“Victoria.”
Shit. It’s Dennis. He’s here and he has me cornered in the dim hallway.
“Dennis, hi,” I say sweetly. I don’t want to make him angry or agitated. I try to see over his shoulder, to spot my bodyguards, a waitress, anyone. “You’re squeezing my wrist a little hard.”
“Sorry, sorry, Victoria.” He drops my wrist. “I just wanted to talk to you a little. You look beautiful.”
“Um. Thank you.”
“So, you want to get a drink now? I mean, we’re here and there're drinks.” He laughs, shrill and tremulous.
“I’m with my friends, Dennis.” I start edging along the wall towards the arched doorway. “They’re waiting on me.”
His face drops, eyebrows pinching together over his nose and his eyes going darker. “I thought we were friends. You talking about those two guys you came in with?” He slams his hand against the wall, blocking my progress to the doorway.
This isn’t going well. Right now I wish I had some of that mace Kendra was talking about earlier.
“I saw you with those other two guys, too. From before. You went in their car after your premiere. Is that how you like it, Victoria? With two guys? Is that why I’m not enough for you?” Dennis is starting to jitter and twitch. Spittle forms at the edge of his lips.
“Those were my brothers,” I say soothingly. “And the two guys who came tonight are bodyguards.”
“What? You mean for me? You think you have to protect yourself from me? No way, Victoria, no way. I’m not going to hurt you.” He grabs at my shoulder, digging his fingers into my skin. I wince at the bruising grip and hear the silky fabric of my sleeve rip as he tightens his fingers.
He’s shaking me now and pushing his face towards me, his nose inches from mine. The smell of gin and nachos overwhelm the scant space between us and turn my stomach. I flinch as he yells in my face.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Victoria! Why won’t you listen? You never listen. We belong together! Nobody understands you like I do. Are you listening? Listen to me. Listen to me!”
Pain shoots across the back of my head as Dennis shakes me and my skull bounces off the wall behind me. Finally, I fight back, flinging my fists at him and catching him across the cheek. He stumbles back and I yell for help, a strangled sob tearing from my lips.
I hear Dennis roar and finally, the stench of his breath is replaced with fresh air as someone wrenches him away from me. I see Kendra behind Dennis, her face red and furious.
“Hey asshole, get away from her!” She’s pushing at Dennis, trying to make him move away from me.
Liddie steps around them and pulls me out of the corner. “Oh my god, Victoria, are you okay?”
I nod. My voice isn’t working. Liddie is guiding me away from the restroom corridor and I look around just in time to see Kendra give Dennis another shove before she storms after us. Suddenly, I’m shoved from behind and stumbling over tables and chairs, wood biting deep into my legs. Great, a bruise that’s going to have to be covered in make-up tomorrow, I think hysterically.
I hear Dennis roar my name before I’m shoved again and Kendra is screaming for my bodyguards. My damned bodyguards. Where the hell have they been all this time?
I’m shaking, my teeth chattering with fear and my voice completely lost. Liddie helps me up and leads me to our table. I see Kendra pushing at Dennis, a couple of other lounge patrons helping her shove him toward the door. And finally, the double shapes of my bodyguards, lumbering across the restaurant like they’re on Sunday stroll through a flower garden. They pass by Kendra, giving Dennis a cursory glance before making it to my table.
Liddie is on her phone, voice low as I hear her giving someone the restaurant address. She’s called the police. “Attacked” and “stalker” register in my head before the bulky shapes of my bodyguards appear at the end of the table.
They stand there, the Buzzes, silent and looking unconcerned.
Kendra flies across the room, barreling between them to get to the table to check on me. When she sees that I’m shaken but otherwise fine she turns on the bodyguards.
“What. The. Fuck!” She screams. “Where the hell were you? Why weren’t you doing your goddamned job?” She turns to me, her fury at the attack making her reckless. “Didn’t you tell them about your stalker? Why weren’t they watching better?”
I look up at the pair. They still haven’t moved, their eyes are impassive. “They were told. And that’s a good question. Why weren’t you watching better?”
The Buzzes give each other a blank look before shrugging their shoulders.
“Do you care that your client was attacked in public? That she could have been seriously hurt by that deranged idiot?” Kendra fumes at them.
I stand up, take a deep breath, and nudge Kendra away from the pair. “Ken, it’s okay. I’ve got this. Calm down.”
“They need to do what you pay them an ass of money to do,” she snaps. I give her a gentle push and she huffs and plops into the booth, her arms crossed and her eyes fastened on the bodyguards.
“She’s right, you know,” I say as I round on the pair, “you failed to perform the most basic aspect of your job. To protect me from my stalker. You got the report, you knew he might show up and you let him walk right past you and corner me. What am I paying you for?”
All I get is another shrug from the pair.
“Well, I’m not paying you anymore. You’re fired.”
Neither of them says a word. They simply turn in unison and plod across the lounge and out the door into the warm, L.A. night.
I’m still shaking as I drop onto the bench and fish around in my bag. I pull out my phone and thumb it open, poking at the screen.
“Who are you calling?” Kendra asks.
“The twins.”
5
ANTONY
I burst through the doors of the swanky, trendy restaurant Victoria called me from and scan the room, looking for her curly head. Instead, I see a crew of L.A. cops gathered around a booth in the corner. I stride across the room and hear Victoria’s sweet lilting voice telling the cops how she was cornered near the restrooms. Son of a bitch.
“Excuse me,” I say and push my way through the pack surrounding her. She’s in the booth with her friends - Liddie, who’s been a family friend since we were kids, and some girl with long green-blue hair and a loud mouth who's asking the cops why they don’t go after the motherfucker.
“Victoria?” She looks up at me, her big blue eyes red-rimmed and scared.
“Antony, thank god!” She launches off the bench and into my arms. She’s trembling and soft and smells like the mountains after a rain. I clear my throat and gently set her on her feet. She keeps one small hand wrapped around my arm. “You okay?” I ask.
“I’m fine now. I’m glad you’re here. Where’s Kieren?” She looks behind me.
“Parking the car. What happened?”
She raises an eyebrow at me. “You let him drive?”
“Only in the parking lot. Now, what happened?”
She shudders. “I don’t want to talk about it again. You can read the police report, okay. They’ve already taken my statement.”
“You’re okay now,” I murmur and drape my arm across her shoulders, leading her away from where the police are now questioning her friends and toward an empty table. I see Kieren when he comes through the doors and wave him over. He makes a beeline across the room, not even stopping to apologize when he bumps into a guy with a round of drinks in his hands.
“Vickie,” he says and pulls her up into a giant bear hug. She clings to his neck and I can see the tension starting to drain from her body.
The police break away from her friends and start talking in low voices to one another. Liddie and the blue-haired girl rush out of the booth and over to us, both of them throwing their arms around Victoria and chattering.
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she says, smiling as she pulls their arms off her. “The twins are here, they’ll get me home.
They’re with me.”
And just like that, she lays her trust and safety at our feet.
Kieren levels a look at me. A look that says it’s all about Victoria now. I couldn’t agree with him more.
“Oh, the twins,” the blue-haired girl purrs and turns to us, giving us a dazzling smile. She’s a pretty enough girl but not really my type. She slinks up to me and my brother, hips swaying under her bright purple mini-dress. “Hi, I’m Kendra.” She holds out a hand tipped with long silver nails and licks at her lips. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you. Both of you.” Her eyes roam up and down. I’ve seen that look before. She’s another one of those who wants to know what it’s like to fuck us both at the same time. We get that question at least once a week.
"Nice to meet you,” I say shortly before turning to the police. I want to have a chat with them before they leave. Kieren, on the other hand, returns her dazzling smile and lays a kiss across her knuckles. Dolt. He’ll flirt with anyone that has tits. I’d warn the girl but she looks like the type who can take care of herself.
I make my way over the police. “Gentlemen, I’m Miss Chase’s private security.”
“Where were you when she was attacked then?” one of them asks.
“Her new private security. She didn’t contact us until after the attack. What can we do about this stalker of hers? This isn’t the first time he’s approached her.”
“Don’t think there’s much we can do. He was gone when we got here.”
“What about a restraining order?” I ask.
“That might help. If Miss Chase, or you, knew who he was. ‘Dennis’ isn’t much to go by. Neither is ‘brown hair’.”
“So there’s nothing we can do?” I’m getting frustrated by the lack of concern displayed by L.A.’s finest.
“Keep a closer eye on your client. And next time he shows up, get a better description.”
“Right.” I grind my teeth together to keep from snapping. When the police turn to leave, I catch one of them whipping out his phone and trying to take a sneaky snap of Victoria surrounded by her friends. I step in front of him, blocking his view. He gives me sheepish shrug and follows his co-workers out the door.
“Okay, we’re done here.” I slap my hands together to get everyone’s attention. Victoria is sitting with Liddie, their heads together like when they were giggly teenaged girls. Kieren is still talking to Kendra. She’s trailing her chrome-colored nails up and down his arm, leaning in towards him, her cleavage more on display than it was before. Looks like she popped open a few buttons. Kieren doesn’t look like he minds.
“Let’s go,” I snap.
Victoria and Liddie jump up and hug each other fiercely before Victoria comes to me and slips her hand in mine. Kieren bends low and whispers something in Kendra’s ear that makes her laugh and turn red. I see her slip him a napkin with something scrawled across the bottom. Her number. Of course.
Kieren gives me a grin as he makes his way to us. He drops a kiss on Victoria’s head and we sandwich her between us as we walk across the restaurant and out the door. I don’t say anything when he drops the napkin and it flutters across the parking and into the gutter.
We’re mostly silent on the way to Victoria’s house, the three of us wrapped in our own thoughts as I navigate the SUV through the ocean-misted air. When we arrive at the house, I make note of the fact that she doesn’t have adequate fencing and remind myself to call about that, and an electronic gate, first thing in the morning.
Victoria doesn’t live in a mansion. Her house is low-slung 1940’s bungalow, set back away from the street on a lushly landscaped plot of land. Her dad bought the place before she turned eighteen and she spent a couple of years renovating it to match her own laidback but classy style. It’s small by Hollywood standards but I couldn’t picture her living anywhere else. Kieren and I definitely need to get on that perimeter security, though.
I pull up in front of the house and run around to let her out. “Hang on before we go inside.”
“Why? Oh…” she says, understanding dawning as she watches Kieren unlock the door and begin to sweep the house for intruders. When he waves us in I walk her to the sofa and settle her in.
“I’m going to make you some cocoa,” I say. Cocoa has always been her go-to drink when she’s upset. Doesn’t matter if it’s 100 degrees outside, hot with whipped cream and cinnamon is how she likes it.
“Thanks.” She kicks off her heels and wraps a soft-looking blanket from the end of the sofa around her legs.
Kieren is wandering the room, checking window locks when I bring Victoria a stinging mug from the kitchen. I carefully hand it off and drop down on the opposite end of the sofa, watching as she takes a small sip.
“Hey, Kieren, grab that bottle of whiskey off that table, will you?” she says.
Kieren swipes the bottle on his way past and unscrews the cap. He grins at Victoria as he splashes a healthy dollop into her cup of cocoa before tipping back the bottle and taking a slug for himself. “Okay, let’s get down to this.”
I clear my throat and face Victoria. She’s cradling her spiked cocoa, taking small, kissing sips. Her hair is spilling over her shoulders in waves and the bright red of her…whatever you call that thing she’s wearing…makes her eyes seem brighter. I pull my eyes away from the spot where her collarbone dips into her top.
“Right. Well, given the circumstances I think it’s obvious that Kieren and I will be your security from now on. And I can’t believe you wouldn’t hire us from the start.” I point accusingly at Victoria and scowl.
“Sorry,” she says softly, her contrite face melting my anger a bit.
“Anyhow, from now on, anywhere you go, one or both of us will be with you. At least until we catch your stalker. After that, we’ll figure out where to go with it.”
“We need to get you a fence, electric preferably, with an electronic gate. And we’ll install a new alarm system for you with cameras for the house and property perimeter,” Kieren adds.
I pull out my phone and start tapping out notes. “We’re going to need your schedule at the beginning of every week so we can coordinate ours with yours and make sure you’re never without protection.”
“Guys…” she starts.
“That little car of yours has to go,” I say “You need something more substantial that can’t be forced off the road as easily. We’ll worry about that later, though, because for the time being, we’ll be driving you where you need to go.”
“I don’t think…”
“We both have our concealed carry permits but we’re going to get you to the range and teach you to shoot. Then, we’re going to purchase a gun for the house.”
“No,” she says.
“I…what?” Her word has stopped the flow of my thoughts. My fingers stop tapping at my phone.
“No. I don’t want to learn to shoot. I hate guns.” She shudders and a bit of cocoa slips over the edge of her cup and onto her hand. “I hate all this.”
Kieren leans forward and grabs her ankle, wrapping his hand around her leg. I slide across the sofa and take the cup from her, setting it on the glass-topped table in front of us before wrapping my arms around her shoulders. “Sorry. I know it’s overwhelming. We’re just trying to make sure you’re safe. Trust us. This is what we do.”
“Okay. I just don’t want to deal right now. I just want to take a shower and go to bed and forget about everything that happened.”
“You don’t have to deal with anything. We’ll do it all. You go take a shower.” I let go of her and she gets up and heads for her bedroom.
“Okay, you guys make yourself at home. You know where everything is.” She pauses in the doorway to her bedroom. “Uh, I’m just going to…leave this door open for now.”
“Yeah, okay. Take your shower and rest,” I say to her.
The house is small and quiet enough that we can hear her rustling around in her room, drawers opening and closing, the whooshing sound of the shower.
I’m watching Victoria’s door, her shadow passing back and forth, and I see one slim, creamy thigh when she passes the door on her way to the shower. I hear the soft clink of the shower door closing. I picture the water running in silver rivulets over Victoria’s, collecting in diamond drops on the tips of her pink nipples, sluicing across the plain of her stomach, collecting in the curve of her belly button. I’d drink it like nectar if I could.
Kieren clears his throat and I turn to see him tipping back the bottle again. “Victoria,” he says, pointing toward the open door with the bottle, “is the kind of girl who has no idea how gorgeous she is.”
“That she is,” I agree and wonder what it was Kieren saw on my face to make him say something like that.
I’ve never asked Kieren before, about his feelings for Victoria. If he has any that is. He may just see her as our little sister. I never considered it before, Victoria being more than, well, Victoria, but the trouble of the past few days have shed a different light on what I thought I felt about her. She’s beautiful, no denying that, but I feel like there’s something more than simple physical attraction. I wonder what Kieren would think if I hooked up with Victoria. If I more than hooked up her. If we dated.
I pull my eyes from the bedroom door and find Kieren absorbed in watching her room. When he feels the weight of my gaze, he drags his eyes away and takes another swig of whiskey. It seems that I’m not the only one who’s thinking about Victoria in a very unsisterly way.
The shower stops and a short time later Victoria wanders back into the living room wrapped in a white cotton robe, hair piled on her head in a loose bun, damp curls clinging to her cheeks and neck. A sweet, peachy smell wafts from her flushed skin.
She settles onto the table in front of us, looking considerably calmer and more collected than earlier.
“Let’s get this figured out then. The short version,” she says.
“No problem,” I say. “I’ll keep it condensed. One or both of us will be with you at all times until Dennis is caught and jailed. Don’t go anywhere by yourself. We’ll stay here with you and drive you. And we’ll take care of your alarm system and perimeter fencing. Questions?”
BODYGUARD BROTHERS: A TWIN STEPBROTHER MENAGE ROMANCE Page 4
