Things started making sense. “You bought a house in Brentwood?”
“We were going to live there. Why?”
Fox didn’t leave her. She’d run. “My grandfather had a house in Brentwood.”
“Do you think she found out he was there?”
That wouldn’t surprise her. Jane knew everything about her grandfather’s life. “He was in the society pages a lot. If she suspected he was on to her, she would have run.”
“How do you know?”
“She knew what would happen if he caught her. He might have even come after you.”
“Where did she end up?” Cherry asked.
“Here. It makes sense. New Orleans was a good place to get lost back in the day and had a small Arab community. She would have been safe.”
“Where is your grandfather?” Declan asked.
She smiled. “Dead.”
Fox’s hands shook. “How did he find her?”
That’s when Jane knew. He loved her mother. With everything he had. Her leaving broke him. She owed him the truth. “He had contacts in the US government, they probably helped.”
“How could they help him do that?”
“Her father was an asset for the CIA. His position as finance minister gave him access to a lot of valuable information.”
“What do you mean?” Cherry asked.
“Before 9/11 a lot of dirty money passed through Takar’s banks because of their loose banking laws. The PLO, arms dealers, opium lords, mercenaries, dictators. The United States had a vested interest on having a contact in those banks. Who better than a minister of finance and the someone who’s family owned several of those banks.”
“He murdered his daughter?” Trust Cherry the mother to ask this.
“Honor killing isn’t a new thing in the Middle East. It happens every day.”
“How could our government let her die?”
“Because her father’s information was more important than her life.”
Cherry pinned her with a hard glare. “Why did you take this job? To meet your father?”
Damn that woman would gut her if she had a chance. “Because Mick asked me to do it. I wasn’t even going to say anything. Although I was glad to meet you and to find out the truth. I’m going to go pack my things. If you want to contact me, Mick has my number.” Jane squared her shoulders. She stopped in front of Mick. “Paige can finish the job. I’ll call her and she can meet Declan in L.A.”
He nodded.
She had to get out of this house. Right now she felt like the bitch in this situation. She just drove a deeper rift between Malcolm and his father. She could add that to weight she was already carrying.
* * *
MALCOLM WATCHED Jane walk up the stairs. He knew Declan was forcing himself not to run after her.
Declan turned to him. “I didn’t know.”
This was a time to be circumspect. He knew Declan too well not to be surprised he pursued Jane. Malcolm shrugged. “Would it have stopped you?”
“Yes.”
Malcolm lifted his eyebrow. “Really?”
Declan blushed. “Maybe.”
“That’s the Declan I know.”
“Are we cool?”
“You got that Scotch?” Because he needed a drink.
“It’s at the restaurant.”
Before he could reply his mother walked over. Declan was going to get a new one ripped. Malcolm decided to enjoy it.
She poked Declan in the chest. “Declan Conner Shaw, what the hell were you thinking?”
“Cherry, I--”
“I’m speaking.” She interrupted.
Don’t laugh Malcolm don’t laugh.
Declan stared at his feet. “Yes ma’am.”
She rubbed her forehead. “Your bodyguard? That is so cliché.”
Declan’s head whipped up. “You say what you want about me, but you don’t say anything about Jane.”
Malcolm’s mouth dropped open. No one spoke to his mother like that. He waited for her to unload both barrels into Declan. Malcolm knew he liked Jane, but were his feelings deeper? This was poetic.
Cherry smile widened. “So that’s how it is?”
“What do you mean?” Declan asked.
Cherry waved her hand. “I’m done with you. Go see to your responsibilities.”
“I--”
She pointed to the stairs. “Go.”
Declan turned and headed for the stairs.
Malcolm turned to the other band members and lifted his hands, because he wasn’t sure he understood what just happened.
Cherry strokes his cheek. “How are you doing, darling?”
“Happy Birthday to me.”
She sighed. “Thirty was a bitch for me too.”
“You found out you had a half-sister?”
“I discovered my first gray hair and Jay threw me a surprise party. I thought I was going to kill him.”
“Is it me or are you okay with this baby thing?”
“I met her mother. My God, she was incredible. Nice, sweet, classy, and totally in love with Fox. I hated her guts. I wanted to kill her.”
Malcolm didn’t need any more truth for the next month. “Don’t go there.”
His mother didn’t act as ashamed as he thought she should. “That’s a lot of water under the bridge. I wasn’t always a mother. It was the eighties.”
“Ears bleeding.”
“I was thrilled to see her go. I moved in on Fox like a vulture. He was a basket case ripe for the picking and I saw myself as his new muse and then …” She sighed. “Well that’s another story.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why are you telling me this?”
“If she is anything like her mother she’s not a passing fancy.”
“I got that.”
“She’s your sister.”
“Newsflash five minutes ago.”
She pointed to Fox. “Your father is wrecked. Declan is your best friend. What are you going to do?”
What any sane man would do in this situation. “Start drinking.”
She put her hand on his arm. “Other than that?”
“I’m going to deal with this the way I always deal with disappointment.” He covered his face with his hands for a second. “Roll with it.”
“Your opinion is important to both of them. Be gentle. I love you all. I love the band. Stupider crap than this has ended bands.”
“It’s not just about the band.”
She inclined her head. “It’s mostly about you.”
“I can handle it.” He hoped his sounded confident, because he certainly didn’t feel it.
“Do you want to?”
“I want to get drunk.”
“Can you hold off until you talk to Fox.”
“I don’t know what to say to him.”
His mother massaged his arm. “Listen. He’s been sober for a while, but I think tonight he may fall off the wagon, because he just got a living breathing reminder of the love of his life, and if what Jane said is true, he going to blame himself and crawling into a bottle is a good way to escape.”
Malcolm remembered the expression on Jane’s face when she said her grandfather was dead. “I think Jane killed her grandfather.”
Cherry shrugged. “Good for her.”
“Gavin said she did some things we can’t talk about and she was involved in some pretty heavy shit in the Army.”
“I knew she was too good to be true.”
“What do you mean?”
Cherry sighed. “When she was recommended by the body guarding company, I did some checking on her. I read West Point and Silver Star recipient. I didn’t get past the National Honor Society. Had I seen a picture of her, I might have known. I’m sorry.”
Jane was the kind of woman that would impress his mother. “Don’t be. I just wish she’ been honest about who she is.” He checked on his father. Fuck now he was going to have to be the nice guy because he didn’t want his father to throw himself i
n a bottle again. “Go over to the restaurant, I’ll ride with Fox.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
He did. This shit wasn’t going to be on his dance card. “I know. If the man wants to drink, he’s going to do it. I’m not going to have it on my conscience that I didn’t at least try to stop him.”
“You’re a good boy.”
Malcolm rolled his eyes. Maybe that was his problem. “I’m not doing this for him as much as I’m doing it so I don’t feel guilty.”
“I understand.”
Frankly he didn’t see what was so special about Fox. He was a lousy father and according to his ex-wives, a crappy husband. “How did you get over Fox?”
She laughed. “You were about one at the time. You had the flu and I was supposed to fly to New York to meet with Cam Ashley--”
“From Yellowtail?”
“Jay wanted to sign them and since I knew them from my groupie days I had a better chance of getting a signature. Jocelyn was sick too so I couldn’t leave you, but Jay said he would stay with you so I went, knowing he’d get every intern at the office to do the dirty work. I came back two days later to find him covered in vomit and shit and said he’d marry me just so he could be your dad.”
Malcolm grimaced. “That’s gross.”
“You puked on his favorite Armani and he still loved you. That man earned us. I didn’t love him then, but two weeks later when you were our best man in Vegas I loved him.”
He studied his stepdad. He was graying on the top, and his face had a few lines. He wasn’t the tallest man in the room, but he was the most powerful. This was the guy who taught him to swim, to throw a baseball, and to be a man. When Fox screwed up Jay was there to hold him while he cried. With Jay, Malcolm never felt as he had missed out on anything. Even after Lana and Gavin came along he was still his dad. “He’s a good man.”
“If Fox hadn’t been such an ass, I’d still been trying to win him. I owe Fox and in a strange way so do you.”
“Jay did a helluva job with us.”
She reached up and kissed him. “You are a good son and wonderful man. Your heart is in the right place.” She stepped back. “What is everyone waiting for we have a birthday to celebrate.”
Malcolm watched everyone leave the room. He turned to Fox. “We need to talk.”
Fox couldn’t even look at him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Are you going to drink?”
“I want to.”
“Don’t.”
“I need to call my sponsor.”
“Get your head on straight, then we’ll talk.”
Fox reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone.
“Okay. Do you think Jane will … I can talk to her later.”Malcolm shrugged. How the hell did he know. “That is up to her. Call your sponsor.”
Malcolm watched his father dial his phone. Was there too much water under the bridge for them to ever make peace? There was still a part of him that was the boy waiting for his dad to come get him for the weekend, then if he did he just left him with a nanny or a groupie so he could go party. To this day he couldn’t decide which was worse not seeing Fox or seeing drunk Fox.
He had a lot of anger. Rage he kept hidden because it scared him. Part of him wanted to beat the crap out of him and another wanted to hug him, because that man was sad. What a shitty break.
No wonder he remembered Jane’s face, Yasmeen had been on Fox’s fourth album cover. She'd been dressed as a belly dancer with red scarves swirling above her head a ruby in her bellybutton. That album made Fox’s career selling millions. She’d been his father's muse as well as lover.
Now he understood his father’s melt down. Was Jane going to do the same to Declan? He didn’t want to go there. He had his own bag of crap to deal with. He would think about Declan after he came back from Florida.
Chapter Twenty-One
DECLAN STOMPED UP THE STAIRS. This situation couldn’t get any more fucked up if it tried. Jane was Fox’s daughter. She was Malcolm’s sister. No wonder Malcolm thought he knew her. He seen her face on Fox’s studio wall for the last twenty years. How he didn’t recognize her was beyond him. But even worse, she lied to him. Not lied more evaded. That woman was good. She said all the right things without lying.
He opened the bedroom door and saw her throwing her clothes into her duffle bag.
“I need about five minutes.”
“You aren’t leaving.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You have a job to finish.”
She stopped shoving clothes in the bag and faced him.
“Did you miss the show downstairs?”
“I can’t get another bodyguard out there until Monday. I’m not cancelling on my mother.”
“I thought you couldn’t trust me.”
His hands fisted. “Sometimes it’s all about me.”
“Fine, but I don’t want to go to that party.”
“Can’t face your ‘family’?” He was so mad he didn’t even care if he hurt her feelings.
She rubbed her forehead. “I deserve that. I’m sorry.”
“You owe everyone an apology.”
Her shoulders slumped. “You’re right.”
He wasn’t going to let himself be swayed by her guilt. “You gave that up.”
“I can own my shit.”
“Why did you lie?”
“I didn’t.”
Declan couldn’t remember the last time someone had gotten one over on him. She showed up with her hot body and beautiful face and fooled all of them. “You fucking twisted the truth to suit you.”
“I know.”
He pointed a finger at her. “No one treats me like this.”
“Welcome to the real world where the little people get dicked around all the time.”
She looked like she was going to punch him and he didn’t give a fuck. What she did was wrong. She toyed with them. “I still want you.”
She glared at him. “That came out of nowhere.”
“I don’t want to.” He was weak where she was concerned.
“You know what your problem is? You haven’t had to deal with complicated in a long time. I’m sorry I’m difficult, but that’s how I roll.”
Declan wanted to shake her or fuck her. He wasn’t sure.
“You piss me the fuck off.”
She pointed to the door. “Imagine how I feel, but I’m a choice. Walk away.”
“If only it was that easy.”
“Don’t you have a party to go to?”
“Yeah I do.”
“Go. I don’t think any of those people want to see me.”
He grabbed her and pulled her to his chest. “I’m not done with you.”
“You’re playing with fire.”
“Fuck it I have to have you.” He leaned over and kissed her.
Declan thrust his tongue in her mouth, and Jane’s arms went around his neck. Her taste exploded in his mouth as she molded herself against him. He was so hard he was almost in pain. He started tugging the skintight red dress over her hip with one hand. He could feel Jane pulling at his belt buckle. He got her dress up and moved his hand to her pussy finding her swollen and dripping wet. Her heat almost burned him. Damn she was on fire, which turned him on even more. He shoved a finger in her channel and felt her muscles clench around him. He couldn’t wait to get inside of her.
She got his belt undone and she grabbed his cock. He groaned against her lips. His heart was racing and his head was spinning. He walked her the couple of steps to the rollaway bed, pushing her duffle bag off and laying her down. Jane’s back hit the mattress and he felt her grab his shirt. She was trying to pull it over his head, but he couldn’t seem to get his hand from under her dress. His fingers found her clit and pinched her nub. He swallowed her groan.
She grabbed his shirt and ripped it down the middle. She reached into his pants and grabbed his dick. He moved his hips giving her more access to him. He eased his hand out of he
r and grabbed her panties, shredding them. They still hadn’t stopped kissing. He grabbed his cock and guided it to her entrance and she wrapped her hand around his and helped him. He wetted the tip of his cock with her juices to get her ready for him.
Jane arched her hips and got the tip inside her. She wrapped her legs around his hip and she let go of him and he sunk into her heat. He was still for a moment trying to catch his breath.
“Fuck me, damn you.”
Declan pushed himself inside her to the hilt. Warm wet heat surrounded him and he couldn’t ever remember it ever feeling like this. He couldn’t catch his breath. She ground her hips against him taking him deeper inside her. He could feel the heel of her stiletto digging into his thigh, but the pain was worth it. She squeezed him, milking him. Shit he was going to blow his load in the next ten seconds.
He began to thrust inside her hard and fast. This wasn’t making love this was fucking pure and simple. The smell of sex and jasmine overwhelmed him. Skin slapped against skin as he pumped inside her. Jane gripped his shoulders and dug her fingers into his skin. He relished the pain. Her legs opened wider as he settled in between her thighs. Her fingers slide down his back and into to his pants. She grabbed his ass cheeks and pushed him harder inside her. His balls slapped against her and they felt heavy ready to explode. Her wet heat was all over his dick. He ground himself against her mound and just drove inside her again and again. He felt her muscle clench him and he knew she was seconds from coming. He caught his breath as ripples gripped his cock. A few seconds later he spurt inside her. Then he collapsed on top of her. “Damn you.”
Jane pushed him off of her and stood up. “Don’t you have a party to go to?”
So he’d been dismissed. “Yeah.”
“So go. Now.”
If he could stand, he could leave. But there he lay with his pants around his ankles, a destroyed shirt and smelling like a frat party in the morning. He watched Jane get up and pull down her dress. She picked up her duffle bag and dropped it on the bed. He watched all this as he willed his legs to move or at least do something to get him out of here. She dug through her bag and pulled out a black tank top. He finally found the energy to sit up. He grabbed his pants and stood on shaky legs and yanked his pants up. He tucked his dick into his boxers and then turned to watch her again. She stripped off the dress and what was left of her panties. She dressed in her tank top and panties pulled on and flipped back the covers.
I Hate Myself For Loving You Page 19
