The Insiders Page 14

  I saw it was the girl who had given me the free drink. She was extending her hand toward a back hallway, a clipboard in hand, an earpiece in place. She met my gaze for a second, swallowing, and looked away.

  All these people clambered under Kash. No one had spoken against him, no one—until tonight, and he got suspended from his job for three days.

  A shiver went through me.

  Feeling my reaction, Kash was moving down the hallway, but he turned so his eyes could catch mine. His face was right there. One move and our lips would touch. One brush. He frowned, his eyes dipping down to my lips, staying there.

  “This way, Mr. Colello.” The same girl. She slipped past us, opening another door.

  No one was down here, until we turned into the second hallway. Voices echoed across from us. We were in a kitchen area. Kash was following her, walking us through a maze of hallways and doors.

  He held me until she opened the last door, a cool breeze from the night greeting us.

  “Mr. Colello.”

  “Mr. Colello.”

  Two voices greeted us, both male.

  A door was opened. Kash ducked, holding me, and placed me in a backseat. He shifted me over so I was in the middle before he climbed in next to me. The employee had followed us, and she waited off to the side.

  Kash dug into his pocket and pulled out some money. He held it out. “Thank you for your discretion.”

  “Of course, sir.” She stepped forward, took the money, and her eyes slid to mine again. “Feel better, miss.”

  I sank down onto the seat, my body molding to it, and my eyelids were closing again. Quinn’s rejection. The drinks. The shock of Kash showing up.

  I wanted to sleep for days.

  The door still hadn’t shut, and Kash was saying something short and clipped to the woman. She dipped her head down, stepping back. “I’ll see to it myself.” Then she was gone, going back into the club. The back door was shut. A front door opened. A driver got in, and we were off. There was a car in front of us. As it turned, we turned. As it slowed, we slowed. There were other guards in there, or so I was assuming.

  Kash waited a beat before turning to me. He took one look, and all the tension lifted from him as well. He reached for me at the same time I went to him, climbing into his lap.

  I had missed him. I mean, I hadn’t missed him.

  I was letting him hold me. Yeah. I was doing him a favor.

  It wasn’t long, maybe twelve minutes or so, until we pulled into a basement garage of an apartment building. When the SUV stopped in front of some elevators, Kash nudged me. “Bailey?”

  His arms felt so warm, so strong. Sheltered and protected. That’s what I felt, along with a whole host of butterflies and tingles that I knew I shouldn’t be feeling. My blood was on a slow boil, getting warmer and warmer the longer I stayed in his lap. It was so hard, my eyelids felt like a pound of cement were on them, but I forced them open and tipped my head back to look at him.

  Then I paused.

  God.

  Beautiful. Dangerous. Mysterious. And I was in his arms.

  My tongue swelled up. A whole host of sensations were sending my body on vibrate. Gone was the exhaustion, in that mere look, as his eyes were smoldering down at me. I felt zapped, as if he had touched my chest and gave me an electric jolt.

  I was breathless too.

  Unthinking, unable to think, my hand raised, and I touched his cheek. “You’re back.”

  He stilled, blinking a second, then a slow grin spread—and holy hell. That smile, in that moment, in the way he was looking at me, holding me, and my heart was stampeding out of my chest. My whole blood just wooshed over itself, a wave crashing hard on me, and I was sputtering in its wake, in his wake.

  I wanted him.

  “I came back.”

  The world went away.

  It was only Kash and me, and his eyes went to my lips, holding there. I was yearning for it, for him. I wanted to feel his mouth on mine. I wanted to feel more, so much more, but his mouth first and foremost.

  I was lifting up.

  He was leaning down—

  His phone started ringing.

  Just like that, the spell was broken.

  Kash’s entire body turned into a cement block. He drew in a sharp breath before turning his head away from mine. He warned, darkly, “Someone needs to be in the hospital or a body bag, otherwise I’m going to be putting them in the hospital or a body bag myself.”

  An awkward cough as we waited. Then, “It’s Mr. Francis. Matthew. Sir.”

  “What is it?” Kash clipped out, a savage growl right behind it.

  “There’s a problem at the penthouse.”

  “Fuck.”

  Exactly.

  I hated it, my entire body was protesting, but I was sitting up. Feeling me move, Kash helped deposit me beside him. He turned his back to the guard, looking at me straight on.

  “You want to come with me?”

  There was no real question there. “Hell yes.”

  I was suddenly awake, so awake I didn’t think I’d sleep again.

  He closed his eyes, groaning again before shifting back in his seat. “Take us to Matt’s.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  We pulled up to the front of the Francois Nova. As soon as the SUV paused in front of the circling glass doors, Kash didn’t wait for his guard. He opened the door and whisked me out of there. The doorman just barely had time to nod a greeting to us.

  Once in the lobby, I felt the attention from everyone in there. It wasn’t locked down like it had been when we were there before. Hotel guests. The concierge staff. The front desk attendant, who I saw was the same as when we had stayed. His eyes were wide, taking us in. Kash was moving so fast that the guards had to run in to get ahead of us. Kash dropped my hand but linked our index fingers. He turned, heading to the elevators. A guard got there just in time, and the doors opened so we didn’t have to wait. Kash dropped my finger, his hand going to the back of my elbow.

  Once we were in, the guard came with us.

  As we rose to the penthouse floor, his thumb began rubbing the inside of my elbow.

  Good Lord. It was doing all sorts of things to me.

  The doors opened. We arrived, and raucous laughter, yelling, cheering, and bass-heavy music hit us full blast. Something illegal was being smoked, too.

  “Come on! Drink it. Down it.”

  Kash’s eyes narrowed.

  He let go of my elbow, striding forward. The guards went with him, though they didn’t look like they were there to protect him. The room opened to a wide living room. Kash motioned for one of the guards.

  The guard walked to the entertainment console and the music was cut.

  “Hey!”

  Matt was lounging on one of his white leather couches, his pants unzipped and pulled down to show the top of his hip bones. He was shirtless, his hair ruffled, and he was holding a joint. He was in the process of bringing it to his mouth for a drag when the music cut. It took a full second before that filtered in, and he turned, looking, looking, then lighting up when he saw Kash.

  “Hey! It’s Kashy. Hey, Kashy.”

  His eyes were dilated, and he couldn’t even sit up. He was sluggish. After he couldn’t get up on the second attempt, he just let gravity pull his body back down into the couch. His feet never moved, outstretched on the floor. The girl sitting beside him only had on a bra and panties. Nothing else. And she wasn’t the girl he’d been necking with at the club.

  The rest of the room was filled.

  Chester and Tony were in similar stances, but on a back couch in the corner. And unlike Matt, who didn’t have a girl actively sucking his dick, theirs were out. There was Matt’s club girl. Her lips were guzzling on Chester’s dick. The girl sucking Tony’s dick might’ve been a staff member from the club. I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t looking too close.

  A few other girls, in varying states of dress, were still dancing, hair extensions in the air, bottles of booze wa
ving around.

  “Jesus Christ, Matt.” Kash stepped further into the room, taking everything in. “We just left the club twenty minutes ago.”

  Matt’s smile was sloppy drunk as he reached for a beer on the table by him. “I was getting fucked up before we left the club.” He frowned, remembering something … something … something—and he searched, finding me. “Hey! It’s my sis—”

  “Stop!” Kash cut him off, taking two steps to his couch. He grabbed the joint, stuffed it out, and knocked the beer out of Matt’s hand. “Everyone out. Now!”

  The girls whined.

  Kash motioned to his guards. “Get ’em out.”

  There was no arguing with him.

  One girl was still swinging her arms around. Now she was tripping. She was falling backward, and she fell right into the pool that extended out from Matt’s room and went over a glass-bottomed patio, so it looked like you were swimming over the edge of the building.

  Water splashed all over the floor, but then she was up and smoothing her hair back. Her vodka smashed on the floor, and her bra had fallen off from the impact with the water. Two inflatable boobs stood straight out. “Whooey.” She laughed, falling back to float on her back. Her arms stretched out in the water. “This is nice.” Her eyes were closing.

  Kash motioned to one of the guards. “Get her.”

  The guy waded into the water, starting to pick her up and pull her to the edge. She stiffened. “Hey. What? Who are you? No! What are you doing? No!”

  She was twisting around, or trying.

  He ignored her, carrying her to the edge and lifting her up. Another guard was there, a large towel in hand, waiting for her. And with a quick woosh, the towel was wrapped around her and she was picked up, being carried out.

  Matt’s girl started to slide to her knees, but Kash wrapped his arm around her waist. He picked her up.

  “Hey! Wait! What—”

  Kash kept that arm around her waist, holding her like she was a two-year-old having a temper tantrum. Kicking. Flailing. Wriggling around.

  “Hey!” she screeched.

  “Kashy.” Matt rubbed a hand up his stomach, scratching at his chest, and yawned. “That’s not cool. This isn’t cool at all. Wait. Where’s my sis—”

  “Shut up. Stop almost messing up.”

  Kash yelled from across the room, as a guard took the girl from him, carried her to wherever they were taking these people.

  “What?” Now Matt was clueing in, blinking rapidly, and starting to try and sit up.

  Kash was crossing the room, back toward Matt, but he snapped his fingers, pointing at Chester and Tony’s couch. “Out, both of you fucks.”

  “Hey,” Chester started to growl, but the guards were back. They snatched up the girls.

  I tried to avert my eyes in time, but to no avail. Two semihard dicks were in the air. Neither Chester nor Tony moved to cover them up. Tony seemed confused about what was happening. Chester was trying to get up from the couch, but like Matt, he kept falling down.

  “I’m going to fuck you up, Colello.” That was what he resorted to.

  Kash ignored him, ducking down to Matt.

  I never would’ve imagined it if I hadn’t watched it with my own eyes, but in two moves he had lifted my brother up as if he weighed nothing. Tucking his shoulders against Matt’s chest, he pushed one arm behind Matt’s back and tucked him in, standing back up. My brother was dangling over Kash’s back like a doll.

  “Agh—ugh.”

  The pressure to his sternum must’ve been enough. Matt opened his mouth and the vomit was starting to spew. Kash grimaced, but ignored that too. He nodded to his guards, who were approaching Chester and Tony with large buckets of water. In two seconds, both had been thrown at the boys.

  They shot to their feet, cursing, sputtering, and glaring.

  The dicks were still waving around. Now their jeans slid to the floor. Chester bent to grab his, trying to shake off one arm, but he took a step forward, got tangled, and down he fell. Two guards yelled and rushed to the rug that Chester had fallen on. They had him rolled up, just like they’d done with the pool girl, and he was hoisted over both their shoulders and taken out.

  Tony was the last one, and he stood there, glazed over. “Wha—where’d everyone go?”

  The guards waited for Kash’s command, but as he carried Matt to a back room, Kash turned. “They went to the next party. Tuck it in and get out, Cottweiler.”

  “Huh?” But, shrugging, he grabbed his pants up.

  No one had shoes on. No one had a shirt on. And they all left that way. The guards were picking up their clothes when Kash yelled for me.

  “Back here.”

  I’d been gawking. I couldn’t help it. This whole scene was something I never could’ve imagined, but there it was. Proof my brother’s partying ways weren’t made up in the tabloids.

  “Bailey!”

  “Coming.” Making sure I didn’t step on glass or—gross, there was a condom there—anything I could get an STD from, I found Kash and Matt in a back bathroom. Matt was kneeling at the toilet, puking. Kash was leaning against the bathroom sink. His hands were resting on the counter’s edge, one foot crossed over the other, and he locked me in with a hooded gaze.

  “Hey.” I was hesitant here. I wasn’t sure of my place.

  “Hey back.” Motioning to Matt, he added, “I’m going to have to stay and get him sober. Do you want to stay or would you like a ride back to my place?”

  “I…” I wasn’t sure what I should do.

  A rather nasty gurgle left Matt, his back arching from the force of it.

  I sighed, leaning against the door frame. “It doesn’t feel right, leaving.”

  “This isn’t your mess. Trust me. I’d suggest finding one of his guest rooms and curling up, but I can’t promise they haven’t already been used tonight.”

  I winced at his insinuation.

  “Shit, Kash. Twenty minutes.”

  That’s all the time they would’ve been here, if even that.

  Unless Matt left me at the club …

  “The rooms are probably safe. Looks like they used his main room for the partying.”

  Matt paused in his puking and looked up. Sweaty, pale, and a green tinge coming to his face, he smiled up at me. “Hey, it’s my sister. Kashy, it’s my sister. Look.” He tried to pat Kash on the leg and point, but Kash shifted out of Matt’s reach. Swinging in the air, Matt didn’t register, and he beamed back up at me. “I’m so happy that you came to party with me tonight. Next time will be better. Promise.”

  When I said he beamed at me, I meant he was smiling stupidly at the wastebasket. He reached out, patting it. “You’re a good sister. Smart, too.” Then he moaned, going back to resting his head over the open toilet.

  We were still there five minutes later, when a guard came to the door.

  “Everything is picked up.”

  Kash nodded, running a brisk hand down his face. “Have staff clean everything, bedrooms too.”

  “On it.” He indicated Matt. “A guest complained from three floors below about the music. Hotel staff didn’t want to deal with it, called it in to one of our guys right away. That was the call. He barred them from the room so they weren’t sure what was going on in here.”

  Kash scowled. “Guards should never be barred from a room. That defeats the purpose of why they’re paid.”

  “Agreed.” He flinched. “I’ll talk to my men tomorrow.”

  “You’ll suspend those that fucked up. Helms as well. I told him to take off for three days.”

  “Sir?”

  “There should be no emotional attachments. They’re hired to do their jobs, that’s all.”

  The guard was confused, but he dipped his head down. “Yes, sir.” He hesitated again. “Orders for the rest of the night?”

  Kash’s gaze had fallen to me, holding there. He asked the guard, “Quinn didn’t want her at the estate?”

  The guard stood up tall, reacting
to his question. He coughed before answering, “Uh. Yes. Those were her orders.”

  A storm was brewing. Something uneasy passed in the air. The guard felt it. I felt it, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Even Matt paused, confused, as he turned to look at us again. He mistook the tub for us this time, and nodded, his eyes glossing over before he turned back to the toilet.

  “Sir?”

  Kash snapped out of his thought, shaking his head. “Normal rotations. I’d like an on-call nurse to come up. She’ll relieve us from Matt.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The guard left immediately after.

  Not a word was spoken over the next hour.

  Kash moved to grab some water for Matt, but returned to half standing/half leaning against the counter by the toilet. I slid down to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest, and after thirty minutes, I rested my head on my knees. When Matt took a breather, Kash would hand him the water with instructions to take only a few sips. He’d take the water when Matt was done, hand him a washcloth to wipe his face, and take it back before Matt lurched over the toilet again.

  Judging from the almost bored expression on Kash’s face, I had a feeling this was normal. For them.

  Once Matt stopped, Kash and a guard carried him to his bed. He was gently laid down, which surprised me. Another guy might’ve just tossed Matt in, but Kash and the guard didn’t. He was propped on his side. The water on the stand. A fresh washcloth next to it and a towel folded up. Kash put the garbage right underneath Matt so he could lean over and vomit if he needed. At the same time, the guard was positioning Matt’s head so a towel was underneath his face, over the pillow and bed. His knees were bent forward.

  When they were done, they stood back and studied him.

  The guard glanced at Kash. “Leave the pants on?”

  Kash grunted. “I’m not taking them off.” He side-eyed the guard. “You game?”

  “Is that part of my job description? Undressing a detox patient?”

  For the first time that night, Kash’s mouth flickered in a grin. It was grim and still dark—his theme since he got to the club that night—but it was there.

  Oh boy. My heart jumped at the sight.