Chapter 42

Juno

Feeling both apprehensive and excited, I rode with Alma toward her main home. We had picked up Eve as well. She'd been to the spa, and then clothes shopping, and part of me wondered what it was like going to the more expensive places, but I'd enjoyed the day I'd had anyway.

We'd stopped by the apartment so I could stuff a change of clothes and my toothbrush in a bag, and then we'd made our way out again, grabbing more food along the way.

Alma seemed in high spirits, and she carried the majority of the conversation, telling us stories of old parties and some of the things the band had gotten up to while on tours.

It sounded like most of them got to be big children and live an amazing life, but they also took care of each other like some kind of slightly dysfunctional nomadic family.

On top of that, Alma made all the locations they'd visited sound so glamorous. I was seriously envious.

"I need to travel more," I said with a sigh.

Eve nodded, and Alma chuckled.

"It's not all glitter and fun, but it beats being stuck in one place all the time." Alma patted my hand, and then Eve changed the subject, moving it on before I could ask anything else about where to go and places to avoid.

Although the journey passed quickly, and I felt like I was making some new friends, even if we were in different worlds, I worried about how things were going with Jack. He'd been lovely to me in every way, but I still didn't feel at home in his world, and his declaration that he wanted me to submit to him and become his submissive kept coming back to mind.

Most of me was fine with the idea, excited even, curious, and a whole heap of other positive feelings and emotions, but a part of me was terrified. What if I was just getting into bed with another Greg? Someone who made me feel great sometimes but who secretly just wanted me around to make themselves feel good. How would Jack react if I continued to grow more successful?

It was a question I knew would always be at the back of my mind, and I'd have to either trust and let it go or pull back and not take the risk at all.

I also couldn't decide exactly how I felt about the sleeping arrangements. It appeared the band was used to sleeping wherever, no one attached to a particular location and everyone traveling whenever needed. I was used to a single home and being there all the time, but I was also used to the safety of that home.

When Greg took his fists to me, the first thing I did was go and find somewhere else to live, somewhere he didn't know about. And in the short time since, I'd done everything I could to make it feel safe.

Now, here I was, having almost slept one night in an apartment Jack owned and then the rest of that night and another in Jack's apartment with him. I hadn't been too worried because I'd been able to run away to the other apartment if I needed to. Or I felt like I could, anyway.

Tonight, I would be sleeping in Kai's house, and it seemed everyone else would be as well.

The whole thing had been decided around me without anyone asking me if I was all right with that, and I didn't feel as if I could easily say I objected. Not without potentially excluding Jack from the fun if he wanted to spend time with me.

I felt torn but helpless, and my stomach was twisting itself in knots the more I thought about it. It wasn't necessarily Jack's fault, and there was no indication that anything dangerous could happen to me, but I was putting a lot of trust in people I didn't know well.

Without thinking, I reached for my phone and messaged a friend, asking them how they were doing and telling them I was still alive.

It was possibly a little rude while in a car with others, but I felt the overwhelming need to tell someone else where I was going and what I was doing so if anything happened to me, they'd know where I had been last.

Part of me wanted to laugh at my level of paranoia, but I was a writer. My imagination was overactive. It was one of the reasons I could write stories for a living in the first place.

Trying not to worry, I put my phone away again and focused on Alma and Eve's conversation until the driver took us into the New York suburbs. Eventually, we ended up down a small road full of large wooden houses. They were gorgeously maintained, and they all had large, gated driveways. The central one at the end of the road swung open for us as we arrived.

We were still getting out of the car, and Alma was pointing out that she and Kai owned the houses on either side, as well as the two behind, when another car pulled up.

Assuming these were the houses Jack had told me about, I marveled at them. It must have cost an extraordinary amount of money to do something like that, and I found it hard to imagine spending so much on houses just because I could.

Of course, I'd never had that much money before.

"And who've we got here?" a voice said behind me, a Southern twang to the words. I whirled to see a guy striding up wearing jeans, cowboy-style boots, and a flannel shirt.

He looked me over, not even trying to be subtle about it.

"This is Juno. Jack's sweet on her, and she helped write the most recent song," Alma said as she came closer to my side and looped her arm around mine almost possessively.

"Of course Jack's sweet on her. He always gets to the hot ones first."

"I'm also standing right here," I snapped back, instantly taking a dislike to whoever this was.

Alma grinned and squeezed my arm.

"That you are, my dear. Forgive my rudeness." He took his hat off and flicked his eyes down to my chest for a second time. "I'm Logan, and I'm an old friend of the band's."

"As I already said, this is Juno," Alma said for me as I tried to decide whether I should be glaring at this man a while longer. "And you had better be nice to her. Kai and I like her, and we want her to stick around. Got it?"

"Of course, my gorgeous hostess. Your house, your rules. I'll behave and do what I usually do, enjoy the view."

Alma rolled her eyes, turned, and walked me toward the house. I tried not to show how I felt on the outside, but although Logan hadn't so much as touched me, I felt as if someone had covered me in a layer of slime.

"Don't mind him too much," she said once we were in the hallway of the house and temporarily alone. "He's terrified of Jack and won't touch you while you're with him."

I exhaled and nodded, still not sure I trusted my voice. The knot in my stomach grew tighter, and I found myself longing for Jack and the safety he appeared to now represent.