Just Jayne

by Ripley Proserpina

“Do you work together?” I asked. “Psychic teamwork?”

  “My god you’re mouthy,” Tennyson said and pushed me gently toward a chair. “Just sit down and hold out your hand.”

  I did, and the woman reached for it. She pulled it into her lap, the shawl falling around her face as she lowered her head and brought my palm so close I felt her breath. With one hand, she traced the lines on my palm.

  Her fingers were thick and rough but gentle as she moved across my skin. “Aquí,” she whispered, her voice as rough as her fingers. “Y aquí.” She brought my hand to her lips and pressed them against my hand.

  I jerked it back. “Jesus, you guys. Really?”

  I flicked the shawl away to reveal Diego staring at me with glittering eyes and a smile playing the corners of his mouth. “How did you know?”

  “I could feel your stubble,” I replied, shaking out my hand to rid it of the sensation of his soft lips. “Haha. Great joke. I’m going to bed.”

  “Jayne, wait.” Klaus stepped away from the mantel. He touched my shoulder, keeping me in the chair when I tried to get up. “Listen. We want to thank you.”

  “You did. You’re welcome. Goodnight.”

  He moved fast, kneeling in front of my chair, and suddenly Tennyson, Lee, and Diego all surrounded me. Lee’s hands grasped my shoulders, massaging gently as Klaus moved forward, pushing my legs apart to make room for his body. “We’re very sorry,” he said.

  “What is this?” I asked, glancing from one face to the other. Lee’s thumbs drew circles on my neck and my eyes nearly closed it felt so good.

  Klaus touched my legs, hands cupping my knees. “We appreciate you, Jayne,” he said, and God help me, but I wanted to open my legs wider and beg him to show me how much. “I know we seem like assholes, but we’re not. And…”

  Tennyson grabbed my hand and brought to his mouth. His lips went to the same place Diego’s had, and I felt his tongue before he gave me a sucking, biting kiss. “We’re sorry.”

  Diego had my other hand and brought it to his mouth. They exchanged a look, all of them, that made my stomach clench and heat flood my core. I was embarrassed by my reaction, and I tried to jerk my hands away from them. “Stop messing around.”

  “We’re not,” Klaus said. His blue eyes were intense as he got even closer and took in a deep breath. “God, Jayne, you smell amazing.” His fingers dug into my thighs and my hands clenched around Diego’s and Tennyson’s as I waited to see what he would do.

  The door swung open. “Jesus Christ, boys. Stop fucking with the nanny and get out here.” Warner’s voice cut through the haze of my arousal and dumped cold water on me. As one, they released me and stepped away, leaving me shaken and horrified.

  Warner shut the door behind him. “Mason Henry just arrived, and he wants to see you.”

  I didn’t miss the way each of the guys froze. They went from hot, flirty rock stars to rock star wax figures.

  “Now?” Klaus asked at the same time Lee said, “Here?”

  “Yes,” Warner answered. He stepped closer and snapped his fingers at me. “Get gone.” He opened the door, and I nearly fell out of the seat when my legs wouldn’t hold me. The door was wide open, anyone could see inside. Interested and amused faces peered at me, and more than one person giggled at whatever they saw.

  As soon as I could trust my knees, I hurried out, pushing past the groups of people until I got to the main room. I couldn’t go upstairs right now. Mrs. Foster would take one look at my face and know something was up.

  And I sucked at subterfuge.

  For God’s sake, the woman had even warned me about them. Not me. She wasn’t worried about them flirting with me, but she had told me that they shared women.

  Oh my god. Had that almost happened?

  I put my flaming face in my hands, the ones they’d kissed, and groaned. Footsteps sounded down the hall, and I hurried to a chair in a dark corner of the room. The rest of the room was well lit, so unless they were searching for me, I could remain hidden.

  Blanca and a woman who looked like an older version of her sat on the leather couch. “What did the psychic say?” the woman asked.

  “Ugh. Mom. You know those things are bullshit.” Blanca pulled a strand of her hair toward her face, examining the ends before flinging it over her shoulder. “Apparently, I can’t always get what I want.”

  The woman chuckled. “I’ve been telling you that your whole life.”

  “I think she meant the guys—”

  “Then she doesn’t know how committed you are.”

  A lump rose in my throat. Committed? Like in a relationship? Where the guys messing around with me while being in a relationship with her? Why would they even do that?

  My lip trembled, and I bit down on it. I wouldn’t cry over them. I wouldn’t.

  I heard their distinctive voices and tucked my feet beneath me before pushing back into the chair. Please don’t see me.

  “Blanca,” Tennyson’s teasing voice reached my ears. “What are you doing out here, darling?”

  Darling. Love. Of course they were in a relationship. I could see it. All of them singing together. Making music. They’d be a creative force.

  They’d so clearly been using me for their amusement that a sob almost escaped. I covered my mouth with my hand and prayed they would leave so I could escape to my room.

  Blanca’s voice changed. She really had a lovely voice, and when she softened it, it was hypnotizing.

  I listened to every word that was exchanged between them, dissecting and analyzing it for hidden meanings. And by the time they finally finally left, I came away with this: they were together, and I was an idiot.

  20

  Jayne

  I got back to my room, but it was empty. I crept through the door to Sophie’s room and found Mrs. Foster asleep next to her. Thank God they were both asleep.

  And thank God I’d have a few hours to myself to lose my shit without anyone seeing me.

  I locked the door between our rooms and began to undo my braid. Standing in the center of the room, I stared at my bed and wondered what it was about them that made me so stupid.

  They were handsome.

  Talented.

  Protective.

  Sometimes kind.

  They were also full of themselves. Moody. Selfish.

  But I couldn’t deny my attraction to them.

  I stripped out of my clothes and pulled my T-shirt on over my head before crawling into bed. What were they doing right now?

  You mean, who are they doing?

  I jammed the heels of my hands against my eyes and groaned aloud. I’d never had this issue before.

  I’d been attracted to men before. I’d even had a few sexual partners, but I’d never ever risked my job for a guy.

  But it’s not just one guy.

  My inner voice was a snarky bitch.

  God. The thought of them. When their hands were on me, my brain had completely fizzled out. Short-circuited.

  I squirmed beneath my sheets. The way they’d worked in tandem without any words. They’d obviously done it before—been with a woman at the same time.

  Was that the kind of person I was? Did I want that?

  The throb between my legs told me that I certainly would give it a go. I sighed and slammed my head against the pillow. It wasn’t going to happen, so I needed to forget about it.

  And even if they, and I, wanted it to, I had a job and it didn’t include doing dads.

  Even if the dads were rock stars. Moody, fascinating, selfish rock stars.

  I dragged my pillow over my face and took a breath, ready to scream into it when a scream pealed through the house. I sat up, heart pounding as it happened again, followed by hysterical laughter.

  Grace.

  Footsteps thundered past my door, and a moment later, Mrs. Foster burst through the door. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Is Sophie awake?” I hurried to the door but the girl was curled on her side, asleep.<
br />
  Like two rabbits caught in the gaze of a predator, we stood quietly, waiting for another sound. But long minutes passed, and finally I let out a breath.

  There was a quick rap on my door that sent me into the air like a rocket, and then, “Jayne. Jayne!”

  It was Tennyson.

  Jerking the door open, I stared at him. His white shirt was ripped, the neck torn away and blood stained one side. “Are you okay?” I asked, shrilly.

  “It’s not mine. Come on. We need you.”

  “What can I do?” Mrs. Foster asked from behind me.

  “Stay with Sophie,” Tennyson directed. “Don’t leave her side until one of us comes to you.”

  “Shouldn’t Jayne—?”

  He cut her off. “No.” He held out his hand to me, and I took it. Glancing behind me, I saw Mrs. Foster staring after us, but then she ducked inside. “Hurry.”

  I had to jog to keep up with him as he led me up a set of stairs and then down another unfamiliar set.

  “What’s going on?” Blanca appeared in a crop top and her underwear from behind a closed door. “Ten? What was that?”

  “Just someone who had a little too much fun.” Tennyson’s tone of voice had changed completely, and he dropped my hand to lean against the wall. “Made a mess. The help has gone home, but luckily we still have the nanny.”

  “She cleans?” Blanca asked. Her gaze raked my outfit, or lack of one. At least my shirt covered my ass. And I didn’t think I’d been as blatant in my perusal of her clothing as she was of mine.

  “She does,” I replied. For some reason, he wasn’t telling her the truth, and for some other, completely unknown reason, I was covering for him.

  “Hurry up,” Blanca said. I wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or me, but from the way her gaze lingered on his middle, I’d say it was Tennyson.

  She spun and ambled back into her room, flashing him a smile over her shoulder before she closed the door.

  As soon as it shut, he grabbed my hand again and pulled me down the hall.

  “What really happened?” I asked.

  “Someone did something stupid and now we have to clean up their mess.”

  So he’d told her the truth then. I’d been completely wrong. “Drugs?” I asked.

  He stopped in front of a door and turned to face me. “Jayne, you’re going to see something in there that I can’t explain. I want to, but I can’t. It’s going to be scary, but you have to believe we’d never let anything happen to you. Can you trust me?”

  Trust him.

  I stared into his earnest blue eyes and considered it. He’d insulted me. Played with my emotions, and tempted me to do things…

  Could I trust him?

  “I can,” I answered, and he smiled. He leaned down, pressing a quick kiss next to my mouth before he pulled a key from his pocket. Shoving it in the lock, he gave me one last, unreadable look, before he opened it.

  Inside, I found Diego pressing a wad of towels against a stranger’s chest.

  “Oh my god.”

  “Jayne, thank God,” he said when he saw me. “They were all right?” He looked at Tennyson while he spoke.

  “Yes,” his friend replied. “Sophie was still asleep. Are Lee and Klaus…?”

  “They’re getting her settled down.”

  “Did Grace do this?” I asked, moving closer to the man who grimaced and panted on the bed. He grasped Diego’s wrists and opened his eyes.

  “She didn’t mean to do it,” the man said. His gaze flicked past me and went to Tennyson. “She spoke so clearly. It was like it used to be, but then she changed and—” He sucked in a breath and moaned.

  “Did you think we were lying?” Tennyson spat.

  A door opened and shut in the back of the room and Lee and Klaus emerged. Both of them were out of breath, dirty, and covered in rust-colored spots of blood.

  “Grace did this?” Why did they have such a dangerous person employed here? “You have to call the police.”

  “No!” the man on the bed yelled. “No, police! She doesn’t know! She doesn’t understand!”

  I stared at the man and then at the guys who exchanged glances. “We’ll have to go back,” Lee said, raking a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face. “And you should go for the doctor.”

  “Don’t leave me with her!” the man yelled, and for a second, I thought he meant me. “She’ll kill me!”

  “Jayne.” Klaus approached me and cupped my elbows before dragging his hands down my arms to link our fingers. He brought our hands between us and stepped close. “Jayne. Can you be brave and stay here, with him? Keep him calm and hold the towels against his wounds while we get the doctor?”

  “Why don’t you call the ambulance?” I asked, studying his face. What had happened that they didn’t want the authorities involved?

  “Trust us,” Tennyson said. “Please.”

  One by one, I studied each of the guys. All of them met my gaze and held it. Slowly, I nodded.

  “All right,” I replied.

  Klaus leaned over, capturing my mouth in a quick hard kiss. “You’re so brave, Jayne. I know you were. The moment I saw you.”

  He let one hand go, but pulled me over to the bed. Reaching into his back pocket, he handed me a pair of blue gloves, which I pulled on. Diego watched us as he held the towel against the man. He smiled when I stood next to him, and reached for my hand with his gloved, blood-stained one. “Here,” he said, and replaced his hand with mine. Pushing down with a lot of pressure, he showed me how much force to use. The man grunted, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead. “Don’t let up. He’s too much of a son of a bitch to bleed out.”

  “Fuck you, Martin,” the man said.

  Diego’s demeanor changed in a second. He leaned forward, stopping only an inch away from the man’s face. “No. Fuck you, Mason. You show up here for the first time ten years, making demands, when you haven’t bothered yourself with us for a second.”

  “Damn it, Diego,” Mason said. “She’s my—”

  There was a shuffle of bodies and Lee appeared. “Shut your fucking mouth,” he said in a low warning tone. “If you speak again, if you say a word to this girl, I will personally make sure you lose everything. Do you understand me?”

  The man opened his eyes and glared at Lee. I’d never seen so much hate on another person’s face before. It made me want to draw back, move my body in front of Lee’s.

  I must have made an unconscious gesture to do so. Touching my face, Lee stopped me. “You don’t have to protect me,” he said. His fingers traveled along my cheekbone, tucking my hair behind my ear. “That’s my job.” He dropped a kiss on my nose before straightening. “Not a fucking word, you feel me, Mason?”

  “Yes,” the man ground out.

  “We’ll be back in a few hours,” Tennyson said to me. He spun quickly, ripping a blanket off the back of a chair. He gently placed it over my shoulders. “I’m locking the door behind me. Whatever you do, don’t open it for anyone but me.”

  “Okay,” I replied, my voice shaking.

  He turned away from me, took a step to the door and then suddenly whirled back. In three quick strides he was at my side. He took my chin in his hand, holding it tightly before he leaned down and kissed me. His tongue forced its way past my lips, spearing into my mouth before he groaned and stepped away. “Fuck, you taste as good as I thought you would,” he said with his eyes closed. They opened, and held mine before he turned around. “Diego, with me,” Tennyson said. “Lee and Klaus?”

  “Got it.” The other two men went back the way they’d come. I heard a lock turn in the door.

  “Remember. Don’t open it for anyone but me,” Tennyson directed.

  “I understand,” I said again, and with that they were gone.

  The man whose blood soaked the towel I held against his chest opened his eyes to stare at me. He didn’t stare at me with the hate he directed at the others but regarded me with curiosity. I thought he’d ask m
e something; he had after all, just watched three men kiss me, but he didn’t.

  I pressed the towel more firmly, shifting my weigh to give me a better angle, and he groaned.

  It felt like time had slowed to a crawl. At one point, I heard Grace again, her wild, unhinged laughter, and Mason opened his eyes. He cried out, glancing around frantically. “Is she here? Is she out?”

  I shushed him, calming him the same way I would a child who awoke from a nightmare. “It’s just us. You’re safe.”

  He seemed to fall into a kind of restless sleep then. Every so often, his eyes would pop open and he’d ask if Grace was here, but then he’d fall back to sleep. The sun came up, and it became harder to keep my eyes open.

  If I hadn’t been so worried about the man bleeding to death, I might have passed out myself. However, my mind was too stressed and my thoughts too frenzied to let me fall asleep.

  Something had changed tonight. I didn’t know what it was, but a wall that had stood between me and the guys had disappeared. I was included in their tight-knit group, privy to secrets and deemed trustworthy. No one had ever done that before. I was always on the outside.

  But tonight, that wall disappeared like it had never been there to begin with, or like I had imagined it, totally.

  My lips tingled from their kisses, and I pressed them together. Was it just gratitude that made them act that way, or was it something more? A genuine caring?

  I didn’t know what to think. Could they care for me? Me? Plain, lame, tame Jayne?

  The sun was bright when there was a quick knock on the door and Tennyson and Diego burst through, followed by a man I didn’t recognize. A step behind them was Warner.

  Their manager sucked in a breath through his teeth when he saw me. “You can’t fucking be serious.”

  “Lay off, Warner,” Diego spat. “She kept him alive.”

  “But can you trust her?” he asked.

  Of course we can, I expected one of them to say, but they didn’t, and it hurt. In seconds, I’d gone from the inner circle to back on the outside again. They were busy hefting Mason up under the direction of the man who was apparently the doctor. Between them, they got Mason to his feet and began to carry him to the door.