Beneath the Burn (63 page)

“I know, sweetheart.” He lifted her in the cradle of his arms, set her on the vanity, and wet a paper towel under the tap. “Can you make it to the hotel before you toss any more eggs?”

“Funny guy.” She yanked the towel from his hand and wiped her face and mouth. She didn’t want to go and abandon Jay with only one guard, but it would’ve been an argument she didn’t have the strength for. “Better scrounge up a trash bag or it might be a really long ten-minute drive.”

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Charlee emerged from oblivion with a throbbing head and a sandpaper tongue. She patted the bed through the dark. Cold and empty. She was in the suite she shared with Jay, but where was he? “Jay? Nathan?”

The dim light beyond the bedroom door caught flickers of a pacing silhouette. She shuffled through the room and stopped at the threshold.

Phone to his ear, Nathan’s expression was severe, cheeks crimson. He looked up. “She’s awake. Call you right back.”

She toyed with wet strands of her hair. Must not have been asleep that long. “What’s wrong?”

“How do you feel?” He approached her, rested a palm on her forehead. “Fever’s broke.”

“Who were you talking to? Was that Jay? Is the show over?” Why wasn’t he there? She shook off the paranoia creeping over her.

He dropped his hand. “Anymore nausea? Diarrhea?”

She sunk into her shoulders. He’d officially seen it all. At least she’d had enough coherency to wipe her own ass and administer her shower in privacy. “No. I think it’s passed. No more egg salad. Ever.”

That didn’t produce that smile she was expecting. The nausea returned. “Is it Jay? Where is he?”

He studied the black screen on his phone. “Charlee…he…Fuck!” He spun and paced through the room. “The show ended two hours ago. He’s…he’s in the hotel.”

Some of the tension unclenched in her stomach. “So he’s safe? Roy doesn’t—”

“No, Roy doesn’t fucking have him. He’s safe for the moment.”

For the moment? “Did he do something to piss you off? What are you not telling me?”

His pacing made helter-skelter zigzags through the sitting room, his hands on his hips, eyes on the floor.

Head spinning, she reeled into the bedroom, flicking on lights and shoving on a clean pair of jeans. “He’s in the hotel? Where?” she shouted as she tagged the water bottle from the table and gulped it down. Turning, she slammed into Nathan. “Take me to him.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face and stared at her out of hard eyes. “Tony’s with him. It’s in her employment contract…fuck, it’s my contract not to interfere.” He pressed a fist against his thinned lips, his eyes flicking through the room, divulging nothing.

Her heart galloped a furious tempo. Was Jay drunk? Oh, God, was it drugs?
Please don’t let it be drugs.
“What’s. Not. In the contract?”

Lifting his phone, he tapped the screen and held it to his ear. “We’re on our way…Yes,
We.
”

Without meeting her eyes, he treaded to the door and stepped into the hallway. He spoke in low tones to the dozen or so guards lining the corridor. Something about formations and doorways. She didn’t pay attention, her mind whirling through a binge of scenarios. Jay passed out in the lobby. Jay swimming in his own puke in the hotel pool. Jay spread out beneath a mob of naked groupies. Her stomach bucked.

She trailed Nathan’s stiff stride down the hall. Maybe hers was just as stiff. She couldn’t feel her legs amidst the confusion of emotions gripping her body. Rather than turning toward the banks of elevators, he continued toward the opposite wing. As with most hotels, the band leased the entire top floor. He was in another room? With one of the guys maybe?

Tony’s rigid profile appeared ahead. As Charlee drew near, she didn’t detect anything different about the guard’s stance, but the look in Tony’s eyes flooded her with dread. She knew that look, saw it in the faces of Jay’s friends when they’d learned about her past.

Standing in front of Tony, she squared her shoulders and met the Marine’s gaze. “Who’s room is this?”

“Ella’s.”

Her shield surfaced, an internal reaction, one she hadn’t experienced in years. It spread over her body and shrouded her heart. Beside her, barely-restrained rage fumed from Nathan. She’d deal with him in a moment. “Is he high?”

Tony didn’t blink. “Yes, ma’am.”

The shield wavered with the cracking twinge in her chest. Disappointment rocked her body. She dug the heel of her bare foot into the carpet, a subtle thing, but it rooted her. “Do you know who gave him the drugs or when he took them?”

“No. I watch his surroundings. It’s not my job to notice a sleight of hand between friends.”

Maybe one of the roadies, then. Forget it. The how or who wouldn’t undo the damage. She just hoped…what? That it was a mistake? That there was another explanation? That he hadn’t shit on the trust she’d given him. Again. What a fool she was.

The door to Ella’s room glared at her. She knew she was stalling. She had to go in there, but it might destroy her.

Tony shifted her weight. “It’s against my contract to dictate where he goes. I can only advise.”

“But you called Nathan so I would know.”

Her face softened. “It’s the best I could do. I’m sorry, Charlee.”

“Me too.” She stood taller and faced Nathan. “I’m going in there alone. No punching on Jay, unless it’s defensive.”

He gave her a reluctant nod, his chest puffed out, muscles seemingly ready to ignore her.

“I mean it. No drama, okay?” Fuck, was she strong enough? How would she survive this? A clog of heartache choked her voice.

Tony swiped a card key and turned the handle.

Charlee wasn’t sure how long she stared at the crack in the door. Her armor quivered around her, her blood seemed to have drained from her body. Tingling and numb, she walked through the door.

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The scene that greeted Charlee locked her limbs and stole her breath.

Jay lay nude on his back, his erection glistening with the saliva stringing from Ella’s mouth. She glanced up, naked and straddling his legs, then leaned down, lips parted to resume her ministrations.

“Get off of him. Now.” Charlee’s calm tone was at odds with the turmoil shaking her body. Oh God, oh God. Keep it together. This was not happening. He was not allowing this.

Ella licked her lips. “Now darlin’, that’s up to him.” She gestured at the man between her legs.

He stared at the ceiling, moaning and bucking his hips.

The urge to run from the room and give into the tears burning the back of her eyes was overwhelming. She straightened her back and moved toward the bed. “Get the fuck off of him.”

The bitch dropped her head and wrapped her mouth around his dick.

Charlee swung, and the back of her hand crunched into the bridge of Ella’s nose.

Screaming, Ella fell off the bed, cupping her face. “He begged me to fuck him, you jealous cunt.”

Jay clutched the bed sheets, eyes closed, hips thrusting the air.

Her words hurt. Hurt so fucking much as they splintered inside her, shredding her to a million useless pieces. “Did he call you Charlee?” Her reedy voice echoed in her ears.

Ella dropped her hands and climbed to her feet. “Yes.” She smirked. “I hear he calls us all Charlee.”

It was a punch in the gut, one that stole the last of her composure. She unleashed her fist and caught Ella’s nose in the same place.

Blood spurted over her wailing mouth. She wiped at the mess uselessly, panic flaring her eyes.

Charlee stretched her fingers and curled them again at the sight of blood staining her knuckles. “Get out before I start punching on your underdeveloped tits.”

A sharp inhale interrupted the woman’s sobs. She gathered her clothes, tugging them on as she ran to the door.

She balled her fist and turned toward the bed.

Eyes squeezed shut, his hand wrapped around his erection, hips pumping manically. A groan rumbled low in his throat.

Her stomach turned and her feet carried lead weights as she trudged toward him, fighting back tears. “Jay.”

His eyes flashed open, roamed over the ceiling, and his hand fell to his side. “Charlee?”

She closed the final few feet and sat on the mattress beside his hip, placing his erection outside of her periphery. “What did you take?” She waded through what she’d read in the file he’d given her. What drugs increased libido? “Was it ecstasy? Meth?” Neither of those had been starred in his list.

Could Roy have orchestrated this? Drugged him somehow? Jay only drank bottled water during his shows. And Roy’s drugs would’ve knocked him unconscious, not sent him into mindless arousal. She knew the effects of Roy’s concoctions too well.

Besides, Jay had proven he could slip back into drug use under the right circumstances. She couldn’t trust him.

His eyebrows pulled together, and his gaze bobbed over her face, unfocused. “I didn’t take anything.”

Anger burned through her cheeks. “Okay, then you were sober while you fucked Ella’s mouth. That makes it all better.”

He curled to a sitting position, awkward and sluggish, and his eyes landed on his erection as if seeing it for the first time. He gripped it, stroked. “Ah, God, Charlee. I need…I need to fuck you. Come here, baby.” He reached for her.

Heart sprinting, she jumped from the bed and backed toward the door. His betrayal was unlike anything she’d ever felt. It was a riptide, slamming into her over and over, pulling her under. Her knees buckled and a sob crawled through her throat.

She gripped a cabinet and swallowed helplessly, unable to gather enough air. “I trusted you. I loved you so goddamned much. I…I—” She slapped a hand over her mouth, gulped harsh breaths, her voice reaching high-pitched hysterics.

He stared at her, but she was certain he wasn’t hearing, wasn’t seeing. He fell upon his back and resumed his self-pleasure.

“You broke my heart,” she whispered from the emptiness inside her. Opening the door with measured and determined movements, she stepped into the hall.

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