by Christi Snow
Luke’s heart jolted. He’d hoped and thought this might be a possibility, but to hear the words and reality was a shock to his system.
“We’ll have to take it slow,” Austin said. “I need to control the message going out about us to protect Hodges Media. If I have to, I’ll leave the company, but I don’t want to do that. Not yet, if I don’t have to. But I run a media company. Someone very wise,” he winked at Daniel, which meant that person had probably been Daniel’s dad, “told me I have a fantastic public relations team on my staff that I should be utilizing. With the holiday, most people on staff are also not available right now. So, my proposal is that we do this, but we lie low until after the New Year. If we can keep the media from finding out about us until I tell them, then that would be ideal. Do you think you two could live with that?”
He turned to Daniel. Their gazes clashed in a blast of elation and happiness. This was everything they’d both wanted to hear. As one, they pulled Austin up onto the couch between them and began to strip his clothes off of him.
With a bubble of laughter, Austin said, “Well, I’ll take that as a yes. Merry Christmas, everyone.”
A Merry Christmas indeed. None of them slept that night, but they all felt like they’d gotten their Christmas miracle from Santa.
Chapter Twenty
AUSTIN
Austin let himself into his penthouse apartment and shivered. Something must be wrong with his heating because it was frigid in here. Years ago, he’d taken to sleeping in the apartment at his office because it was easier to work the long hours that he did. That hadn’t changed since coming back from Colorado. While the three of them were waiting for an announcement from his media team, he hadn’t seen either Luke or Daniel since the day after Christmas.
Six long days.
And empty nights.
How had he gotten so used to having the two of them in his bed so quickly?
Even though they exchanged texts and even a few phone calls daily, he still felt lonelier than ever. He needed to touch his men, and he wanted them inside this cavernous, too empty space.
His cell phone rang as he dropped his leather messenger bag onto the console table just inside his entryway.
He smiled at the name on his screen. “Daniel, don’t you have a concert tonight that you need to be concentrating on?” He frowned over at the grandfather clock. The concert started in just over an hour. Daniel shouldn’t be calling now. He should be doing concert prep stuff.
“Yeah.” He only spoke that one word, but Daniel sounded worried.
Austin stopped, his heart taking off at a gallop. Something was wrong.
“I would focus on the concert if Luke would answer his damn phone. Have you talked to him today?”
“No. He sent me a text earlier saying that he had some errands to run for Brady and Emily’s arrival, so I figured he was busy working. Why? Do you think something else is going on?” He was only home to change clothes and then he planned to pick Luke up so they could go to the concert together. The only reason they weren’t there already hanging out in Daniel’s dressing room was because of that space they were trying to maintain for publicity’s sake.
But for Daniel’s first official debut since the accident, they’d decided the risk of discovery was worth it. They had to at least be at the concert to support him.
“I don’t know. Probably not. I hope not. But dammit, I talked to him early this morning, and he sounded like crap. All those kids Christmas Eve gave him some fucking germ. I’m probably worried over nothing, but he’s usually better about at least texting back than this. I haven’t heard from him and I’ve sent him at least a half a dozen texts. It’s not like him.”
“Okay. Relax. Concentrate on the band and what you all are doing there. I’m supposed to pick him up in thirty minutes, anyway. I’ll head over to his place early. Maybe it’s something as simple as his cell phone died and with all the travel, he forgot to put his charger back in the car.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Daniel said, but he didn’t sound convinced.
Unfortunately, Austin wasn’t convinced either. As Brady’s bodyguard for almost eight years, Luke was the master of multi-tasking. He didn’t forget little details like that.
“Concentrate on the concert now, D.” Veiled Lies needed tonight to go well. All the press planned to be there along with the executives from their music label. The buzz had been building all week about Daniel’s first concert since the plane crash. He didn’t need a distraction now.
“I will. But, Austin, I want you to call me the second you find him. I’ll have my cell phone on me. I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the damn concert. Call me.”
“Hey, baby. It will be okay. We won’t need to call you because we’ll be there in the wings cheering you on.”
At least he hoped so.
UNFORTUNATELY, NEW Year’s Eve traffic in New York didn’t give him any breaks after an unexpected snowstorm hit the city late this afternoon. Cars and trucks were almost at a standstill all over downtown, so he abandoned his driver and took off on foot several blocks away from Luke’s apartment building.
He tried to call Emily to see if they had talked to Luke. Brady and she were also stuck in traffic, just in New Jersey instead of the city trying to get into town for the evening revelries.
But like Daniel, they hadn’t heard from Luke after repeated unanswered messages and it also worried them.
Brady had called his building and given permission to the concierge to let Austin into both his penthouse and Luke’s apartment, just in case the man was in either place and couldn’t get to the door.
Although that thought had crossed his mind, hearing someone else voice it moved like ice in his veins. His jog sped up to a sprint. His Italian loafers weren’t made for running in the snow, but besides concentrating on not slipping and breaking a bone, he didn’t pay them any heed. He needed to find Luke.
The doorman had been told to expect him. He opened the door as Austin slid to a stop in front of the large brass double doors. “Mr. Dawes, the concierge, Ellery, is waiting for you at the elevators to take you up to Mr. Jacobson’s and Mr. Gresham’s apartments.”
For a moment, Austin wondered how the man could know who he was, but then realized that it probably wasn’t every day when a man in a full bespoke suit and leather dress shoes sprinted up to the building, especially in the middle of a snowstorm.
He nodded, thanking the man and silently vowing to send an anonymous cash bonus to the man next week...after he found Luke.
Ellery was a six-foot tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who could have easily been an Amazon or a Viking. But like the doorman, she expected him and jumped into action to lead him onto the elevator. “We’ll go to Mr. Jacobson’s apartment first. His place has a private elevator to Mr. Gresham’s penthouse that will make checking both places that much quicker.” The elevator door closed and for a moment the only sound inside the small space was his panting breaths and the snow melting and dripping onto the floor. “I hope nothing has happened to Mr. Jacobson. He’s one of the good ones.”
Austin nodded. “The best.” His worry wouldn’t allow any more words to push out past his tight throat.
The elevator opened, and he followed Ellery to Luke’s door. It seemed odd that he knew this man, in fact loved this man, but this was the first time Austin had been to Luke’s apartment. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought his first visit would be under these circumstances.
Ellery knocked first, but when no sound came from within, she used the building master key to open the door. Silence greeted them, but just inside the door stood a console table. He pointed it out to Ellery. “His keys and wallet are both here.” Austin’s stomach swirled with worry.
“Luke,” he called out, but he didn’t hear a sound to answer back.
They searched the apartment quickly. Large by New York standards, it still wasn’t huge and didn’t take long. “I don’t think he’s here,” Ellery said, her mouth set in gr
im lines.
“Agreed. Let’s go up to Brady’s penthouse.” He followed her as she led him to the private elevator. As Brady’s bodyguard, living closely with this hidden access gave Luke an extra ability to protect Brady if needed. Austin had no idea how often Brady was in danger. He knew there had been several kidnapping attempts on him when he was a teenager that made the news, and at least two well known stalking incidents since then.
While he knew it was Luke’s job, the idea of Luke putting his body between Brady and any danger coming at him didn’t sit well. He needed Luke safe and sound.
His heart raced in his chest. Fuck, they needed to find Luke before he had a heart attack.
The elevator to the penthouse opened into a hall deep in Brady’s apartment. “Does his penthouse cover the whole floor?” he asked Ellery.
“Yes, in fact it’s two floors. He uses this level for guests and associates. From what I understand, Mr. Jacobson’s apartment was built under primarily the music room to keep other residents of the building from being disturbed. While it’s all sound-proofed, there’s no way to completely block off all noise, so Mr. Gresham bought the space and converted it.”
Okay, so this would be a much larger space to search. “Let’s check the kitchen first. That seems to be the most likely place where Luke would need to make preparations for them coming home.” Although he was sure Brady had a housekeeper or something for that. Dammit. He should have asked Emily what exactly Luke would have been doing here.
Ellery nodded. “That will be upstairs. This way.”
Ellery led him down a long hall featuring black wood floors. At another time, Austin would like a tour of the place. It was massive, but still maintained a warm feeling, something that he’d never had in his penthouse apartment, which was why he stayed at the apartment at the office more often than not.
They rounded the corner of the hall and came into a wide-open entryway, but Austin didn’t notice anything else about the decorating since draped over the bottom landing of the massive staircase lay Luke.
Blood pooled below his head, a gory sight against the white wood of the stairs.
“Luke!” He rushed over to the man, quickly feeling for a pulse. “He’s alive.”
Ellery spoke rapidly into a radio that she’d carried onto her hip. “We need an ambulance.”
“Luke, can you hear me?” Austin crouched by Luke’s head, afraid to do anything that might shift his body. He could have a spine injury, especially since it looked like he’d fallen partway down the stairs.
His skin blazed with heat.
Luke moaned and tried to lift his body from where he lay sprawled on his stomach.
“No. Stay still, Luke. You’re okay now. We’re here and we’ve called an ambulance. Just hold still for a bit longer.”
His eyes fluttered open. “Aus...Austin?” His eyes were glazed with pain or fever or both.
“Yeah, baby, it’s me. Looks like you fell. Can you tell me what hurts?”
Luke shivered. “Head. C...cold.” His teeth chattered.
Austin looked up at Ellery who continued relaying messages to the front desk. “Can you find a blanket?”
“Yes. The ambulance is on its way, but with the weather and traffic, it will be a bit. A doctor who lives in the building is on his way up to help.”
Austin nodded tightly.
As she rushed away, he squeezed Luke’s shoulder. “Hang on for me. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Luke gasped and then he jerked up. “Gonna be sick.” He turned his head the other direction as his body heaved.
Austin wrapped his arms around Luke’s torso to give him some support, just praying that Luke’s body rebelling like this wasn’t causing more damage.
A scramble of footsteps echoed across the wood floors coming from what Austin assumed was the front foyer. He looked up to find a man wearing a concierge uniform followed by a distinguished-looking man about his age in a tuxedo and carrying an old style, black, leather doctor’s bag.
Luke fought Austin’s hold and struggled to get up onto his hands and knees.
Austin held him still. “Hang on, Luke. Why don’t you stay here for a little longer?”
The doctor nudged Austin aside. “Let me check him.”
Despite Austin trying to prevent it, Luke had sat upright and now he gazed at the doctor in confusion.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Ari Mendez. Can you tell me your name?” He flashed a light into Luke’s eyes.
Luke squinted. “Luke...Luke Jacobson.”
“Hi, Luke Jacobson. I think I’ve seen you in the elevator before. Can you tell me your apartment number and the date?”
“Apartment is 2714. Date is New Year Eve.” His eyes widened, and he searched for Austin. “The concer...” His words broke off with a wracking, full-body cough that left Luke moaning in pain.
The doctor frowned and pulled a stethoscope out of his bag and listened to Luke’s chest.
“Your chest if full of crap. How long have you had that cough?”
“Couple days.” Another full body shiver took over Luke.
The doctor reached into his bag again. “Open up.” The doctor inserted a thermometer under Luke’s tongue and then began probing Luke’s head. “Don’t speak. Just nod or shake your head.”
Luke nodded.
“I’m guessing you haven’t been feeling so great.”
Luke nodded.
“You were climbing the stairs and got dizzy?”
Luke nodded.
The doctor glanced down at the almost dried blood on the floor and the side of Luke’s head where more dried blood stained his hair.
“Do you know about what time that happened?” He took the thermometer out of Luke’s mother and hummed in disapproval at the number on it.
“Maybe lunchtime? Around noon?” He looked at Austin. “What time is it now? We have to go.” More hacking coughing.
“The only place you’re going, Mr. Jacobson, is the hospital,” the doctor said. “At the minimum, you have a terrible case of pneumonia and a concussion. I’ll need more tests to know more than that. Are you having any pain besides from that knot on your head or what feels like general soreness from the fall or your illness?”
“No, I’m fine.” Luke acted like he planned to stand and all of them began to yell at him. “I have to get to a concert.”
“It’s okay.” Austin tried to keep Luke from rising. “Daniel will understand. Let’s concentrate on taking care of you for the moment.”
The radios held by both concierges crackled. “The ambulance is here and paramedics are on their way up.”
Chapter Twenty-One
DANIEL
Sweat poured down Daniel’s spine, and he sang to the crowd who’d been everything that he missed about performing. They’d been electric all night long. It would have absolutely been a high point of his career if he weren’t so worried about Luke.
He still hadn’t heard a peep out of Austin. What the hell was going on?
In the lull of performing while Drew went to town on his drums, Daniel stepped behind one of the massive speakers and took a drink of water and checked his phone.
Still nothing.
Goddammit.
“You okay?” a roadie asked from the wings.
Daniel nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.” His stumps were aching, but he’d been jumping around on stage for over an hour so that was to be expected. “Can you check for me and see if either Luke Jacobson or Austin Dawes has shown up yet?”
“Sure thing, man. Great show so far!”
He began to sing another song when he saw movement from the roadie in the wings. Just then his phone vibrated in his pocket. “Take it away, Drew,” he instructed his drummer, who was also singing backup.
He couldn’t worry about the flare of panic in his drummer’s eyes as he shot across the stage to where he could answer his phone. “Luke?”
“Daniel, it’s Austin. We’re in an ambulance on the way to Faith Memorial.”
&
nbsp; “What happened? Is he okay?”
“I think he will be. A doctor already looked at him. He has pneumonia and passed out on the stairs where he fell. He has a concussion. I think he’d been passed out on those stairs a while. But he was awake and lucid, so that’s a good sign, right?”
Daniel wasn’t sure who Austin was trying to convince since he sounded like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Right,” Daniel agreed if only to get Austin to calm down. “I’ll be there soon. Take care of him, Austin.”
“Your concert,” Austin said weakly.
“Fuck the concert. Luke’s more important. You are, too. I’m coming.”
“Okay.” And in that one word from Austin, Daniel knew that he’d made the right decision. Austin needed him there. And he definitely needed to be there for Luke. Nothing else mattered.
LUKE
“I don’t care what they’re saying. Being here is the right thing for me. I won’t leave him when he’s like this.”
“But what about everything you’ve fought for? You’ve worked so hard, Daniel, to get the band and the music back. He won’t appreciate you throwing all that away.”
“It’s my career, my choice. I choose to be here. For him. For you. For us.”
Luke opened his eyes on a groan. The vibration in his chest kicked up the mess of congestion and he began hacking.
His head felt like jackhammers had taken up residence inside it. No matter how badly he wanted to close his eyes and let sleep take him back under, he couldn’t. His men needed him to wake up so that maybe both of them could let go of the worry that he could hear reverberating through their voices even as incapacitated as he was at the moment.
“Luke?” Both men rushed to the sides of his bed.
“Stop arguing,” he instructed, but the force he’d tried to infuse into his voice got lost in a hacking cough.
Someone offered him a cup with a straw. He gratefully drank down the lukewarm liquid, letting it sooth his aching throat. Then he really opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.