by Megan Derr
And he wasn't ready for his current career to go the same way. If only he could do more about it than sit around waiting on lawyers and meetings.
Swearing softly, determined to leave his gloomy ass thoughts behind for a bit, Cooper resumed flipping channels until he landed on an old movie he liked. He finished his water, set the glass aside, and stretched out on the long couch. He picked up his phone again and pulled up Dai's number, still wavering between calling and texting. On one hand, he wanted badly to hear Dai's voice. On the other, he was half-afraid he'd fall apart, and Dai had enough to deal with being in the middle of his trip and probably already worried about him.
Finally he hit the button to send a text. Bout to crash but wanted to say thanks. Jason's been a big help.
No reply came. Cooper dropped the phone back on the table, turned to lay on his side, settled a throw pillow beneath his head, and let the movie distract him from the worries and fears just waiting for a chance to eat him alive. Eventually exhaustion won out and pulled him into sleep.
He woke to the jarring racket of his phone alarm going off and turned it off with a long groan. Damn it, he'd forgotten to reset the damned thing from his seven o'clock wake up for the flight to London. He winced as his back yelled at him. That's what he got for falling asleep on the couch like a damned idiot. Heaving to his feet, Cooper dragged himself to the bedroom to get dressed in slacks and a dark green, button down shirt, his good boots, and hat.
Ready to go but nothing to do for hours yet. His morning was not off to the greatest start, but what the hell, it wasn't like it was ever going to be a good day.
Cooper started slightly when his phone buzzed. Slight change of plans from Jason. Someone is coming by your condo to take you to breakfast. But do still be at the office by eleven.
Okay, Cooper replied. He started to ask who was coming, then said to hell with it. If it mattered, Jason would have said. Probably the bodyguard again.
God this all still seemed so overblown and stupid. He sighed and finally opened his laptop, pulling up his email. When he saw he had over 300 new messages, Cooper promptly closed it again. Grabbing his phone again, he texted his mom and Henry an update, promising both he'd call soon.
He was just starting to go out of his mind when someone knocked on the door. Standing, shoving his phone in his pocket, Cooper scooped up his hat from the couch and headed for the door. He looked through the peephole—and almost could have fucking cried.
Yanking the door open, he hauled Dai inside and held him tight enough he was surprised Dai didn't protest. Drawing back, he slammed the door shut then kissed Dai long and hard, hands skating randomly over that slim little body he knew so well. Tearing reluctantly away, he asked, "What are you doing here?"
Dai laughed. "I was trying to be all responsible and adult, but the band got so sick of me they bailed us out of the last couple of shows with promises to make it up in the near future. We pleaded family emergency."
"You…" Cooper swallowed, cupped the sides of his face. "You didn't have to do that. Ain't much to do here but watch a lot of ugly fighting go down."
"I couldn't let you suffer alone," Dai said and leaned up to kiss him. "Uh. You might have guessed already, but the band knows who you are now. Jet figured it out the same night you left, and I told the others in the morning."
Cooper laughed. "Can't say I'm surprised Jet puzzled it out; that boy is smart as a whip and nosier than a cat."
"Speaking of nosier than a cat, he's downstairs waiting in the car. I drew the line at coming upstairs with me."
"Yeah, I don't need that particular audience while I kiss you," Cooper replied with a grin. "I seen that boy in action. I get the feeling he's worse away from the cameras."
Dai lifted his eyes to the ceiling. "You have no idea."
"I'm pretty well-acquainted with his partner in crime. I got a pretty good idea."
Grinning, Dai replied, "Oh, yeah? You think I'm prone to mischief?"
"Honey, you've got a bit of a reputation for it, and I'd bet it's a carefully crafted one."
"Jet likes to go off script—scripts he writes mind you. He's always been the primary business half of this equation. I'm the musical genius and am less likely to say something stupid in front of the cameras. Please note I'm not the one in a hurry to get naked on live television."
Cooper chuckled, slipping a hand beneath the black t-shirt clinging to Dai's slender frame. He nibbled at Dai's lips for a bit, then slid down to work at his throat, hand moving to dip beneath the waistband of his well-fitted jeans. The familiar feel of satin met his fingers, warm and slippery and a hundred different kinds of distracting. "Think Jet will keep long enough for me to suck you off?"
"He doesn't have a choice," Dai replied and drew away enough to guide them over to the couch. He dropped down on it and drew Cooper close, fingers digging into his hair. "But he could get bored and come up here."
"Good thing I know what I'm doing, then," Cooper said and kissed him hard before getting Dai's jeans open and putting deed to word.
Track 07
Zero Tolerance Policy
"I am ninety-seven percent certain this is a bad idea, and I never should have let you talk me into it," Dai said.
Jet snorted. "One, you came up with the idea all on your own. I didn't have to talk you into shit. We literally stood there and let you talk yourself into it, then cheerfully agreed. Two, I'm sorry, but the window for second-guessing your life choices closed like an hour ago. I didn't get out of bed for you to chicken out."
"Fuck you."
Snickering from the backseat of Dai's rental car prevented Jet's reply. "There's still a three percent chance this is a good idea," said Kim. "And let's face it, all you need to do anything is one percent. Jet requires no percent at all, and where you two lead, we follow, for better or worse. Warm up your cold feet and let's get this meeting underway."
"Yeah," Misha said. "I didn't get my ass up at eight o'fucking clock in the morning just for it to come to nothing. Are we doing this or not?"
"We're doing this," Ricky chimed in and put deed to word by throwing open the car door and climbing out. Dai heaved a sigh, muttered a prayer to whoever was listening, and followed them. Locking the car, he led the way down three blocks to a fancy apartment building. "All right, Jet. This is all on you." Dai sent him a look. "I'm still not clear on how you're going to get us in there. Are we sure he's still here? He could have left for the day already or something."
Jet scoffed and strode off, vanishing into the building. Dai stared after him, shoving his hands into the pockets of his lightweight jacket. "I have lost my fucking mind."
"Yeah," Misha said and grinned. "But not in a bad way. It's cute seeing you all cute and flustered."
"And trying to play protective boyfriend," Kim added. "You're not very good at it, but I respect the effort. I'd be protective too, if I was at all inclined toward dudes and sleeping with that."
Dai flipped them off. "Shut the fuck up."
Misha's grin just widened. "Now when the hell have we ever done that?"
"Yeah, seriously. Take your harassment gracefully," Ricky added, laughing when Dai shoved him off the curb.
"I hate all of you," Dai muttered.
"Liar," Kim said, bumping their shoulders together. "Oh, Jet's already coming back. How do you think he managed to get us in?"
"Money," Ricky said.
"Blowjob," Misha said at the same time.
"Both," Dai muttered.
Jet scowled as he reached them. "I can tell what you're talking about by the looks on your faces. You can all go to hell. I didn't offer blowjobs or cash, you assholes. It's all in the charm that you goddamn losers don't have."
"Charm, sure," Misha said with a snort. "So how do we get up to the penthouse?"
Jet flourished a keycard.
"You talked the front desk into giving you a key?" Dai demanded. "How the fuck did you do that? Remind me to never buy a condo here, good grief. Seriously, how many peo
ple did you suck off?"
Rolling his eyes, Jet tucked the card away and said, "Move your asses, losers. We don't have all day." He led the way into the building, which was exactly as gilded age and pretentious as the exterior had promised. The security guard beamed at Jet, waved enthusiastically.
"Yeah, you sucked him off," Kim drawled, laughing when Jet nearly shoved him into a tall, bushy plant in a gold pot.
"I gave him tickets to a few concerts, Jesus fucking Christ, people," Jet said. "I'm not moonlighting as a hooker."
Misha grinned as they all piled into one of the gold and silver, mirror-lined elevators. "Hooker, no. But everyone knows you're more than happy to take your clothes off for free, Jet."
"I'm sorry, who among us has memberships to how many private strip clubs and is buddies with most of the owners?"
Misha's grin just widened. "You know I just like to look, and envy isn't a good look on you."
Dai lifted his eyes to the ceiling. "It's too goddam early in the morning for this shit. Whose bright idea was it to get him in his condo during breakfast?"
"Yours," everybody chorused.
"Right. Why did every last one of you dumbasses agree?"
"It was the wide, sad eyes," Kim replied. "You're like a little puppy trying so hard to be a big, tough, junkyard dog. Everybody pretends to be scared to build up your confidence."
Dai lifted both his middle fingers.
Ricky patted his head. "You're mean as shit during rehearsal but such a sugar cookie everywhere else. How are we supposed to resist when you're trying to be all avenging angel?"
Dai closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temples. "Why didn't I go for a solo career?"
"Because you listened to me," Jet said. "Like a smart person." He rolled his eyes at the laughter that elicited. Before he could reply, though, the elevator chimed and slid open to reveal a floor that was all black marble with dark rose and antiqued gold accents, dark green plants in black and gold pots, even a small waterfall filling the lobby with ambient noise.
Jet led the way down the hall to condo number three and banged on the door.
When it opened a couple of minutes later, Jet grabbed the bastard who answered and shoved him back. The rest of the band filed inside; Ricky locked the door and leaned against it. Kim crossed to a table where breakfast was still laid out and picked up the cellphone there.
Dominic glared at all of them. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Not 'who are you' or 'how dare you'?" Jet said slowly, shoving him down onto the couch and looming. "Just why the fuck are we here. Interesting. Does this kind of thing happen to you often, Nicky?"
Dominic cast him a scathing look. He'd clearly been a handsome man once, but age and neglect had made him paunchy and sallow, and the lines around his mouth and eyes spoke of meanness, not laughter. "I know who the fuck you are, and I'm sure you've got something to do with that stupid bitch crying about how he's getting picked on. Well, fucking serves him right. If he's going to fuck around with my wife and steal her and my kids right out from under me, he's getting exactly what he deserves."
"Oh, for the love… This is exactly as stupid and pathetic as we thought," Kim said. "You're a fucking moron, man."
"You can shut—" Dominic started to stand but was stopped by Misha dropping his enormous hands on Dominic's shoulders and pinning him to the couch.
Jet sat down on the coffee table, and Dai went to stand next to him. Ricky stood near the front door, and Kim took up position in front of the hallway.
Dai folded his arms across his chest. "Cooper had nothing to do with your divorce settlement. You're the one who filed the papers, in fact."
"Yeah, because she was never around, didn't want to be around—"
"Made six times what you make, was surrounded by attractive, wealthy men who didn't constantly yell at and harass her," Jet cut in. "Basically, you knew you were a piece of shit husband and that things were ending. So what, you decided to take the initiative thinking it would give you something? Or were you just hoping that by making that move yourself, all your secrets would stay buried?"
"I divorced my wife because she's a lying slut who's been sleeping with that fuckhead for the past few years. I got sick of it. Why shouldn't I ditch her?"
"They're not fucking," Jet said. "You're a moron."
Dominic sneered. "He's been hovering over her the whole time, was right there when she showed up after getting the papers. And then she moves into his fucking house? Please."
"It is possible that they're just friends," Dai said.
"Please, I'm not fucking stupid, how many times do I need to repeat that before you get it through your fucking head?" Dominic replied. "He's fucking her, and now he's trying to slither away to set up shop somewhere else. Why the fuck else would he be sneaking around with someone like you?"
Dai and Jet laughed. "Someone like me?" Dai asked. "I hear that a lot, but there's a lot of different versions of me to which people refer. Do you mean spoiled rich brat me? Rockstar me? Or gay as blazes me? 'Cause there's only one of those versions that would require someone like Cooper sneak around."
He watched as confusion fell over Dominic's face, could practically see the click, click, click, DING as he finally got it. "He's gay. Cooper Stone is fucking gay." He looked like he had just swallowed a lemon and it had gotten stuck in his throat.
"Yep," Jet said, dragging the word out. "Totally gay. Not bi like me, so he definitely never fucked your wife. He hasn't been sneaking around to sign with a different band, either, though I think you already knew that. But you wanted to hurt him, so you sold the lie. Now you're going to unsell it."
"Go fuck yourself," Dominic snarled.
Jet patted his knee. "Not right now, maybe later. For the present, we're not finished putting you in line."
"You can go ahead and try, but the minute you're gone, it won't take me five fucking minutes to get the cops after your asses. Then I'll drag you to court and take you for everything you own."
Dai laughed. "Your lawyers aren't anywhere near as good as mine. Cooper likes gay me, but you should definitely be worried about 'spoiled brat with lawyers in the family' me right now. And that those lawyers work for a firm that hates." Actual fear began to water down the anger on Dominic's face, and Dai's grin widened.
"Mm," Jet said with mock thoughtfulness. "I think he should actually be worried about all the pictures and documentation we have regarding his extra-marital affairs and slightly less than legal business dealings." He reached into the messenger bag still slung across his chest and pulled out a thick folder. Flipping it open, he held up a few pictures, one right after the other, a different woman in each. "Funny what you can find when you know the right people. Kristophersons don't have a lot of patience. We prefer to move in for a fast, brutal kill. These papers here would have you brought up on charges of extortion, and that's just a warmup. Some of this looks like you're in with some pretty bad people." He shoved the folder back in his bag, then dangled his folded hands between his spread knees and gave Dominic a congenial smile. "So ready to talk business?"
Dominic snarled and tried to lunge, but once more was yanked back into place by Misha, who looked like he was barely even having to try.
"Be nice, Dominic," Jet said. "I promise that if you insist on playing ugly, you're going to lose swiftly and painfully. Here's what you're going to do: admit to Shine the Moon that you made up the stories about Cooper talking to other bands on the sly. Tell them you made everything up because you're a jealous, insecure asshole. If you don't do that, and then immediately back off and leave Shine the Moon—and Henry—alone, then all this evidence we've collected is going to find its way to people who will be very, very unhappy with you. Understand me? Same goes if you try to out Cooper. You were told only so you know unequivocally that he wasn't stealing your wife. Not that she's an object to be stolen, jackass. Clear Cooper's name, then pretend you don't exist so far as they're all concerned. Understand me?"
&n
bsp; Dominic's expression could best described as I am trying to murder you with the power of my mind. "Why the fuck are you doing all this? What does it matter to you whether or not Cooper is still part of that stupid band?"
Dai replied, "Because I love him, and you've hurt him, which pisses me right the fuck off. If you're going to be a liar and a bully then I'm going to hit you twice as hard. There's still a chance that Coop can fix things if it doesn't go as far as lawyers and court. You're welcome to ruin your own fucking life, but you're not ruining his. Fix this or else. And don't think we'll stop watching. You do anything at all to hurt Cooper, if any other nasty rumors come out, we'll hit you so hard and fast your head won't ever stop spinning. Understand me?"
"Yeah," Dominic bit out. "Got it."
Jet smiled, as frosty as his father during a buy-out. "Good. We'll email you copies of some of what we have so you'll have an idea what we can do to you. If I were you, I'd consider moving to one of the branch offices in Europe. Berlin? London? Both fabulous." He stood and signaled the others. They all moved to the door as Dominic remained seated on the couch.
Dai held it together until they were safely in the elevator and the doors closed. Then he buried his face in his hands. "We're going to go to jail."
"We are not," Misha said. "You literally have pictures of him with like twenty women, half of them married, three of them barely legal and the daughters of some of his coworkers. He's probably changing his pants and scrubbing shit stains out of the couch. How did you get all this so fast? You blow that cranky cousin of yours or something?"
"Oh, my god," Dais, and punched him in the arm hard. "If you ever put that image in my head again I will fucking murder you, then bring you back to life to murder a second time. Do you understand me?"