Billy Jeffers: Rockers of Steel (12 page)

“Madison.”

She opens her eyes and blinks rapidly.

“My father would like you to take my mom home.”

Her mouth drops open, and she mouths, “
He’s alive?
”

I nod, and she visibly relaxes.

“I’m gonna stay here with him for a while.”

“I’ll come back and get you,” she says, stepping away from my mom.

“The hotel’s not far. I’ll catch a cab. Mom?”

“Yes, Billy boy,” she says, looking Madison up and down as if she is a piece of jewelry in a glass case she would like to get her hands on.

I see Madison give me a look out of the corner of her eye. I know damn well I’m going to hear that name again.

“She needs some sleep.”

“Are you two—”

“No,” Madison and I answer at the same time.

“Okay, then.” Mom looks at me.

“You know how to use the navigation system, right?” I ask Madison.

“Yep.”

Mom links her arm through Madison’s.

“You know the address, Mom?”

“Of course I do.”

I lean in and give my mom a kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

They start toward the elevators, and Madison looks back at me.

I mouth, “
Thank you
.”

Then I walk into his room, and he sighs. “Quite a scare today, wasn’t it?”

“It was an anxiety attack,” I answer, sitting down.

He shakes his head. “Well, that remains to be seen.”

I wait for him to say something, anything at all about the fucking money, the house, what the fuck he plans to do to fix the mess, but he just looks over and asks, “Wanna watch ESPN?”

“No,” I snap then try to reel it in.

“I think—”

“No,” I whisper in a hiss. “No, you don’t. You sold the house?”

“We wanted to downgrade.”

“Well, the damn thing was paid off, Dad. I paid it off when you were so far behind you almost lost it. It was
my
damn house. You had lifetime use.”

“Legally, it was mine. And don’t worry, the new place is yours.” He acts as if it isn’t a big deal.

“Great. So, do you think maybe you could pay back the fucking investors you swindled over one million dollars from in your damn Ponzi scheme with the profit from the sale?”

His lips straighten as he glares at me. “We used the money to buy the new house.”

“Then tell me how the hell you’re gonna fix this one, Dad.”

“Fix what?”

“Don’t even try it. I know who your goddamned investors are. Angel told me.”

“
Angel
?”

“I am telling you that I will not be lied to anymore. How the fuck do you know her? Who the hell do you think you are, calling her place of employment, dropping my name, getting that kind of information, and using—”

“I will handle it,” he snarls.

“Is that so? How, the money from the sale of
my
house?”

“
Your
house? It was
our
house—the three amigos. We took damn good care of you while you were growing up. We chose to make sure you had the best education, the best cars, were invited to the best parties. Hell, you can thank your mother for your music career. Had she not insisted on piano lessons for you when you were young, you wouldn’t be swimming in the dough now. You know what we have sacrificed for you, so I don’t wanna hear it. I will handle it, and that’s the end of this conversation.”

“And when she goes to the cops?”

“Make sure she doesn’t.”

“Oh, no, I am not—”

“The business is in your name, too, Billy boy.”

“No, it isn’t!” I snap back.

“Yes, it is. Trust me.”

“I am glad you’re okay, Dad, but you have stepped over so many fucking lines—”

“Do I need to remind you what we gave up for you?”

“No, I have heard it since I was seven years old, but that was
your
fucking call.”

“For the betterment of you.”

I say nothing, nothing at all, because he is delusional, absolutely delusional.

I see him look past me and toward the door, so I look back.

Madison.

“Hey.” She gives the smile she saves for pleasantries. “Your mom left her purse.” She points at the ground, and I look down to see the purse. I pick it up for her.

“That was very sweet of you to fetch it for her,” my father says, sitting up.

“She said it was a gift from you. You have great taste. And she’s tired. It was no problem.” Madison walks toward the purse in my outstretched hand.

“Well, we certainly do appreciate all your help. The Three Amigos have had a rough day.”

“I’m sorry about that. I hope all is well.” Madison smiles.

“My son must have forgotten his manners. I am William Jeffers and you are?” he asks, knowing damn well who she is.

“Madison Black.” She extends her hand to him, and he kisses it.

“My son has exquisite taste.”

“Oh, no, we’re just—”

“Your secret is safe with me.” He winks at her.

She looks at me.

“Dad, she’s a friend.”

“Oh, I see. You’re Memphis Black’s sister. I promise, my lips are—”

“We’re not fucking together!” I snap at him.

“Billy,” she gasps.

“I’ll walk you out.” I grab her elbow, but she pulls away, giving me a look.

“I’m all set, thank you.” She turns to look at my father. “Get some rest.”

Billy’s mom and I walk out to the car, and I hit the unlock button.

“This is a beautiful vehicle. It’s a BMW, right?” she asks as I open the door for her.

“It sure is,” I say before shutting the door once she is in.

I take in a few deep breaths, trying to rid my anger at the situation I just left, before getting into the car and acting like nothing is wrong.

“William didn’t tell me Billy got a new car.” She giggles. “I should have guessed when he decided to surprise me with a matching one that he wanted to make sure I had one just as nice.”

“That was thoughtful of him.” I smile as I lean toward the display on the navigation system. “What’s the address?”

“Can you keep a secret? I wouldn’t wanna ruin the surprise.” She smiles.

“Of course. I’m a very good secret keeper.” I smile.

“The driveway is just past the gate.” She grins. “The code is Billy boy’s birth date—zero-three-two-eight-nine-two.”

I pull up to the black iron security gate and punch in the code.

“This must be some bungalow.” I chuckle.

“Welcome to Secret Escape.” She laughs as I pull through the gate.

“Secret Escape?” I ask.

“A home like this deserves a name. William spoils me,” she says as the SUV’s lights shine on the house that I would never call a bungalow. Hell, I wouldn’t even classify it as a house.

“One bedroom?”

“Well, no, but the main house isn’t finished yet. We’re having some work done. It’s an expansive and very expensive project, so William and I have been roughing it in the pool house. We call it a bungalow, and truth be told, I would rather live in it than worry about the house. But William said it would someday be Billy’s, and we would more than likely end up retiring and living in the bungalow between travels.”

“And Billy has no idea?”

“No, that’s why I hemmed and hawed about the hotel. I would love to have you both stay here. I may have actually enjoyed having another female in the house.”

“It’s beautiful. Very big, too.”

“We hope that, with Billy’s success, he has a big family. William and I would have liked more.” Her tone is sad, but only momentarily. Then she looks out the window and points left, so I follow the paved driveway around back.

The bungalow is bigger than most houses. It sits beside the pool, and from the pool, you can see the ocean not even a hundred yards away.

“Breathtaking, isn’t it?”

“It certainly is.”

After a tour of the “bungalow” that has two bedrooms and is bigger than my house, I bow out gracefully and sit in the SUV, looking at the estate, Secret Escape. It’s insane.

Memphis, Finn—hell, even Xavier and Taelyn’s home is not this over the top. It’s stunning, but from what I just overheard, I’m sure Billy is going to be even more upset.

I replay the conversation over in my head as I pull out of the iron gate, trying to figure out how this may help him.

“You sold the house?” Billy asked. I have never heard him so angry, and I was sure I had made him very angry many times.

“We wanted to downgrade,” his dad states as if it were no big deal.

His father didn’t even seem bothered by the fact that Billy was the one to pay off the house when his family apparently was going to lose it, and obviously, Billy thought the house was in his name. Wouldn’t he have had to sign some sort of legal paperwork?

From what I know of Billy, he is too smart to let something like this slip past him. However, he has been so busy with STD, a band I now know he never wanted to be part of.

Then something about investors and a Ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff proportions … one million dollars that they used to buy a house that Billy is being led to believe is a beach bungalow.

His mom seemed to think it was a wonderful thing they had done for their son. I am ninety-nine percent sure Billy would not concur.

Then there’s Angel. How does she fit into this?

Bitch.

To top it off, Billy apparently is legally linked to what sounds like illegal activity. Suddenly, my father’s dick being buried in a minister’s ass doesn’t seem like such a betrayal.

If Billy goes to the cops, I am going to make sure he seeks legal counsel before he does.

I should call Memphis. I’m sure he would help in any way he could. Billy is his friend, after all. But then, Billy would surely go back to hating me, and after the past twenty-four hours, I am even more certain I could not handle that.

I have to tell Billy.

I pull into a Target and run in to grab some things: beer, booze, clothes and something for him to eat, because I think I would like him to be horn-gry and not hang-ry.

Okay, something is definitely wrong with me,
I think as I get out of his SUV.

I want him to take it out on my body. It’s wrong, so wrong, but after last night and this morning’s angry sexcapade, the thought can’t be helped.

An angry Billy is a very hot Billy. No one knows that better than I.

I throw some things in the cart and wonder if the heart-shaped handprints on my ass have faded. I sure hope so because I want it again and again and again …

I walk out to the SUV after buying too many snack foods and sundae toppings, because when I saw whipped cream, I couldn’t think of anything better to top with whipped cream than his very large, very thick cock that I want in my mouth again.

After everything is inside, I start the vehicle up and notice five missed calls, all from Billy, so I press call back.

“Where are you?” He sounds almost in a panic.

“I just stopped at the store. I was heading to the hotel now. Would you like me to come to get you?”

“No, I’m already here. Jesus, I thought you left.” He sighs.

“I’m really not that much of a bitch, you know?” I make a joke, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Okay, then. I’m here.”

“I will be there in two minutes.”

“Is that what the navigation system says or is that Madison time?”

“I’ll never tell.”

“For God sake, be safe. See you soon.”

“Yep.”

I hang up the phone and hit the gas.

A few minutes later, I walk into the lobby, juggling bags and my suitcase. When I look up, I see Billy shaking his head as he walks toward me.

“You moving in?” he asks as he catches the bag I am about to drop.

“You fed me a hot dog.” I smirk. “And a protein shake. As filling as it was, I’m kind of starving and figured you would be, too.”

“This is the Hilton. I’m sure they have room service.” He takes all the bags and leaves me with my rolling suitcase.

He walks quickly toward the elevator, and I follow him. Once inside, his eyes shift around nervously.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Are you?” he asks back.

I nod. “Of course.”

He sighs and leans against the wall as the tin box ascends to the twelfth floor.

“You wanna talk about it?”