Finding Trust (Centre Games)

by Natalie Gayle

  He gave her a sly smiled and winked.

  “Did I just catch you flirting with my girlfriend, asshole?” Bray demanded of Quade. Rihanna tensed; she wasn’t sure whether it was in jest or for real. Sometimes there was a blurry line with these guys.

  “You better believe it, Stud. There’s no harm in trying. It’s been almost a week. Surely you must be boring her by now?”

  Rihanna smiled slyly; Quade was just trying to get a rise out of him now and it was working oh too well.

  “Did we sound bored to you last night?”

  Rihanna felt her cheeks and neck get warm at Bray’s words. They’d been loud, they’d been hot and it was making her panties wet just thinking about what they had done last night. How he’d slipped his tongue…

  “Just tell her already. She deserves to know. What’s more, she might be able to help figure out what these guys are after.” Quade’s voice dragged her thoughts back to the here and now.

  She caught a glance at Rory. For once, he was quiet and glancing back and forth between Quade and Bray as if he were watching a tennis match.

  “Okay.” Brayden turned and looked at her directly. “They’re an extremist Chinese group that are all for the mother country returning to a true communist regime. They are anti-everything capitalist and everything Western. Apparently, they are particularly pissed about the possibility of gambling in China, and have huge issues with the Western influence in Hong Kong. They see Hong Kong as the epitome of how the cultures have collided and not for the better.”

  Rihanna was deep in thought, taking in the words Bray was saying.

  “So that’s who we’re dealing with.”

  “Have you confirmed that they have the virus?” she asked.

  “To the best of our ability. Matthews is missing still, and all leads go back to these guys.”

  “Just wonderful,” she bit out.

  “Is that all you have to say?” He seemed disappointed; in what, she wasn’t sure. Oh, well. She had enough to worry about.

  “Yes, it is,” she answered, feeling confused.

  “You don’t have some clues perhaps about what these guys might be targeting?” Brayden asked hopefully.

  “Nothing comes to me right now. Not that I can believe you expect me to have an answer, given that a minute ago you weren’t even going to tell me about these guys.”

  He looked sheepish at her rebuke.

  “What’s your theory, Stud?” It was the first time she’d used his nickname and his body noticeably stiffened at the way she said it. It wasn’t an endearment.

  “I don’t have one yet,” he said sheepishly.

  Rory burst out laughing. “Oh, give it up, guys. We need a break from this bullshit case. It’s starting to make everyone crazy.”

  “Actually, now that you mention it, Rory, that’s exactly what I was thinking I needed.”

  Brayden’s ears immediately pricked up at this. “Oh it was, was it? And what did you have in mind?” He looked hopeful.

  “I want to go hang with Jazz for a bit.”

  Brayden’s face fell.

  “Sorry, too dangerous. Not till this is over,” he responded rapid fire.

  “But I haven’t seen her in a week. And I need to see her.” Her voice had risen and she’d failed to hide her annoyance.

  “Why do you need to see her?”

  “I just do, okay?” she spat at him.

  “So let me get this straight. You need to see her but you don’t know why.”

  “That’s right, asshole. I just need to see her and last time I looked, there wasn’t a law that said I needed a reason to see my best friend.”

  “But we’ve been through this. You know how dangerous it could be to both of you.”

  She got up and yelled, “Fine, have it your way,” before she stormed from the room.

  Rory turned and looked at Bray, shaking his head. “So what did you go and do that for, asshole?”

  “Oh, don’t you start too, Rory.”

  “Well, you are being an asshole,” Rory confirmed for him.

  “It’s too dangerous. We all know that,” Bray responded sheepishly.

  “Yeah, it probably is but you didn’t have to be such a shit about the way you delivered the message.”

  Bray scrubbed his hand through his hair and rose from the lounge and started pacing back and forth. He’d fucked up royally. He was so scared of something happening to her. Of losing her to one of these extremist that he couldn’t think straight. What he’d just done was actually lose her at his own stupidity and hand. God, he could be so dumb sometimes. He needed to fix this but how?

  Bray glanced over at Rory and realised the guy had a huge smirk across his face.

  “Okay, so what do I do, smart ass?” Rory seemed to think he had a handle on this. Let’s hear it then.

  “Fix it, moron.”

  “How?” Bray shot back.

  Rory turned to Quade. “If I ever get this dumb about a woman, just shoot me, please.”

  “No problem,” Quade assured him, quietly chuckling.

  Brayden was getting more and more frustrated by the second.

  “Just tell him what you have in mind, Rory. The guy’s about to bust a gut,” Quade urged.

  “Simple. Let her see Jazz.”

  “But we haven’t checked out Jazz’s place and I hardly want her meeting with her out in the open.”

  “So have Jazz come here.” It was a logical solution.

  “Here? Are you serious?” Brayden guarded his privacy. Not only because of his connections to Steel but also because of what he was and what his work with the Centre involved. Could he risk letting someone else know about him, where he lived, how he lived?

  “Oh well, looks like we were mistaken, Quade.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Rory?” Quade said, shaking his head.

  “Well, if Stud here was so damned keen about Rihanna, surely he would have realised that sooner or later she was going to want to have friends over and that would mean they got to know where he-slash-they lived.”

  Quade did something rare. He threw his head back and laughed and laughed. “Oh, he’s got you good there, mate.”

  Brayden just looked at Rory. “Shit, I never thought of that.”

  “I didn’t think so,” Rory said, sounding superior.

  “So what am I going to do?”

  “Well, are you cool with Jazz coming here?” Rory asked.

  “I guess,” he said, not convincing anyone, himself included.

  “Are you no longer serious about this girl?” Rory asked quietly but very seriously.

  Brayden snapped back, “Of course I am.”

  “Then you’re going to have to start making compromises. Including opening up your life a little to Rihanna’s friends.”

  Bray continued pacing. Shit, Rory was right. How was it that this was always the way things went down? The class clown was really the one who had it all figured out.

  “I guess I’d never thought about it. I’ve kind of had a few other things on my mind.”

  “Sure, we get that, but you need to think about it now. You’ve just ripped her heart out and only you can fix it.”

  “I fucked up big time, didn’t I?” he asked neither of them in particular, hoping somehow it wasn’t really as bad as he thought.

  “Yep, you did. Never keep a girl from her bestie, bro. Haven’t you learnt anything over the years?”

  He’d never really thought about it. The guys were his brothers, his friends—they were just always there. And with the boys from Steel, he could come and go from there whenever he liked. That was the sort of relationship that they had; they accepted that he had another job that was important to him, and they respected him enough never to ask about it.

  Fuck, he’d just told Rihanna she couldn’t see her best friend and all of his were living with them. Rory was right; he was a grade-A asshole right now.

  “Looks like I need to go wave an olive branch and make an
invitation.”

  “Boy’s learning, Quade. You never know, this might just work out.” Before Quade could respond, Bray cut in.

  “Like I said, who needs—”

  “Yeah, yeah, heard it before. Go fix it, dickhead.”

  Bray shot him the bird and headed out to both Quade and Rory’s soft laughter.

  ***

  Brayden walked into their bedroom and expected to find her on the bed. She wasn’t and he became alarmed when he didn’t immediately see her. He stopped, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and let his senses work. He immediately picked her up on the day bed just through the veranda doors. Shit, he needed to get his head together. If he’d opened his eyes, he would have seen her. All this emotional stuff was messing big time with his ability to use his senses.

  He walked silently to the door. She’d clearly been crying. Fresh tears streaked her face, although she seemed to have stopped now. She was sitting sideways with her back against the armrest, her knees pulled to her chest and arms clasped around her shins.

  Brayden gently opened the door and stepped through, taking a seat on the end of the day bed.

  He looked at her but she refused to meet his eyes.

  “Can I talk to you?” he asked gently.

  “Sure, you can talk. Doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to or like anything you have to say.” Her tone was despondent.

  “Fair enough, I deserved that.”

  She turned her head and looked at him for the first time. “Yes, you did. How could you just cut me down like that? And to make it worse, you did it in front of your friends.”

  “I handled it all badly.”

  “You think? How did you come to this deduction?” He would have been a fool to miss the sarcasm in her voice. What he said next surprised her.

  “I know because once my fear disappeared enough that my brain engaged and realised what I said, I also realised I’d just stabbed a hole through my own heart because I’d clearly hurt you by being careless with your feelings.”

  She didn’t say anything for a few seconds. She did raise her eyes to him, and he held hers. He hoped, oh he hoped.

  “I have a right to see my friends, Brayden. I realise it’s dangerous but I don’t know how long this is going to go on for and I really need to see her. I miss her.”

  “I realise that now, baby. I just freaked out at when you mentioned it before. It took me by surprise and all I could think of was something happening to you and how that would rip out my heart.”

  She looked at him curiously for a moment. “What are you really trying to say, Brayden?”

  He gathered his thoughts and his courage. “Firstly, that I’m sorry for hurting you and disregarding your need to see your friends. Secondly, I’m just realising how much you mean to me. How much I enjoy being with you and it scares me. When I think that anything could change that…” He looked away, and then picked up her hand and looked right into the emotions swirling in her eyes that appeared more green than hazel, wet with unshed tears.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you, Rihanna.”

  She gasped, clearly not expecting that. “Oh Bray, I don’t know what to say.”

  He smiled weakly. “How you’re feeling would be a good start.”

  She giggled at his attempt to lighten the moment. “That’s just it.”

  He was totally confused. “That’s just what?”

  “Why I want to see Jazz.” He still looked totally confused, so she went on. “I need to talk to her about us. I realised earlier that I was in uncharted waters with you, and I wanted to talk it through with Jazz.”

  “You want to catch up with Jazz to talk about us?” He was obviously trying to reconcile this news in his mind.

  “Yes.”

  “Why can’t you talk to me about us?” he asked, perhaps sounding a little hurt.

  “Because I need her perspective on this. I’ve never felt like this with anyone before and I want to talk to her.” She was sounding a little defensive again.

  “Am I going to like what she says?” he asked, smirking slightly with that little eyebrow raise she loved.

  “Probably, because she’s been telling me to go for it all week.”

  He laughed at that. “Well, in that case, what are you waiting for? Invite her over for a BBQ tonight.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “No, but do it anyway. You’ve put up with my friends—only fair I should reciprocate.”

  She lunged forward and kissed him hard on the lips.

  “How did you get so smart?”

  At that, he laughed. “Rory pointed it out to me.”

  “Figures,” she said, laughing with him.

  “So am I forgiven?”

  Rihanna looked at him sideways, dipping her head and tilting her chin at that little angle he loved. “I guess so.”

  “I’ll try to be more understanding in the future,” he said, hoping that he wasn’t going to regret having Jazz in his life.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Rihanna, where the hell is this place?” she half screamed into the crackling hands-free car kit.

  “Where exactly are you?”

  “I’ve just gone through a little township and the road is narrowing. There’s a creek on my left,” Jazz said, all the while looking around trying to confirm landmarks.

  “Okay, you’re nearly here. It’s about another kilometre along on the left. Slow down when you come to the sharp left turn; the gates are tucked into the hill just past there.”

  “I’ll just stay on the line and make sure I get there.” Scepticism was clear in her voice.

  “Okay—you should be coming up on it now.”

  “Yep.” Jazz reefed the wheel to the left and pulled the car to an abrupt halt, just barely stopping before the bonnet touched the heavy-weathered timber gates. “Oh shit, you’ll never find this unless you knew exactly where the gates were supposed to be. These gates are seriously solid, Rih.”

  “I know; I think they’d stop a tank. I’ll get Brayden to buzz you through,” Rihanna said excitedly.

  She heard Rihanna call out, “Brayden.”

  A few seconds later, the gates started to move open and she edged forward.

  “Just follow the driveway up to the house. I’ll meet you out the front. Bye.” The call disconnected.

  Shit, what was this place? It was gorgeous. The house was set up on the hill and the driveway curled across the flat over the creek and up the hill. The paddocks were scattered with selective trees and the grass was recently mown. The hedging paralleling the driveway was nothing short of impressive.

  She could see Rihanna coming out through an open garage door. The sun was setting behind her, making it difficult to really see how she looked. Rihanna waved to the side, indicating she should park over there beside the garage doors on an area clearly reserved for visiting cars. She pulled in beside the black Jeep and shut off the engine.

  Gathering her handbag and a couple bottles of wine she’d brought, she reached for the door but Rihanna beat her to it.

  “You made it,” Rihanna half squealed.

  “Only because you directed me in. Shit, this takes private to a whole new meaning.” She passed one of the wine bottles to Rihanna, getting out of the car. Rihanna immediately pulled her into a big hug. It felt as if she hadn’t seen her for months, even though it was only a week.

  “So, sweetie, you look fantastic,” she said, pulling out of Rihanna’s affectionate hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. I so need to talk to you.”

  “Ha, like you could have kept me away from here much longer. It’s not every day that my best friend hooks up with one of the guys from my favourite band.”

  Rihanna just giggled at Jazz’s words. Blushed a little.

  “So who else is here?” she asked, smoothing her hair, clearly looking to impress.

  Rihanna had moved towards the garage and was shepherding Jazz along.

  “Umm, a couple of other guys that Bra
y works with on something else. Steel isn’t his only business interest.”

  “Yeah, I kind of figured that. He only performs very occasionally, seems to stick more to the writing side. So are any other band members here?” Jazz struggled to keep the hope from her voice.

  “Don’t be disappointed but, no.”

  “You mean to tell me that I’m here and the rest of the band aren’t?” The mock fury in her voice had Rihanna playfully cringing.

  “Sorry.” She grimaced. “But Quade and Rory are cool.”

  “I wanted Jace and Matt and Dean and Cody, not Rory and someone called Quade,” she whined.

  “And I thought you were coming to see me and help me sort out this thing?” Rihanna emphasised, waving her hand around as if she was referring to some sort of foreign object.

  “Sure I am but I’d do just about anything to meet the Steel guys,” Jazz whined.

  “You are such a groupie.” Rihanna shook her head in lighthearted disgust.

  They moved through the garage, into the house and down the long hall, ending up in the living area of the house.

  “Rih, this place is incredible,” she whispered to Rihanna.

  “I know. I love all the timber and how warm it feels.” She took the other bottle of wine from Jazz and put them both in the fridge.

  “What do you want to drink? I’ve just opened a really nice NZ Sav Blanc if you want some.”

  “That would be great,” she said, leaning against the bench as Rihanna reached up into a cupboard beside the fridge to retrieve an elegant wine glass. Interesting, the girl already knew her way around the kitchen. She poured the wine and passed it to Jazz. Rihanna came around the bench and started to move towards the French doors, heading to the outside veranda.

  “Okay, now you have a drink. Let’s go meet the guys.”

  “Shit, Rih, I thought you’d never get around to it,” she said, following along.

  Rihanna rolled her eyes. “Well, excuse me for making sure my guest had a drink.”

  “Since when have I been a guest? I thought I’m your best friend.”

  Rihanna just laughed at that, pushing the door open.

  Rihanna had turned to watch her reaction. Jazz immediately picked out Brayden sitting at the large, heavy looking, round timber table, chatting with two other incredibly delectable men. One was dark, oh so dark. Dark hair almost black and skin almost bronzed, and as he turned to look towards them, her heart thumped in her chest. Look – at – those – eyes. They were the colour of the ocean in all those tropical paradise brochures, that clear bottomless blue. Wow. The other was blonde—surfer boy blonde—and he had the golden tan to match and the most irresistible set of puppy dog brown eyes she’d ever seen. Both of them were clearly large; it wasn’t until they stood in greeting she realised just how large they were.