassing her,” Zane said while he held me close. He leaned down to my ear. “I’m really sorry, baby. This was not the way I wanted to tell them,” he whispered so only I could hear him. I looked up at him.
“It’s okay. I just need to talk to Kylie. I don’t want to hurt her, okay?” I stood up on my toes and gave him a small kiss. Ignoring the whistles from the guys, I walked over to Kylie and took her hand. Before she could say anything, I dragged her to the dressing room and closed the door.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you. But I just wanted to make sure…” Before I got the chance to finish my sentence, she came over to me and hugged me.
“I’m so happy for you. And just so you know, I’ve seen the tension between the two of you the last few weeks.” She grinned at me.
“You’re not mad?” I was confused.
“Why would I be? It’s not like I have a crush on him.”
“But he’s your employer. And what if it doesn’t work out between us, then what happens to your job?” This was what I was worried about.
“Hold on, first things first. Don’t worry about my job. Zane won’t fire me; he knows better than to get rid of the best PA he has ever had. Second, I was going to tell you this after your birthday, but now that I see how worried you are…” She took a deep breath before she continued. “Marco asked me to marry him last night. I know it’s soon, but we have known each other for over two years, so even though we haven’t dated that long, I said yes.” Her eyes were glowing. I didn’t know what to say, so for a moment I just looked at her. This was not what I expected when we walked in here. I expected her to yell at me.
“Congrats, I’m happy for you. But what does this have to do with your job?”
“Well, like you said that morning when you met the band, I’m going back to school after the summer. I want to get my degree. Then I want to work for Happy Childhood.” Wow, she had this whole plan worked out.
“So you’ve quit your job?” I was so confused right now.
“No, not yet. But the band knows that if I get into school, I will be leaving them. And I’ve told them that I know a great PA who can do the job just as well as I can.” I looked at her, confused, before I realized that she was talking about me.
“Wait a minute. I can’t do this job, Kylie.”
“Of course you can. Why do you think I’ve asked you to help me these last few weeks?”
“Wow, I don’t know what to say. But are you sure you’re okay with Zane and me?” I still didn’t believe that this was so easy.
“Yes, I’m sure. When I first suspected, I wanted to kill him. But Marco said that if you were happy, I should be happy for you. And I’ve seen Zane change for the better the last few weeks.” Again, I didn’t know what to say, so I just hugged her.
Chapter 14:
Zane
“Nice move, man.” Cole came over and slapped me on the shoulder. I was still shocked that I did that. I just saw Anna standing there smiling at me, and the only thing I could think of was her. So I kissed her. I didn’t think. I just hoped she wasn’t mad at me. She said she wasn’t, but right now she was talking to Kylie. And hopefully Kylie wouldn’t give her shit about this.
When I didn’t say anything, Cole started talking again. “So, you fi
nally got her to date you?” He grinned while looking over at Caleb and Liam.
They both grinned with him.
“I did,” was all I said.
“Come on, man. We’re just fucking with you. No need to act like a girl,” Caleb said.
“I’m happy for you, Zane. Just don’t hurt her,” Liam said. I could see he was happy for me, but at the same time, this reminded him of Evie. Knowing that he was still hurting from their breakup, I walked over to him.
“You will find it again, bro,” I whispered to him, so only he could hear it. He smiled at me.
“I don’t think I want to,” he said before walking away.
I walked over and sat down on one of the chairs beside Cole and Caleb. They kept talking, but I didn’t listen to them. All I could think about was what was going on behind the door across from us.
A few minutes later, Anna and Kylie came out to us again. I looked up the moment I heard the door open. Anna smiled, and Kylie didn’t look like she wanted to kill me. That was a good sign.
Anna strolled to me and sat on the arm of the chair. She took my hand, threading her fingers with mine. Then she leaned against my shoulder and just looked at me, smiling. At this moment, it was just us again. And I, for one, would like to just get out of here so I could be alone with her. But I couldn’t, not right now. Kylie came to us, standing directly in front of me, with her hands on her hips. Oh, no. Here goes nothing.
“You hurt her, I’ll kill you.” With that, she smiled at me and walked over to talk to some of the crew members. I didn’t even get a chance to say something. But that was okay. She didn’t try to kill me, so that was a good sign. I looked at Anna again. Her eyes were focusing on me, and only me. It gave me a rush of emotions through my body, starting in my chest.
“We okay?” I kissed her nose.
“Yeah, better than okay,” she said with a big smile on her face. “Ready to get out of here?” Her eyes radiated with joy.
“Sorry, baby, but I can’t.” I squished her hands in mine. “We have some meetings with some VIP fans.”
“Okay, but is it okay if I go?”
“Of course, you can go back if you want to.” I hoped a little that she would stay, but it had been a long day, so I got it if she just wanted to go back and relax.
“I do. I’m tired, sweaty, and I think I just need a long, warm shower.” The thought of her in the shower made my cock harden. What I would do to take a shower with her.
“First of all, you don’t smell.” I kissed her. “Second, as long as I get to see you when I get back, then you can go.” I winked at her.
“I will be in your room when you come back.” She pointed her finger at me, “But no funny business tonight. I just want to sleep next to you, okay?” I couldn’t help but smile. She still thought that all I wanted was sex? I wanted that, yes, but sleeping with her in my arms like last night…I wanted that more. Wait, what? That was a first. It seemed that she brought something out in me that I didn’t even know existed.
“I’d like that, baby.” I put my hands on each side of her face and kissed her. Not just a small kiss, like before. She moved so she was sitting on my lap. She took my bottom lip between her teeth, not biting, but just pulling it a little. I moved one of my hands down her side, holding her even closer. We got lost in our bubble until someone cleared his throat. I looked up and saw Caleb grinning at us.
“We have to go, lover boy.” I tried to kick him, but he was too fast. Anna started laughing.
“I will go back to the hotel, see you soon.” She kissed me one more time before getting up. I tried to get focused again. I had a hard-on, which was pretty inconvenient right now. I tried to adjust myself before walking over to the others. No one needed to know just how much she turned me on.
“See you soon, baby,” I yelled at Anna. She turned around and blew me a kiss. I caught it and smiled back at her.
“Where the hell is my brother?”
I looked confused at Caleb. We were all here, who the hell was he talking about? He caught my confusion and started laughing. “I mean, look at you! You behave like some lovesick teenager.” Asshole. I really didn’t want all this shit from them.
“Shut up. Just wait until you find someone special.” With that, I walked into the room and hoped to get this greeting over with as fast as possible.
A little over an hour later, I walked into my room at the hotel. When I saw that the entire room was dark, I had a bad feeling that Anna wasn’t here. Walking into the bedroom, I turned on the light. But I was wrong—she was here. She was sitting on the bed, looking all sad and scared. Before I knew it, I was on the bed, and I pulled her over onto my lap. I could see she’d been crying. I gave her a small kiss on the lips before holding her close to me.
“What’s wrong, baby? I thought you were okay when you left the stadium.”
“I was,” she whispered.
“Then what happened after that?” She didn’t say anything, but she pulled her phone out from under the covers and handed it to me. Confused, I first looked at her, then I took her phone and read the text she wanted to show me. The moment I read it, I froze. What the hell?
Unknown: Sweet Anna, I will see you soon. I know you’re with your sister and Deep C – D
“Who is this from?” I looked down at her. She started crying; the tears ran down her cheeks. This was horrible. I wanted to help her, but right now, I didn’t know how. I held her while she cried. When she finally stopped crying, I needed to know more. Was this who she was afraid of? What had he done to her? Was it a he? The questions kept popping up in my head. I held her close and kissed her hair.
“Is this who you are afraid of?” I asked.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I will tell you everything, but I won’t tell the others. You can do that. I can’t tell this story more than once, okay?” She looked haunted. I nodded and kissed her on her forehead. She leaned into my kiss. I could feel her whole body shaking. She was terrified. I just wanted her to be safe, and I really hoped that what she was about to tell me wasn’t as bad as the thoughts forming in my head. But I knew better.
“Take your time. I’ve got all night, okay?”
She nodded. I just sat on the bed holding her and waited for her to start talking. I knew this was horrible for her.
She was freezing. I took the covers and pulled them over us, and waited. Then I heard her take a deep breath, and she started talking.
“About a month before I joined you guys on tour, I was almost raped…”
Chapter 15:
Anna
I couldn’t believe I said that word out loud. Raped. I felt relieved to tell someone, but at the same time, I was scared. Was it the right thing to tell Zane first? Shouldn’t I tell Kylie instead? No—I wanted to tell him. Even though we hadn’t known each other long, I trusted him. Trusted him to do the right thing, to help me. To comfort me. My whole body was shaking, and I curled myself even more into Zane’s chest, seeking comfort and safety. I needed to do this. I was safe here. I felt safe here.
“You were what?” I knew he wasn’t angry at me, but his angry voice scared me. I crumpled against him. “Sorry, baby.” I could hear the regret in his voice. I knew he didn’t mean to sound that angry, but right now my emotions were all over the place.
“Please let me get this out; then you can ask questions.” I looked up at him. He nodded and kissed my nose. This is it, Anna, tell him. This had been a long time coming. I started hyperventilating; my whole body was shaking. Zane held me even tighter, but he didn’t say anything. At least not with words, but his actions right now spoke louder than words ever could. I took some deep breaths and then my breathing became more normal again. This is it. I have to get this out.
“I was on my way home from a night out with some of the girls from work… I didn’t take a cab—I wish I did, though—but I wasn’t far from home, so I d
ecided to walk.” I could feel his body tense against mine. “When I was almost home, I could feel someone behind me. I walked past an alley, and that’s when he gripped me.” I stopped for a moment, needing to get control of my breathing. Zane moved his hand to my back, trying to help me by moving his hand slowly up and down, comforting me.
“He dragged me into the alley, and before I knew it, he was kissing me. One of his hands was covering my mouth so I couldn’t scream, the other hand was all over me. So was his mouth…” The tears started to run down my cheeks again. “He was kissing me, on my neck, down my cleavage. He ripped my blouse and took my breast out of my bra.” Zane held me tighter, but to his credit, he didn’t say anything. He just listened. “He was biting me, and I could feel the blood drip from one of my nipples. Then he put his hand down my pants.” I paused. “That’s when he said you’re mine now, finally—so I knew then that he had planned it. I wasn’t just some random girl; he wanted me.” I sniffed. I couldn’t tell this; it was too hard. I started crying harder.
“It’s okay, baby. He won’t touch you again.” Zane pulled me closer to him and rested his chin on top of my head. He cradled me in his lap, trying to comfort me. My body was still shaking, and I was so cold. The warmth from Zane’s body helped, but it was not enough. I held on tight to his shirt and continued talking. I needed to get the rest of this out, and soon.
“He was struggling with my pants; they were really tight.” I couldn’t help from thanking God that I had worn those pants. If I had worn a skirt or dress, he would have raped me. “And I was sweating. That’s when he got distracted, and I got away from him. I ran all the way home to my apartment, closing and locking my door. I didn’t go to work for days. I just hid on my bed alone.” Taking a deep breath, I continued, “When I finally got back to work, I was scared. Every time someone came close, I wanted to run. And one day when I got home, there was a letter from him. He told me that next time I wasn’t getting away.” Now I just cried, letting out the pain, fear, and frustration. I wept for so long that I didn’t think there were any more tears left.
