Aria Graice - 41. Chapter 41

You thought it would be Drew, right

Jay was asleep. Going through their story again seemed to have been easier this time, especially with the twins petting them and promising over and over that they still loved Jay and they’d make things right. Even so, it had completely exhausted them and they’d fallen asleep mid-sentence. Amara had immediately telephoned Alexei and told him in a quick, succinct way, exactly what had happened. It had seemed clear from hearing only one side of the conversation that Alexei had said all the right things as far as Amara was concerned. Amara had then called what appeared to have been a family lawyer. That conversation had been more strained but again appeared satisfactory to Amara.

Finally, Amara collapsed onto the sofa and stared at Aria in silence for a few moments before saying, “Do you want to, or shall I?”

Aria pursed his lips. “I will,” he said. “How honest should I be?”

“Completely.”

Aria sighed but nodded firmly. Drew wondered who was going to be on the other end of that conversation, he was very glad it wouldn’t be him.

“We know,” Aria said without preamble as soon as the call connected. Drew was shocked by the coldness in his voice. “We know everything. We don’t want reasons or excuses, we just want to know why you didn’t tell us about Jay and why you were nice to them.”

Alicia. This was one conversation Drew didn’t feel he had any part in or any right to overhear. What was said between the boys and the person they’d relied on and trusted for half their lives, should be private, at least at this stage. Drew would have his own conversation with her later. He therefore wandered over to the kitchen, where Jeff and Ceriann were deep in conversation.

“Are you coming,” he asked Jeff.

Jeff nodded grimly.

“Me too.”

“You need to stay here with the boys,” Drew said, laying his hands gently on his sister’s shoulders. “I know you want to come and I know why, but this needs a cool head and I don’t think you’ll be able to keep your temper. Also, I need someone to make sure they don’t come running after me when they realize where I’ve gone. This doesn’t need to burn bridges, but if the boys go steaming in now, it will. They need someone like Lady Jane in their lives and despite everything, I think she was trying to look out for them in her own way. It was the wrong way and she’s going to find out exactly what that cost, but for now I want the boys to stay away.”

“You know I won’t be able to hold them if they really want to go storming in. Especially that Amara. Christ, who would have known he had all that inside him.”

“You’ve obviously never heard him sing,” Jeff said.

Drew had to chuckle. He was learning fast, but he suspected he still had a long way to go before he even scratched the surface of understanding the twins. It was something that both excited and terrified him.

“So, what do you think of Lady Jane?” Drew asked Jeff as they made their way up the stairs.

“She’s a strong lady. I can see a lot of similarities between her and the boys.”

Drew paused. “Hmm. I suppose. Now you mention it.”

Jeff chuckled. “Oh boy you’ve got some fun coming.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you need to take your blinkers off. I have to admit I’ve been hoodwinked with the rest of them but the last couple of days have been real eye openers for me.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Those boys are not what they seem.”

Drew frowned and stopped Jeff in his tracks, holding his arm. “What do you mean by that”

Jeff laughed, then he sobered. “Calm down, boy, you’re losing your head and that’s dangerous in any situation. Aria and Amara are not the fragile little flowers we all thought they were.”

“Trust me, I’ve never seen them as fragile flowers.”

“Oh, but you have. We all have. Maybe not in so many words, but we’ve all been fooled by those big eyes and soft voices. Did you know how closely Amara works with his business manager and lawyers? He’s involved in all the major decisions in his life and career? That’s almost unheard of for performers of his class. And Aria doesn’t even have a manager. He deals with everything himself.”

“I know.” Drew glowed with pride. “They’re geniuses. God knows what they might have achieved if that bitch had allowed them to have a normal childhood and go to school.”

“You still don’t understand. It’s not just about the facts and figures. It’s about attending high powered meetings with tough businessmen and lawyers, about negotiating contracts and organizing events. I had a brief chat with Alexei at the hospital and he told me that even he’s backed down to Amara on occasion. He said, quote When that boy is really set on something, I pity anyone who gets in his way.”

Drew frowned. Part of him could get behind that. Christ, he’d seen the steel in Amara, in both of them. He could understand Aria being skilled in negotiation, too, and organization for sure, but it was hard to imagine Amara being as focussed and single minded in the face of adult high-powered opposition as Jeff was suggesting. Sure, he would have had Alexei at his side, but still…

“I think Alexei might have been over exaggerating.”

“Do you really?”

“Oh, come on, you’ve seen how vulnerable Amara can be. You weren’t there for the whole Ben incident. Amara was a wreck.”

“Everyone can be vulnerable, Drew, and it’s very different to face down someone in a business setting to someone in your own home who is threatening to hurt someone you love. Amara might have a lot of experience out there in the world, but emotionally… Part of him is a hurt little boy, and that’s the part that you’ve seen and is calling out to your soft heart, but that’s not all there is to him, to either of him and I can’t wait to watch you find that out for yourself.”

“You’re an evil bastard, do you know that?”

“Of course. Someone or other is yelling it at me all the time—mostly at home.”

Drew chuckled and they continued on their way. Jeff had given Drew a lot to think about, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Jeff was right about one thing—Lady Jane and her grandsons were far more similar than he’d first thought. Oh God, there was going to be a bloodbath, because if Lady Jane was as stubborn as the twins they were screwed.

They first made their way to the office, but when they knocked there was no response. They tried a few more times, then walked in. It was empty. The temptation to read the files in the cabinet by the window was strong, but fortunately Drew didn’t have time to dwell on it for too long because they’d barely set foot over the threshold before a polite cough from the doorway heralded the arrival of the older man Drew had seen with Lady Jane earlier. He wasn’t dressed in a tail coat, but he gave off an air that made Drew think he’d look perfectly at home in one.

“Can I help you gentlemen? As you can see, Her Ladyship is not currently at her desk so perhaps we should step outside.”

Drew was fascinated. He’d never met a butler before but was pretty sure this guy was one. He had a military stance and sharp eyes, and although his lips were curved upwards his eyes held an expression that said “Mess with Her Ladyship and I will end you.” It didn’t frighten Drew, in fact he respected it. No security worth their salt, especially someone who worked as closely with their employer as the butler—Robert?—did would allow such a blatant intrusion of their employer’s privacy go by without comment and a warning is a warning even if it’s a polite one.

“Of course,” Jeff said while Drew was still sizing the man up. “Our apologies. We shouldn’t have walked in uninvited. However, it’s very important we speak to Lady Jane as soon as possible. It’s regarding her grandsons.”

“Please follow me. You can wait in the sitting room while I enquire whether Lady Jane is able to see you this evening.”

“It’s very important,” Drew repeated, feeling like a dick as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Dammit, he was not going to be intimidated by a jumped-up fart with a stick so far up his arse it was choking him. “She probably knows what it’s about and you can tell her that she’ll either talk to us now, or her grandsons later, and they’re neither as patient nor polite as we are.”

Robert turned on him and glared down his nose. “Are you threatening us, Mr Chance?”

Drew straightened and met the man’s glare with a cold look of his own. “No, but I know Aria and Amara better than you do. Better than she does. While I might be prepared to sit around waiting while you go looking for her, do you honestly think Aria or Amara would?”

Robert gave them one more glare, waved, with a flick of his wrist, at a door, then swept up the stairs.

The sitting room was the most formal room they’d been in so far, with high backed chairs, polished wood and so many patterns, in wallpaper, carpet and upholstery, it made Drew’s head ache. He wandered around, checking out books in the book cases, and peering at fine china ornaments in the tall cabinets. Jeff was more interested in the art hanging on the walls that included two tapestries, hung between the three windows, that were so pale it was difficult to see what the pictures were. Jeff said it was an indication of age and murmured with awe that they might be originals, Drew didn’t care. He thought they were ugly and couldn’t be bothered to put in the time to work out what was going on. That actually extended to quite a few things in what Drew considered to be a generally ugly room.

Time wore on and Drew began to wonder if Lady Jane was deliberately keeping them waiting. He wondered what her motives might be, because he was quite sure she had a motive for everything she did. Was she trying to put him on the back foot? To intimidate him with her wealth? To make a point that she wasn’t going to be at their beck and call? Probably all three but in this situation, she wasn’t doing herself any favours because the longer he waited the more he remembered how devastated Jay was, and the more wound up he got. Jeff warned him against it a few times, but it wasn’t really getting though.

Footsteps in the hall had both heads jerking toward the door, but it wasn’t Lady Jane, or Robert.

Drew couldn’t work out if it was Amara or Aria. They’d changed and seemed to be prepared for battle. Tight black jeans were tucked into buckled ankle boots with stilettos that could have been used as weapons. A belt slung low on the hips jangled with chains that were the only decorations. A plain black tee showed bare arms without any of the usual bracelets and there were no necklaces or earrings. Even the platinum blond hair was caught back by a simple band. Drew had never seen either twin quite so…raw. From the determined stride and even more determined expression in the pretty blues, Drew’s first instinct told him Amara, but the stance was too straight, too easy.

“Go back downstairs, Aria,” he said. “Jay needs you right now.”

Aria glided across the room and paused before Drew. Even with the high heels, he was nowhere near eye-to-eye. Even so, Aria locked gazes with Drew, commanding his full attention.

“Whatever happens in this conversation,” he said in a tone that was both very much like Aria, and also unlike him, “you will only tell us the good parts. Ssh.” He laid two fingers over Drew’s lips. “I know this, so don’t bother denying it. You’ll protect us, like you always do, and that’s not what we want. If we’re going to have a relationship with her we need to know her—the good and the bad. Jay is our friend. They’re our responsibility, not yours. I really want you to be there, Drew, but it’s up to us to sort this out, and I will. Don’t worry, I’m not going to blow a fuse—that’s why it’s me and not ‘Mara—and I’m not going to cry. Probably not cry. Even if I do it will be anger, so pretend it isn’t happening. I just need to be there.”

Drew glanced at Jeff who shrugged. Just great. This was not a side of Aria he recognized, and he realized it was exactly what Jeff had been talking about. He was about to witness the Aria who ran his own successful business, the Aria who connected with millions of people all over the world every day, the Aria who was fiercely loyal to his friends and was not about to let anyone fight his battles for him. Wow. Hot damn was this Aria sexy as hell.

As if reading his mind, Aria smiled and stood on tip toe to tease Drew’s lips with a soft kiss, that deepened into one that made his toes curl. He moaned and pushed Aria gently away.

“Don’t do that. I can’t focus.”

“That was part of the plan,” Aria said with a smile and a coy look that had Drew biting his lip hard to keep his body under control.

Aria turned and sauntered across the room, heels clicking and hips swaying. Drew glanced at Jeff again, but this time Jeff was staring at Aria, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline. Drew elbowed him. “Stop looking at my boyfriend like that,” he growled in mock irritation.

“Can’t help it,” Jeff said. “I never realized he was quite such a bad ass.”

Then Aria went and spoiled it all by turning to say over his shoulder with one of the brightest smiles Drew had seen. “Oh good, I’m doing it right. Amara said I’d blow it, but hey he’s not the only one with balls.” Aria then giggled and stalked out of the room. Drew and Jeff exchanged astonished glances and followed him.

“Wait,” Drew said when they hit the hall. “Where are we going? The butler told us to wait in there.”

“Robert? Pft. Don’t let him scare you. He’s all bluster. He used to shout at us all the time but he never did anything, even though he told us he’d “tan our hides” if we slid down the bannisters again, or skidded about on the rugs in the hall or a whole host of things he didn’t approve of. We never listened to him then and I have no intention of listening to him now.”

“But where are we going?”

“To grandmother’s private sitting room, of course. She’ll be either there or her personal office. They’re next to each other.”

Feeling completely thrown off step, Drew followed Aria up the stairs to the first floor and around to the right. Aria didn’t even pause at the door, but opened it and walked straight in. Drew and Jeff scuttled after him, warning him not to, a little too late. The room was far more relaxed than the one they’d been in downstairs. The furniture was leather and the art on the walls was modern. Robert stood to attention in front of the window gazing out, but there was no sign of Lady Jane.

“I thought I told you to wait downstairs,” Robert said, clearly affronted by their unannounced entrance. He was looking at Drew when he spoke, and Drew simply shrugged.

“You didn’t tell me anything,” Aria said, looking Robert straight in the eye. “Where’s my grandmother?”

“Lady Jane is busy with estate business. She doesn’t wish to be disturbed.”

“We all have wishes, Robbie,” Aria said. Drew almost choked and didn’t miss the flush that coloured Robert’s stiff neck. “And I didn’t ask what my grandmother was doing. I simply asked where she was.”

“Master Aria, I don’t think—”

“No, you don’t. You don’t think, you just tell me what I want to know.”

“I will not have you speak to me like this, Master Aria, I shall tell Her Ladyship how rude—”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell her myself. I presume she’s in the office.”

He turned and stalked back out into the corridor, heading toward another door at the end.

“Master, Aria, don’t you dare.” Robert started after Aria, but Drew and Jeff blocked his way, even as they hurried after Aria. They were right behind him when he opened the door and walked in.

The office was much smaller and less formal than the big one downstairs. It contained soft furnishings, a small desk bearing a computer with just one monitor, and a few small book cases. Lady Jane was not sitting at her desk, but standing in front of the window.

“I do apologise, Your Ladyship,” Robert blustered, pushing past Drew to get into the room. It was crowded with the five of them. “I told them to wait downstairs.”

“That’s quite alright, Robert. Would you be so kind as to arrange some refreshments?”

“I…” Robert glanced around, his gaze settling on Drew with a glare. “As you wish, Your Ladyship.” He gave a curt bow of the head and backed out, closing the door behind him.”

“I’m not accustomed to being interrupted in my private chambers, Mr Chance. You’re lucky security isn’t in here having you removed.”

“It wasn’t Drew who interrupted you, grandmother,” Aria said, throwing himself onto one of the sofas and lounging back, one ankle on the opposite knee. The silver stiletto glinted like a throwing knife. “They were waiting downstairs very obediently.”

“And you should have done the same. It’s very rude to just barge into someone’s private rooms.”

“Don’t talk to me like a child, Grandmother. And don’t talk at all about being rude, not after what you’ve done today.” Something in Aria’s tone seemed to hit a nerve. She straightened her back, but clearly took a mental step back.

“Shall we go back to the sitting room. We can all be more comfortable there.”

“I’m comfortable enough where I am, thank you, and you’ll forgive me if I don’t really care how comfortable you are. Jay certainly isn’t comfortable.”

Lady Jane’s expression hardened. “Is that boy still here?”

Aria took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Would you come and sit down, Drew please?” He patted the seat next to him. “Jeff can sit on the other one. Would you tell my grandmother what you know about Jay? Not about today.”

Drew knew what Aria was doing and was impressed, even though he doubted it would have much impact on Lady Jane.”

“Jay is Aria and Amara’s best friend. I first met them at a party and I thought they were a bad influence. Well no, to be honest, I have no idea quite what I thought they were. I’d never met anyone like them before, but I thought they were a party animal, a frivolous, flighty pixie who was encouraging the boys to take drugs and be promiscuous.”

“What?” Aria snapped.

Drew glanced at Aria and shrugged. “You wanted it, so you’re getting it all. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Aria sat up, his body language tenser and Lady Jane seemed smug.

“But…” Drew continued as Lady Jane seemed about to say something, “the more I got to know them, the more I realized how wrong I was. Jay has been a good friend to the twins. They’re a stable—well stable-ish—influence on them when almost no one else in their lives is stable at all. I’ve never seen Aria and Amara smile as much as they do when Jay is around and for all their frivolity a lot of sense comes out of that wise assed mouth of theirs. I have no idea where the boys would have been now without what Jay’s done for them since the kidnapping. They’re sunny, bright, fiercely loyal and so much fun to be with.”

“They are, aren’t they,” Aria said with his special smile arching between them.

Drew returned the smiled, then frowned at Lady Jane. “But anyone who knows them can see there’s something dark underneath the glitter. They’ve always been sort of fragile, broken and I’ve never known why.”

“Neither have we,” Aria said, “and we’ve known them a lot longer than Drew has. We’ve worried about them a lot. We’ve tried to get them to talk but they never would. We knew it had to be something bad.”

Lady Jane snorted. “Something bad is one way to put it. The boys a criminal. He’s been to prison. He’s a murderer.”

Drew glanced at Aria who’d gone pale. Drew could tell he was making an effort to control himself. Nevertheless, he straightened his spine, sitting upright. “Do you honestly think that makes a difference to us? And even if it did, you should have come to us, not tortured Jay and treated them like dirt.”

“You were children.”

“So were they?”

Lady Jane snorted again. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s not the vulnerable little-boy-lost he likes to portray. Do you have any idea what it could do to your reputations, your careers if this got out?”

“And yet you threatened to go to the press with it?”

Now it was Lady Jane’s turn to pale. She turned and strode to the window. “I wouldn’t have done that.”

“Then why did you tell Jay you would?”

Drew, watching Lady Jane caught the precise moment she decided not to lie and deny she’d said it. She turned. “Because I’ve tried everything else I could think of. He just wouldn’t go.”

“Of course, they wouldn’t go. Why would they? They’re our friend. What is it about that you don’t understand? Or do you think that friendship means nothing, that friends can just be thrown away if the stop being useful? That our careers and reputations are more important than the people we love?”

“People come and go, Amara and all you have left are your careers and reputations. You’ve been protected from anything that could hurt you. You’ve been nurtured and sheltered, and all as it should be. You’ve got a wonderful life ahead of you, but something like this… If it comes out that you’re associating with someone who was a prostitute and murdered one of his…customers. It could ruin you.”

“You’re living in the wrong century, Grandmother. Yes, probably our fans will be shocked, but they all know Jay, and do you think they’ll really care in the long run? And don’t forget, Jay has an amazing career with madly loyal fans. They’re more successful than me by a long shot. People love them. Besides, that’s what we pay managers and publicists for. That’s why we have lawyers on retainer. We’re not helpless and we’re not on our own. The people who care about us will all pull together to make sure we all get through fine.”

“Amara, you’re being incredibly naïve if you think there wouldn’t be an enormous scandal, and it would bring us all down.”

“Us? No, you. Your reputation. That’s what you’re really worried about, not us.”

“No. Yes. Partly.” She moved around to lean on the front of the desk, gazing at Aria, sizing him up. “You have no idea how much hard work it takes to run our family businesses. Your father has been running around the world, spending money like water since he met your mother, and yes, he’s making plenty of his own now, but that wasn’t always the case. Then, when your grandfather died a lot of clients weren’t happy to deal with me, a woman. Yes, they are that old fashioned. They don’t like change, and like it or not reputation is important. A scandal like this would irreparably damage many of our business associations.

“Think about this, Amara please. Your career won’t last forever, and with everyone around you taking a cut of your hard work it will be years before you make appreciable money. Even then, it goes so fast when you’re young. Look around at others who’ve chosen this career path. So many fail, and the pressure is enormous. I don’t want you ever to turn to addiction because you feel there’s no way out and you have no other choice. And think of Aria. What is he going to do? I’m not working myself to death for me, or that good-for-nothing father of yours, I’m doing this for you.”

Aria pondered for a long while. Drew wondered why he hadn’t told Lady Jane he wasn’t Amara. Drew sorely wanted to, especially when she seemed to imply that Aria’s work meant nothing. But this was Aria’s business and if Aria wanted to keep her in the dark for now then so be it.

Finally, Aria got up and walked over to stand in front of his grandmother.

“We’re from different generations,” he said, as if he felt sorry for her, “and very different worlds. I don’t blame you for not knowing how things work anymore. I understand everything you’ve said, and you’re right. I know you are. Yes, reputation is important, and yes if there was any kind of scandal I suppose some clients would run away screaming, but you need to understand a few things. The most important one, so much more important that any reputation or business or client, is that people matter. Everyone matters, and no matter what you think, or what your clients think, or what your motives are, there’s no excuse for treating anyone like you treated Jay.

“Jay has never done anything to hurt you, and never would. They’re our best friend. They will always be our best friend. We will never push them out of our lives because of something that happened in the past, something that wasn’t their fault. They didn’t choose what happened to them, but they did choose to move on, to remake themselves, to build a fabulous life and they don’t deserve to be treated badly. They don’t. No matter what you say or do, no matter where our relationship goes, or doesn’t go, if you want us in your life you have to understand that our friends are important and you can’t screw with them. You don’t have to like them, but you do have to treat them with respect. If you can’t do that, then we’re not coming here anymore. Ever.”

Lady Jane opened and closed her mouth, her eyes very wide.

“The second thing you need to know,” Aria pressed on, “is that we don’t need your company, or your house, or your reputation. We have our own. Our careers are not something we’re playing at until you hand over the companies. They’re our lives. They’re important. They’re the most important. Maybe we will take over the companies, maybe we won’t, but it will be on our terms and our own careers will always come first. We can put in managers, like we do now.”

“The last thing you need to know.” Aria raised his hand and laid it on his grandmother’s cheek. There was a tear in the corner of her eye, but he if he saw it he ignored it. “The last thing you need to know is that Amara isn’t the only one with balls and brains. You should work harder at learning how to tell us apart.”

Leaving a dumbstruck Lady Jane staring after him, Aria stalked to the door. Both Drew and Jeff stood to accompany him.

“Oh,” he said before he opened the door. “I forgot the most important part. We’ve already got the wheels in motion. We’ve spoken to Amara’s manager and our lawyers, and our publicists…oh and Alicia. We’re handling this, but if you want to get your people involved, give Alexei a call. Alicia will have his number. Whatever you decide to do we are expecting, at the very least, an apology to Jay, and a promise you’ll at least get their pronouns right from now on. If you can do that, we’ll work with you on trying to sort out a relationship, but were not seven anymore, and we’re not empty-headed bimbos either. Goodnight, Grandmother.”

Without waiting to see if there was any comment from Lady Jane, Aria opened the door and strolled out. Drew shot a look over his shoulder as he followed. Lady Jane was still standing, immobile, staring after them, but Drew was sure there was a tiny smile tugging at her lips. His heart was less heavy when he closed the door.