Chapter 14

The only reason I'm not down there ripping into Gianna right now is the fact that I have my omega wrapped up tightly under my arm.

Gianna has always taken her job seriously, and she's good at it. We owe her for a lot of our success, but I draw the line when it comes to Jade. I will not allow anyone to speak disrespectfully towards her. And the way Gianna was talking about her as if she wasn't there and then side-eyeing her like she's a common whore has me all sorts of pissed off.

She almost had Jade running out of there—not that she would have gotten far—but I don't blame her.

"We're going to talk to her," I grumble into Jade's ear as we head up the elevator to the presidential suite. "She shouldn't have talked to you or about you like that."

She looks up at me, her green eyes capturing my attention. I want to lean in and kiss her, to run my tongue along her tempting, full, pink lips. But I know if I try that right now, I'm either going to get my face slapped or my balls kneed. Fuck, I still can"t believe she"s really here.

"Look, she's your manager. I'm new to your world, I'm not going to come in and start making demands and acting all entitled just because you invited me along on this tour. But I will make it known that I won't tolerate her behavior and will speak up for myself. If that ends up causing you issues, then that"s the only thing I'll be sorry about."

"You never have to be sorry for defending yourself, Jade," Everett says. "That"s one of the things we loved about you growing up. You might have had us by your side, but you always knew how to hold your own."

"It's fucking hot." Griffin chuckles, and I'd have to agree. The mouth on her has my cock hard as stone, even when it's directed toward me.

The elevator dings, and the doors open. I guide Jade out, my arm still around her. She hasn't tried to pull away yet, so I call this a win.

"Where are all the other rooms?" Jade asks as she looks down the small hall that only has one door.

"There are no others," I tell her, stopping in front of the door. I grab the keycards tucked inside the door and unlock it. "We're the only ones up here."

"Holy shit," she whispers as we step inside the suite. I let her go, watching as she takes off to explore. "This isn't a hotel room, this is a whole damn apartment."

I smirk, shaking my head. The other two have matching expressions of amusement.

"The view..." she says in a sigh as we step into the living room area. "You can see everything."

"We love staying here every time we're in this city. It's got everything we need. Here is the living room, to the left is the dining room, which is attached to the kitchen, and to the right is the bedroom. There's only one king-sized bed, but we usually just sleep together."

"Oh." She looks away from gazing out the window. "Okay. I can sleep on one of these couches." She waves toward the gray plush sofas with gold and silver pillows.

"Not happening, Trouble," I chuckle. "You"re sleeping in the bed with us."

She raises a brow, and damn that sass has my cock twitching again. "And do I get a say in this decision?"

"I could say yes, but I'd be lying."

"But there's four of us! Sure, king-size beds are big, but have you seen the three of you? We're not going to fit."

"It'll be tight, but we'll all fit in there just fine. Plus, Everett ends up laying on top of one of us instead of the bed anyways." I grin over at my pack mate who rolls his eyes.

"I like to snuggle, sue me."

"Wait. You said a dining room and a kitchen?" Jade's eyes widen. "This place is that big?"

"It also has a small office, a sitting room for meetings, and a massive bathroom with a clawfoot tub."

"Clawfoot tub, you say?" Her eyes light up, making my lips twitch.

"Oh, and don't forget the small workout room and the other extra random living room. I have no idea why they have it, but they do."

"What the hell? Why?" Jade's brows jump upward. "How much does a suite like this cost? It has to be a few grand a night. And we're only here for a night. A room with a bed or two would have been enough."

"The label books it." I shrug. "Anyway..." I turn to the guys. "You two settle in, maybe have a few words with our lovely manager because if I see her right now, I'll say shit that's going to cause issues," I growl. "I'll take Trouble out to get what she needs. There's a mall down the street."

"I don't need a mall. Walmart is fine."

I give her a hard look. "You"re not wearing Walmart clothes," I growl.

"Why not? I'm not too good for Walmart clothes. No matter how much money I make, as long as it looks nice and I'm comfortable, I don't care. Now, come on, big guy, let's go. I'm starving, I need a shower, and we have a lot to talk about." She narrows her eyes. "Don't think I forgot about the whole ‘brother' thing." She stalks past me and out of the room.

"Good luck with that." Griffin claps me on the shoulder.

"She's going to make it hard for us to buy things for her, isn't she?" Everett asks, looking in the direction Jade just left.

"Doesn't matter. I'm still going to spoil the shit out of her. We have six years to make up for. Jade may not have ever been into materialistic things, but she deserves them all the same. She deserves the world, and she's not going to give it to herself. So it's our job."

"She's going to hate it." Griffin chuckles.

"Doesn't mean that I'm not going to still do it," I retort, shooting him a wink.

"Zane?" Griffin has this vulnerable look I'm not used to seeing on him. "Is she really here? Is she really back? I don't think I could handle losing her again."

"She's back," I growl, stepping forward and grabbing his face between my hands. "And we're never letting her go again." I kiss him hard before putting my forehead to his for a moment.

"Are you going to tell her about everything?" Everett asks.

"Yeah." I sigh, not looking forward to the conversation I need to have with her about all the life-changing things that happened to me since the last time we saw each other.

"You sure you don't want us there with you?" Griffin asks.

"Nah. I'll be fine. If anything, Jade will be happy for me. Not that there's much to be happy over." I let out a hollow laugh.

Giving Rett a kiss too, I quickly head into the room where the bellboy dropped off our things while we were talking to Gianna. Grabbing my bag, I pull out a ball cap, hoodie, and a pair of sunglasses.

Thankfully, it's a colder yet sunny spring day, so this attire wouldn't be seen as odd. Pulling on the hoodie, I put the hat in my back pocket and hook the sunglasses onto my shirt before heading out to find Jade standing near the front door.

"So, how are we going to do this?" she asks me, crossing her arms and raising a sassy brow.

She's fucking sexy. My hands twitch to grab her and pull her into my arms. I want to fucking devour her so bad it hurts. She has no idea how good she smells. How much she's testing my control and pushing me into a rut.

With so much happening in a small amount of time, having Jade find out that we're scent matches is only going to add more stress, and the idea of that doesn't sit right with me. I know the guys, and I are biting at the bit to go all alpha on her ass. Keeping our hands and mouths to ourselves has been really fucking hard.

Especially when she was in my arms. Did I shove my face into her hair and breathe her in, like she was a line of coke and I was an addict, while she was asleep? Fuck right, I did, and I'd do it again.

"I'm going to call for a car to meet us out back."

"Where's this grand master of disguise you plan on wearing?" she asks, looking me up and down. "A hoodie?"

"And a hat." I grab the hat and slip it on.

She smirks. "I think that tattoo right here is a big giveaway." She reaches up and brushes the star tattoo under my eye, leaving a trail of heat behind with the contact of her skin. I swallow down a growled groan.

This girl doesn't even know the power she has over me. She fucking owns my heart and soul.

"I have these." My voice has a husky edge to it as I pull the glasses off my shirt and put them on.

"I guess you"re right. I wouldn't expect some tattooed rock star to wear this." She nods. "It could work. Although, having your own driver? That might be a dead giveaway."

"Good thing I plan on driving." I chuckle.

"Oh God." Her face pales. "You said you cared about me. You said you loved me! Why would you do this to me!"

My brows furrow. "What the hell are you going on about?"

"You want me to die!" She grabs my shirt, giving me a shake. "Why?! I'm still so young."

"Oh, fuck off." I chuckle as it clicks. "I'm not that bad of a driver."

"So, you've gotten better since we were teenagers?"

"No." I blink.

"Look, man, death-by-car was never the plan. Can you just kill me now and save me the trouble?"

"You"re a fucking brat," I growl. "I wasn't that bad," I repeat.

"Yes, you really were." She grins, and fine, I'll let her have some amusement at my expense if it means I get to see her smile like that more.

"Come on," I mutter, taking her hand. I'm surprised when she laces her fingers with mine and doesn't pull away.

When we get into the elevator, I can't help but watch her.

She looks forward, watching me from the corner of her eye. "Don't make it weird." She pulls her hand from mine and crosses her arms.

I grin and look forward. Keep playing hard to get, Trouble, I love a challenge.

Being here with her right now... it's weird, but the good kind. She's the same Jade, only not. She's harder, more guarded and God, that body. She's no longer the girl we loved but a full grown woman, and I can't wait to fall for this new side of her.

We get out of the elevator and slip out the back to the waiting black car. Jade rolls her eyes at me when I open her door for her, but she just about stops breathing from the shock when I buckle her in.

"I'm a big girl, Zane. I can buckle my own damn seat belt," she mutters.

"I know."

The drive to Walmart is short. I wanted to take her to the mall and buy her whatever her heart desired, but Walmart would be a better option. No one would expect to see me here.

Jade grabs a cart and starts walking. I'm immediately on edge, walking so close behind her that I'm nearly stepping on her heels.

"Maybe the guys should have come," I grumble.

"What?" She looks at me over her shoulder, not bothering to stop. "Why?"

"Because this place is too big, too open. It's hard to see all the angles."

"Really?" She stops in the middle of the aisle and gives me a dry look. "You're acting like the fucking mafia is out to get me or something. No one is going to bother me. I'm fine."

"You're an omega," I growl. "All it takes is one asshole alpha to get your scent in their damn nose and for them to lose their shit."

"It's not like I'm in heat." She rolls her eyes, dismissing my concern. "And this time, I really am dry as a bone." She winks before starting to walk again. "So they won't smell any slick. You"re overthinking this. And might I remind you that you're supposed to be blending in. You looking around like the FBI is going to snatch us up at any moment doesn't help you accomplish that."

"Fine," I concede. "Speaking of heat. When was your last one?" I ask as we turn into the woman"s clothes section.

"Why are you asking?" she mutters, grabbing a pair of black sweatpants and putting them in the cart.

"Because, with us being on tour and the schedule being tight, if you have your heat while we're traveling, we're going to need to make some adjustments."

"That won't be a problem," she tells me, pushing the cart forward.

"Oh, are you on suppressants?" I'm kind of disappointed because I was looking forward to getting lost in her heat with her. All of us closed in for a week, buried inside her, her pussy strangling my knot over and over again as she screams my name and begs for more. I want to fill her with my cum, then fill her with my babies.

"Yes. I need to get some more while we're here," she tells me, still not making eye contact.

"How long have you been on those?" Hopefully, a while. I hate thinking about her having heats with other alphas. It should have only ever been us. Now, they will only be with us.

"A while." She grabs a sweater and tosses it in. I don't even think she's paying attention to what she's doing right now.

"Years?" I ask, giving her clothing of choice an odd look.

"Yes."

"How many?"

"A few."

"Jade," I growl. She's withholding this information. What is she hiding?

"Four years," she whispers.

"Four years?" My brows furrow. "How many heats did you have before going on them?" If she's really been on them for that long, she would have only had one, maybe two.

She doesn't answer me as she continues to throw a few tops into the cart before heading toward the underwear section. "Oh, these are cute." She grabs a pack of scent-blocking panties.

"Jade."

"I'm going to need a bra too. Although, I think I'd take you up on your offer for the mall for that. Walmart never has the kind I like."

"Jade!" I snarl.

"Fine," she huffs, spinning around to face me. She chews on her lip, her cheeks going a little pink. "I've never had a heat, okay? I went on the suppressants as soon as I found out I was an omega."

"What?" I must look like an idiot with the way my jaw is hanging open. "Never? Not once?"

"No." She turns around again with an annoyed look on her face.

Something inside me screams with smug satisfaction. No one has been with her during her heat. She's never been open and comfortable in that state with anyone. We get to be her first. God, that feels so fucking good. "So, we get to be your firsts and last?"

She scoffs. "Full of yourself much?"

"Nah, baby, I'm sure of myself." I step up behind her. She sucks in a breath as I press my body into hers, letting her feel just how hard I am against the curve of her ass. "And just so you know," I murmur, brushing my lips against her ear. "We've never experienced a heat either."

"Really?" She sounds shocked. "You're full of shit."

"Nope." I stay close. "It's a long story for another time, but we tried being with an omega once. Didn't end well."

"Why not?" she whispers.

I run the tip of my nose along the top of her head, inhaling her scent. It's almost enough to make me bust a nut. I need to get myself under control before I end up having my omega for the first time in the middle of a fucking Walmart. The press would have a field day with that. "Because she wasn't you."

"Zane." The raw emotion in her voice right now is almost too much for me to handle. She seems to feel the same because she steps away quickly.

We walk around the store silently for a while. She tosses a few more things into the cart before heading to the shoes section. "These will do," she says, tossing in a pair of sneakers after trying them on. "Oh my God!" She rushes forward and snatches a pair of flip-flops off a rack. "They have them!"

"Have what?" I ask.

"These!" She holds up these cheap looking things. "I've been looking for them everywhere."

"I'm confused. It's a pair of cheap flip-flops."

"Price doesn't matter. These things are amazing. They're the only ones I can wear that don't hurt my feet. The straps are a soft material. I hate the plastic ones."

"Wait. Aren't these the same kind you used to get?"

"Yeah." She smiles. "I get a new pair every year."

When she starts moving again, I quickly grab a few more pairs and toss them into the cart when she's not looking.

I don't bug her about it anymore as we head into health and beauty. She grabs some shampoo and other things like that before hitting up the pharmacy. She asks the pharmacist for some heat suppressants, giving them her name like it would be in their files.

"Which one do you use?" I ask her, looking at the alpha blockers as we wait for them to fill her prescription.

"How do you know I use blockers?" she asks, eyeing up the items.

"Because you haven't mentioned how the guys and I smell. How amazing our scents are and whatnot."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because we've been giving off enough pheromones around you to set off a whore house." I chuckle, and her cheeks heat.

"Fine." She grabs a few of the nasal sprays. "I use these."

"Why?"

She shrugs. "I haven't always, but I find working around so many alphas becomes overwhelming. Found it hard to concentrate and keep my mind clear. So I started using them, and it just became the norm for me."

I don't like the idea of her never being able to smell the guys and me. She will have to come off them eventually so this scent bond can kick in on her end. And she won't be going back on them afterward.

As we get to the checkout counter to pay, she curses.

"What's wrong?"

"I got distracted and forgot PJs."

"Don't worry about that. You can sleep in one of our T-shirts. Or nothing, if you'd prefer..." I give her a cocky grin.

"In your dreams, alpha." She rolls her eyes.

"Fuck," I groan. "I sure do love how that word sounds on your tongue. Say it again."

She just flips me off, taking the bags and leaving me to scan my card.

"Give me these." I try to take the bags, but she snatches them away.

"I can carry a few bags," she chastises.

This whole not letting me do anything for her is going to get old real fast.

"So. Wanna tell me what your manager meant about your brother not being too happy about me showing up?" she asks once we are seated in the car.

"Ah," I grunt, eyes on the road. "I was hoping you forgot about that tidbit?"

"Nope." I can see her watching me out of the corner of my eye.

I let out a deep sigh. "Once we moved to LA, you know we got picked up by Boom Voice Records, right?" I look at her quickly, and she nods. "Well, I didn't get a chance to tell you because it happened after... after we thought you disappeared from our lives."

"Okay," she says slowly.

"The guy who found us got us a meeting with the owner. He ended up signing us and became one of the owners of the label himself..." I pause for a moment before continuing. "And he also happens to be my brother."

"So you really do have a brother?" she asks. "That"s... that"s amazing. How did you find out about him?"

"He found me. After a while, he started asking about my life, saying that there was just something about me that he couldn't put his finger on. After he managed to get some information out of me, he did some research or something because a few weeks later he was saying he thought I was his brother and the owner, Henry, was my father. He wanted to do a DNA test." I laugh, shaking my head. "I thought he was fucking crazy. No way my dad was a billionaire rock star turned record producer. But I took the test anyway, just to prove him wrong. Turns out I was the one who was wrong. The test came back stating that he was indeed my older half-brother."

"Wow," she whispers, going quiet for a moment. "So, you have a dad too?"

"Technically. I met him once, but he didn't care one bit about me, only cared about how the band was doing. Once he got his answer, he put my brother in charge of us, and I haven't seen him since. Not that I care. Dude seems like a royal douchebag."

"Oh. Well, that sucks."

"It is what it is." I shrug. I never had the need to find my real dad. My mom died when I was a baby, so I didn't have a clue about who my dad was. Never thought about him much. So as bizarre as it was to find out who he was, I didn't really care that he didn't want a relationship. And I don't think I would have tried if he did.

But that also means I have no idea how he met my mom and ended up with me. I haven't gotten to ask him if he knew about me, what happened with my mom, or why things ended.

Probably won't ever find out. Doesn't matter, though. Boom Voice Records signed us, changed our lives, and gave us our dream. That"s all that matters to me.

"What about your brother? How are things with him?"

"Better than with my father," I tell her honestly. "We're not besties; the guy makes me want to strangle him for the most part, but he's a good businessman, cares about the band, and is overall, not too bad of a guy. He's about thirteen years older than me, so we don't have a lot in common. He's very much the business-suit-and-tie kind of guy, and well, I'm not." I shoot her a grin.

"I could never tell." She smiles back at me.

This. Little moments like this is what I live for. The bits and pieces of the old Jade. It's enough to keep me going.

After a quick in-and-out trip to the mall to grab some bras and a few extra things, like a bag to carry all my new things, we get back to the hotel and head up to the room with all of our stuff. "We're back!" I call out as we step inside.

"Oh, good." Everett steps into the doorway, an awkward look on his face. "Your brother is here."

"Fuck," I mutter and look over to Jade. "Looks like you get to meet big bro sooner than I thought."

We step into the living room and Jade comes to a stumbling halt as my brother looks away from the window and over to us. "Jade?" Concern fills me when I see her face has gone pale, like white as a ghost.

"Calvin?" she whispers his name so low that I'm not sure anyone else could hear it. How the fuck does she know my brother"s name?

"You know him?" I growl, finding myself getting defensive.

My whole body goes stiff as I see my brother"s face soften, his eyes taking in my omega. There's too much familiarity in them. I don't like it.

"Hello, my Darling. I was wondering when we would meet again."