Secrets to Hide 2: Naughty Little Christmas (27 page)

And then Jace was standing in front of her, and she was once more pulled away from thoughts of Damien.

“Can I—” Jace struggled, not like his usual self. Of course neither of them had been themselves for a while, had they?

Harley sighed, suddenly tired. “Have a seat, Jace.” She gestured to the couch, then fell into her end, too exhausted to sit up and be formal with this man she’d known for so many years.

Jace settled at the other end, turning his body so his knees took up much of the space between them. His black hair was rumpled like he’d run his hands through it more than once, and the skin around his blue eyes was dark. He looked like he hadn’t slept much. She knew the feeling.

“Harley, I…” His gaze wandered the room, refusing to settle on her. “I came to apologize.”

She held her silence. This
really
wasn’t like Jace. Of course, neither was the scene on New Year’s Eve. Jace was in control, always, not…this. She ached at the knowledge that she’d hurt him so much, pushed him off his moorings to the point where he appeared lost. That wasn’t what she’d wanted. She’d just wanted to be there for her daughter, without the baggage of everyone’s judgment and interference.

As if sensing her confusion, Jace finally focused on her. “I’m sorry, so sorry.”

Harley shook her head. “For what, Jace? You have every right to hate me.”

“No, I don’t,” he said fiercely. “I should’ve been there for you, not tried to force you into the role I chose for you. I never should’ve criticized you for taking care of Sonny. Hell, that’s part of who you are, taking care of everyone else. I just…didn’t want her taking you away from us. In the end, it was my own stupidity that pushed you away.”

“No, Jace. It was my daughter.”

Jace’s full mouth quirked up, that sexy half grin he gave onstage that every female assumed was intentional. “Your daughter didn’t push us away. It shouldn’t have been a choice between the two; we made it one. I made it one.” He scooted closer, reaching out to take her hand carefully. “I want you to forgive me, for being angry, for saying things I shouldn’t have. Especially to Damien.”

The words shafted her heart like a knife. Remembered panic sent her heart rate soaring.

“I knew.” Jace frowned, his eyes sad. “I knew you meant something to each other. I should’ve kept my mouth shut and let you tell him in your own time. I hope”—his fingers tightened convulsively on hers—“I hope I didn’t cost you too much.”

A week ago she’d probably have told him exactly what he’d cost her, but now, in a way, she could see he’d done her a favor. Damien had needed to know, and on her own, she wasn’t certain she’d have had the courage to tell him. They’d worked it out, anyway. They were on the road to more solid footing; in fact, based on the way he’d acted tonight, she wondered if they weren’t actually there already. He certainly made her feel secure when nothing else in this world ever had.

Except Jace.

Moving closer, she pulled this man who’d been her friend for seven years into her arms. “I’m okay. We’re okay,” she whispered against his chest. She chuckled, realizing something she hadn’t shared with him yet. “Damien is Klio’s father.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No.” She sat up to looking into his eyes. “He didn’t know, but he does now and…it’s good.”

Jace closed his eyes, relief washing over his face as he hugged her again. They sat for a moment, soaking in each other’s presence. Finally Jace sat back, his hands sliding down to grip her arms. “We want you in the band again.”

“Jace, I can—”

Jace jiggled her lightly. “You can. We can make concessions, big ones.” He tipped her chin up until her gaze met his, the gesture so reminiscent of Damien that tears tingled at the back of her nose. “None of us thinks you should leave Klio, not for long, but we think we’ve come up with something that might work.”

As Jace outlined his plans, Harley relaxed into the couch cushions. The idea was definitely worth some thought. She would continue managing the band, but Aftershock only, no one else. They could work rehearsals around her schedule, even meeting at Thrice before the club opened or after it closed to practice so she wouldn’t spend too much more time away from Klio. And most of all, for the majority of shows requiring an overnight stay, they would use a studio musician to replace her. She would only travel occasionally, to things they truly needed her for, but recording and the main performances would be nearby.

The thought of returning to music, even part-time, lifted her heart, but she knew she had to discuss it with Damien first. She wouldn’t make a decision this big without him. When she told Jace, he nodded as if her answer was exactly what he’d expected. “You can take some time to think about it. We aren’t going anywhere, not without you.” He started to speak, stopped, then seemed to gather his nerve. “Damien doesn’t seem like he’ll be going anywhere without you either. Have you talked yet?”

“About what?”

“About the fact that you love each other?”

Harley spluttered and coughed, choking on words. Jace watched, his eyes dancing at the show. When she finally came to a gasping halt, he chucked her chin. “Talk to him, okay? If you love him, talk to him. You deserve happiness.” Something sad overshadowed his expression, then was gone. “Don’t let fear steal it from you. Not again.”

He was right. It had been fear that had kept her from telling them the truth, from telling Damien the truth. She’d always thought she was so fearless, forging her way, keeping her life together when her family fell apart, but the truth was, she was a coward about the big things. She wouldn’t be a coward again. “I won’t.”

As they stood, Harley gave Jace a hard hug. “Thank you.”

“Hey, you can thank me by inviting me to meet your daughter. She’s part of our family too, remember?”

Harley laughed, the sound on the watery side, and nodded. “I can do that. Klio should get to know her uncles.”

Jace laughed, looking pleased at the designation.

“How about I walk you out?”

The club was empty save the staff, who were congregated around the bar for the nightly family meeting. Harley and Jace crossed at an angle, not wanting to disturb Damien and Ryan at their work, but on the way to the door, Harley spotted Garrett and Leo, Damien’s brothers, sharing a beer off to one side. She hesitated.

“What is it?” Jace asked quietly.

Coming to a decision, Harley tugged on his arm. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet.”

She led Jace over to the men’s table, heart fluttering with nerves, but this was Damien’s family. They should get to know her, and she should get to know them. She was beginning to think she really would be around them for a long, long time.

They were about five feet away when a loud burst of laughter sounded from both of Damien’s brothers. Harley glanced over, met Ryan’s eyes, but Damien continued with whatever he was saying to the staff, so she continued closing the distance to the table. Leo’s voice was the first to register.

“Cannot believe he’s doing an employee. I mean, if I did that, they’d have me up in front of the advisory committee so fast my dick would still be hard.”

Harley halted as the words sank into her brain. Were they talking about Damien?

Garrett took a hefty swallow of the beer he held, then nodded. “Me too. I have student interns older than her. But hey, in his world, I guess there aren’t many rules. Is she even twenty-one?”

Not just Damien. They were talking about her. They’d sat in her home, watching their mother and sister talk with her, get to know her daughter, and they were making jokes about her. She wasn’t sure why it hurt—it wasn’t like her family had been the gold standard—but she was. These were the people who were supposed to love Damien, and here they were, in his club, drinking his beer, and pissing on him like that.

Jace tensed beside her, obviously catching the drift of the conversation just as she had. “Har—”

She shook her head at him. Wanting to walk away, she tugged on his arm, but he refused to move.

“Whether she is or not,” Leo observed wryly, “she undoubtedly has the stamina of one. That’s the only way Damien plays. Still, isn’t that a bit like the pimp sampling the goods before they head out on the street?”

Harley stood, stunned. Had they just called her a prostitute? Is that what they thought about Damien’s business?

Jace didn’t seem to care about an explanation. He shrugged off her arm before she could get a message to her hand to hold him back. “That’s it.” Charging forward, he hit the table like a hurricane, grabbed Leo by the collar, and hauled him to his feet.

“What the he—”

Leo’s words cut off when he got a good look at Jace’s angry face, much, much higher than his own. At six-five, not many people willingly faced Jace down.

“You weren’t talking about my friend Harley, were you?” he asked, voice a menacing threat. “I know you weren’t implying what I think you were implying.” He jerked his head toward the bar, though his gaze remained glued to Leo’s sweating face. “Damien’s right over there; how ’bout I get him for you so we can clear this up?”

Garrett was on his feet, face flushed with the alcohol he’d drunk, eyes a little wild as he watched his brother being manhandled by the big guy with the ugly case of anger. “What? Who the hell are—” And then he saw Harley standing not two feet away from their table. Close enough to see them. Definitely close enough to hear them. His eyes met hers, and she knew the moment he realized she’d heard every word he and Leo had uttered. “Shit.”

Harley untangled her tongue. “J-Jace…” she stammered, then shook her head. No, she wouldn’t defend them. They had no business being here if that was the way they felt. They certainly didn’t deserve to be defended from the consequences of what they’d said.

“I’d suggest you answer me, ass hats, before I put my foot exactly where you don’t want it,” Jace told the men.

The noise was attracting attention. Harley heard murmurs from the bar, then running footsteps headed their direction. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to still the churning.

“Ja—”

“Harley!” Damien ran to her side, his confused gaze fixed on the three men. “What’s going on here?”

Harley stood frozen, unwilling to answer, to tell Damien the things his brothers had said. Jace didn’t have the same problem. “Do you know these two dipwads?”

Resignation registered in Damien’s expression. “They’re my brothers.”

“Damien, tell this—”

But Leo had apparently read the situation much better than his younger brother, and he cut Garrett off with a “Shut up!” Glancing at Damien, he just shook his head.

Jace threw Leo away from him, turning his back even before the man crumpled onto the floor a couple of feet away. His anger was directed at Damien now. “You let them talk about Harley like she’s some bimbo off a street corner?”

“What? They just met tonight.” Hurt flickered as Damien glanced between Leo and Garrett, then confusion as he took in Harley’s stance, his brothers’ guilty expressions. His mouth went tight, but he stepped close and put his arm around her, his warmth soaking past the shaking of her limbs to steady her in a way words never could have.

After a moment Damien took a deep breath and looked Jace straight in the eye. “What did they say?”

As Jace related the tale, Damien’s face grew redder and redder. Harley began to wonder if they weren’t about to witness the first real occurrence of steam actually exiting a human being’s ears. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he yelled at his brothers. The two men had the grace to look ashamed, Garrett less so than Leo, but still, they didn’t defend themselves.

Ryan stepped into view, along with Brad and a couple of the bouncers.
Uh-oh.

“Damie—”

“Just shut the hell up!” Damien told Garrett. She’d never seen him this angry. With her he’d been cold, frozen steel, but now? He was Mt. Vesuvius waiting to erupt.

Damien pointed a finger at Garrett. “Would you talk about Shaw that way?” He turned to Leo, still sitting on the ground. “Would you?”

“She’s not Shaw,” Garrett said belligerently.

“No, but she sure as hell is part of my family.”

“What?”

Harley barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Garrett was a little slow on the uptake, wasn’t he? She’d adopted Damien’s baby; did he not get the memo?

Leo was much more conciliatory. “D, we’re sorry, okay? We didn’t mean it. You know how it is—”

“What I know is I’ve put up with all I’m gonna put up with. You wanna keep talking about me that way, hey”—he threw his arms up—“who the hell cares? You’ve been doing it for years; you’d think you’d understand by now how much it matters: none. But when you start talking about my woman that way? No.”

“She’s just—”

“She. Is. Everything.”

The words sank like stones into the silence of the room. Harley didn’t look around, didn’t care what anyone else was doing. All she knew was that these three brothers had apparently had this coming for a very long time, and she’d just become the catalyst for clearing some very dirty air. Then Damien’s words registered in her mind instead of just her ears, and she sucked in a breath.

Damien’s head jerked like he wanted to glance over at her, but he didn’t. He stared down his brothers, and he waited. When no reply came, he continued. “I’m the youngest. I get it. Making wise-ass cracks at me makes up for your less than exciting lives. Whatever.” He shrugged. “Now it’s time for you to get something: Harley’s not a whore. She’s not a manager or a sidekick or a musician. She’s not even just a mother. She is mine. Period. End of story. You do know what a period is, right?”

Remembering that both brothers worked for a university had nervous laughter bubbling in her throat, but she swallowed it down. She shouldn’t interrupt, even if screaming
What the hell do you mean?
was at the top of her must-do list right now. Damien needed to say this, and hell, if she was honest, she needed to hear it.

“Harley is…everything. She and I are building a family. A life. I put up with your jokes and your snide comments when it was just me because it didn’t really matter. Harley matters. So you can shut the hell up and act your ages, or you can get out. And if you choose the latter?” He leaned in, his voice going low and mean. “Don’t come back. Ever. That’s it; your choice.”