Bend (A Stepbrother Romance) (21 page)

“I think Justine Gunn is around here somewhere,” I said, leaning over to speak into Cadence’s ear. “Keep your eyes open.”

She kept them wide open. “I love her, too,” she said, “She took my favorite photo ever, the one of the woman with the umbrella on the tree house stairs. I’m saving up to get a bigger print of it, but—”

I cut her off with a quick kiss. “You’re rambling. I know who she is.”

She laughed. “Gosh, I’m sorry, I’m just so excited.”

I was just relieved that Tim hadn’t soured her on the whole night.

We found Justine sipping whiskey by the upstairs bar, flocked by admirers and looking terribly bored. Cadence snapped a couple pictures from afar when I was too slow to stop her, and I laughed. “Be cool!” I reminded her. Then I elbowed our way into Justine’s small group with insincere apologies.

“Justine Gunn!” I said, sticking out my hand, “Huge fan of your work!” I actually wasn’t. I didn’t know much about her at all. Her work was much more abstract and arty than Tim’s and she rarely had anything to do with fashion or celebrities. I only knew of her because some past girlfriend had been part of one of her projects. Cadence didn’t need to know that many details, though.

“Thank you,” Justine said, eyes wrinkling as she smiled. “You are?”

“Keir Sonder, musician,” I said, pushing my hair back. “And this is Cadence. Even bigger fan than me. She’s got your work hanging in her bathroom, or something,” I joked.

Cadence looked horrified. “It is not!” She turned to face Justine, mouth still hanging open. “I have it hanging at the far wall in the living room where it’s the first thing you see when you open the front door of my apartment. I would never put your work in the bathroom!”

At least Justine looked amused. “The bathroom’s a fair place for art,” she said. “Contemplation and defecation surely go hand and hand.”

I laughed out loud. This woman was my kind of people, for sure.

“I’m sorry,” Cadence giggled. “I didn’t mean… I’m such a big fan. I want to be a photographer myself, but I haven’t quite found my way yet.”

“Oh, honey, you’ll find it,” Justine said, swaying in her seat. “Sorry. I’ve had a few too many. These things are so loud, I’ve got to dull down my senses.”

Cadence giggled again. “I know what you mean. It’s so difficult to talk!”

Justine handed her a business card. “Here you go. Send me your portfolio. I like playing teacher once in a while.” She winked.
Definitely drunk
. I dragged Cadence away a moment later.

“This is crazy,” she said, showing me the cards.
One dismissal and one drunk lady who won’t remember talking to you
. But she was happy and excited, and who was I to dump all over that?

I introduced her to a few more people, though none that excited her nearly as much as meeting Justine Gunn had. Some had comments about the stepsibling thing, but I gleefully shut them down. Nothing made me happier than wiping the smug off someone’s face.

I could tell it was getting to Cadence, though. She cringed every time someone asked, “So, you’re the stepsister?” Even my fucking bassist, Adam, said it, thinking that he was being funny. I’d be endlessly glad the day I disbanded this iteration of Jackal’s Reign and never had to see his face again.

“I’ve had enough,” I said, downing another flute of champagne. I’d lost count a couple hours ago. Cadence herself was more careful but even she was beginning to look heavy-lidded, and had stopped taking photos two drinks ago. “You satisfied?”

She looked around at the party. The ranks had thinned—we weren’t the only ones calling it a night. “Yeah,” she said. “I bet we’ve seen everyone.”

“Everyone worth seeing, and many that weren’t,” I said. “Car’s waiting.”

“So’s the press,” she said, glancing toward the front door. It opened briefly as someone passed outside and we could see a storm of camera flashes out in the darkness.

“I’ll leave first. Count to ten and meet us around the southeast corner.”

“Can’t wait,” she said, tugging at my belt and smiling shyly.

“See you in ten.”

═ ♪ ♫ ♪ ═

It was a pure and all-encompassing pleasure when Cadence dropped to her knees and took my straining erection inside her mouth. I’d thought that I was impatient, but she moved even faster, yanking open my pants before I’d even closed the hotel door.

I’d never felt anything like it—this storm of emotions as I ran my hands through her hair. It wasn’t just how good my cock felt. She made me feel good all over. She made me laugh; she made me happy.

“Cadence,” I breathed, swelling even harder between her sweet lips. “Fuck, baby, I’m not gonna last,” I groaned as she just sucked harder.

It felt amazing, but no, this just wouldn’t do. Not in the entryway. Not with her on the floor.

She yelped when I dragged her to her feet. I stripped her with a singular focus, unable to look away or take my hands off of her for a second. She breathed my name, over and over as I laid her out on my bed and slid inside her, feverish, still half-dressed myself.

“Fuck,” I groaned, moving too fast and too hard to speak more than a word at a time.

And all the while, the tune to her song played in my head.

I slowed, savoring how hot and wet and perfect she felt. Words started flowing out of me, completely out of my control. “Come with me on the rest of my tour.”

She licked her lips and tightened her thighs, locked around my waist as her feet crossed over my back.

“Forget your job,” I went on, “You don’t need it. You don’t need your boss or your friend or our parents. You just need to be with me.”

“Shh,” she said, pressing a finger to my lips. I kissed it. “Just fuck me, Keir.”

I was talking nonsense, I knew. My heart had become completely divorced from my head. I held her hands down to either side of her head and thrust into her hard, grunting with the effort. Her eyelids fluttered and her hips lifted from the bed. She was close.

Maybe keeping her with me on tour was unrealistic but here, like this—I owned her. She was mine.

And the opposite was true, too, much as I wanted to deny it, much as it made my fingers tense and my feet itch to run. I was hers. The thought struck home after we came together in a tangled thrashing of limbs. She pulled my head to her chest and stroked my hair, and whispered, “Will you come home when the tour is over?”

“I will. And we’ll do this every day.”

Her chest shook beneath me as she giggled. “Good. Just no more bursting into the house and yelling at me in jealous rages.”

“How about you don’t hang out with that guy, then?” I grunted.

“Zach?” she asked. Her chest shook even harder with laughter. “Zach’s not into me. He’s gay.”

I propped myself up on my elbows so I could look down at her. “So I flew all the way the fuck home because I lost my damn mind over some dude who turns out to be your gay coworker?”

She bit her lip. “You did.”

“I’m a fucking idiot,” I said, shaking my head.

“My fucking idiot,” Cadence said, teasing, but I took it to heart.
Hers
. I was pretty damn sunk. And I was finally done fighting it.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Cadence

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Keir’s face quickly became guarded and I regretted phrasing it that way—but how did one gently break the news about a secret sister?

I’d finally decided to tell him as our magical weekend finally drew to a close. I was flying home that morning—he’d fly out of the same airport to continue his tour heading up and down the east coast.

Lorna wouldn’t be pleased but I couldn’t sit on the secret any longer. How angry would he be if he found out that I’d known and not told him? I’d sat on the information far too long already.

“I went digging into your family,” I said. “Again, I mean.”

His expression darkened, and he stopped throwing clothes into his suitcase. “Why?”

“Not for work,” I said quickly. “Not for Wendi. For you. I—I just wanted to help. I know that her disappearance still haunts you.” I didn’t need to say whose.

He shook his head. “It always will. I want to just leave it the fuck alone.”

“I’m sorry, Keir, I know. But… I found something.”

He grimaced despite his attempts to keep his face impassive. “Her?”

“No, no. Not her. But… Keir, she had a daughter. You have an older sister.”

“Are you serious?” His tone was quiet, flat. Dangerous.
Shit
.

“Half-sister, actually, I guess,” I told him, returning my attention to my own bags. “She didn’t want me to tell you. Not yet, at least. But after everything this weekend, all those things you said…” He wanted me to stick around. He wanted to be with me—for real. Not just for a couple of nights, but for real. How could I keep such a huge secret from him when he was being so open? It would just be wrong.

“Are you angry?” I whispered, suddenly afraid that I’d just blown everything.
Me and my damn nosiness!

“I don’t know,” he said, blowing out a breath. “Who is she?”

Uh-oh.
“You won’t like it,” I said. “Hell, you probably won’t believe it.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Cadence—”

“It’s Lorna Hills.”

He snorted. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“Fuck.” He turned his back on me to gaze out the window. “You told her first. I’m guessing she didn’t take it well?”

I cringed. “She already knew,” I whispered.

He snorted. “Explains the vendetta. Good old-fashioned sibling rivalry.” He ran his hands through his hair. “This is unbelievable.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten involved. I just thought… I don’t know what I thought. I guess I just wanted to help.”

I braced myself for fireworks but after a long pause, he turned away from the window and spread his arms. “Come here.”

I slipped inside his arms with a sigh of relief. He was upset but for the first time, he wasn’t rejecting me or pushing me away.
Maybe this really is real. Maybe this can work out—somehow.

“I’ll deal with this when this fucking tour is over,” he said.

“So you do want to meet her?” I asked. I felt him nod. At least I’d been right about that much. Family was important to him—he’d want to know everything about her and her grandparents. He’d want to get involved.
And maybe he’ll find at least some peace about his mother if he gets to know her family. Hopefully.

“Come on,” he said when he finally broke away, “You’re gonna miss your flight.”

═ ♪ ♫ ♪ ═

I was supposed to hang back in the lobby while Keir made his exit, then catch up around the block once the paparazzi cleared out. But he was squeezing my hand, leading me along behind him as if he couldn’t make himself let me go.

“Will people see?” I asked, letting my hair fall forward to cover my face. At least he had his sunglasses. I had no disguise at all.

“It’s early,” he said, “No one’s here. Security already scoped out the area.”

Shutters clicked and lights flashed as soon as we were through the front doors.
Security did a shit job
. Keir’s two bodyguards tried to hustle us through the crowd of photographers toward the car while Keir cursed under his breath.

They shouted at us in a cacophony of voices. “Over here!” “Keir, is that your sister?” “Look this way, guys!” “Sister-fucker!”

That exclamation got our attention. We both tensed and looked for the source of that voice, but there were at least six people with cameras and four more without—it was hard to tell who’d said it.

“Say that again, motherfucker,” Keir said, taking a threatening step toward the crowd.

Someone laughed. I spotted him—a goateed man wearing a baseball cap, lurking toward the back of the small mob. I narrowed my eyes. “Fuck you,” I snarled, my temper getting the better of me.

The guy snickered. “Right after your brother?”

Keir followed my gaze. The man laughed at him and snapped a picture. “What the hell is your problem, man?” Keir asked, visibly trying to reign in his anger. His jaw clenched tight.

“No problem, buddy,” the guy said, “I’m happy for you. I love a good family reunion.”

I reacted before Keir could, pushing my way past the other photographers and getting in the guy’s face. “Mind your own business, you fucking vulture,” I snarled.

“Bitch, we know who you are,” the guy laughed, “You’re one of us.” That struck me. I was one of them, wasn’t I? A vulture. A bottom-feeder. A parasite, digging up dirt on people I didn’t even know for my own benefit. A user.

He interrupted my thoughts by shoving me back a step using his forearm. “So why don’t you get the hell out of my face and let me do my job?” He snapped a photo of my shocked face.

“Did you just fucking touch her?” Keir roared. His hands were on the guy before I could react, lifting him up off the ground by his collar.