Aria Graice - 2. Chapter 2

If the Graice twins had looked like two peas from the same pod in their family photograph, they couldn’t have been more different now. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, they stopped in unison and stood, staring at Drew.

Aria, dressed in loose, white lounge pants and an unzipped white hoodie that did nothing to conceal his well-toned and muscled body, stood close to his brother, leaning his head against Amara’s shoulder, while Amara lounged against him with his arms folded across his chest. He was every inch the rock star with skin-tight leather clinging low on his hips, a cut off black tee and enough jewellery to stock a market stall. Both were carefully made up and their long, pale hair hung free over their shoulders.

Drew approached and narrowed his eyes. If that wasn’t a show just for him, he’d eat his hat.

Although both boys oozed attitude, they gave off very different vibes. Amara, despite his crossed arms, had a half-smile that couldn’t quite be called a smirk, although it appeared to be trying. His eyes danced with mischief. Aria, on the other hand, was more contained, but the looks he was giving Drew from under his lashes were red hot, almost predatory. He licked his lips and winked.

Mr Chance, may I present Aria and Amara Graice. Aria, this is your new security guard and best friend. Be nice to him.”

Aria grinned, still looking Drew up and down as if he was a five-course meal. “Oh, I will, I promise.” His voice was husky, low and sexy. Drew chuckled.

“Hello Aria,” he said, holding out his hand to the other boy. “Pleased to meet you.”

Aria’s eyes flew wide. “But… but how—”

“Aria.” Amara stamped his foot, which given he was bare footed didn’t have the impact he probably intended. He scowled at his brother. “You spoiled it.”

“But he knew.”

“He couldn’t have known. He guessed.” Amara turned to Drew and scowled. “You guessed.”

“Nope. I just did my homework.”

“But no one can tell us apart,” Aria said, still sounding confused. “Not when we dress like each other, or the same. Not even Mother can tell when we’re trying. Alicia can, but she’s psychic.”

Aria flashed a genuinely fond smile at Miss Montgomery, who returned it. “Well, I’ll leave you boys to get acquainted. I have work to do so could you show Mr Chance his room please, Aria?”

“Sure thing.”

“I’ll show him,” Amara said, stalking over and taking Drew’s arm. “Oh my, aren’t you a big, strong boy.” Amara stroked Drew’s arm, running his fingers over hard muscle.

“Amara,” Miss Montgomery fired, “leave him alone. I warned you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, Mr security man. Make me feel secure.” He rubbed his cheek against Drew’s shoulder, as Miss Montgomery clacked away and disappeared downstairs.

“He’s not yours,” Aria said, taking Drew’s other arm. “He’s mine. You’ve got your own.”

“But yours is so much prettier,” Amara whined.

“Lucky me.”

Drew gently but firmly disengaged their hands and took a step back. Both boys turned at the same moment with the same puzzled expression. Drew sighed and took a breath.

“I’d like to get one thing clear right from the start. I’m here to do a job, and I’m damn good at what I do. I will keep Aria safe, but that it’s. No fringe benefits, no playtimes, no friendships. Is that straight.”

Aria blinked, seeming shocked and unprepared, Amara however, gave him that slow sexy grin that made his jeans feel tight despite himself. He laid a hand on Drew’s chest and gazed into his eyes. Drew was surprised that he had to tilt his head down to meet Amara’s gaze. No doubt, the twins had massive personalities, but they were actually rather small, a good few inches short of Drew’s six-foot.

“There’s nothing “straight” about it, Mister Chance,” Amara purred, licking his lips. “We’ve read your file too.” He winked.

“My sexual orientation has nothing to do with this; nothing at all. The fact remains, this is a professional relationship and nothing more. It will never be anything more and if you touch me one more time…” He stepped back again, and Amara almost stumbled. “…I’ll file a sexual harassment complaint against you.”

Both boys stared at him with uncannily similar expressions. “Surely you’ve heard about our reputation, Mr security man,” Amara said, his blue eyes twinkling. “We like to play. It would be a lot more fun if you played with us. Promise we won’t tell.”

“We never do,” Aria added, although he kept his distance.

“I’m here to work, not to play.”

“Aw,” Amara pouted. “But that would be terribly boring.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m boring. Frankly, I don’t care. Let me say this for the last time. I am not interested in anything but Aria’s safety, in doing the job I’m being paid for. I’m not interested in games, I’m not interested in fooling around, and I’m not interested in you.”

The twins continued to stare for a few moments, then Amara nodded seriously and turned to face Aria. “He’s safe.”

“Do you think so?” Aria asked, seeming nervous about something.

Amara shrugged. “If he’s not I’ll get someone to shoot him.”

Finally, Aria smiled. “I don’t think you’ll need to do that.”

Amara turned to Drew and gave him what appeared to be a much more natural smile. “Nice to meet you, Mr Chance. Carry on.” He slouched past Drew, and Drew turned to watch as he drifted over to the sofa and threw himself onto it, reaching for the t.v. remote control. “Don’t worry,” he called when Drew turned his attention back to Aria, “your virtue is safe from me.”

“No one’s virtue is safe from you,” Aria said lightly and grabbed Drew’s hand, drawing him toward the stairs. Drew allowed it as there was nothing sexual in this grip, it seemed more steadying than anything. He frowned, wondering what the hell was going on and whether he’d ever find out.

The stairs opened onto a small landing, with a further set of stairs leading up, and a narrow corridor with doors on either side stretching off to the left. Aria waved his hand along the corridor.

“This is where the recording studios and working rooms are. You can look around if you want. Just don’t go into any room if there’s a red light on because that means we’re recording. Short of the house burning down, no one interrupts.”

The next floor had a similar layout.

“This is Amara’s floor. His rooms are down there. Ben’s too.”

“Ben?”

“Amara’s guard.”

“Oh. Ok.”

The next floor was another clone of the two below. Although there was one more flight of stairs, Aria moved away from them, onto the landing. “This is me.”

“You drew the short straw then.”

Aria gazed at him blankly. “Sorry?”

“You got the extra flight of stairs.”

The blank look was slow to pass, then he gave a weak smile. “Oh. Right. No. I use the dance studio more than Amara does and I…. I don’t sleep too well so I like to go up there at night if I can’t settle.”

“Oh. I see. I’ll remember that.”

Aria smiled uncertainly, then nodded and wandered along the corridor. “The doors on this side are mine. The furthest is the bedroom, and this is the sitting room. I have a bathroom too. On that side are the guest rooms and bathroom. Yours is furthest along, opposite mine. The bathroom is in the middle and the second guest room is just here.” He indicated it with a flick of his hand as he walked past.

Aria paused at the end of the corridor. “I’m going to take a shower. I can’t wait to get this stuff off. I don’t know how Mara can handle it. I like to be comfortable. Have you eaten?”

“What? Oh, yes, I had breakfast before I came.”

“Okay, well, do what you want for a while. You can shower, too, if you want. If you’re hungry or want coffee or something just go down to the kitchen. Use the place like your own, Ben does, and it works better that way. I hate being asked things, especially things like “Can I make a coffee.” Unless of course it’s “Can I make you a coffee?” to which the answer is always “yes”. It’s best if you just do what you want. If we don’t like it, we’ll tell you. Please take your shoes off if you want to put your feet on the coffee table. Ben always forgets, and it drives Amara insane.”

It was on the tip of Drew’s tongue to say “What? Even more insane?” but he bit it back. There was no denying that Aria was trying to be nice and he didn’t want to upset his charge with no need.

“You and your brother are close.”

“Yes. Very. Do you have brothers or sisters?”

“Two sisters. Both older. I’m very much the baby of the family.”

Aria laughed. “So am I,” he said. There was an air of wistfulness in the way he said it.

“Only by a few minutes, though. My eldest sister is fifteen years older than me. The middle one is thirteen. I was an afterthought; an accident.”

“So were we,” Aria said with a low chuckle.

“A welcome one though. Both of us, I mean. Your parents clearly adore you.”

“Clearly,” he said and turned away. There was something hard and cold, yet strangely wistful in his tone and Drew filed it for later.

Aria yawned. “I think I’m going to nap. Tell Mara I’ll see him tonight. When you’ve spoken to Ben you can leave if you like. I won’t be going anywhere until tonight.”

“I’ll see you tonight then.”

Aria yawned again. “Yeah.”

Aria raised his hands over his head and arched his back, audibly cracking his spine. If Amara had done it, Drew would have thought it an act of attempted seduction, but Aria was so natural and there was no heat in his glance. In fact, he didn’t look at Drew at all.

That didn’t mean Drew wasn’t looking at him, though. Both Aria and Amara were small but very neat little packages. There wasn’t a spare ounce of fat on either of them, just an expanse of lean muscle, perfectly defined and covered with creamy, hairless skin.

Aria blinked at him and smiled, his blue eyes sleepy and unguarded. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Talking to me like a real person.” He gave a vague smile and before Drew could ask him any more, he disappeared into his room, closing the door softly behind him.

Left alone in the corridor, Drew gazed at the closed door and wondered what just happened. Were the boys playing him? Probably. He sighed. Oh well, he was up to them. Nothing for it but to wait and see what happened next. He was sure there would be some kind of trick and he was equally sure he could turn it around whatever it might be,

Shaking his head, he opened the door of the room that was to be his for at least the next couple of weeks. He wondered how often he would be expected to stay in it. Not that he had much of a life on the outside, but he could do without spending his down time in a place like this. No way could he relax here. It was like a museum. He’d never been to a less homely home.

As expected, the room was nice but sparse. Beautifully decorated, in shades of white and cream, it looked more like a set dressed for House and Home Magazine than a guest room meant to be used. Drew sat on the bed and bounced a few times. It was undoubtedly a beautifully strung mattress and had probably cost more than his car.

Drew shook himself. He had to stop being intimidated by this environment and attributing cost to everything. His charge obviously lived in a completely different world than he did. It was what the twins were used to, all they’d ever known. Yet he couldn’t find it in him to accept that as an excuse. Just because they’d been born into privilege, didn’t mean they had to be so blasé about it, to wallow in it. He had enough perspective to admit that a big part of this was his own issues, but he couldn’t stop the feelings of anger, both toward the boys and his employers who had placed him in the middle of it.

Having been raised in relative poverty, then spending most of his adult life alternating between army barracks and the absolute squalor of tours and assignments, he found the lifestyle obscene and couldn’t help but blame the boys, even though he was intellectually aware it wasn’t their fault.

With a sigh, he kicked off his boots and lay back on the bed. Staring at the blank, white ceiling, his thoughts wandered to his family. He realized he hadn’t spoken to his siblings since moving to London. Suddenly, his weekly telephone call to his mother didn’t feel anything like enough. He might have been glad to get out of the valleys, but he’d never meant to leave his family behind. They’d been close once and it was entirely his fault they weren’t anymore. Ah well, it wasn’t as if, at twenty-five, it was too late to change that. When this job was over he’d go home for a while.

An hour later Drew was roused from a light slumber by a tap on the door. He only just managed to sit up before the door opened and a man strolled in as if he owned the place. Drew managed to stop himself from narrowing his eyes or spitting out something he might regret, but only with an effort. He rose to meet the intruder.

The man was about the same height and build as he was himself, with black hair cut in a fashionable style – long at the top and shaved at the sides – and dark eyes that seemed cold despite his bright smile.

“My boy said I’d probably find you here. Or in Aria’s bed, but I figured that would be a bit much for the first day. Ben Marshall, Amara’s bitch.” He held out his hand and Drew paused for a moment before shaking it.

Ben clearly thought he was being funny, but Drew wasn’t amused. The spirit of bon homme Ben was trying to project wasn’t doing it for him at all, and the smell of his aftershave was overpowering. It smelled expensive but that didn’t save it from hovering on the wrong side of unpleasant.

“I wouldn’t bother looking for me there ever,” Drew said, taking the outstretched hand after making sure the hesitation had been noted. “This is a job, business, and I’m a professional.”

Ben laughed uneasily. “Only joking, mate. No need to throw one. You’ll learn soon enough that you have to develop a sense of humour here, or go under. The boys are a handful, no doubt about that, and I’d much rather be on the right side of them. Word to the wise, lighten up or you’ll be making dangerous enemies.” The joking nature seemed to have fallen away and Ben’s eyes had become even more calculating than before.

“Is that a threat?”

“A warning, mate. The twins are tricky. They’ll take a firm hand most of the time, but if you piss them off they have a vicious streak, especially Amara, and he’s very protective of his brother.”

“Protective? It seems to be Aria can take care of himself.”

“Oh, he can, but he’s definitely the softer one. Aria can be a bitch, but Amara…” Ben whistled. “He’s a beast.”

“He’s just a kid. How bad can he be?”

“Do you have a television? Read the news?”

“I prefer not to base my professional opinion on sensationalized media.”

Ben laughed. “God, you’re a tight-arse ain’t ya? Well, you’d better loosen up soon or your life won’t be worth living. Just make sure you’re nice to Aria. You can put up with his hissy fits. Keep out of Amara’s way and he won’t unleash his wrath. Remember, the brothers are close; very close.”

There was something about Ben’s tone that set Drew’s teeth on edge. “Are you trying to suggest something’s going on between them?”

“Oh, lighten up. Of course, there something going on between them, they’re twins. The end each other’s sentences, speak their own language, and sometimes sleep in the same bed. And they have this weird thing where they always know when the other is going to phone, and when they’re not feeling too great, even when they’re not together. It’s true what they say about twins being psychic. Got to be.”

“If you say so. Are you supposed to be showing me around?”

“Look,” Ben said, hands on hips, “I know this is all a bit of a culture shock, and for someone with your background I guess this is a shit job, but loosen up, will ya? Things will be a lot more comfortable around here if we all get on.”

Drew sat again and pulled on his boots. “I’m not here to make friends.”

“So I can see, but we’re going to be working closely together, and we’ll both be seeing a lot of the boys so it doesn’t hurt to go with the flow. This is not your usual gig, and these are not your usual clients. Trust me, you won’t want Mamma Bear breathing down your neck. Not if you ever want to work security again. Between the two of them the ‘rents have a lot of pull here and on the other side of the pond. If they take against you, you’re screwed. I’ve seen it happen.”

“You have?” Despite himself, Drew was interested. It never hurt to know where the danger areas were. “What happened?”

“Your predecessor. Some dick ex Seal who tried to throw his weight around. He came down heavy on Amara when the kid started playing his tricks. Oh, he never laid a finger on him, but he tried to intimidate him and started pushing him around, so to speak. Amara doesn’t get intimidated, even though he’s a tiny little thing, and he did his best to get rid of him on his own. The whole house was in uproar and it was bloody miserable living in the middle of it, I can tell you. When Mamma Bear got wind of it she turned up in her full glory and tore the guy a new arsehole. Word has it he’s blackballed across the board. Can’t even work the door on a club.”

“Word has it?” Drew raised an eyebrow. He knew better than to listen to the rumour mill.

“It’s a matter of record his firm went through real fast.”

Drew’s heart gave a little flutter, but he wasn’t really worried. He had no intention of throwing his weight around and surely no one would criticize him for keeping a professional distance. It’s what was written in the manual after all. So why did he get the uneasy feeling that the manual had been left on the doorstep.

“Is there any teeth at all to this job, other than juggling two spoiled brats?”

Ben burst out laughing. “Don’t let the boys hear you say that. No, I take that back. Please do say that to the boys and make sure I’m there when you do.” Ben sobered. “Seriously though, I’ve been with Amara for three years and it’s crazy. Aria’s easier. You’ll see tonight. When there’s a gig on it gets heavy. When he’s doing a public appearance too. Aria’s fans are less….frantic. It’s an easier job. On the other hand, there have been some dodgy things going on recently. Did Alicia bring you up to speed with all that.”

The way Ben was lounging against the wall set Drew’s teeth on edge but he was wise enough to know there was no point antagonizing the guy. He wasn’t keen to make a friend of Ben, but he didn’t want to make an enemy either. Working with the Graice twins was going to be challenging enough, without having another enemy in the house. He was sure Ben was right and the boys had potential to make all their lives a misery. Whilst he wasn’t afraid of that, he didn’t want to court it either.

“She mentioned it – some death threats, religious freaks….”

“The boys don’t know the extent of the death threats. All their mail goes to Alicia and she sifts through it. There are sacks full, as you can imagine. She’s got a gang of kids who get the enviable job of opening it all, sort into sickening fan crap, important stuff that goes to Alicia and sweet shit the boys would want to see. There’s a separate mail address for most of the proper business stuff – agents, media that sort of thing. The crazy thing is, the serious threats are coming through in the business mail. That’s why they’re being taken more seriously. Your average teeny-bop fan wouldn’t be able to get their hands on that address because it’s only given out to business contacts under strict confidentiality clauses. Same thing with this house, yet the last letter was hand delivered.”

For the first time, Ben was all business and Drew finally started to believe he could work with him. For all his laddish behaviour when he got down to business, Ben seemed to know what he was talking about.

“Scary thing is, they’re not your usual kind of threat either. They’re oddly specific. Starts off with the usual homophobic shit – the twins don’t make any secret of the fact they swing both ways. Amara will flirt with anything that has a pulse, and he’s not particularly fussy who he takes into bed either. Aria’s a bit more reserved but he’s been around a bit. Anyway, they then go on to claim they’ve got proof the twins are more than friendly to each other and then they really turned fucked up. The first one said that there was a special place in hell being prepared for them and the writer, as Satan’s representative on earth, has a duty to make sure they make it there in the right way. When the time is right he’ll be coming for them and nothing in heaven or earth can save them from purgatory.”

“They’re not taking that too seriously are they. Sounds to me like some crazy fucker letting off steam.”

Ben pushed off from the wall and started to pace. “You’d think, wouldn’t you. There have been crazy threats before. Religious nuts, jealous fans, even spurned lovers, but this goes a step further with every letter.”

“How many have there been?”

“Six. The last four have really got everyone freaking out. They’ve enclosed photographs of some creepy dungeon with effigies of the boys strung up on the walls, hanging from the ceiling…and worse. I think after the latest one, the police are taking it more seriously. They’ve said they’re investigating but the sense I’ve got is that their thinking is pretty much like yours – that’s it’s a nutcase who’s doing a lot of talking but not planning on taking action. I hope they’re right.”

Ben squinted at him, pursing his lips. “You must have wondered why someone like you was brought into a job like this.”

“Someone like me?”

“Oh come off it. I can tell ex army a mile away and you’re no ordinary squaddy. I’m guessing SAS. You’re more used to Black Ops than babysitting.”

“I did wonder.”

“Wonder no longer. The only reason I’m still on the job is because of my martial arts background. Eighth Dan Judo, fifth karate, as well as former junior champion kick boxer.”

“But you were here before this blew up.”

“I was, but remember, Amara has always been the bigger target. Teenage rock superstars attract their own kind of crazy.”

“I guess.”

“Anyway you want a tour? I’ll show you all the important bits – alarms, exits, secret tunnels.”

“There are secret tunnels?”

“Nah, but it’d be fun if there were, right?”