by Lexi Blake
The son in her stomach twisted again, but it wasn’t anywhere close to uncomfortable yet. That was still months away. For now, his kicks felt like waves across her belly.
Soft light illuminated the kitchen and she couldn’t help but think about how far she’d come from the child she’d been. Moscow didn’t have many sunny days, but here in Dallas the light seemed to always be around her.
Light and love and laughter.
“He giving you hell, baby?” The question rumbled against the nape of her neck and she was pulled back against the hard planes of her husband’s body. He’d gone to bed wearing nothing at all, but she knew he would have slid his strong legs into pajama bottoms or sweat pants before he’d left the room. His chest, however, was still warm and bare. “You’re up early. Or were you trying to sneak in some quiet time before the monsters awaken?”
Nothing ever felt as good as that moment when Ian took her in his arms. And he was right. She loved her three kiddos. Kenzie and Kala and Seth. Soon there would be four, and she wasn’t so foolish as to believe her baby girls wouldn’t immediately start training their youngest brother in how to take on the parents. But that wasn’t what had gotten her out of bed. “I was plotting.”
She could feel him smile against her shoulder, where he was currently laying soft kisses and getting her hot and bothered. He pushed her hair to the side to give himself better access.
“I love it when you plot. Is this a bloody, take-no-prisoners plot where I get to murder people? Because it’s been a long time.” His hands moved up to cup her breasts.
Murder did tend to get her man hot, but alas, she had different plans. “Did you hear the rumors about Sarah?”
He went still and she found herself turned around, his forehead touching hers. “I did. We’re not supposed to talk about it. She only told Wade because he needed to know why she won’t be working her shifts in the nursery. Wade only mentioned it to me because I’m the boss and I would notice. I think the girls will notice, too. They love Sarah. How did you find out?”
“I snooped,” she admitted.
“Charlie.” He sometimes managed to turn her name into an admonition, but she was made of sterner stuff. She’d worked for the mafia for years. She could handle some shame.
“I overheard her in the locker room talking to her doctor on the phone. She didn’t know anyone was there. She’s wrong to keep this a secret.” Years of working for her mafia father had proven to her that real family meddled in the nicest of ways. Not in the “hey, go kill this guy in Italy” way. In the “we don’t want you to be alone even though you think you should be” way.
“I’m sure she thinks it’s for the best, though I don’t know why she doesn’t want people to know. It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Ian said.
But Charlie understood. “It’s not, but it feels like it is. You can’t understand, but you can help.”
“All right. How do we help her?”
Tears pierced her eyes because this was what she loved about him. Ian Taggart. Big, mean, sarcastic, kind. “We can’t fix her problem, but did you know Jared is coming into town and he’s asked for access to the club?”
Jared John Ferguson, Hollywood hottie and little brother of Sanctum’s resident psychologist, Kai. For Sarah Stevens, Jared was the one who got away. At least initially he had. He’d changed his mind after a few months. He’d been trying to work his way back into her life, but she’d been burned one too many times before. She wouldn’t let him back in. Not without a push. Luckily, Charlotte was good at being pushy.
Ian lifted his head and sharp blue eyes stared down at her. “What are you planning, my gorgeous brat, and how can I work it so it also includes a terrible prank on Adam?”
She rolled her eyes. “You need to be nicer to him.”
He thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “That could work. Throw him off a little. God, you’re brilliant, baby. He’ll be incredibly paranoid at the end of it. Let’s send flowers to the new office. He’ll lose his shit trying to figure out what’s wrong with them. This is awesome.”
She reached for him. If she let him, he would spend the whole day fixated on the best flowers to send Adam into a tidal wave of paranoia. “I was talking about playing matchmaker for Sarah and Jared.”
“I can do both,” he insisted. “Do you think with everything going on in Sarah’s life that now is the time for Jared to come on strong?”
Jared had done a television show called Dart for years before the show had been canceled. He’d had a brief flirtation with Sarah Stevens, but after being arrested for murder and discovering that his best friend was actually a serial killer, he’d gone away to get his head on straight.
Sarah had not been happy about being left behind.
“If not now, when? Come on, it’s kind of romantic, right? And I hate the thought of her going through this alone.”
“You’re giving me puppy eyes,” he sighed. “I can’t resist those. Tell me what you’re thinking and how we avoid the inevitable bloody ending, because it somehow always happens. We go into a plot trying to bring two idiots who can’t see how perfect they are for each other together and suddenly the bullets start flying.”
“There’s no reason for bullets to fly this time. None.” She’d been more than happy with the calm they’d had for the last couple of months. Sure there had been that super-fun time in Colorado, but she and Ian hadn’t been the ones dodging bullets. She liked being a distraction, especially when it included a couple of nights in a really nice nudist resort where she’d very likely conceived this baby boy. “But we could help two people who love each other find their way into each other’s arms.”
Ian stepped back, putting a hand on his washboard abs and grimacing. “Now you’re giving me morning sickness, Charlie.”
“You know what I’m saying. They need a little push.”
“And how are you going to push them?” His eyes had gone warm as though he was excited to hear what she had planned.
She’d been up for a while now thinking it through. It had been a long time since the group had a big blowout. “Well, my birthday is coming up in a few days. I was thinking a wildly over-the-top weekend event at Sanctum is exactly what I need.”
He put his hands on his hips and smiled at her. “Well, you are the queen of that particular kingdom. I take it you have a plan for this over-the-top event.”
“I do. I just need you to help me out.”
“As you wish, my love.” He pulled her close. “Now tell me what you want.”
She smiled because the plan could wait. She went on her toes and told her man exactly what she wanted.
Him.
Chapter One
In which our erstwhile hero speaks to his brother…and his brother calls him a moron.
Jared Johns settled into the comfy chair in his brother’s office and hoped that his choice of seat didn’t give Kai a reason to start psychoanalyzing him. There really hadn’t been another choice. He kind of thought Kai liked it that way.
“You haven’t worked in a while,” Kai said, sitting across from him. “How does that make you feel?”
Jared sighed. It wouldn’t have mattered if he’d refused to sit down. His big brother was a shrink and he psychoanalyzed absolutely everyone. “It makes me feel glad I invested wisely. I did not come here to ask for cash. I’m good.”
Kai sent him a perfectly innocent look. “I wasn’t implying you came to ask for a loan, Jared. You were on a popular TV show for years. Your last movie part fell through. It’s got to be rough, but you don’t talk about it.”
There were reasons he didn’t talk about his career with his sainted brother. Kai had gone into the military after their mother died and sent back everything he could to support his baby brother. It wasn’t his fault their aunt hadn’t actually given him the cash. Kai had been the one to work his way to a doctorate. Kai was the one who lived a simple life, treating patients with profound PTSD for almost no money at all. Jared had been the
one funding him for the last couple of years, though they’d agreed to keep that quiet.
And he was okay with that because Jared was the one who ran around in spandex and leather pretending to be a superhero. He was the brother known for whole YouTube channels devoted to his workouts.
“I wish you would talk about it,” Kai said. “I know the last few years had to have been difficult. The show was important to you.”
It had been everything at one point in time. It had been his ticket to a new life. Now it was hard to think about what his dream job had cost others. “Well, it was apparently my fault Dart got canceled.”
Kai settled his glasses on his nose and sat back. “I don’t see how. You got even better at throwing darts around over the years. Your abs stayed tight. I don’t know what happened.”
Yes, this was why he didn’t talk to his brother about his job woes. “The last two seasons’ storylines sucked. The head writer blamed me because his fiancée left him and he tanked the show by sending Dart to jail and making the whole thing into a political statement on the way prisoners are treated.”
Kai nodded. “Yes, I liked that part.”
“I was sent to Stankfield Prison. No one names a prison that.” It had been the single worst year of his life. He’d rapidly learned the power he had with the producer. None. He was supposed to shut up, read his lines, and not get pudgy.
“You also managed to fashion darts out of any number of things no one can fashion darts out of.”
“I get that you didn’t like the show.” His brother was an overly pretentious intellectual. “I didn’t come here to fight with you. I also didn’t come to have a session.”
Kai leaned over. “I wasn’t trying to fight. I guess I’m not sure how to talk to you. I’m worried about you. I know you made some money from the show, but that place out in Malibu has to be expensive. And I know you were counting on that racing film.”
Ah, there was the man who’d pretty much raised him. Jared couldn’t even blame him. He’d been a fuckup most of his life. His brother didn’t get that he’d gotten his shit together. “Money is not a problem and honestly, the acting thing I can take or leave at this point. The movie fell through because Josh Hunt hurt his back doing a stunt and they recast the role. When he was no longer doing the film, they suddenly didn’t want me.”
Josh had been his best friend for the last couple of years. Josh had stood by him even when it wasn’t great for his career to do so. Even when the world had been questioning whether or not Jared Johns had something to do with his oldest friend’s hobby.
Kai stared at him for a moment as though trying to decide how to continue. “Are you sure the lack of work isn’t due to the social media stuff?”
“I’m sure it played its part.” Social media. It was funny how much it had helped him on his way up. He would post a work-out video and get a couple million views. At one point he’d been one of the most followed people in social media. He still had a ton of fans, but he’d discovered the dark side to the web. Not the nasty assholes who came on and told him he should shut up about whatever cause he was trying to help, or the ones who called him arrogant and ugly. He could deal with those people. There was another group. The trolls were the people who sniffed blood and pounced. They caught on to a conspiracy theory and remade reality into a horrible place.
“Have you thought about suing?” Kai’s mouth went tight. “Because I have. I’ve thought about suing a couple of the fuckers.”
They got on his social media and called him a killer. They spread rumors that he’d killed Squirrel to cover up his own crimes, that he’d been the one to murder those women. It didn’t matter that the police had cleared him. In their world, he paid off witnesses and apparently owned the cops. In their world he would always be guilty and they would protest anyone who hired him. “What good would it do? If I get one blocked, another twelve show up, and it’s probably the same one I blocked in the first place, coming back at me under another name. Social media is anonymous. People can get on and say things they would never say in real life. There’s not a lot I can do about it except continue to be me and not let them drag me into the muck.”
“Or you could let some of your brother’s friends use their talents to find the little fuckers and teach them a lesson.”
Sometimes he forgot how bloodthirsty Kai could be. He always seemed civilized. He always had been, but there was a dark side to his brother. There was a side that had done well in the Army, that likely would have led to an excellent career there if he hadn’t been so unwilling to indulge that sadistic part of his personality. Kai knew how dark he could get and he managed it, feeding his beast in the best of ways. It didn’t hurt that he’d found the one woman on earth who could complete him.
“I appreciate that, but it wouldn’t solve the problem.” The fact that his brother wanted to protect him, to avenge him, settled something deep inside Jared.
“Then what will?” Kai visibly calmed himself. It was something he’d seemed to always be able to do, to turn aside the dark impulses and find his peaceful center. “Because I’m worried you won’t be able to work with all this negativity around you. I know the show aged and it had a good run, but I also think it would have lasted a few more seasons if the scandal hadn’t happened.”
A lot of things would have lasted had Squirrel not turned out to be a raging psychopath, and the least of those was his career. He needed to put his brother’s mind at ease. “Kai, I’m worth a hundred million. I made a lot of money in the last couple of years doing endorsements overseas. Dart was big over there. I still make money doing appearances. I invested most of what I made in the last few seasons. I lived in Vancouver and didn’t spend a dime I didn’t have to. I bought the place in Malibu with cash. I produced a couple of films that did really well.”
The lack of acting work hurt, but he’d learned the game pretty quickly. He’d figured out who his friends were and who had been hanging out to get ahead. His movie career as an actor seemed blocked and he might have missed his chance. He could find a TV gig. He’d been offered a couple despite the crap that still clung to him. Television was where the industry had slotted him. He could go back to working eighty-hour weeks and not seeing anyone outside the cast and crew. That had been enough for him in the beginning. He’d been beloved. The fans had been crazy about him. He’d gotten something from the hype surrounding the show.
He needed more now.
“Well, you have a hundred million dollars, so who the fuck cares?” His brother said the words with a sort of hushed awe that had Jared grinning.
It was good to know he could still shock his brother. Though in a good way this time. “Fuck ’em. I’m fine on the work front. I’ve got a couple of projects in pre-production. The real money is in producing, and I’ve got great ties in the sci-fi world. I want to run some ideas by Kori while I’m here.”
Kai’s wife was a brilliant screenwriter. So brilliant she’d been smart enough to leave LA. Not that he hated LA. He loved parts of it. He just hated the part where he was already seen as a washed-up loser because he wasn’t in a blockbuster film. There were other ways to have a career.
“I’m surprised. I guess I thought you would find another show after Dart.”
He didn’t fault Kai for thinking that way. After all, he’d spent the majority of his life seeking attention—good or bad. But he’d grown up. “I need something more. I know you think the acting thing was all about narcissism…”
Kai shook his head. “Hey, that is not what I think at all. I do not in any way think you’re a narcissist. Quite the opposite. You’re kind, Jared. You think of others. I might have had a lot of baggage when it comes to you, but the last couple of years have shown me what a good person you are. But your personality type requires positive reinforcement.”
It was how he’d gotten in trouble so many times. He knew what Kai saw when he looked at his younger brother. Their father had walked out on them when they were young. Kai had taken over m
uch of the protector role while their mother had worked and worked to keep food on the table. Jared had gone from his mom walking him to school every day and being the room mom, tirelessly showing up on the sidelines of whatever sport he was playing that month, to almost never seeing her at all. He’d needed the attention, and looking for it had almost led to losing his whole family.
He knew one thing now. “I’ve tried to fill that void with fans, and it doesn’t work because not one of them knows the real me. I think for a long time I loved acting because I didn’t have to be me at all. I had to be whatever character I was playing, and then offscreen I was the actor Jared Johns. I didn’t have to be Jared Ferguson.”
Because Jared Ferguson had been a scared kid. He’d been a fucked-up kid. He’d been selfish and self-centered and lost and so vulnerable it hurt to think about it.
“You want to be Jared Ferguson again?” Kai asked.
“It’s taken me a while but yes. I think that’s what’s come out of all of this, out of what happened with Squirrel.” This was the part his brother might not like. “I mentioned I’m making a documentary.”
“I know. I think it’s a good way to examine what happened to you.”
Jared breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been worried his brother would have reservations, and the documentary was absolutely nonnegotiable. “Good. We’ve done the background work on Squirrel and where he came from, how he turned into what he did.”
A killer. Squirrel had been his oldest friend, someone who’d had his back since childhood. It was still hard to think of the things he’d done.
“I was hoping you would consent to talk about the incident on screen.” He was cautious, knowing he was tiptoeing into a field of landmines where his brother was concerned. Kai was a deeply private individual. “I thought you could talk about things from a psychological perspective.”
His brother’s lips turned down in a prissy frown, though he was sure Kai would object to the word. “I don’t like to go on camera. That’s not what I do.”