Javier winked at the gorgeous blonde as he fumbled with the keys to his apartment. Normally he didn’t bring women back here. It was way easier to go to their place and sneak out after the sex was done, thus sparing them both an awkward morning, but Kristy was different.
At least he thought she might be.
They’d been seeing each other for a month. He’d met her at a private play party. She’d been there with a couple of friends, but she’d seemed drawn straight to him after the first hour. She’d shyly asked if they could play, and they’d been partners from then on. After a few raucous sessions, they’d decided to take their relationship into the vanilla world and see where they could go.
He’d taken her out with some friends tonight. If things went well, he might ask if he could bring her with him to Sanctum. Of course, she’d have to go through a bunch of checks and interviews because Sanctum was a private BDSM club. It would be good to have a sub at his side.
“Oh, Sir,” she said, rubbing her body against his as though she couldn’t even wait until they were inside. “I’m going to rock your world tonight.”
After tonight, she wouldn’t call him Sir again. It was time. He wasn’t a child anymore and he was tired of one-night stands, had been for a while. He wasn’t sure Kristy was the one, but he was willing to give it a go, and that started by inviting her to spend the night with him.
Letting her know where he lived. Had he really thought that? Maybe he was as bad as everyone said he was.
He slid the key in the door just as he caught sight of the new girl walking down the hall.
What was her name again? Julie? Juliana?
Jules. Chef had introduced her as Jules. She was the new hostess and she’d rented the apartment across from his. She was carrying an armful of groceries. Normally he would have helped her with that, but he had a horny blonde to deal with. A horny blonde whose hand was currently trying to run down his slacks.
She could be awfully aggressive when she wanted something. He tried to gently tug her hand up. This was a coworker and he was trying to rebrand himself as anything but a manwhore. Making out in the hallway was not going to help his reputation.
He managed to nod Jules’s way. “Sorry. Uhm, it’s been a night, you know.”
Jules strode by them. “I don’t think your night’s over, buddy.”
“It’s definitely not,” Kristy whispered far too loudly. “Not over at all.” Kristy stopped, her body stiffening behind him. “Eww, what’s wrong with her arm?”
Shit. He should have cut Kristy off at the fourth round of shots. They’d gone out with some of his friends from the club and it had been obvious that his Dom friends hadn’t thought he’d been careful enough. Kristy had been a little loud, a bit too much. Now he agreed with them.
She hadn’t behaved this way in the dungeon. She’d been practically perfect.
Jules turned, holding up her left arm. It had been amputated just below the elbow. He hadn’t seen her without the prosthetic before. “I like to call her stumpy. What? You never seen a stump before? Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it, sister.”
“Hey,” he called out, wanting to apologize.
“Don’t worry about it.” Jules managed to get her door open. “I don’t care what a drunk fool thinks anyway.”
And he’d made a friend. Her door slammed closed.
“She’s weird.” Kristy went back to wrapping herself around him.
“She’s a coworker and you just embarrassed me.” He opened the door and managed to unwind her, turning to look into her eyes. She was gorgeous, with wheat-colored hair and a body made to bang, but he really looked at her this time. She was a lovely woman, but there was a cruel twist to her lips and a hardness in her eyes he hadn’t noticed before. “Do you understand that woman gave a part of her body to ensure that you can go out on a Friday night and drink too much tequila? She lost that arm during her service to our country. I could have done the same, but I was lucky.”
She frowned, her bottom lip out in what he was sure she thought was a sexy pout. “What’s up with you tonight? I thought we were having fun.”
Maybe this wasn’t going to work out the way he thought it was. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”
They might need to talk because if she was that rude to a woman she didn’t know, how the hell was she going to handle his family? He had a brother in a wheelchair. Would she make fun of him, too? No. Optimism. He was going to be optimistic. She was drunk and in the morning, he would talk to her and have her apologize to Jules. There was no reason to ruin the whole night. It would be an object lesson.
But maybe he would keep the collar he’d purchased for her in his pocket. He might need a little more time to make that decision.
She was always sweet as pie around him. It was just the liquor.
Life was easier when his hookups happened in broom closets. He never had to see past how hot a chick was.
He closed the door behind him.
Kristy immediately turned and started to play with the buttons on her shirt. “Don’t be mad at me. I can’t stand the thought.”
She was incredibly sexy. Curves in all the right places, and they were all artfully on display.
So why was he thinking about Jules and wishing he could walk to her apartment and apologize again? He didn’t really know the woman, had only worked a few shifts with her, but he’d hated the blank look on her face. Oh, he’d heard her sarcastic words, but they’d covered up what had to have been at least a pain she’d become numb to.
Like his brother.
Kristy stepped in, turning her face up. “I can make it up to you, Sir.”
What the hell was wrong with him? He was alone with a woman who was willing to have sex with him and he found himself thinking more about sleep than an orgasm. “I think it’s late. Maybe we should go to bed and talk some more in the morning.”
He should know more about her than her bra size and which lube she liked.
Her eyes had gone wide. “You want to go to sleep? It’s not that late, Sir. I was rude. I’m sorry. What’s my punishment? I think a spanking and then I should totally take care of you. I can make it all right and then maybe the next time we play, you’ll take me to Sanctum.”
He stopped. “What do you know about Sanctum?”
He’d never mentioned the club to her. It was a private space. He hadn’t intended to mention it to her at all until he had cleared it through the owners.
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, some of the other subs I’m friends with were talking about it. They know that you and Eric and Deena are members there.”
Eric and Deena were some of the friends he’d introduced her to. Eric had been his boss for a long time, teaching him much of what he knew. When Eric had left Top Dallas to be the executive chef at Top Fort Worth, he’d started having some play nights out in his neck of the woods. It wasn’t the same as Sanctum, but he missed Eric and made time to go out to Fort Worth. After Eric met her, he’d told Javier to be cautious about Kristy, but then Eric kind of had it all so it was easy for him.
He was getting tired of being the manwhore. He was thirty and he had his dream job. It was time to settle down. Time to be serious, and he could be serious about a banging blonde babe who liked D/s.
And apparently knew about his connections to the most exclusive club in the state.
She looked up at him, giving him big doe eyes that might have worked on him before she’d mentioned Sanctum. “Come here, Sir. I think I should get you out of those clothes.”
There was a hard knock on his door that startled Javi.
It was nearly midnight. Who the hell would be here?
Except any of a dozen women who could have tracked him down.
“Javier?” A female voice yelled through the door. “I know you’re in there. Open up.”
Kristy suddenly didn’t look as sexy as she had the moment before. Or quite as drunk as she’d seemed. Her eyes had narrowed. “Who the hell is that? You have some other sub? Is she the one you take to Sanctum? I’m just some cheap piece of ass on the side.”
Javier moved to the door. He recognized that angry female voice, though it wasn’t usually directed at him. She was the one female he couldn’t hide from. “It’s my sister-in-law.” He opened the door and stopped, his heart suddenly in his throat. “What happened?”
Sonja was standing there, his niece on her hip. Camilla was barely a year old and she clung to her mother, her eyes red rimmed with tears. Camilla was wearing a pair of brightly colored footie pajamas. Sonja looked worse for the wear. His sister-in-law always took care with her appearance. He’d never once seen her with her hair in disarray, mascara smudged. It looked like she’d managed to push his brother’s wheelchair while she carried her child.
“What do you think happened, Javi? What happens every single night since he came home?” Sonja asked, sounding infinitely tired.
Rafe. His older brother. Rafe was in his wheelchair, slumped over as though he’d passed out, and he probably had. He was thinner than Javier had ever remembered seeing him, his hair greasy and unkempt.
Rafe stirred, his head coming up. “Bitch won’t let me sleep.”
Anger welled in Javi, warring with the guilt and shame he felt whenever he looked at his brother. Whenever he realized that it could have been him in that wheelchair having lost both legs in a helicopter crash. All it would have taken was a change of assignment, some bad luck.
There were days when Javier wished like hell it had been him. He didn’t have a wife and child to take care of. No one would have cared if he’d devolved into some pathetic thing.
“I can’t do it anymore.” Sonja backed up, tears streaming down her face. “I took him in because he lost his last apartment and he was going to be homeless. He promised me he would try, but it’s exactly like it was before the divorce. I hide the liquor and he has a buddy bring more over. He won’t go to rehab. I set everything up for him but he cancels it the minute I go to work. He won’t even try. He gets drunk and he scares the baby. I can’t, Javi.”
Javi’s heart twisted. What was she saying? “Sonja, he’s going to get better. He’s got another surgery soon. He’s going to get better.”
“Fuck it,” Rafe slurred. “Not doing the fucking surgery. Don’t need you or her. Don’t need anyone. Get the fuck out, Sonja.”
Camilla started to cry, burying her face in her mother’s neck.
“I have to think of my daughter,” Sonja said, tears rolling down her face.
Javier remembered Sonja on her wedding day five years before. She’d been gloriously happy with her husband. Sonja had worn a white wedding dress and Rafe had been in his dress whites. Javier had stared at them as they’d danced and wondered if he’d ever find anyone who looked at him the way Sonja looked at Rafael.
How the hell had it all fallen apart?
His sister-in-law turned and walked down the hall toward the elevator, cradling her baby to her chest. Javier watched as Camilla’s head came up, and she looked at her father as her mother swept her away.
And he was left with his brother.
“Do you need help getting him inside?”
He turned and realized the new girl was standing in the hallway. He hadn’t noticed when she’d opened her door and stepped outside.
Rafe. He had to get Rafe inside. The neighbors were opening their doors and watching the scene playing out in the hall with curious eyes. Shit. If he didn’t hurry, someone would call the cops and he would have that headache to deal with.
“I can get him in,” he stuttered as he moved around, getting behind the chair.
“Who is that?” Kristy stared at his brother like he was a bug she needed some man in her life to sweep away so it didn’t disturb her.
“He’s my brother,” he said under his breath, well aware lots of people were listening in. He pushed the chair forward but it didn’t go anywhere. He tried again. What was wrong with the chair? Damn it. He didn’t know how to work it. Rafe wouldn’t let him near the chair. It was a serious point of contention since his brother had come home.
“He can’t stay here,” Kristy insisted. “I thought we were going to have fun. I’m not some nursemaid. He should be in a hospital or something. He looks sick.”
“He’s my brother.” His head was racing. He needed to get inside. Why wasn’t the chair moving?
“The brakes are on,” a calm voice said. “Let me help you. Hold the door open for me and we’ll get him inside and away from prying eyes. You would think they’d never seen a dude in a wheelchair.”
The new girl was standing there, her soothing voice reaching out to him. He moved out of her way and she competently flipped the brakes off and pulled the chair back, though she only had one hand.
“I’ve certainly seen men in wheelchairs,” Mrs. Gleeson from 5E said, holding her robe closed. “I’m eighty-two. It’s how all the men I date get around. You work that chair well, dear. You’re not Javier’s usual. Much more lovely.”
Kristy stepped out, frowning. “She’s not his girlfriend.”
Mrs. Gleeson sighed as she looked her over. “Yes, that’s what I was expecting. Oh, well. If the gentleman in the wheelchair needs a hangover cure in the morning, come down. I’ve got a wonderful herbal tonic. I’m going to dip into the wine this evening.”
“Could you keep it down?” Mr. Cassidy from 5F shifted his glasses and frowned.
Mrs. Gleeson shook her head. “Oh, go back to bed, old man. Have you never seen a man in a wheelchair, his brother who has terrible taste in women, a blonde tart, and a lovely female veteran who’s trying to help out?” She waved down the hallway toward Jules. “Let me know if you’re single, dear. I have two grandsons.”
Javier felt his face flame as Rafe’s head came up.
“Where the fuck am I?” Rafe nearly shouted.
“Go back to sleep, buddy. It’s definitely time to sleep it off,” Jules said quietly.
“Don’t go. Sonja, baby, I didn’t mean it,” he mumbled. His eyes were completely unfocused.
How deep had Rafe fallen?
“It’s okay. No one’s going anywhere. Go to sleep,” she replied, not missing a beat. “We can talk in the morning.”
She pushed the wheelchair, easing it inside the apartment.
Kristy was hard on her heels. “Who the fuck is she and why is that man here? Javier, I’m patient, but this is too much.”
Jules looked over at her. “Then you should go because apparently this is his brother and he needs help. Are you going to help? Or are you going to whine and cause more problems for your boyfriend here? Javier needs someone who can help him get these prosthetics off and get his brother into bed. I am more than willing to turn that job over to his loving girlfriend, but you look way more like a chick who runs at the first given opportunity. Which one is it going to be?”
Kristy stared at her like she wasn’t sure what to say.
Javier knew. “I think you should leave, Kristy. I’ll call you a cab.”
She turned on him. “Don’t bother. You’re not the man I thought you were. I thought a Dom from Sanctum wouldn’t live in a hellhole. It’s not worth it. I’ll find another way.”
She stalked out the door, slamming it behind her.
“Well, I showed her, didn’t I?” It wasn’t really a hellhole. Of course, it wasn’t all that nice either.
Jules glanced back at him, her lips quirking up. “Sanctum? Is that the club Chef and Mrs. Taggart mentioned? I bet it’s full of rich dudes.”
“Not all of us are rich. Some of us just work for the rich dudes.” So much for settling down.
Except apparently now he had a brother to take care of. An alcoholic double amputee with a terrible attitude.
“It’s better to know now. Sorry, I heard a rumor she’s a new girlfriend, not a long-time thing,” Jules commented.
Ah, the rumor mill was still strong at Top. “Yeah, it wasn’t anything serious. Thanks for helping.”
Jules put the brakes on again. “No problem. Do you know how to get his prosthetics off? He should sleep without them. He’ll be more comfortable.”
How had she known? He shook his head because his brother was wearing cutoff sweats and his legs were visible. Not something Rafe would have done had he known he was going out for the evening.
His brother had always been impeccable. But then this man wasn’t really his brother since his brother would never, in a million years, call his wife a bitch and scare his tiny daughter. Ex-wife.
What the fuck was he going to do?
“Hey, one step at a time. I know this is overwhelming but the only way to handle it is to work the problem in front of you. Getting him to bed. Unless you want to call someone. Is there anyone else who’ll take him?” Jules’s logical questions and competent demeanor were something he could cling to.
He tried to shove aside the emotional storm playing through his brain. He shook his head. There was no one he could call. His mother lived in an assisted living facility. His father had passed years before. His sister had her own family to take care of and his younger brother had recently graduated high school and joined the Army, following in his and Rafe’s footsteps.
“You could call the cops,” she said gently, not a hint of judgment in her tone. “They could help you figure out where to take him.”
“Of course not.” They were just the words he needed to get him moving. She was right. He needed to work the problem in front of him and then get some sleep. There would be a world of new problems to solve tomorrow. He looked up at the woman who was showing him such kindness. “I’m sorry about what Kristy said to you earlier. She was never mean before. I guess I didn’t really know her.”
“You knew her bra size,” Jules replied with a grin. “That’s all most guys need to know about a woman like her. Hey, she was hot. I’m not so hetero I can’t see that.”
“Yep, she was hot. And then she wasn’t. At least not for me.” He had a suspicion now that her hots for him were all about getting into Sanctum, where she likely would have found a wealthier, more powerful Dom and left him behind.
Jules knelt down beside him and showed him how to pull his brother’s C-legs off, how to clean and dry his stumps, how to ease him onto the bed without hurting him. Rafe was deadweight. If Jules struggled with her part, he didn’t see it. She didn’t complain or show strain.
She even seemed to know that he needed a minute. She walked out of his bedroom after they’d gotten Rafe into bed.
He stared at his brother, wondering what the hell he was going to do now.
Rafe had been his rock. Rafe had been the leader. He was only two years older, but it had always been Rafe who would go first into anything. It would all be easy if Rafe had been a shitty brother, but he’d never shut Javier out, never told him he couldn’t go along because he was a snot-nosed kid brother.
Who the hell was he now?
Javier grabbed a blanket and a couple of pillows. He would bunk down on the couch until he figured out what to do.
He stepped back out into his living room and the redhead was there. She’d poured a couple of fingers of whiskey into a glass and held it out for him.
“You should enjoy this now. I think you probably need to get rid of it in the morning.”
He took it from her. He definitely hadn’t had enough to drink. He’d been driving and planning to play, so he’d had exactly one beer hours before. He took the glass and downed a healthy portion.
“I’ve written down a couple of numbers for you.” She gestured to a notepad on his bar. “One of them is a really good rehab place not far from here. I actually go there on a regular basis and they’re super good at what they do. I left you the number for a…well, he’s a guy who works with vets.”
Javier could guess. “Kai Ferguson? Yeah, I think Rafe’s already given up on that.”
She shrugged. “Kai’s a good guy to talk to anyway. I’ve only had a couple of sessions with him and he knows what he’s doing. He could give you advice. The other number is a veteran service’s group that will do everything from helping to set up doctor’s appointments to getting him to and from rehab. They’ll also probably send a nurse if he qualifies.”
It was too much. He couldn’t pivot and change that quickly. One minute he’d been dipping his toe into having a girlfriend who knew where he lived, and now he had a brother who would be dependent on him. And Rafe would be angry about it.
“Are you okay?” Jules asked.
“Why are you being nice to me?” He took another drink. If Rafe was staying, he would have to hide the liquor. Or do what she’d said and get rid of it because he was going to be responsible for his big brother, and it looked like the party was over.
She held up her left arm, showing off the stump it ended in. “I kind of know where he’s been. I definitely know what it’s like to feel alone.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure Rafe wants to be alone.” He couldn’t get the look in his niece’s eyes out of his head.
Jules moved to the door. “I was talking about you. If you need help with him in the morning, you know where I am. See you at work.”
She closed the door behind her and he was alone again.
He sat up for the longest time knowing his whole world had changed.