He was perfect. Small, with brown hair and gorgeous big eyes. They were blue now, but I knew from my sister having had a baby a few years ago, that babies had blue eyes for up to six weeks after they were born. I stroked his cheek and his eyes, which had opened, closed over. He snuggled in and fell to sleep.
Everyone in the kitchen watched me. Frannie spun around after she caught Sophia. She smiled at me and Sophia waved from her grandmas arms. Her chubby little cheeks lifting in a sweet smile. Frannie walked closer with Sophia examining Lucca, who was fast asleep and curled into my chest.
“He never settles,” she said and looked around blankly. “He never settles for anyone, but me and Mason.” I smiled up at her, honoured that Lucca had settled for me. “Since he’s so content, I’m gonna take this little terror up and give her a bath. Are you okay to mind him until I get back?” She looked at me nervously as she spoke. I wondered why?
I glanced down at the sleeping baby and at my plate of food, “Of course I am. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”
She smiled at me and nodded. “You’ll stay here though? In the kitchen?” It hit me why she was so nervous. I nodded slowly, wondering what she thought of me if she thought her grandson wasn’t safe. Did she think I was gonna take off with him as soon as her back was turned or take him outside to the press? I wouldn’t do that to anyone, least of all a baby, but I had to prove it to them.
I reached down for my fork and began putting the food into my mouth. Automatically now because the food had lost its flavour. Knowing that nobody trusted you was a difficult pill to swallow, but they’d see soon enough that I wasn’t going to sell any photos or tell anyone about the kids. I was here to do a job and part of my job was to protect these two little ones. I was gonna do it and be the best au pair ever for these kids.
I pushed my plate away. Betty swiped it away to wash it. Mason’s grandfather had sat and watched as I ate, being careful to avoid Lucca as I did so. Holding the baby like this made me miss Lilly. I wished she hadn’t moved to Australia with Derek. That I’d been able to see Trisha and Carter growing up. I would maybe go and visit her. She’d told me her door was always open. When I told her about what dad had done, she’d instantly wanted to wire me some money from her trust fund, but I’d made her back down. My dad had to know I could do this on my own. If he didn’t like the choices I was making, then he could just lump it.
“She worries, you know. My daughter. She worries about Mason, about his hiring you and what it’ll do to him if you leave.” Mason’s grandfather spoke as I’d been sat staring at Lucca without really seeing him. “Mason’s such a hot head. Him and his dad clash a lot. He needs a strong, independent woman to look after him, especially after what Olivia pulled. I just hope you’re up to the challenge, because although you’ll be looking after the kids, Mason will demand things are done his way. He won’t be happy if they aren’t. I’m not saying he’s a monster or unreasonable, but he is stubborn and scared of getting hurt again. He’ll not take kindly to anyone who doesn’t listen to him or do what he asks. He needs control and he hates handing control to anyone ever, especially now.”
I nodded at him, playing with the baby’s collar as he spoke. For some reason everything he’d said rung true, but I could see something in Mason, something I couldn’t describe. I wanted to help him but I didn’t want a relationship with him. I was still staring at Lucca when Mason’s grandfather spoke again. “Don’t let that put you off though honey. He needs someone like you. Someone unafraid to go toe to toe and challenge him. I think you’ll be good for him.”
With that, he stood, clapped me on the back and moved out of the kitchen, leaving me with my thoughts in turmoil. I wondered if Mason needed control in the bedroom? I suspected so and I wondered if he’d ever considered being a Dom? He’d be so good at it. I could teach him, if he’d let me. My mind drifted back to the clause in my contract. My excitement about helping him to dominate shrunk. He wouldn’t be interested in it. I wouldn’t suggest it either. He needed to heal on his own. I was only the au pair after all. The paid help. Sleeping with him would be sleazy and wrong, but god I couldn’t help myself fantasising about it.
I sat there stroking Lucca’s face and Frannie came back down, taking Lucca back from my arms. “Thanks for minding him, honey. I didn’t know if he’d stay settled, but I’m glad he did. It means I can leave easier tomorrow knowing that at least he’ll be okay with you.”
I glanced up at her, sure I’d heard Mase say something about her staying until Sunday. She shook her head at me. “Mason and his daddy got into it again this morning and I have to head home tomorrow or I won’t have a home to go to. It’ll be good for you though, getting flung in at the deep end always makes you learn quicker. And Helena will be coming home with me so it’ll be easier for you around here.”
With that she turned and walked out of the kitchen, humming a Black Mercy tune as she left. I followed a moment after her with some goodies from Betty for later.
“I’m gonna skip dinner tonight, Betty. Do you think that’ll be alright?”
She turned from the pot she was stirring at the cooker. “What? Oh yeah, that should be fine. But can I ask why?” She continued stirring as she stared at me, her glasses sliding down her nose and one of her curls escaping the bun on her head.
“I’m gonna leave Mason and his family to eat in peace since they are leaving tomorrow, but I’ll come back down later for a sandwich or something.” My voice sounded a little nervous but all I wanted to do was go back to sleep and try to relax.
“Oh sshh, you don’t need to do that honey.” She moved towards me and looked into my eyes. “But I can see how stubborn you are, so I’ll just give you a sandwich, some crackers and some cookies for you to take upstairs.” She moved away from me, throwing over her shoulder, “keep an eye on that pot will you?” I nodded and moved towards it, stirring like mad as she grabbed a grocery bag from a drawer and strolled into the pantry. After a few minutes, she came back with the bag laden with goodies.
“I made a few types of sandwiches. Beef and mustard, chicken and mayo and ham salad. I didn’t know what you liked. They are all on rye, ‘cause we’ve run out of any other breads. I also put in some soda and water. If you need anything else just holler or pop down.”
My lips lifted in a smile at her kindness. “That’s wonderful. Thank you so much.” I took the carrier from her and went back to my room, eating the chicken and mayo as I did. I didn’t want it to go off. I drank a full bottle of the water and put the rest of the food into the cabinet by my bedside for later.
Exhaustion hit again and I collapsed onto the bed, pulling the comforter over me. I moved around, trying to get comfortable. I loved this house and I was going to love living here. I couldn’t wait to get started with the kids. Taking them out and to playgroups and the play park would be fun. With that thought, I drifted off to sleep, face down on the bed, my hands tucked under me.
Mase
My day from hell just kept on going. As I walked into the meeting room, I was surprised to find the whole band seated. Dick Tom sitting across from them. The table was oval. The blinds around the room were open so I pressed the button on the control to close them as I entered.
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked as I stormed into the room. Every eye turned to me and I grimaced at the anger I saw in them. Harris stood up and handed me a sheet of paper. It didn’t say anything on it. I looked at him quizzically until he motioned for me to take my seat. He sat down on my right. Quinn was on my left, staring distractedly into his cell and Lewis was staring straight ahead, looking at the coffee bar.
I opened my mouth to speak, when Harris nudged me, shaking his head. I glanced at the Dick across from us and put my hands together on top of the table. My knuckles went white as the door at my back opened. Jackson walked in, followed by two suits. He sat down at the end of the table nearest the door. The suits sat down beside Lewis. All faces looked solemn, but since I didn’t know what was going
on, I started to get more and more pissed off. I was about to open my mouth when the door opened again and Gregory walked in with Kitty and her scumbag boyfriend.
They sat down next to the dickhead. I glanced around the room, my temper finally reaching boiling point. “What the fuck is going on?” My gaze darted around the room and I noticed that Kitty was in tears, her boyfriend slouched with his face hidden and Greg looked furious. “Someone speak now, before I completely lose my shit.”
Harris put his hand on my arm, and nodded to Jack at the end of the table. All eyes turned to him. He glanced at me nervously before opening his mouth to speak. “Mason, there is something you need to know. It’s not going to be pleasant to hear, but you need to hear about it and you need to stay calm. I’ve been working with these guys since I found out. We’ve now discovered who’s behind it.” He wrung his hands together and looked at me apologetically. “I had no idea about it when I left, but one of my friends tipped me off and I started to investigate.”
“Investigate fucking what?” I bit out, ready to wreck the room if someone didn’t tell me what the fuck was going on.
My hands shook on the table and Harris’s eyes shot to them, knowing what my temper was like. “Calm down man. Just listen. Please.”
I nodded, trying to take calming breaths as Jack glanced my way before speaking again. “Basically, Hard Rain’s album has been stolen and sold off to one of our competitors. Twenty two songs in total. They almost made off with Six Hero’s too, but our guys intercepted them.” I glanced down at the table top and smiled to myself. I was the only person who knew that the album that had been snatched and sold wasn’t the actual one. We’d scrapped that album. The girls were almost finished making the new one. The one they had was all the rejected songs we’d fed the A&R department to fuck with them, because damn if they were going to choose the girls first single. I glanced around and schooled my expression because I didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet. My glare was filled with fury.
“What the fuck? Who the fuck would do that?” My tone was sharp and there was a bitter taste in my mouth. Even though they hadn’t managed to take the actual album —it was in the safe in my office and no one, not even Harris knew about the safe — they’d still managed to steal the girls hard work. Although the songs were owned by copyright, someone else recording them could fuck up their chances of breaking into the industry properly.
Jackson’s eyes levelled with mine as he nodded across at Kitty and her boyfriend. My mouth dropped open in shock. I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t. My eyes met hers across the table and she swallowed hard, before looking down. “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? Kitty? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?”
Her whole body vibrated as I shouted at her. Harris jumped quickly to his feet as my chair fell to the ground. I slammed my fist onto the table. “Fucking look at me and answer.”
She knew better than to ignore a direct command from me, but the terror in her eyes made me even angrier. “What. The. Fuck. Happened?” Harris put a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged him off. I was so beyond reasoning with that she was lucky I hadn’t dragged her across the table and belted her bare ass. Never in my life had I wanted to belt her as bad as I did at that moment.
“I didn’t…” She began, when Jackson cut her off. “Don’t lie Katriona. It doesn’t suit you. You were caught with Six Hero’s album in your bag and he was dragging you out by your arm.” Jackson sounded completely disgusted with her. She began to cry softly.
“STOP WITH THE WATERWORKS AND EXPLAIN!” My voice was tight with tension as I watched her. Kitty’s douchebag of a boyfriend made to stand up and pulled on her arm. I turned my glare on him. “SIT THE FUCK DOWN YOU. YOU’RE GOING NOWHERE!”
He glared at me and snapped, “You can’t keep us here. We are leaving right now.”
Jackson stood up to let them pass, although Kitty hadn’t moved yet. As he stepped aside Jackson spoke again in a disgusted tone. “You are, of course, free to leave. But be aware that once you do, the FBI agents outside will be wanting a word with you. About committing theft of intellectual property, breaches in contract for Kitty and handling stolen property, so, by all means go.”
Her dickwad of a boyfriend sat back down. As he did, Kitty spoke up. “I didn’t know he was going to sell the album. I swear. I thought he just wanted to hear what the ‘hot girls,” she air quoted as she said it, tears filling her eyes, “ had recorded. I was bringing the album back tomorrow.”
She looked at me pleadingly. I looked down, completely disgusted not only with her, but with myself. This was what sleeping with an employee got you, betrayal and complete and utter horror. Never again would I make the same mistakes. Even with Amber. I had to stay away. I was so sick of people betraying me. The thoughts flashed through my head in a second as I stared at my hands. “So what does this have to do with Dick’s One and Two?”
My eyes moved along the table to Jackson and he smiled. “Well here’s the interesting part, ask Kitty’s boyfriend what his real name is?”
I glared over at him and he shrugged. “John Patterson.” Patterson? Wasn’t that Dick Two’s surname. “Ron Patterson is your father?” I asked him, stunned. He glared at me while he answered. “No. He’s my uncle.”
Of course. It all made sense now. They’d set this all up. But to what end? “What the hell? I don’t fully understand.” I said, glancing around the table. Lewis was pinching his nose, Quinn rocking back and forth on his seat and Harris was glaring at Dick One.
“So, Tom here came to me earlier.” Harris spoke, his face looking angrier. I could see his eyes tighten and his fingers turned white as he clasped his hands. “He told me all about the plans they had to sink us. How they’d hired John here to find Kitty and get with her. Convince her to steal the albums we were working on. They were hoping for ours, which was why they asked about it today, but since ours wasn’t ready, they couldn’t use it. Four of the other bands being out on tour, and only three working on albums, that weren’t us, didn’t leave a lot of choice. So they picked the band with the most potential and sold off their album to a rival company. They were going to do the same to Six Hero’s which was why they wanted to let them go. Who’d believe the bands that’d been dropped from their label when they claimed that the music was theirs?”
My whole body tensed and I glared at Dick One, my hands fisted at my side as I fought to control the urge to hit him. “So they wanted to sink our company. Why?” I stared holes in the dickwad and wanted nothing more than to punch holes in his face.
“So they could buy you out and force you to sign for their new and improved record company.” Jackson tone was bitter. I glared over at the dickwad as he mopped his brow with a handkerchief. He nodded at Jacksons words, but didn’t speak. I glanced around and had to take a walk, before I upturned the table and committed a murder or three. I pushed back from the table, and muttered under my breath. Jackson looked at me in sympathy.
Harris stood and walked to my side. “Dude, I’ll be back in. In a minute.” I said as I walked calmly out and saw some more suits sitting outside. I couldn’t focus on them. I had to get some air and get away from the shitstorm that was about to be let loose.
I sprinted up the stairs and flew towards the door to the roof. I had a spot where I liked to sit there. It was shaded from the sun by an old bit of plywood. I slipped inside, slumping to the ground. I held my head. I couldn’t believe everything that had just happened.
I sat for a few minutes as the pounding in my skull got worse. I needed some Advil and a drink. A fucking stiff one before I could face all the shit waiting for me. I made myself move and went back downstairs, heading straight into my office and reaching into my desk. I grabbed my Advil and poured two into the palm of my hand. I was about to turn around when something cold and metal dug into the space between my shoulder blades. I craned my neck round to see Dick Two standing there.
“Well, well, well. Looks like you know how to play fuckwit?” He bit out. “Move forwards
and lock the door. If you even think about raising the alarm, I’ll take you out. We need to have a talk.”
I did as he said, trying to figure a way out of this. How the fuck had he got in here? Had I locked the door as I went to the meeting? I couldn’t remember, but it didn’t matter. How the fuck was I going to get out of this?
I locked the door, knowing it would only be a few minutes before Harris came looking for me. I formulated a plan. When Harris came, I’d spin around and take the gun from him, forcing his hand upwards as I did so he couldn’t shoot me. Fuck if it wasn’t scary to contemplate getting shot.
He pushed me towards the sofa. I moved slowly, trying to take as much time as I dared, my headache all but forgotten as I tried to keep calm. He clubbed me hard on the back of the head. Stars popped into my eyes. I moved my hand upwards. The sticky wetness told me he’d drawn blood. By the look in his eyes, it wasn’t the only blood he wanted to draw. My stomach dropped.
“What do you want Ron?” I asked with a bite to my voice. I couldn’t help it. I was beyond enraged that they’d tried to sink us and my heart hurt like a motherfucker. He dug the gun in harder and my heart started pounding faster in my chest.
“What do I want?” He laughed after saying that and pushed me down to the sofa. He levelled the gun at my head. “I want what’s owed to me. I want to take charge of this company and your shithead of a band. I want you to know that you are entirely at my mercy. Ha-ha, you get it?” He chortled. “The lead singer of Black Mercy completely at my mercy. Now that’s funny.” I turned to face him, sitting on the edge of the sofa as he pushed the cold metal of the gun into my forehead.
“Should we play a game, Mercy man?” I shook my head at him, sitting on my hands to hide the fact that they were shaking. “Yeah, let’s play Russian Roulette. I’ll go first shall I? If you live through this, I’m gonna need you to sign this. It’s the deed to this place, signing all your shares over to me and confirming that your band will work for me. If you don’t, then it’s okay, because I have the forged documents in my pocket.”
Black Mercy (San Francisco Rock Romance Book 1) Page 9