Love For Hire (11 page)

“But he isn’t my real boyfriend” was on the tip of Jayden’s tongue. How he managed not to blurt out the words, sentencing himself to doom, he didn’t know. If it became known he was no one to Matt, then his life would be forfeit. At this point, staying alive was the only thing that mattered. Blood trickled down his throat from his savaged lip, but he didn’t stop. The pain got him to stay focused on something apart from the nearly mind-numbing terror threatening to paralyze his body once more.

Suddenly, the window he had been running toward exploded into tiny pieces and the room filled with smoke. He coughed, resuming his struggles to get free, and maybe he got in a lucky kick or maybe there was another reason for it, but the man who had been holding the knife to his throat let go of him. Jayden took his chance, dashing to the right.

Something loud and sharp whizzed past him, and when his brain finally connected the dots, he nearly fainted out of fear. He was caught up in a real-life gun battle. He needed to find a place to hide, and he needed to find it yesterday. While staying as low as he could, he crawled on all fours along the hallway.

He lost all track of time; screams and more gunfire were all around him, and it felt as if he had been dropped in a war zone, so when he managed to get through the front door, he more or less fell down the steps.

He blinked in surprise before scrambling to his feet. He was getting ready to make a mad dash for freedom when he collided with a firm body.

“Quiet, get down—”

Jayden went limp, allowing himself to be dragged forward. He would recognize Matt’s voice anywhere, even if common sense told him he couldn’t be here. Had he started to imagine things? Was his mind finally boggling under the strain of constant fear? A familiar scent assaulted his nostrils, and when he dared to actually look, his breath hitched and he nearly forgot to breathe altogether. Matt was here. He had come for him! But how had the blond playboy managed to find him? Why was he carrying a gun?

Nothing made any sense, but Jayden was too exhausted to worry about any of it for too long. If Matt had told him to play dead, he would’ve probably done it.

Suddenly the guns went quiet, and Jayden allowed himself to be pulled into a strong hug as Matt rubbed soothing circles down his back. His eyes fell shut as he rested his head on Matt’s shoulder.

“Is it over?” he finally managed to get out.

“Yes,” Matt answered, hot puffs of breath trickling over Jayden’s exposed skin. “You’re safe now. Don’t you worry.”

If Jayden’s body could’ve gone any limper, he would’ve melted like ice cream tended to do if left out in the open too long.

He didn’t resist when Matt gently guided him toward a car and away from the house.

Good. He wanted to be as far away from this place as humanly possible.

When he was sitting somewhat comfortably in the backseat of the car, a woman materialized out of nowhere, cooing over his damaged wrists, putting disinfectant and some bandages on them. When everything was done, all Jayden did was simply stare ahead. Lost in the vast expanse of nothing, he didn’t even notice Matt climbing in, sitting down next to him.

“Come here,” he said, and still he didn’t react.

Matt finally took matters into his own hands, pulling Jayden close until their bodies touched. When Jayden finally gave in to his instinct to curl up and cry, Matt simply held on tight, making shushing noises at the same time.

“Shhh….” Matt tried to calm him down. “You’re safe now, don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. No one is ever going to hurt you again, I promise.”

A warm feeling started in the pit of his stomach, slowly spreading into his limbs, until he was sure his body was glowing with happiness. No one had ever offered to take care of him before, and hearing Matt offer that kind of assurance meant the world to him.

Being settled now in Matt’s strong embrace with his body pressed close allowed Jayden to finally find some peace. Only when his fear slowly slipped away did other questions materialize. Like how had Matt known where he was? Why was this supposed playboy so good at handling a gun? And who were those people with him? They had moved like a well-trained unit, like he would suppose a SWAT team would operate on missions, but neither one of those things added up to what he knew of Matt Archer.

What was going on here?

One thing Jayden knew for certain, though: those men coming to his rescue weren’t the police.

The car finally stopped, and on the way into the mansion, Jayden stumbled a few times, relying on Matt to steady him.

“I think a stiff drink would do you good.” Matt wasn’t asking, and Jayden agreed wholeheartedly. If a situation had ever called for a strong drink, this one surely qualified!

Jayden found himself in a comfortable chair with his knees pulled up to his chest when a glass was pressed into his hands. He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t care. The liquid burnt in his chest, but despite the fact that it was entirely unpleasant, warmth started to spread from his stomach outward. Well, that was kind of nice. He quickly emptied the whole glass, and he wouldn’t have said no to more.

“Matt!”

Jayden recognized Scott’s voice calling for his friend, so he wasn’t surprised when the man barged into the room.

“Why didn’t you call me? Why did you run off half-cocked?” the man shouted at Matt, who slowly got up, arms at his side, glaring back at his friend.

Scott didn’t acknowledge Jayden’s presence. Maybe he didn’t see him, Jayden thought, because his gaze was trained solely on Matt.

Jayden watched as Matt raised an eyebrow in a wordless challenge. “Have you forgotten the plan?” he asked in a semi-amused tone, but annoyance was also clearly present. “This was to flush out the kidnappers and keep you out of danger.”

“You know I can handle myself!”

“Are we going to have the same discussion all over again?” Matt bit back with heat.

The empty glass Jayden had been holding slipped out of his fingers, crashing to the floor with a sound close to a bomb going off. The noise vibrated through the room, startling everyone, while every single puzzle piece slowly slotted into place. Everything was so much clearer now!

Matt hadn’t come to rescue
him
, he had come for the kidnappers.

“Wait a minute,” Jayden said, voice eerily calm like the center of a storm. “Dumb this down for me.”

Both men stared at him as if he were a ghost that had popped out of nowhere. It didn’t do any good to Jayden’s already dented ego that they had forgotten he was even there.

When no one rushed to answer, Jayden drew his own conclusions. “You hired a fake boyfriend to keep your real boyfriend safe?” he asked, voice rising slightly with each word.

“Jayden,” Matt tried to say while Scott said at the same time, “Look—”

“No,” Jayden forcefully said, “I don’t care. You lied to me.” He crossed the distance, poking his finger at Matt’s chest to emphasize his point. “You put my life in danger and you didn’t even have the decency to warn me. What were you thinking?”

At that moment, Jayden had to move away, because if he came into any bodily contact with the thoughtless idiot, he would’ve done him bodily harm. And he had sworn to himself he would never,
ever
, turn into his father.

“Scott….” Matt, of course, managed to say exactly the wrong thing, incensing Jayden even further.

“Scott?” he screamed, arms flailing because he had to channel the need to hit Matt’s face into some sort of body movement. Otherwise he would simply explode. “I don’t care about Scott,” he shouted, sending one swift glare toward the silent real boyfriend. He took a deep breath. His voice was a little bit more even, less distressed, when he continued. “Look,” he said, rubbing his jaw, “I can appreciate the fact that you wanted to keep your boyfriend safe. A noble sentiment, really.”

Matt had the decency to flinch, but Jayden didn’t notice.

“The point remains, though, you didn’t tell me I was going to be in danger. You lied.”

Quite simple, really.

“We’re done here,” he concluded. “I guess you won’t be needing my
services
anymore,” Jayden added, words flying out of his mouth while he struggled to keep his emotions in check.
Anger
was the emotion he was trying to focus on, pushing
hurt
as far away as he could manage.

“Good luck to you.” He nodded politely to Matt and to Scott before he gathered all his strength to walk out of the room with his head held high.

“Jay… Jayden, wait!” Matt shouted after him, but Jayden didn’t stop. When he was already halfway up the stairs, he risked a moment to look back to check if Matt was still trailing after him, but someone had intervened, cornering him. Relief washed over him; however, Jayden didn’t allow himself to wallow in it, knowing he only had a small window of time to get out of the house before Matt managed to extract himself and come after him. Right now he thought that if he never laid eyes on Matt again, he would be the happiest person on the planet!

When he reached his room, he wanted to do nothing more than curl up on the plush bed, burying his head in the pillow and crying his heart out, but now wasn’t the time to fall apart. He needed to get out of there. He needed to get away, and only then could he allow himself to break down.

He had the money Matt had promised him; his pay had been wired into his bank account on a daily basis, and because Jayden didn’t trust easily, he had double-checked it every day. He knew better, after all, than to demand his payment in cold hard cash. Not for that kind of sum.

His eyes landed on the bed again. He heard its siren song trying to lull him, and really, why shouldn’t he give in?

There was no danger coming from Matt, and he was frankly exhausted. His body hurt in places he hadn’t thought possible while his emotions were so raw he was actually expecting to crash and burn any minute now. Why should he put himself through the ordeal of leaving, finding a bus, and going back home? Danny would ask questions, questions Jayden didn’t yet have any answers to, and besides, Matt owed him at least one more comfortable night, right?

He turned around, eyeing the door, noting the small lock. With almost lightning speed, he crossed the distance and locked himself in.
There
, he sighed in relief.

Falling asleep was hard, nearly impossible. Flashes of being shoved into the van, of being tied up and then held at gunpoint, kept warring for dominance in his mind. How could he give in to the quietness of sleep and rest with those memories so vivid in mind?

He squeezed his eyes shut, willing his breathing to slow down and hoping his skin would stop crawling with imaginary ants trying to burrow their way out of him. The need to scratch his skin bloody was almost overwhelming, but he tried his best to stay still.

When he finally succumbed to sleep, dark memories kept chasing him until the morning.

His eyes snapped open when, somewhere in the house, a door banged shut, and he was crouching on the floor, hiding behind the bed with his head barely peeking over the edge, expecting someone to take shots at him at any moment. His breathing was coming in ragged huffs, the short gasps echoing through the otherwise silent room while his eyes furtively darted left and right, looking for any sign of danger.

Eventually his brain caught up with him and he let out a whoosh of air. Relief had his bones sagging as he almost crumpled to the ground. He mentally slapped himself twice, ordering himself to stop acting like an idiot.

He forced himself to get up on unsteady legs, a hand coming to rest on the bed to steady himself. After a few more breaths, he quickly collected a few things, leaving most of what Matt had bought behind. There was no way it would fit into the small duffel bag he was using, and besides, what use would he have for fancy clothes anyway?

He ran his hands yearningly over a cozy sweater, wishing he could take it with him, but then he decided against it, stuffing it back into the closet.

Maybe one day he would be able to afford nice things on his own, and then they would hold even more meaning because he would’ve paid for them with his own money. Until then, he would make do without. If he took the sweater, then he would take the cargo pants, too, followed by the nice shoes, and in the end he would need a lot more space than he had.

His eyes fell on the small teddy bear that lay on the bed, half of its furry body buried in the covers while only the tiny head poked out, as if it were looking out at the world with curious eyes.

Jayden only hesitated for a moment before snatching it up and stuffing it into his bag. He was going to take the bear because it was the first real present he had received in a long time and because when Matt had bought it, he had genuinely wanted to make Jayden smile.

It would serve as a memory of the good times he had shared with the man and maybe as a warning as well. If something was too good to be true, then it usually was. He would do well to remember that saying and how he had come to really understand its meaning.

He had just finished packing when Matt entered the room. Jayden didn’t turn around, but his presence in the room was unmistakable.

“You’re leaving, then?” Matt finally broke the silence.

Jayden’s back was to the door, so he quickly zipped up his duffel before flinging it over his shoulder. He slowly turned, steeling himself before his eyes settled on Matt’s handsome face.

There was faint stubble on his jaw, making him look rugged and even more charming than the man had any right to be.

“Without saying a word? You can just walk away like
this
?” Matt continued, his blue eyes looking accusingly at Jayden, whose mouth hung slightly open at Matt’s cheek. Where did the man get the balls to look hurt when it had been him who had put Jayden’s life in danger?