JACK: Las Vegas Bad Boys (14 page)

“So are the security guys here because of the paparazzi?” Claire asks, grabbing a veggie wrap.

“Yep. But Ashley apparently has put out statements about the fiasco and, while not admitting her role in it,” I tell them, “she did say the press has got to back off.”

“That’s good,” Emmy says. “I mean, Ace was all fired up about getting you guys the best detail.”

“I know, even my dad was helping Ace and Jack sort security out,” JoJo says. “So whatever the guys are doing, it must be working.”

“So you and Jack ... you guys are moving in together?” Claire asks, looking around my place.

“Not exactly. I mean, I’m going to be staying there for a while, but there’s no plan. I just need to leave this place and find something new.”

“I can see how it could feel a bit cramped.” Teri looks around appraisingly, and, considering we’re all standing around without a place to sit, I agree it her.

“Yeah, when I first got to town I just wanted something that was private and that I could afford.”

“You have quite the tea collection,” Teri says, looking at my basket full of loose-leaf tea varieties.

“Teri’s a tea drinker, too,” JoJo says. “She literally brought her own tea in her luggage.”

“That’s funny,” I say. “Not everyone understands my addiction. When we went to London for Claire’s wedding, I was so excited about having real English tea—but, honestly, I make it better myself.”

Teri looks through my basket and pulls out the lavender-chai blend. “I’ve never seen this kind,” she says.

“Could I make you a cup? You will be in heaven.”

“If it’s not too much of a bother.”

“No, not at all.” I fill my kettle and set it on the burner.

“So how was it at Jack’s parents place?” Emmy asks. “I remember Ashley telling me how it was in the middle of nowhere and boring as all get-out.”

I tell them about Roscoe’s and my clothing options and they crack up. “But honestly,” I say, taking the whistling kettle off the burner. “It was magic. I’d live there forever if I could.”

“That is so sweet,” Claire says, sticking out her bottom lip. “Tess, can you even believe you and Jack are a thing? It’s like you finally got everything you wanted.”

I smile tightly, not feeling that way at all. Sure, Jack is a complete gift, but there are so many unsettled parts stirring inside me. Those dream like memories that keep surfacing, and knowing my father is somewhere looking for me, plotting revenge. It doesn’t feel like I’ve gotten a happily ever after. Not even close.

Lost in my thoughts, I pour the boiling water in two mugs, but it overflows and burns my finger.

“Damn it,” I say, setting the kettle down. “That was so stupid of me.” I squeeze my hand, already feeling the blister.

“Oh, shush, sweetie,” Teri says. “Don’t say that about yourself. I think I have something to help with the burn.”

She roots around in her purse and pulls out a tube of ointment. “This eucalyptus cream helps with everything; I swear by it.”

She takes my hand, and dabs the cream on my burn. As her hands hold mine, my heart seizes, my eyes fill fast.

The smell of the ointment fills my nose and my senses explode, triggered by the memories of my past.

These soft hands on mine, rubbing this oil on my chest when I was sick.

My birthday party, and a much younger Teri holding a cake, telling me to make a wish.

“Make a wish, Rachel.”

The lullaby I remembered being sung, always thinking it wasn’t a lyric about an angel, it was a lyric about Rachel.

I look at Teri, McQueen’s mother—and, in a panic, I remember that his sister was kidnapped when she was four.

His sister Rachel.

Me.

“Tess, are you okay?” Emmy reaches for me as I faint. Teri catches me as I fall.

My eyes close, and all I see is my mother.

Not the one I murdered.

The one I never knew I lost.

K
irby meets
me at my loft, along with Lola, my PR lead. They flew in this morning from Los Angeles, and now sit around my dining room with a catered lunch spread on the table.

“You’ve got to make a decision,” Kirby says, flipping through the pages of the contract. “This offer from KMG is once in a lifetime.”

“I get that,” I tell him, looking through the contract myself. Lines jump out at me:
Controlled Composition ... Advance shall mean prepayment of royalties ... KMG shall be the exclusive, perpetual owner.... “
I just don’t think I can sign this yet. It’s too fast.”

“You’ve had a month to think about it, Jack,” Lola says. “This offer won’t stay on the table forever.”

“We’ve waited a month, though, and the offer only improved,” I counter.

“Yeah, well, do you plan on releasing monthly sex tapes?” Kirby asks. “Because that’s a surefire way to improve your brand.”

Lola scoffs. “Right, until the press decides the sex scandals are unappealing to consumers. Then it will completely destroy everything. You got lucky this time.”

“Lucky is right,” Kirby laughs. “But seriously, Jack, why are you hesitating?”

“I don’t necessarily want to tie my life up this way.”

“What way would you prefer?” Kirby raises his eyebrows, no longer good-humored. “Because contracts like this don’t come around for musicians every year.”

“Or every lifetime,” Lola adds.

“I’ve been working on other stuff, and I want you to shop it around.”

“Jack, we’ve been over this. You can’t rebrand yourself as some indie singer-songwriter. You’ve built a brand as a pop musician.”

“Musician? That’s what we’re calling it?”

“Call it what you want, but your music is popular,” Lola insists. “Have you at all considered a tour with Ashley? Or recording some music with her? I know KMG would be all over it.”

“Enough.” I stand, pissed, and raise my hands, signaling for them to back off. “I’m never working with Ashley again, in any capacity. And, Kirby, I won’t even consider this contract until you listen to my new stuff. Understood?”

Before they can answer, my phone starts buzzing. Looking at the screen I see it’s a call from Emmy.

I answer. “Hello? Everything okay?”

“No, Jack. Tess fainted at her apartment. The security guys insisted on her being brought to the hospital.”

My stomach drops. This is the last thing my girl needs. “Is she okay?”

“I think she’s totally fine, but they were insistent.”

“Shit.” I run my hand over my jaw. “Why did she faint?”

“I don’t know, but she’s at Christ Memorial. Claire is in the ambulance with her, and I’m driving there now with JoJo and McQueen’s mom.”

“Fuck, okay. I’m on my way.”

I pocket my phone and see the concern on Kirby and Lola’s faces.

“It’s Tess. She fainted and was sent to the hospital. But they say she’s going to be all right.”

They visibly relax upon hearing it wasn’t some fatal situation.

“Speaking of Tess,” Lola says, “we need to talk about your relationship, and what you were doing for the past two weeks.”

“Lola, drop it. I was with my woman, who is now in a fucking ambulance. Until you start listening to me, I’m done with this bullshit.”

I grab my wallet and keys, and head to the front door. My bodyguard is trailing me, and it’s taking everything in me to keep my shit together, because I want to go off the rails.

I’m done with Kirby’s fucking pressure, and Lola’s stupid-ass comments about working with Ashley, and the reality of needing to sign that shitty contract if I want my parents to have it easy.

As we fly down the freeway toward the hospital, I see a crew of bikers rolling past. Flags wave behind some of the bikes—red As, with a circle around them.

Anarchy Motorcycle Gang.

Shit. Apparently the motherfuckers never left town.

* * *

The doctor calls it “emotional shock.”

I call it
what the actual fuck
.

Lying in the hospital bed, my head is dizzy with flashes of memories.

Am I crazy? Imagining things? How could I not know I was kidnapped? How could anyone forget something like that?

The room is quiet and I’m alone. The doctor sent my friends away, mostly because I was hysterical as Teri looked in my eyes, trying to see what I already saw.

The doctor said I need to rest, that I need to calm down. They gave me a shot of something meant to dull my emotional shock, but it’s impossible. Nothing can stop the current that the revelation has brought on.

I’m replaying the memories in my mind when Jack comes in the room. Pulling back the curtain, he sees me and instantly slides the curtain back in place, giving us more privacy.

“Baby,” he says, rushing to my side. Sitting on my bed, he wraps his strong arms around me, holding me close, smelling of fresh air and salt water. Smelling like mine.

“I was kidnapped, Jack,” I whisper, the words foreign on my mouth, impossible to believe but true.

Pulling back, he looks confused.

“What do you mean, Tess?”

“When I was a little girl. I think I’m McQueen’s kidnapped sister, Rachel.”

“Oh sweetie,” he says, patting his hand over my hair. “You’ve had a long day.”

“What?” I shake my head, pushing his hand away, realizing he doesn’t believe me. “No, it’s true. I kept having those memories at dinner last night, because I was sitting across from Teri. And then she put this ointment on my hand at my apartment, and it all became clear. She’s my mom.”

“Hey, Tess, it’s okay to be confused. You’ve been running from your father for a few years, you grew up traumatized, and it makes sense that you’re in shock.”

“That’s not what this is, Jack.”

“Okay, what is it then, honey? You’re saying you were kidnapped and just now remembered? Does that make any sense to you?”

“I know it’s improbable ... but it’s true. I’m not crazy, I swear.” Even as I say the words, I know they are the very sentences that could be used to prove that I am, in fact, bananas.

But I’m not crazy.
I’m not.

“You have to believe me.”

“Okay, I believe you. I believe that you think this is true.”

“Don’t be condescending.” I push him away. “Call McQueen. Tell him and his dad to come down to the hospital. I’ll have him do a paternity test.”

“That’s nuts, babe,” he says gently. But his words, though soft, still sting. “I know you’re broken up about not having a family ... but I don’t know if this is the way to find one.”

“Fuck that, Jack.” I push him away out of self-preservation, but also because I know in my heart I’m right. “Don’t be like that. You say you love me? Then trust me.”

The steady hum of the machines in the room echoes through our silence. I don’t want to hear it. I just want to hear Jack say,
Yes, I believe you.

He runs a hand through his hair, watching me, deciding what to do.

I know whatever has transpired between Jack and me this month has been nothing short of insane. When we sat on the water at his parent’s home, I offered him the deepest, scariest, most shameful parts of myself. I told him all of my secrets. I gave them to him believing he would handle them with care.

And he did. Which is why I trust him so damn much.

But maybe that trust is just one-sided.

L
ooking at her
, propped up in this hospital bed, my emotions are running on all cylinders.

The bikers are here, in town ... and the longer I can keep her in this room, the safer my girl will be.

But I can’t tell her that her father is closing in on her. I don’t want her to experience any more stress than she’s already under. And, dammit, she’s been on a roller coaster without a safety belt. I need things to slow down for her, yet this new revelation—or whatever the fuck—is just going to skyrocket her anxiety.

But Tess isn’t a liar. She is the antithesis of dramatics. She’s no Ashley; she’s not an attention-whore. She isn’t going to say something as sensational as this story would be, unless she can fucking back it up.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath., determined that each word I utter hereafter will not, not even for a moment, give her a reason to doubt me.

I won’t give her room to doubt my love, my intentions. I’m a fucking man of my word and when I told her I’d protect her, I didn’t just mean her physical body—though I damn well intend on that. I also meant that I would protect her heart. That I would protect her goddamned soul.

I kneel before her on the hospital floor, my hands wrapped around hers. I won’t fucking let go.

“Tess, or Rachel, or whoever the hell you are, I love you. I believe you and I believe
in
you and I will fucking fight with you until we find the truth.”

Her lips quiver, tears splash across her delicate cheeks. I hate that she carries so much pain, so much loss. But I want to be by her side as she finds the pieces that have been stolen from her.

“Marry me,” I tell her. “Be my wife and have my children and fucking let me keep you safe.”

I hadn’t planned on a proposal—but, as God is my witness, it’s the only thing that makes fucking sense in this whole mess. The only thing that makes sense in my entire life.

“I don’t deserve you,” she sobs, her shoulders shaking as she absorbs my words. “I’ve made a mess of my life and I don’t even know how to clean it up. You want me?” she asks, disbelief written in her eyes. “You really want a girl like me?”

“Oh, baby, you are the only girl I want.”

I climb on top of her, in that narrow hospital bed. I straddle her body, run my hands across her waist, over her perfect tits, until I’m holding her face in my hands.

“You are the only girl I need.”

She kisses me, so desperately, so hungrily. I know she needs me, too.

“Is that a motherfucking yes?” I ask her.

“Yes.” She kisses me again, harder, pressing her body against mine as if she wants me to devour her completely. “Yes, Jack Harris, I will marry you.”

“Are we gonna consummate this marriage?” I smirk, lifting the hem of her tee shirt.

“I think people do that after the actual wedding, not the proposal.” She tugs at my belt, loosening it, then unbuttoning my pants.

“I think consummating proposals is a thing too,” I tell her, pushing both her pants and her panties down.

Oh, that sweet pussy is just begging to be fucked.

She looks over my shoulder and I know she’s considering the fact that someone could walk in.

But she wants me, needs me as badly as I need her.

I pull out my thick cock, knowing I’ll never tire of the way her clear blue eyes widen incredulously when she sees my package.

She licks her lips unconsciously. She moans softly as I press myself into her little pussy. She may have had one hell of a day, but I am going to give her one hell of a ride, too.

I fill her, inching myself in, and she gasps like she always does when I give it to her. Somehow, she is still precious and still hopeful. That fucking mess of a life she ran from didn’t make her a jaded bitch, when it so easily could have. No, her past made her grateful for everything she has right now.

Those club girls that have hung around me for years, revealing everything to me in hopes of getting something in return—those girls have nothing on a woman like Tess.

Tess is a believer—in love and in life—and nothing is going to keep her down. Sure, she carries the heaviness of her story everywhere she goes, but what I love about her is that history doesn’t define her. She defines herself.

“Baby,” she whispers. “This, right here, is everything.”

“Hell, yeah, it is,” I tell her, filling her deeply. She moans in pleasure, and my cock hits deep inside her. She groans under me as a wave of pleasure pours over her, as my come releases inside her.

“Oh, Jack, don’t stop,” she says, wrapping her legs around me. Her ankles cross and her arms snake around my neck, clinging to me.

I thrust into her again, hating that we’re still in a hospital bed. I want to take her far from here, to my house, to my fucking bed, and make a home for her.

She orgasms against me, and she fights to catch her breath. I fill her pussy with my cock and my seed and I know it’s what we both wanted.

I roll off her, standing and pulling up my pants. As she reassembles her clothes, we both seem to remember what brought us here today.

“I’m going to find a doctor,” I tell her. “And get McQueen’s parents on blood tests. His mom’s name is Teri—what’s his dad’s name again?”

“My dad’s name, you mean?” she asks.

“Right,” I say, sliding my belt into place, hating that I hesitated. “Your dad’s name.”

“It’s Jeb.”

“Okay, I’ll get them to come right over. Hell, Teri probably called them and I bet they’re already on their way. You want anyone in here with you? Claire or Emmy? JoJo? Everyone is here.”

“None of the crew,” she says quickly. “I just want my family in here. I mean, it’s crazy, right? That I could have a family I never knew about?”

“Yeah,” I say, running my hand through my hair. “That’s totally crazy.”

I leave the hospital room hoping my fiancée will get everything she’s ever wanted. There isn’t a girl on this planet more deserving.

* * *

Memories have been crashing into my mind all morning. Well, actually, they started last night at dinner. Sitting across from Teri and Jeb, I just knew something was off.

Knew that something was right.

I just didn’t know what it was, and instead of clarity, I kept having these flashes. Flashes of me being safe and protected, loved and held.

Flashes of a family I always wanted and used to have. It exhausts me to think of what I’ve lost.

What I’ve gained.

In the space of a day I have a revelation of my childhood and Jack proposed. To me.

Me
.

It feels like a dream.

After Jack leaves, with a kiss and a promise to return, a nurse comes in to take a mouth brushing, which is how they administer paternity tests. She tells me this is a rush order, and there’s a state of the art lab at this new hospital. The results will be delivered in a few hours, since the McQueens have already gone to the lab for the mouth swab.

She says no one will be visiting me until the lab work is complete so that I can rest—and also so that no one reacts unnecessarily until the test results are determined.

Relieved that the McQueens are being cooperative, I start to doze off. I sleep through lunch, and only wake when a doctor enters my room.

“Hello, Tess,” he says offering his hand for me to shake. “I’m Doctor Markus, and I have some news I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Did you run the tests?”

“We did.” He looks pained as he says this, as if bracing himself for the news.

“And?”

He refers to the tablet he’s holding in his hands. “It was conclusive.”

“Good,” I tell him, smiling. “Then can you have them come in? My family?”

The doctor shakes his head ever-so-slightly, a look of surprise covering his face. “You aren’t even going to ask about the results?”

“I know them, Doctor Markus. It’s not a question. It’s the truth.”

“I have to ask: how are you so sure? How do you know? I’ve never heard of a case like this, where a kidnapped victim taken at such a young age found her family after nearly twenty years and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, who her parents were.”

Sitting up straighter and taking off the blanket covering me, I shrug. “I guess I always knew something wasn’t right with my parents—well, with the people who took me. My mom wasn’t stable. And my dad never treated me as his own.”

The doctor nods solemnly. “The police will be here soon. This is a huge development in a case that has been closed for fifteen years. You will need to prepare yourself to testify.”

“No.” I shake my head, standing. “I just want to see my family. I don’t want to see the police.”

“Surely you’ll need to press charges, to hold those people liable. This isn’t an
if you want to
situation; this is a huge case that will send your kidnappers to prison.”

“I just want to be left alone. Please.” I close my eyes, not wanting anything to ruin what should be a perfect reunion. The police will ask questions I can’t answer, questions about where my mother is right now.

I don’t want to tell them that I shot her, that she is buried because of me.

Even if they catch my so-called dad and imprison him, they’ll never sentence the rest of the Brotherhood. And I know how many men would be looking at me for retribution.

I can’t lose everything, not now. Not when I am on the cusp of gaining all I’ve ever dreamed of having.

“I’m only a doctor,” Markus says, “but I suggest getting an attorney as quickly as possible—not only for the charges against your kidnappers, but also for possible restraining orders.”

“Oh, I’m not in touch with my kidnappers. I left home a few years ago.”

“I see. Well, you need to be safe, and once they find out that you’ve reunited with your birth family, things will be complicated.”

“Do they know? The McQueens?”

“They do. Would you like me to send them in?”

“No, I’ll go to them. I want out of the hospital.”

“A hospital counselor is on site and can lead you though this reunion. You can all gather in a private room.”

I bite my lip, not sure where or how would be the best place. “Are they just right outside this room? Waiting?”

“They are.”

“Then just have them come in here. I can’t wait another moment. And tell Jack to come in, too.”

Doctor Markus nods solemnly. “I’ll let them know you’re ready.”

He steps outside, and I straighten my hair with my hands, trying to remember to breathe.

Trying to hold tight to this moment, the one where my entire life changes.

The door opens, and in comes Teri and Jeb, Ryan McQueen, and Jack. They walk to me, arms outstretched, as if they can’t reach me fast enough.

I thought I could hold myself together, be strong, but tears fall to my cheeks. As Teri, Jeb, and Ryan wrap me in their embrace, I remember something Emmy told me a few months ago when she was shattered over her sister Janie’s death, when she cried with transparency, not trying to hide one thing about her feelings.

She told me tears don’t make you weak. She said that tears reveal your complete abandon of what should or should not be. Tears shed are truth.

And my truth is this: I am not alone. Not even a little. Not even at all.

“Rachel,” Teri sobs, her face pressed against my hair. “My darling girl.”

Jeb holds us together, whispering over and over, “You’re alive. You’re alive. My daughter is alive.”

I don’t know what agony or heartache they’ve experienced over the past eighteen years, but I know the gaping hole that has always been in my heart—the hole only they can fill.

When we step back, and widen our circle to look at one another’s faces, really look, Ryan’s face fills with sorrow. “All this time, Tess, you’ve been my sister. How could I not have known?”

I crumble as he pulls me into another hug. I let my big brother wrap his arms around me and squeeze tight.

“Do you think we look alike?” I ask, never considering our likeness. But I can see it now, so clearly. “I dye my hair.” I say through teary laughs. “But we have the same teeth, don’t we. The same smile?”

“You have the same ears,” Teri says, tucking my hair back. “Same as your older brother, too.”

“Where does he live?” I ask.

“In Kansas City. Near us.”

“That’s where I’m from?” I ask, my chin quivering. I think of the horrible compound, the way my dead mother would tell me I was hers and hers alone, and that no one would ever take me from her. She was so possessive, and it was because our bond was a lie. She was scared I would remember.

“Who raised you?” Jeb asks.

I look at Jack. How do I explain? What do I explain? I have no clue where I should start, because I am terrified of where it might end.

“The people that I thought were my family were really, really horrible to me.” I bite my lip, my whole body shaking.

“Oh, sweetie,” Teri says. “You don’t need to say anything right now.”

“The doctor said I needed a lawyer,” I tell them. “But I don’t want to press charges. I mean it.”

Jack’s clenches his jaw, his eyes narrow in on me. “Maybe we should ask Denzel his opinion.”

“He’s Ace’s lawyer,” Ryan tells his parents. “He’s the best.”