They slide each other a look. What did Victoria call them? Buzz One and Two?
“Hey, man. Let us explain. That’s not what you think it was.” This one is scratching at the back of his neck.
“I don’t think there’s much to explain, you laid down on your detail and it almost went bad. If it wasn’t for a 5’4” make-up artist with blue hair, your client might have wound up badly hurt! Get out of my office.”
“It was ABS.”
That stops me, but somehow, I’m not surprised. I knew they were trying to run us out of business, but using Victoria? This might be the final fucking straw.
“Okay. Talk.” My voice is clipped and dangerous as I wave them toward my office. I gesture to the chairs in front my desk and walk around to the other side. This isn’t an interview anymore so I don’t bother offering coffee.
I fold my arms across my chest. “So...”
“I’m Tony, by the way, nice to meet you,” one of them offers.
I don’t bother to answer.
Tony clears his throat. “So, ah, I guess you’ve got our resumes. So you’ll know that I’ve got twelve years in the Navy Seals. I’m also a firearms instructor and I’m able to carry concealed in any state. I’m a trained driver, defensive and evasive tactics.”
“What’s your point?” I ask.
“Sentry wasn’t paying enough,” he explodes. And suddenly I understand.
“You took a fucking pay off.” Never mind boiling blood, I’m ice now. “I should put a bullet in your fucking thick head.”
“Wait, wait, wait…” the other one finally speaks up “ABS offered us double. Not to let her get hurt, just to let an excited fan slip by or something.”
“And you think that makes it okay?”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” he says.
“Sorry, Bryan?” I glance at the files on my desk. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re saying.”
Bryan is looking at Tony, his mouth opening and closing, his eyes asking for help. Tony jumps in to rescue his buddy. “Yeah, we took a payoff, but it wasn’t to hurt anyone. We thought it would be okay. ABS said that Victoria was hot shit now and that with her on their client roster they’d pull in more business than ever. They want her contract and they were willing to pay us a lot to help them get it.”
“Keep talking.”
Tony swallows, his thick, heavy neck bobbing. “We were supposed to go work for ABS after, with their top tier clients. Sentry fired us after the restaurant deal and when we went to Dean, well, he told us that it had been too public. There were people in the restaurant taking pictures and videos. ABS didn’t want to chance putting us with big clients anymore. We might get recognized and then the client might fire ABS cause of how we messed up with Victoria.”
“So you came to me looking for revenge on ABS?” I shake my head. The fucking nerve of these two. Ballsy, I’ll give them that.
“ABS did offer us desk jobs,” Bryan mumbles.
“Yeah, for less than half what we made at Sentry,” Tony adds. “We did what ABS asked and they shafted us and they’re trying to shaft you and any other company they think is serious competition.”
“I already knew that.” I reach over and grab their files, flipping through them again. They are incredibly qualified but I don’t know if I can hire people I couldn’t ever fully trust. That’s what makes working with Kieren ideal. The level of trust.
“How can I trust you not to take another payoff from ABS. You’ve done it once…” I pin them with a steady gaze.
“It won’t happen again,” Tony says levelly. “If we’re caught in some sort of payoff scandal, it’s the end for us in this business. We’re not stupid enough to tempt fate twice.”
“I don’t know if that’s going to work for me.” I close their files with a slam.
“C’mon, boss…” Bryan pleads.
Standing up, I point at the door, “Please escort yourselves out. I’ll call you if I change my mind.”
All they can do is nod. Their faces reflect their disappointment but they push back their chairs and silently leave the office. I watch the camera-feed from the front door, waiting until the door swings shut behind them before I let down my guard.
I can’t believe those sons-of-bitches. They put Victoria in danger for a bribe and it was all ABS’s fault. The next time I see Dean Falwell, I’m going to break his nose. I wonder if I should try to take some kind of legal action against ABS? I could sue but that would bankrupt Defender, Inc. We don’t have the money or legal team that ABS has. They’d tie us up in court for months, or even years, and drain us dry. I’ll think of some other way to get back at Dean and ABS.
Flopping back into my chair, I tab open my computer and pull up emails, scanning through them, quickly discarding junk and working my way through the slush. A subject line catches my eye and I open the email to see it. A tabloid journal…and they’re claiming to have an exclusive with Dennis. At first, it’s hard to take it seriously; that stalking nutter, ranting and raving on national television about how much he and Victoria belong together? It doesn’t sound like it will be much of an interview. But what if he knows something? What if he knows about us, Kieren and I, and Victoria? He’s been watching her a long time since she was in that play in New York almost four years ago, and while he may be crazy, he’s not stupid.
We didn’t take any privacy precautions that day we were in the kitchen together. The doors and windows were open. Even with the fence and bushes, someone at the right angle with a long-range lens…or a small drone…they could have seen everything.
I snatch up my phone and punch in Kieren’s number as quickly as possible. I’ve got to make sure Victoria doesn’t get this information from anyone else.
Tapping my fingers on the desk, I silently will Kieren to pick up his damned phone. When he finally does, I almost snap his head off.
“Is Victoria with you?”
“Yeah, right here,” Kieren answers.
“I need to talk to you, privately.”
“Okay.” I hear him shuffling, excusing himself. And in the background, the sound of mariachi music. “All right, what’s up?”
I quickly fill him in on my afternoon interviews with Tony and Bryan and ABS’s involvement in Victoria’s restaurant attack. His rage is palpating through the phone. I can actually hear his hand tightening and cracking the phone casing.
Then I tell him about the upcoming interview with Dennis.
And I’m glad that he’s in a public place with Victoria.
“I sent you the Dennis interview into. We’re getting screwed by more than one person and in ways that are not fun. When you’re done there, you and Victoria come to the office,” I tell him and tap off my phone.
Then I sit, scrolling back and forth through the interview announcement, trying to read between the lines.
18
KIEREN
The traffic is horrific and it takes twice the amount of time it normally would to get to the Defender, Inc. office after we put Liddie and Kendra in an Uber and promise to return Liddie’s SUV in one piece. Victoria is in the passenger seat, her eyes trained on the passing L.A. scenery. She’s quiet, so I know she’s worried. I am, too. Everything seems to be piling in all at once and I don’t know how to handle it. I want to take my Jag and hit some winding hillside roads at top speed and then drink myself into a stupor for a few days and then wake up and pretend everything is okay. But this time it’s about Victoria and I can’t do that. Not anymore.
I punch the keypad on the office door but Antony is already there, pulling it open and guiding us inside. We pile into the back office and I start to pace. I need Antony to tell us what’s going on and then, if I can’t get drunk, I need to go fix it.
“Will you stand still,” Victoria says to me.
“No.” I keep pacing.
Antony turns the computer around and shows the screen to Victoria, it’s the same article he sent to me earlier. “I guess you’ve seen this?” he
asks her.
She reads over the announcement again and nods. “I don’t see why it’s such a big a deal. The guy is nuts. He probably won’t even say anything that makes sense. What could he know about me?”
“He could know about us…the three of us,” Antony says.
I stop pacing.
“There’s no way. How…” Victoria starts.
“There are ways.” Antony tells her firmly.
There are ways. I know this. Like, someone could have let something slip, something like calling Victoria “my girl”. Somebody like me. This could all be my fault. I don’t say anything. Mostly because I want to get things fixed but also because I don’t want Victoria and Antony to know I’m the one who fucked up.
“There’s more.” Antony says.
Victoria groans and buries her face in her hands. “Why is there always more?”
“It’s ABS. They paid off your guards that night Dennis found you at the restaurant. They were instructed to let someone by so you’d fire the guards and ABS could move in on your contract but you messed up their plans by hiring us instead.”
“Son of a bitch,” I say softly “I’m going to kill Dean.”
“Get in line,” Antony remarks.
“So what do we need to do?” Victoria asks. “Should we get an attorney? Sue ABS. Try to block the interview with Dennis?”
Antony slides his eyes in my direction before answering. “We need to take a step back from this.”
My lips tighten.
Victoria looks a little confused by his words. “Step back from what exactly?
“This…us.”
Her eyes immediately begin to swim, tears catch in her lashes and pool in the corners. I grab her hand and lead her to the sofa, sitting her down and pulling her close, stroking her back.
“We need to make this relationship more…professional. Appearances are everything. We have to make sure we’re putting on the right show.” Antony is looking at Victoria, anguish written in the lines between his eyes, the tightening of his jaw. This is hurting him too.
“That’s not what I want,” she says.
“Me either, Antony.” I’m starting to get angry. At Dennis, at Antony, at myself for letting this start.
“I don’t…listen, if there’s even a rumor that you’re intimately involved with both of us then your career is done, Victoria. Right now, we need to assume the absolute worst, that Dennis knows about us and is getting ready to spill his guts on primetime. We need to run damage control and we can’t do that if you’re sitting on my dick and sucking on Kieren’s!”
Antony’s fear has made him reckless and hurtful with his words. I understand what he’s trying to do but Victoria, she doesn’t realize it’s the fear of losing what we have together and ruining her life that’s making him cruel. Antony turns, puts his back to us and I can see him breathing deeply, trying to get a handle on his emotions.
“I don’t care,” Victoria says simply.
“That’s because you don’t know what you’re saying,” Antony tells her.
“Goddammit, Antony!” she explodes, “don’t tell me what to feel. I know what I’m saying and I know what I’m risking. It’s you and Kieren or an acting career. I get it. But it's my decision to make. You don’t get to make this decision for me.”
She’s flushed and panting and her eyes have turned a blue so dark it’s almost black. She’s beautiful in her anger.
I pull her to me, wrap my arm around her waist. “He’s not trying to do that, baby girl. He’s trying to protect you. Everything we do is to protect you. If we have to give up what we have with you to keep you safe, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Victoria turns her face into my shoulder. Her hot tears seep through my shirt and sear my skin with her hurt. I don’t want to do this to her. I give Antony a glare laced with daggers.
Victoria sits up and mops at her face with the backs of her hands. “I feel safer than I’ve felt in my entire life with you and Kieren,” she says to Antony. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” She grabs my hand and squeezes. “I feel like the hole that’s been in my heart since my dad died has been filled. I tried to fill it with acting, and while that works a little, it’s only a patch, not a real fix. You guys are my fix.”
My sweet Victoria. My chest is tight and swelling at her words. Until this moment, I hadn’t realized that I’d been worried it was all temporary, that we were a distraction for Victoria from Dennis and the demands of fame. Now I know it’s serious. She wants something real with us. I’m willing to give her as real as she wants.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I won’t give you up.” I tilt her face to mine and place a soft, caressing kiss on her lips.
“You’re letting your emotions get the best of you, Kieren,” Antony says, “just like always.”
“You act like there’s something wrong with being emotional,” I say. “Sometimes, pure logic and stoicism aren’t the answer. You can’t poker face your way through every situation, Antony. Especially when it comes to Victoria.”
Victoria curls into my, laying her head on my chest. “I was going to ask you guys if you would consider moving in with me, permanently.”
I squeeze her and drop a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll do it.”
Antony sighs and I can see him breaking. He wants Victoria happy as much as I do. It’s just his fear of what might happen that’s holding him back. Victoria holds out her hand, gestures him forward. He walks over, his head dropping. He knows he’s as lost to her as I am. When she slides her hand in his and pulls him down, to her, to us, he’s done. He can’t give her up either.
We cuddle her between us, soothing and calming her.
“We’ll move in with, for good,” Antony says. “But after we get everything settled. We might need to think about somewhere more secluded. But we’ll do this.”
A smile finally breaks through the clouds on Victoria’s face. She throws her arms around Antony and starts peppering his face with kisses, leaving little lip gloss marks scattered across his cheeks. He rolls his eyes a little but I see the grin tugging at his lips. He lets her keep kissing at him until she’s interrupted by the dinging text notification on her phone.
“Ugh,” she groans as she reaches over and grabs her bag from the floor. I take the opportunity to also grab a handful of her ass. She flaps her hand at me and fishes out her phone, checking the screen. Her face darkens.
“What is it?” I try to peer at the screen over her shoulder. She flips it around so I can read the message.
“Samson. He has another interview for me. I told him no more for a while. I need some time off.” She’s glaring at the screen. She taps at his name and the phone starts dialing, she holds it up to her ear and listens. In a huff, she thumbs the phone off. “Voicemail.” She tosses the phone back towards her bag. “Why did he do that? I was very specific about not wanting any more interviews. Doesn’t he work for me?”
“It’s probably because of Dennis,” Antony says. “He’s giving his interview, this is the chance for the tabloids to get your side, and make bank off the stories. And I bet Samson is getting a good cut for arranging it.”
“You think?” she asks. Then she chews on her lips for a second. “That’s it, I’m going to his office.” She gets up and heads for the door.
“Hang on, we’ll take you,” Antony calls out.
Then he holds his hands out for the keys.
19
VICTORIA
The twins are taking me to see Samson.
Something isn't right. I’m seeing things in him that I didn’t see when he was my dad’s manager. Maybe I didn’t pay attention but he’s shady and sneaky and treats me with an incredible amount of disrespect considering the amount of money I make him.
I’ve known Samson my entire life and it hurts me to think that someone who I always thought of as an uncle, someone who showed up for birthday’s and graduations, is taking advantage of me. But that’s what it seems is ha
ppening. He’s not returning phone calls or texts or emails, and then there’s the creative accounting that happened on my last quarterly royalty statement.
Antony is driving, deftly maneuvering the monster SUV around downtown Los Angeles traffic. Samson’s office is in the newly built Wilshire Grand Center, a gleaming skyscraper that spears the L.A. sky with its glass and metal body. Antony finds parking in a nearby garage and we head over to his offices. My name and face get us past the bodyguards and we take the elevators to the 28th floor.
We reach his floor and make our way our way out of the elevator. I approach the receptionist sitting behind a shining metal counter. Her hair is black and severe and she has a Bluetooth headphone placed discreetly in one ear. I give her my most dazzling smile. Her face doesn’t crack. She could give Antony a run for his money.
But she knows who I am.
“Miss Chase, Samson can’t see you right now,” she says, without bothering to call his office. The security guard must have announced our arrival.
“I need to see him. Now,” I say coldly.
“No. Sit down. I’ll let know when he’s free.” Her voice is even colder. Fine. I’ll fight ice with fire.
I charge down the hallway, my shoes clacking off the marble floor like gunfire. I hear the receptionist hightailing it behind me and Kieren’s chuckle echoing off the walls as they follow behind her.
I reach the door at the end and snatch it open and find Samson sprawled across his desk, his round gut white and protruding, pants puddled around his ankles, with a pretty red-head bent over him, her blouse open to the waist and Samson’s shriveled cock in her mouth. She can’t be more than nineteen.
“Eeep!” the red-head squeaks and drops his dick, scrambling to pull her blouse up and over her shoulders.
Samson sits up, his cock a mealy worm curled up in a thatch of grey hair. He doesn’t look disturbed or embarrassed. He points at the red-head, “Wait outside honey, but don’t go anywhere.”
She grabs her shoes and bag and runs from the room. I’d bet she’s not coming back.
BODYGUARD BROTHERS: A TWIN STEPBROTHER MENAGE ROMANCE Page 12
