by Anna Paige
Instead of turning to answer, I kept my eyes on Kane, wondering how I was going to make it up to him. "I said something stupid last night, and I think I hurt his feelings. I didn't mean to, it just sort of came out wrong."
"What came out wrong?"
I wasn't going to tell Kade how his brother defended him to me or shared personal stories. That would have felt like a betrayal of Kane's confidence somehow. But I also knew he would probably tell his twin what I said to upset him, so there was no point in hiding that part. "Long story short, I made it sound like I think I have to watch my back around you guys." When I turned back, Kade was eyeing me blandly.
"Maybe you do." He announced, narrowing his gaze.
"That's the whole point, I don't think that. It just came out that way."
He slid from his seat and stood, towering over me as he slipped his phone into his back pocket and glanced at his brother. "No, I didn't mean maybe you really think that, I meant maybe you really do need to watch your back." He leaned down, placing one hand on the table in front of me and giving me a menacing look as he moved to whisper in my ear. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck as he spoke, sending chills down my spine and goosebumps up my arms. "Especially with me."
He leaned back just far enough to see my face, to search for the fear I was trying to hide. He must have found it there, because he smirked cockily and walked toward the bunks, snatching out a towel and some clothes before making his way into the bathroom without so much as a glance in my direction.
He was pissed.
And I was somewhere between scared and aroused.
I suddenly wanted nothing more than to walk away from this assignment and never look back.
Before it was too late.
Chapter Three
Kade
I stood in the shower for the longest time, replaying her words in my mind.
Of course she would think that stupid shit. Why would she—or anyone else for that matter—wait to find out who we really are before passing judgment? Nah, just go ahead and slap a label on.
Never mind that she and I both knew it wasn't the entire band she was afraid of. If that were true, she never would have let Kane into the bedroom with her last night. Nope, she was afraid of me. Not Kane or E or any of the other guys.
Just me.
Dangerous, violent, ominous me.
I was used to people feeling intimidated, and I didn't let it bother me. If people wanted to be pussies, that was their problem. I couldn't help how they chose to perceive me. Let them be intimidated. I didn't fucking care.
Fear, though, that was a whole different animal. I didn't want anybody—especially a woman—to look at me with fear. Ever. Particularly when I hadn't done a damn thing to her.
So I wasn't exactly welcoming, and I gave her a little shit over her plans for us… So what? Didn't mean she had to be afraid of me. She'd probably made up her mind about me long before we even laid eyes on each other. Bet she had a file on me an inch thick.
She thought it was okay to read articles about me and made snap judgments about how I would treat her? Was she one of those sheep who let other people's opinions and bullshit stories dictate their perceptions?
For some reason, I hadn't pictured her as one of those people. Uptight? Yeah. Maybe even a little cold and closed off, but not a mindless sheep. She seemed too smart for that, too together.
Guess I gave her too much credit.
And this was what I got for caring at all what anyone thought of me. Served me right. Kane was probably a bit wounded by what she said, but me? I was glad she said it. It let me know where we all stood with her.
If she wanted to believe the worst of me, who was I to prove her wrong?
Since she was looking for reasons to be afraid, I'd be sure to give them to her.
•••
When I got out of the shower, Kane had finally gotten up and was sitting at the table alone, no Aubrey in sight. I stowed my dirty clothes and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, still too hot from my shower to attempt more coffee just then. Sliding into the seat Aubrey had recently vacated, I tipped my chin at my brother and noted the angry look in his eyes. "What's your problem? Not enough beauty sleep, princess?"
"Fuck. You." He deadpanned, not even bothering to look up from his phone.
I noted the closed bedroom door, assuming Aubrey had gone back there to get away from me. "Look, I'm sorry I jumped your shit last night. I shouldn't have assumed…"
He dropped his phone onto the table and glared at me. "Take your apology and shove it up your arrogant ass, Kade. You aren't sorry. You never are. You always assume I'm screwing up, and yeah, sometimes I am, but damn, Kade, you're supposed to be my brother. When are you going to start acting like it? We’ve gone from play fights to you being out for my blood, and I don’t know what fucking happened. You been manstrating for the last fucking year, or is it always going to be this way? Because I don't know how much more I can take."
"You've got to be fucking kidding. I don't act like your brother?" My hands curled into fists as I fought not to slug him in his stupid face. "How many times have I bailed your ass out of a bind? How many times have you called me to clean up your messes, and I came running? Hell, I'm still dealing with the fallout of some of your shit, you ungrateful little fuck. You have no idea what I've gone through in the name of being your brother."
I slammed my clenched fists on the table, hating that anger was winning out again but unable to keep it in check. "It must be nice to float through life like everything is one big party, no responsibility or accountability. How fun that must be for you. Wish I could have it that damn good. But when you screw up, it's always me that suffers, so yeah, I always expect the worst case scenario so I can be prepared for whatever hell I'm about to get dragged into."
Aubrey was suddenly standing at the end of the hall, looking both uncomfortable and annoyed. "Um, sorry to interrupt this heartfelt brother bonding moment but the bus stopped a while ago, and I think that's our cue to go grab breakfast while they fuel up."
Kane didn't respond, only nodded and started toward the bunks to grab his shoes. When he got within reach, Aubrey's hand gripped his forearm and she looked up at him with sincere regret in her eyes. "Kane, can you hang back a second so I can talk to you?"
He pulled his arm away, reaching around her to grab his old, worn out Converse off the bottom bunk. "Not feeling real chatty right now. Maybe some other time." He sat on the edge of the couch long enough to tug his shoes on and then he was gone, leaving the two of us alone and staring after him, her expression full of hurt and mine full of anger. At both of them.
"Guess I have to give it more time." She muttered half to herself as she looked over at me. "What about you? Will you hear me out now, or should I just continue walking on eggshells indefinitely?"
"You can say anything you want; I won't stop you. But I won't buy your shit either, so you're wasting your breath."
She threw her head back and stared at the ceiling for a moment, clearly frustrated, before returning to the bedroom. I half expected her to hide out in there but she emerged a couple of minutes later in full running gear, earbuds already in place and pointedly ignoring me on her way out.
Do not check out her ass. Do not check out her ass. You hate this woman, remember?
I caught a glimpse of her setting off across the parking lot, away from the restaurant. Looked like she'd decided to skip breakfast with the band of criminals this morning.
Pity.
•••
Aubrey
I checked with the crew to be sure how much time I had then took off on a much needed run. I used an app on my phone to map a decent course and set a grueling pace, music blaring in my ears, hoping to find some sort of balance before stepping foot back on that bus. The stifling summer heat was already setting in, though it was still early. I was sweating in record time but I kept pushing. I needed the release, the clarity that came with a good long run.
Maybe that was why Trish didn't push too hard to get the assignment herself. Any other time, she would have thrown a hissy fit at being passed over, but that wasn’t the case this time. It was entirely possible that she sent me knowing how maddening dealing with them all would be. She wasn't exactly a fan of mine, and it would give her a sick thrill to see me right then, drenched in sweat and trying to outrun the stress after barely a day.
I wasn't about to give her the satisfaction. Kade and Kane either.
I'd finish my run and go back in there with a renewed sense of control. I was going to take the reins and put this band back on the right track if I had to strangle their petulant asses to gain their cooperation. I would not fail at this, no matter what they threw at me.
•••
I boarded the empty bus with a sigh of relief, grateful that the guys were still eating, allowing me the chance to get myself together in peace. First order of business was my second shower of the day and fresh—less formal—clothes. If nothing else, I had to say the guys were right about me needing to dial back the business attire. It was already plenty uncomfortable between us as it was without my stuffy business clothing adding that extra layer of separation between me and the band. I needed to bend a little to break them of their bad habits.
Snagging my laptop from the bedroom, I started scouring the media outlets to see how high on the gossip chain Kade's sexcapades were today. The best thing about the media was they were always more interested in a fresh story. If someone out there was making new headlines, the old ones would start to lose traction. Not that we could sit idly by and hope people forgot.
No, no. Not that easy because the other thing to remember about the media was… sex sells. Which meant stories of sex tapes, nude photos, sexts, and anything else of that nature tended to hold people's attention far longer than their less racy counterparts.
Add the fact that Kade was one of the most lusted-after men on the planet and diverting attention would be damn near impossible.
I would do it, though, somehow. I just needed their cooperation.
And a whole lot of patience.
•••
I was focused on my computer when the twins finally stepped back on board. I barely registered their presence, as engrossed as I was in the endless string of obscene messages sent to the band's social media accounts. I'd signed on to disable the message option and gotten caught up in the over two thousand already sitting in the band's inbox. I could only imagine the number of messages waiting on their individual accounts.
Some of the things these women—and men—were sending and saying blew my mind. Just in the last hour, I'd probably seen more hoo-ha's than the average gynecologist did in a month. And I couldn't even think about the number of dick pics. It was crazy.
I looked up and met Kane's eyes—I knew it was Kane because he offered me a weak smile as he made his way over, a large paper bag in his hand. "Brought you some breakfast. I figured you might be hungry after your run." His tone was softer than I expected.
"I appreciate that, thank you." I looked up at him earnestly. "I really am sorry, Kane. I didn't mean it that way. I…"
He cleared his throat and nodded, his only indication that he understood. "So, since I didn't know what you would like, I got a little of everything." He set the bag in front of me. "Bacon, eggs, biscuits and sausage gravy is what I ordered so I got you that. But I also got one vegetarian meal and one vegan meal in there, too."
I nearly teared up at the sweet gesture, his way of apologizing for snapping at me. "What's in the vegan meal?" I asked, curious.
"I’m guessing grass and tree bark, or some shit like that." He shrugged.
Kade laughed softly from somewhere in the kitchen behind me.
"Bacon and eggs it is, then." I smiled at Kane as I opened the bag and dug out my breakfast.
His eyes darted behind me to look at his brother. "You and Ethan still need to work on those lyrics some more? Because I can give Aubrey a tour of the other bus and let her hang with me, Lenn, and Jared for a few hours while you two work here."
I turned to look at Kade, noting the way he and his brother seemed to have ironed things out between them. Or at the very least, they were no longer snarling at each other and appeared capable of civilized conversation.
"We do need to iron out that second verse and maybe take another look at the bridge but we can work on it after the show tonight. No need to uproot you both. Besides, I'm pretty sure Aubrey has strict orders to watch my every move since I'm the troublemaker." His amused smirk should have made me feel better, should have quelled my nerves. He was being sarcastic but not angrily so. That was progress, right?
Then why did a shiver of fear just race up my spine?
He looked over at me with an odd expression. "Of course, if you're gonna look at porn all night, it won't really matter who's here anyway."
Kane stepped forward and gave my computer a wide-eyed look.
Shit.
I'd forgotten about the messages.
I reached back and quickly shut the laptop, my cheeks on fire. "I wasn't… I mean… those pictures…" I stammered, more embarrassed than I'd ever been in my life.
"Yes?" Kade goaded, one side of his mouth turned up in a cocky grin, reveling in my discomfort.
I took a deep breath and focused on Kane since he wasn't looking at me like he was enjoying my misery. "I was clearing out messages in the band's inbox."
Kane nodded knowingly. "Ah, I totally get it now. Yeah, people send some crazy stuff."
I blew out a breath, relieved that he believed me. "I'm still kind of stunned by it all. Guys, girls, guys and girls, groups of girls, groups of guys, all sending pics of themselves and offering to literally do anything any of you want." I shook my head. "And a lot of them suggested they'd take on all of you. Christ."
"Gotta love their ambition, though, huh?" Kane joked, reaching over and opening the laptop so that the most recent pic was once again on the screen. "I swear, some of them send pics every day."
I turned back to the table, not wanting to look at Kade. "Are you aware of how many groups have formed strictly for the two of you?" I asked Kane, navigating away from the hoo-ha pic as quickly as possible and looking up the largest group I'd found. "This one is dedicated strictly to the pursuit of 'doubling down' with the Edenfield twins. It's scary how many thousands—thousands—of members are in this group. All looking to hook up with the two of you. I only found it because the recent pics of Kade have been photoshopped so many times by this group. They're using a mirror image of Kade, shifting it until it looks like both of you are there, then adding themselves to the pic so they appear to be sandwiched between the two of you. And some of them look startlingly real. That's how I discovered the group to begin with, I was half-convinced the pics were genuine when I first saw them."
My fingers flew over the keys, navigating the discussion boards. "They even have 'elite' and 'platinum' members who all swear they have hooked up with at least one of you—those are platinum—and sometimes both of you—that would be the highly-coveted elite status." I rolled my eyes, scrolling the list. It was suspiciously long, which made it even less believable than it already was.
Kane leaned over, eyeing the list. "I'd like to think I'd remember all of those."
"Yeah, but a few might be legit." This from Kade.
Kane and I both spun to look at him.
"The fuck, dude?" Kane cut his eyes to me. "That's on the 'need to know' list and she didn't need to know."
I sat there for a minute trying to school my expression so that they couldn't see the shock on my face. My mind was trying to formulate a response but I couldn't conjure a single appropriate reaction.
"Oh, I'm sure she already knows all of our dirty little secrets. How else can she be expected to fix us if she doesn't know exactly how fucked
up we really are?" He glared at me. "Bet that's why she's so afraid. She's seen all the skeletons in the closet."
"She didn't know, dumbass. Look at her.” Kane sounded concerned enough that I was momentarily convinced he’d start snapping his fingers in my face to try and check my response. “She's… I don't know what to call it… stunned? Appalled?"
"Intrigued?" Kade hungrily dragged his gaze along my face and neck.
I still couldn't find the words so I just glared at him, wishing I could make his smug ass burst into flames. The longer he looked at me, the angrier I got. Finally, after watching him flick his tongue across his bottom lip for the third time, I snapped out of it and then I just plain snapped. "That's it, goddammit!" Kane actually jumped a little at my raised voice. "Both of you sit your asses down here right now and tell me what other ammunition you've served up to be used against you by the media."
Kane hurried to take the seat across from me, scooting around to the back of the u-shaped bench to make room for Kade, who was making no move to join us.
"Kade, so help me God, if you don't move your ass, I'll report the band as non-compliant, have you sued for breach of contract, and ruin your chances of ever getting picked up by a reputable label ever again." His eyes burned holes in mine and I fired right back with a death stare of my own.
"For fuck's sake, Kade, come sit down." Kane said, getting frustrated with his brother's stubbornness.
Kade made a slow trek to the dinette and sat, stoically folding his hands on the table in front of him. "Yes, warden? What would you like to know?"
I really wanted to tell him to kiss my ass, I was sick to death of his attitude and attempts at intimidation, but I managed to keep my tone civil as I asked, "How many of these hook-ups, ménage or otherwise, are able to provide proof? How many other photos—or, God help me, videos—could be floating around out there?"
"None." Both of them said instantly.
