by Jessa Wayne
I pulled the door open and went into the club, smiling when I saw Travis walking toward me.
"Good timing," I said. "I was hoping to catch you here..."
He was walking toward me, but he looked so angry. Although he was looking right at me, he didn't acknowledge me, almost as if he was looking through me.
"Travis? Is everything okay?"
He walked right past me, his eyes boring down on me but he didn't say a word. He pushed the door open and disappeared, the door closing quietly behind him.
I pushed it open and called out to him, but it was no use. I looked back inside for answers, hearing voices coming from the back. When Buck walked out, he looked at me and shook his head.
"You just missed all of the excitement."
"I think you're right. What happened?"
"A little too much brotherly love going on in the back, I'm assuming. It's not like I didn't try and warn him."
"Travis and Julien?" I asked with caution.
"Yep. I knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of time."
He grabbed a stack of glasses and went behind the bar, so I took it upon myself to investigate the matter further. Walking back toward Travis's office, I peeked inside and saw Julien leaning against the desk. He was bent over and holding his nose as it dripped blood onto the floor.
"Julien! Are you okay?" I didn't recall seeing anything swollen or bleeding on Travis. "What happened?"
"Hey, Maddie." He stood up and attempted a smile. "I guess he isn't over our little quarrel from five years ago."
"What was it about, anyway? He never really told me why you aren't getting along."
I grabbed some tissues from the top of a file cabinet and helped him.
"Honestly? It's been so long now; I don't even remember."
"He doesn't seem like the type to hold a grudge. Are you sure it isn't something else?"
"I don't know."
"Have you tried talking to him?"
"Yeah. I mean, I've told him how much I've changed. I'm trying to make it right with him. I came here to try and do something special for him, to make up for lost time, I guess. Every time I work on getting closer to him, I think I'm accomplishing ground, and he gets angry. He seems to get pissed off no matter what I do. I don't get it."
"Well, maybe he needs time to adjust to you being home. You did spring your return on him a little suddenly."
"Yeah, I guess so." He pushed away from me and looked at me sympathetically. “I’m okay now. Thanks." He took the tissues and threw them in the trash.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. I just wish I would stop screwing things up with Travis. I feel like such a jerk."
"You shouldn't," I said, consoling him. "You need to be patient with him. That's all. Give him some time. I'm sure he'll come around."
He looked down and shook his head. "No. I know he hates me. He has always been jealous of me, no matter what I did, or tried to do."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. He has always been so understanding of everything. I've never seen him even raise his voice."
"I've known him a little longer than you have, no offense."
"None taken."
"Even when Iris broke my heart," he snickered. "Man did she ever. I thought she was the one, ya know? We were going to have a baby and everything."
"What happened?" I felt so sympathetic for Julien as he told me his story. I put my hand on his shoulder and leaned next to him.
"I don't know. It was all so surreal. One minute, we were happy and excited to start a family, the next minute it all changed. I was going to propose." His chin trembled, and he looked away. "She lost the baby and just disappeared. I was so lost for so long; I didn't know what to do. I tried looking for her. I went through everything in my head wondering if it was something I did or said. I was going crazy in my head, ya know?"
"I'm so sorry, Julien."
"I reached out to my brother, went to talk to Trav about it and he was so angry at me. I figured he was just confused or something, but no. He never gave me the chance to explain, to tell him how I felt. I didn't know what to do; so, I left. Drove until I ran out of gas. Stayed in some small town for a few days and then decided to join the Marines."
"It must have been so hard for you. I'm so sorry." I felt my own tears stinging my eyes and wanted to make his hurt go away. When he looked up at me, it felt like we connected on an emotional level. His eyes were bright, almost courageous, but I saw his pain still lingering. I searched his face and saw a little bit of Travis there.
"Come here," I whispered, wrapping my arms around him. When I pulled him in to console him, he didn't turn his head away. His lips were on mine, and he kissed me.
There was a familiarity to it, a need for acceptance. I quickly pulled away from him, trying not to make things more awkward.
"It will be okay, Julien. I can talk to Travis if you want me to. I'm sure it's just some miscommunication."
"You'd do that for me?"
"Of course."
He leaned in and kissed me again, this time wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in. The need turned quickly into a seduction that I wasn't comfortable with. I pushed away from him, covering my mouth with my hand.
"Julien, no. I'm sorry if you thought…."
"No, it's my fault." He closed his eyes and turned away. "I'm a fucking idiot."
"Stop it. You're not. You have to figure out what you want and where you are."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He grimaced and glanced at me. "Don't say anything. I didn't mean what I just did. It's just that, you are so nice and you seem to understand me. I feel, almost connected to you, Maddie."
He reached his hand around to the back of my neck and pulled me to him again, his eyes closing. I stood up and walked to the middle of the room before turning back toward him.
"If you need to talk, I will listen. But you have to understand that I'm with Travis."
"I know, I know," he said, nodding. "I'm sorry. I get all caught up in the moment. How long have you known Travis?"
"Almost six months."
"And you're getting pretty serious?"
"Well, I'd like to think so. I mean, we live together, and he is really good to me. He helped me get signed with a record company. He's changed my life."
"Can I give you a little bit of advice, Maddie? I feel like I owe you that much."
"Of course. What is it?"
"Be careful with Travis. I know you think you know him, and maybe you do, to a certain extent."
"What do you mean?"
"He just… he gets hot-headed. He has been known to get pretty angry at times. He hides his mean streak pretty well. I don't know, maybe I'm the reason or the cause, but I've seen it on more than one occasion."
"I think you're too hard on yourself, Julien. Whatever happened between you and your brother, you can work it out, I'm sure. You just need to talk to him."
"It's not like I haven't tried. You see where it gets me." He pointed to his swollen nose and sniffled.
I believed what Julien was telling me, but I couldn't believe he was talking about the man I was in love with.
"You don't believe me," he said, staring.
"I do, I just… are you sure you aren't reading too much into this? I mean, I know how rough brothers can be with each other."
He smirked and walked to Travis's chair, sitting down and leaning back before continuing his conversation.
"Before I left, we got into an argument. Just brotherly shit, nothing too serious."
I waited for him to continue, but he just looked at me.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Ya know what? Never mind. It's a story for another time, perhaps."
"Julien, come on." I walked to the desk and leaned against the edge. "I told you that you could talk to me, and I meant it. Maybe it will help me help you."
He looked at me for a long time as if he was trying to analyze whether he should tell me or not. It couldn
't be that bad. I knew my Travis, didn't I?
"We were on the second floor of the building. Had a few friends over for some beers. Things escalated, and we started arguing. I walked out onto the balcony, knowing he'd follow me. I pulled him out there to keep the others from hearing him. We were arguing about stupid shit, but he was getting so pissed. A friend of mine heard us argue and she tried to intervene. I don't know if he thought she said something she didn't, or what. Next thing I know, he is swinging his arms around and getting angrier. I tried calming him down, but it did nothing."
"What happened?" I didn't want to know. The words just came out of my mouth.
"My friend sort of fell over the railing and landed on the ground."
I gasped, covering my mouth in disbelief.
"She was okay," he said quickly, his hand raised toward me. "But it just shocked me, ya know? I didn't expect something like that to happen."
"I don't know what to say."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you. It was quite a while ago, and you said he'd never had an issue with you. Maybe he's changed. Maybe he's not so angry." He glanced at me and touched his nose carefully.
I felt my heart pounding. This couldn't be true. Travis was so perfect. My eyes glossed over and I needed to get out of there.
"I should go," I said, trying not to rush. "I have some… things to do before…."
"Hey, Maddie?" He stood up and leaned over the desk, his hand touching my arm. "Don't tell Travis about our talk. And, the kiss."
"We'll keep it between us," I said, forcing a smile.
"Thank you. I just don't want any more trouble. I sort of got caught up in your kindness. I know I did wrong. It won't happen again."
"It's fine, really." I patted his hand and walked out the door feeling numb from the new knowledge I received.
Just as I got outside into the warm sunshine, my phone rang. When I saw Travis's name, I hesitated. It was the first time I didn't want to talk to him. I took a big breath, pushing the guilt I felt down, and I hit the button.
"Hey, honey." My voice was shaky. I cleared my throat as if that would have made a difference.
"Where are you, Maddie?"
"On my way to the studio. Are you okay? You sort of rushed past me earlier."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me. I'm better than I was. My dear brother came to see me, and he always knows how to push my buttons. Did you see him?"
"I… did," I said, feeling my chest tighten. I didn't want Julien's story to be true, but I wasn't so sure anymore. "He, um, he looked upset. Did… something happen?"
"Something always happens when he's around. Listen, I don't want you to get too close to him, okay? He's bad news."
I thought about trying to convince him to talk to his brother more, but it wasn't the right time. "Okay."
"I'd like to see you tonight, but I have to work late at the club. Will you be up?"
"Probably not. I have to get up early. Studio time."
"Well, that's my loss then. I will stop in and see you there, tomorrow."
"Sounds perfect."
"I love you, Maddie."
"Love you too."
I quickly hung up the phone and leaned against the building, feeling out of breath. This wasn't happening, was it? I needed to find out what was between Travis and Julien.
Chapter Five
Travis
I crawled into bed after closing up the club and cuddled up to Maddie. She felt so damned good after the day I had. I was too tired to do anything else, but too on edge to sleep. I listened to her patterned breathing, and it softened me. I felt fortunate to have her in my life.
I awoke to silence. Looking around, I realized I must have slept right through Maddie's morning ritual, which was not like me at all. The smell of coffee was in the air, and I smiled, forcing myself out of bed. I meandered to the kitchen in hopes of stealing a morning kiss before she'd left for the day, but I was greeted with an empty coffee cup and a bowl with residual yogurt in the bottom that hinted at her presence moments before I entered.
I stole the last of the coffee, shutting the machine off before heading back to the room. When I finally got to the studio as I had promised, Maddie was nowhere to be seen.
I spotted my mother in an adjacent control room and walked in to talk to her when my brother stopped me short. He was working with her on something, and it made my anger flare up again.
"What is he doing here?" I seethed, still feeling the pain in my jaw from his right hook.
"Good morning to you too, Travis," she said with a smile. "Your brother seems to want to take a chance at his singing career again. He asked me to help him out with it so…."
"We already discussed this," I interrupted.
"Yes, we did." Julien's tone was too happy. "Travis didn't quite have the time to spend with me, so he suggested I come and talk to you about it."
"I don't want you here," I commanded. "I thought I had made that perfectly clear."
"Perfectly. But since when did I ever take your authority? Last I knew, you weren't my father."
"Not that you ever listened to him either."
My anger must have radiated throughout the building because the door opened and Maddie walked in perplexed at the tone of my voice. She didn't say anything, but I saw the concern on her face.
"I think you've cost us enough, don't you?" I asked, opening the door for his exit.
"Oh, I don't need your money," said Julien. "Once my record deal goes through, and I finalize some paperwork at the bank, I should be more than comfortable to do this all on my own. With the royalties I'll be getting from my record deal, I can finance this little project I've been working on and live all on my own. I'll make you proud of me yet, big brother."
I sucked the air from my teeth and stared at him. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do, but I didn't like it. I didn't pry or ask questions. What I did do, was to take this new little piece of knowledge and tuck it away in my mind for later use. If I was going to uncover Julien for who he truly was, I needed to play it smart.
"Sounds like you have it all set up then." I glanced at Maddie. She wasn't impressed with my attitude toward Julien for some reason. I tucked that away as well and smiled. I stuck around for a few minutes to watch how he and our mother were getting along while the wheels in my head turned. "Let me know if there is anything I can help with."
"Change of heart, big brother?"
"You could say that."
I placed my hand on Maddie's lower back and led her out of the room.
"What was that all about?" Maddie asked.
"I just worry that he's going to get into more trouble, that's all."
"Maybe you should give him a chance. He seems to want to be better."
"Maybe." I studied her, wondering where her interest to make things better between Julien and me came from.
"I think he does want a relationship with you, Travis. Can you at least talk to him?" She fed her arms around my waist and looked up at me with those long lashes and gorgeous pout.
"You have such a big heart. How can I say no to that face?"
I leaned down and kissed her tenderly, wanting so much more than just a kiss. I fed my hands up her back and pressed her into me until I felt her against my groin. My cock pulsated, and my adrenaline began to flow a little faster. I opened her mouth with my tongue and explored, tasting her, devouring her, melting into her.
"I missed you last night," she cooed.
"You were sleeping so soundly. I didn't want to wake you."
"I wouldn't have minded if you did."
"If that's a rain check, I'd love to cash in on that tonight."
"I look forward to it," she whispered.
She kissed me again, leaving me wanting for more as she walked away, promising a rendezvous later on. I watched her until she disappeared into the studio and my face lost all expression as I set my eyesight on the door Julien was behind. I had a new agenda, and I had to keep it to my
self until I had the evidence needed to expose my brother.
I walked out of the studio and drove to Julien's hotel room. Pulling the key I lifted from his jacket, I let myself in and did a thorough investigation of his room. The only information I was able to get was a business card with a bank name. I hoped for the best and called the number.
"National Bank of Nashville, how can I help you?"
"Hi, yeah. I have some questions about a deal I had inquired about previously?"
"What is your name, sir?"
"Julien Gage," I said, as I left the hotel.
By the time I had finished my conversation with the lender, I had discovered that my wonderful little brother, who had changed so much for the better, was working on closing on a loan to buy Desperado out from under me.
"Once a leopard, always a leopard. Isn't that right, baby brother?"
I climbed into my car and took off toward the studio again.
I squealed to a stop, barely shutting it off as I jumped out. Bursting into the control room, Julien was in the isolation booth working on a song. I went to the control board and shut him down before flinging the door open and meeting him face to face.
"Travis!" My mother was mortified at my actions but was powerless to stop me when she tried grabbing my arm. She ran in behind me as I knocked my brother off the stool he perched on.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" I spat, throwing my fist into his face, knocking him up against the wall. "You think you can waltz back in here and just do whatever the fuck you want to, regardless of what’s going on around you?"
"Travis," he said, pushing himself off the wall. His hands were in the air, and he kept glancing through the glass toward the control room several times as I screamed at him.
"Your big project, why don't you tell me about that? Huh, Julien?" I grabbed his shirt and slammed him into the wall again.
"What? What are you talking about, Travis?"
"Tell me!" I screamed through clenched teeth, my anger festering around me. "It's Desperado, isn't it?"
"What?"
"Isn't it? Say it, Julien!"
"How did you know about that?"
"You stole it out from under me!" I scoured. "You son-of-a-bitch. You knew my plans. You fucking knew!"