Aria Graice - 15. Chapter 15

Ben was still in the kitchen when the twins came down. They were different boys to those Drew had walked in on that morning. For one thing, they were laughing and jostling each other in a light, friendly way.

It was obvious straight away that there wouldn’t be an evening of Netflix in their future. Both were dressed for partying. Amara wore chocolate brown leather trousers, slung low on the hip, with a fine-mesh black shirt under a silk waistcoat. Aria was, as usual, very different, in stonewashed skinny jeans with artful tears, and a powder-blue shirt with a wide, see-through lace panel at the front. Both boys topped their outfits with soft, cashmere coats in a pale caramel colour, and finished them with high-heeled, pointed boots.

“Drew,” Aria called, tripping down the last few steps, “you’re beautiful. Look at Mara. Doesn’t he look cute? He let me do his makeup.”

“Cute was not the look I was going for,” Amara complained, with a grin. “I wanted smouldering and sexy.”

“You look smouldering and sexy in whatever you wear,” Drew said.

Amara’s gaze, which had been wandering nervously around the room, snapped back to him. “You think so?” he asked.

Drew almost laughed. Amara Graice, rock god, effortlessly stylish, naturally sexy and endlessly self-assured was actually looking to him for validation. For a moment, he thought Amara was teasing, but there was something in his expression that Drew had never seen before, a slight hesitation, a nervousness as he glanced around again. Amara was tense as a bowstring and there didn’t seem to be any reason for it.

“Always,” Drew said with a smile. “You’re a Rockstar doncha know.”

Amara grinned and the tension seemed to leave him. The grin froze when footsteps behind Drew heralded Ben’s appearance from the kitchen. An expression Drew could only describe as “haunted” flashed across his face, then he glanced back at Drew and the smile dropped back into place.

“Of course, darling,” he said, draping his arm over Drew’s shoulder. “Are you going to take me away from all this and show me a good time.”

“I don’t know about that, but I figure we’re going somewhere.”

Aria laughed. “Alexei said we don’t have to go to the stupid function, so we’re taking you to The Roof. You’ll like it there.”

“It’s not about what I like, is it?” Drew said with a smile. “You’re the bosses, remember?”

Aria’s smile would have melted ice.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit stupid to blow off an important party to go clubbing?” Ben said from just behind Drew’s shoulder. Drew tensed ready to put him down if he made a move on either of the boys. “The host’s an important man and you wouldn’t want to upset him, now would you? It could bring a lot of trouble, eh mate?”

Drew couldn’t honestly have said there was anything threatening either in Ben’s tone or his words, but something had hit a chord with Amara because the colour drained from his face and all playfulness fell away.

“Well…” he said uncertainty. “I wouldn’t want to get into trouble.”

“Nonsense,” Drew said, ushering Amara toward the stairs. “If that was the case Alexei would have said so. It’s fine. Come on, let’s go.”

Not giving Ben the chance to say another word, and making sure he stayed between Ben and Amara at all times, Drew hurried them out to the car. He could feel the tension in Amara, though and Ben’s gaze burned into his back.

This time, the car was not a limo but a stylish, black SUV. Drew slid smoothly into the back with the boys, leaving Ben to get into the front seat. He was clearly unimpressed. Tough. Drew wasn’t about to give him any opportunity to bully Amara tonight.

The car slid smoothly away from the curb as Aria excitedly showed Drew how to work the heated seats. There was a great temptation to close his eyes and give in to the sheer pleasure, but he was on duty and as such had to remain alert at all times. He therefore kept his eyes on the road on all sides, as well as assessing exits and access should the worst happen.

Thankfully nothing of the kind occurred and they made it safely to what looked like an ordinary, if upmarket block of flats. Aria and Amara led the way into a plush lobby as the car slid silently away.

The twins bounced up to the reception desk. Drew held back, assessing the lobby in much the way as he had the car.

“I don’t know what you think you’re playing at,” Ben hissed in his ear, “but you’d better get out of my business. Trust me, I could make life very difficult for you if I wanted to.”

“Like you did with Phill.”

“Something like that. Remember, Mamma Bear is very possessive and not very forgiving when it comes to her princesses.”

“I wonder how she’ll feel when she finds out you’ve been bullying Amara.”

Ben laughed. “Soldier boy, you know nothing; nothing at all, so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll squeeze your arse into some nice, tight pants, focus on Aria and keep the hell out of my way.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it’s difficult to focus on Aria without Amara. I know there’s something going on, and when I find out what it is it’s going to come down on your head like a ton of shit”

Ben laughed. “Keep playing your games, soldier boy, and I’ll keep playing mine, but you’d better be prepared to lose big time because I play with loaded dice.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Before either of them could say anything further, the twins came bouncing back. Well, Aria was bouncing, Amara dragged behind, shooting nervous glances past Drew’s shoulder.

“Come on,” Aria said, “We got a table. We always have a table. It’s our table.”

Why doesn’t that surprise me?

Aria led the way to a little area to the left of the lobby where a row of doors announced they were lifts. At right angles to the main doors, was a different door, surrounded by a bright purple light. Over the door was a sign that said The Roof .

Aria pressed his hand to a panel at the side of the door, and it slid silently open. The twins led the way inside and Drew and Ben followed. The doors closed behind them and the lift began to rise. Three sides of the lift were made of glass and Drew watched uneasily as the lights of the city slowly descended into the distance below them.

A small hand slipped into Drew’s. He glanced down and Aria smiled up at him. “You don’t have to be afraid,” he said. “It’s safe. It’s not just glass, you know. It’s got lead in it and it’s stronger than steel.”

“I don’t think it’s quite that strong,” Amara said, smiling.

“But it is. Father told me. Remember? I was scared the first time we came here, and he told me the windows are stronger than steel.”

“I think he might have said that just to make you feel better.”

“Actually, he might not have,” Drew said. “There is metallic glass that’s stronger than steel. The army uses it sometimes. I don’t know if it would be used in a lift, but it’s possible.”

“See,” Aria said, sticking his tongue out at his brother. “I told you.” Amara just smiled.

Drew had to admit the boys had taken his mind off his nervousness. However, when he glanced out and saw just how high he was, he didn’t really care what the glass was made of.

Thankfully, the lift stopped shortly after and Drew was surprisingly happy when the doors opened, and he set foot on solid ground.

They found themselves in a carpeted foyer with two doors leading off. Both doors had a man in a black suit standing outside. Aria bounced up to the door on the left and hugged the man. Drew had no doubt that the man was generally inscrutable, but he melted and hugged Aria back.

“Hello, little man,” he said, his voice warm with affection. And your beautiful brother, too. It’s been a while.”

“Have you missed us, Javier?” Amara asked, draping his arm around Aria’s shoulders.

“The place isn’t the same without you.”

Javier glanced up and his face hardened when he spotted Ben.

“This is Drew,” Aria said. “He’s my bodyguard and my friend. Isn’t he cute? You’ll like Drew. He knows a lot about glass.”

“Oh?” Javier said, with a smile for Drew. “That’s good to know.”

Javier opened the door and stood aside, allowing them to enter.

Drew Chance had not often been speechless. He’d seen many things in his life, some he was actively trying to forget, but he’d never seen anything like this.

The restaurant stretched out before him in sections. He couldn’t see the far end, but from what he could see it appeared a broad terrace ran around the roof’s edge, open to the night, with a few tables and chairs scattered around. The inner edge of the terrace was marked by graceful arches, wound around with multi-coloured fairy lights. Overhead, a literal glass ceiling arched gracefully, supporting chandeliers like little suns around which smaller, lit planets orbited. Drew didn’t have enough knowledge of astronomy to recognise any, or even to know if they were real. He was also suspicious of the bright stars that twinkled above him. He’d seen plenty of night skies like this at home, high on the mountains where no light pollution spoiled the view. However, he didn’t think this degree of clarity was possible in London, even on such a high building. But what did he know?

“Come on, Drew.”

Tearing his eyes from the heavens, Drew followed the twins as they wove between tables of different shapes and sizes, and through another set of arches, similar to those that circled the restaurant. On this side, things were more relaxed. Sofas and lounge chairs circled low tables, around a hexagonal dance floor inlaid with a golden star.

A long bar curved around one half of the room, while a row of booths occupied the other. The colours were muted, and even the music, although louder on this side of the divide, was at a level that allowed for conversation.

At present, the dance floor held only a handful of people, but they seemed to be having a good time, as did those sitting around on the sofas, some hugging soft, pastel pillows. The greatest number of people were clustered around the bar. They all seemed young and wealthy.

Wake up, Drew. This is the sort of place that has no prices on the menus. If you have to ask; you can’t afford to be here.

Shaking free from his sense of wonder, Drew’s biggest concern was how vulnerable they were. It would appear that the only way in or out was the lift they’d come up in. With that out of service, they’d all be trapped. On the up side no one would be able to sneak up on them, and at least a third of the people Drew could see seemed to be security of one kind or another.

Drew was so intent looking around he wasn’t looking where he was going and bumped into someone, who stumbled and almost fell. Drew shot out his arm and stabilised the young woman, apologies spilling from his lips, even as he found himself grabbed from behind and yanked back. Even though surprised, Drew had no trouble ducking under the arm that wrapped around him and twisting it behind the back of the man it belonged to. The heel of his hand between the man’s shoulders immobilized him, unless he wished to risk breaking his arm.

“Back off, Gordon,” the young woman commanded and the man in Drew’s grip immediately stopped struggling. “I’m sure this was just an accident. Am I right?”

“Alice.” Aria appeared from nowhere and threw himself on the woman, who embraced him warmly.

“Aria, right?” she said mock-frowning.

“Of course,” he said kissing her cheek. “If it was Mara he’d have his tongue halfway down your throat by now.”

Alice laughed. “Of course he would. Is he here?”

Aria waved a hand vaguely toward the booths. “Over there.”

“Tell him we’re at our usual table if he wants to come over. Later maybe. Do you think your extremely sexy friend might let go of Gordon now? Only Markham is getting a little twitchy.”

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry. Drew…um…could you let him go please, because it would be awful if you got hurt.”

Drew released the man, who stumbled forward. A snick at his shoulder drew his immediate attention, to find a young man, about three feet away, sliding a gun into its holster.

“Seriously?”

The man raised an eyebrow and winked, then sauntered toward the bar, following the young woman and the man, Gordon, who was rubbing his shoulder but didn’t seem to be holding a grudge, since the look he threw at Drew was friendly if a little stiff.

“Who the hell was that?” Drew asked as he followed Aria to the booth.

“Who, Alice? She’s friend of Amara’s. She’s a princess, that’s why her guards are allowed to have guns.”

“P-princess. Shit. I almost knocked a princess on her arse.”

Aria laughed. “If you had, they might have shot you.”

“What?”

Aria paused and gazed up at him. “You are silly. Of course, they wouldn’t have shot you. I wouldn’t have let them.”

By this time, they’d reached the booth and Aria slid in opposite Amara. Amara didn’t so much as glance at Drew, and the atmosphere between him and Ben was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Drew cursed himself for having left them alone.

“Drew almost knocked Alice on her arse,” Aria took great delight in announcing. “One of her guards almost shot him, but he’d got the other one all screwed up.”

“You did what?” Amara gaped at him.

Ben chuckled and gave him a slow clap. “Well done. I don’t know anyone else who managed to assault a princess in their first month on the job.”

“Oh, shut up,” Aria said waving the menu at Ben. “What are we having tonight, Mara?”

Amara held Drew’s eyes for a moment, before his gaze dropped to his menu. He didn’t seem to be reading though. His gaze was fixed and when Ben accidentally bumped his arm, he jumped, his reaction entirely out of proportion with what had happened. What the fuck.

Drew appeared to be the only person who noticed Amara’s withdrawal. Aria continued to chat about all kinds of nothing and Ben sat back, sipping iced water, and gazing around, a permanent smirk on his face. Knowing something was going on but having no idea what it was had put him severely on edge. In his kind of business unanswered questions could be, and usually were, dangerous. There wasn’t much he could do about it though because Amara wasn’t talking and Ben sure as hell wouldn’t be.

They ordered their meal and ate in silence, broken mainly by Aria, although even he was eventually affected by the mood, and fell silent.

“I want to dance,” Aria announced out of the blue, before they’d finished eating dessert.

“Of course.” Drew slid out of the booth to allow Aria to exit. Aria didn’t move but stared intently at Amara.

“With you, Mara,” Aria said when Amara didn’t even glance up.

“What?”

“I want to dance with you.”

“Oh. O-okay, maybe.” Drew didn’t miss the fact that Amara glanced quickly at Ben, then stiffened. “Yeah, why not? It’ll be fun.”

Amara got to his feet, but when Drew slipped out of the booth allowing Aria to slip past him, Ben made no move to let Amara out. Instead he scowled. “Are you sure you want to play around here? I thought you’d decided it would be better to go on to the party.”

“I…” Amara stalled and glanced nervously around the table. “I…thought…”

“Don’t be silly, Ben,” Aria said with his wide, innocent smile. “We’re not going to the party. It’s much more fun here.” He reached over Ben to tug on Amara’s hand. Amara almost overbalanced over Ben’s knee.

“Ben?” Drew struggled not to glare at Ben and hoped the look he was giving was calm and level. Boy would it be a miracle if it was.

“What?” Ben shrugged. “I’m only repeating what Amara said. He’s worried about missing opportunities. Isn’t that right?” Ben grinned at Amara who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“I…”

“Oh, come on, Mara, you’re being silly. Ben, will you please get out of the way, Mara can’t get out.”

Everyone gazed at Amara who looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

“Ben, get out.” Aria tugged on Ben’s arm, and he didn’t have much choice but to comply. Clearly unhappy, Ben slid out of the booth, allowing Amara to get past him. Drew, watching carefully was almost sure he saw Amara wince, but Amara didn’t say anything, so he had to let him go.

“What the hell was that about?” Drew asked when he and Ben had both settled back into their seats.

“Don’t know what you mean,” Ben said, sitting back and watching him through half-closed lids. He circled the stirrer in the obnoxious purple concoction he was drinking.

“Oh yes you do. What’s your game, and what the hell are you doing to Amara?”

“Doing to Amara?” Ben chuckled. “Jeez, will you crawl down out of your own arse for a minute. I’m not doing anything to Amara. Haven’t you caught up yet? Those two are little players. You cannot believe a single thing that comes out of their mouths. They’re playing you and one day you’ll thank me for opening your eyes.”

“Really?”

“Think about this.” Ben leaned across the table. “Both parents are among the best actors and actresses alive. They’ve been brought up around actors and film sets all their lives. They’re pampered, and they’re bored. They love winding people up and they’ve got the skills to do it well. I’m telling you, that one day soon they’ll get bored with this whole bleeding-heart thing and you’ll get to see their true colours. When that happens, don’t come crying to me, because I’m warning you, this is going to happen.”

Drew thought for a moment. Were the boys good enough actors to pull off what Ben was accusing them of? Possibly, but Drew doubted it. There’d been way too much raw emotion to fake it all. Too many small reactions, innocent remarks, gestures and... honesty.

“If you think I’m going to buy that, you’re a bigger fool than I thought you were, which is saying something.”

Ben threw him a dark look, then leaned back, folding his arms. “Your funeral,” he said, then let out a spontaneous guffaw. “Ah, would you look at that. How sweet.”

Aria and Amara were dancing with each other, although dancing was entirely the right word. They were swaying in each other’s arms, Amara resting his head on his brother’s shoulder. It seemed as though the entire world had faded out for them and they existed only for each other.

“Are you still going to tell me there’s nothing going on?”

Drew snorted in disgust, then headed to the toilet. If he hadn’t, he might have punched Ben’s smug face, right there in the club.

To be honest, he had to give it to Ben that it certainly looked as if the boys were closer than platonic twins should be, but what the hell did he know?

Growling in frustration at Ben’s behaviour and his own insecurities, Drew pushed through the thickening crowd to the toilets.

Even the toilets were open to the sky, although thankfully not at the sides. He took care of business and tried to smooth down his hair in the mirror. Sadly, his clumsy efforts only made it worse.

“What are you doing?”

At first, Drew thought it was Aria who’d come up behind him and started messing with his hair, especially when, in about ten seconds, it was perfect. However, when he turned to say thank you, it was Amara who was washing product from his hands in the sink.

“Thank you.”

Amara shrugged silently and continued to wash his hands. Drew leaned against the counter and watched him.

“I think they’re pretty clean,” Drew said when Amara had been washing long enough to make his hands red.

Amara glanced up then quickly back down again. He stopped washing his hands but remained bowed over the bowl, without making any attempt to move away or dry his hands.

“Is everything okay?” Drew didn’t move closer because he could see the tension in Amara’s shoulders and was concerned he might bolt. Drew felt that something big was about to happen and he didn’t want to push Amara into anything.

Amara glanced up again and this time held Drew’s gaze. He licked his lips and bit on the bottom one. His lips parted to speak, but before he could form a word, the door banged open and Ben strode in. He went straight to the urinal and unzipped. He barely glanced at Amara, but Amara jumped as if he’d been jabbed with a pin, and bolted.

Drew carefully finished washing his hands and dried them with paper towels.

“You two seemed to be having a cosy little chat in here.”

“Yeah whatever.”

“So cosy, he bolted like a frightened rabbit as soon as I walked in.”

It was clear to Drew what implication Ben was making and it made him mad as hell. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he dropped the towel in the bin. He moved close behind Ben and murmured in his ear as he passed. “Yeah, I wonder what that was about. I’m sure I’ll find out.” He didn’t glance back.

When Drew came out of the toilets, he checked the dancefloor where Aria was still dancing with his usual cloud of butterflies, but Amara had returned to the booth. He was staring fixedly at the table, carefully shredding a coaster.

“What’s really wrong?” Drew asked, sliding in opposite Amara. “Tell me the truth, is it Ben?”

Amara’s eyes automatically darted over Drew’s shoulder, then he chewed on his lip before giving an almost imperceptible nod that seemed to scare the living daylights out of him.

Drew’s mind raced. Ben would be back shorty and there would be no way of dragging Amara away without a scene, which he was sure Amara wouldn’t want. On the other hand, he didn’t want to lose his opportunity to get to the bottom of things.

“Tonight. I’ll stay over. Come to my room when everyone’s in bed. We’ll talk. Or just sit…or sneak down to the kitchen for cocoa, okay?”

Amara stared at him for a moment. “Why?”

“Because I know something’s going on with you, something bad, and I want to stop it.”

“But why?”

Drew shook his head in confusion. Was Amara really so surprised that someone would step in to something like this? Was he surprised someone would care enough?

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Because it’s what a friend would do.”

“A…friend? But….”

“There’s no law, rule or regulation that I’m aware of that says a bodyguard can’t also be a friend.”

“But…professional distance. Isn’t there something that says you can’t get involved with your charge?”

“Well there’s involved, then there’s involved. One’s fine, the other…not so much.”

For the first time that evening, Amara gave a true smile. “Okay, tonight. But I won’t promise.”

“Promise what?”

“To pick the right kind…at least the right kind for you. It’s always the right kind for me.”

Leaving Drew chuckling and pretty sure he was teasing, Amara scampered off to join his brother. Barely moments later, Ben sat down again, watching the twins intently.

“I know I’m sounding like a cracked record, but you really need to be careful of those two.”

“Yeah, so you keep saying. I haven’t seen any worrying signs yet, at least none that you’re thinking of.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Ben leaned forward, the ambient lighting sending strange, coloured shadows across his face in a sinister light show. “They’re evil little shits, but they’re damn clever ones. They’ll suck you in, feed you all the lines you want to hear until they get tired, then they’ll reel you in and throw you back. If you fall for it, they’ll leave you floundering and you’ll never pick up. Once they start kicking off, you’ll kick back and it’ll turn into a war. The only way to avoid it is to not get sucked in in the first place.”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of being sucked anywhere. If you’ll excuse me, I haven’t danced to this song since before I was old enough to get into bars and listen to it. Have fun.”

Drew had no idea why he’d said what he did. Truth be told, he barely knew the song. It was old, probably late eighties but that didn’t seem to be deterring the young people who were bouncing around with more energy than he would have thought possible to sustain. He’d had no intention of actually joining in, but as soon as he was spotted, Aria rushed over and dragged him into the middle of their crowd. From then on, he had a surprisingly good time.