8. Olivia
Olivia
Sitting on the couch with Vee sandwiched between Sebastian and me was disconcerting. On the one hand, listening to Vee sob was heartbreaking.
“We’ve all been there,” I soothed as I stroked his hair in what I hoped was a comforting manner. Vee cried harder and buried his face in my shoulder.
Sebastian raised his head, and I found myself staring into his eyes; which was the on-the-other-hand side of this unsettling moment. Since the night I’d watched Sebastian and Vee dance together, I’d been very aware of my attraction to both of them. And now, here we were, on the couch where I’d had one of the best orgasms of my life, and I was holding both of the men responsible for it.
Blood was rushing south so fast, I was dizzy with it and shifted slightly to stave off my arousal. All I managed to do was increase friction on a part of my body that was already craving more contact.
Fortunately, Vee got himself under control somewhat and sat up. “I’m sorry. I don’t normally fall apart like that,” he said as he wiped at his eyes.
Patting his back, Sebastian told him not to worry about it. “Totally been there.”
I met Sebastian’s eyes again and could see that, yes, something had happened to him in the past that had forged a bond between him and Vee. More than anything, I wanted to ask what it was, and I was almost overcome with the desire to reach out and soothe away the pain I saw in those normally lively hazel eyes.
Instead, I cleared my throat and stood up, leaving Sebastian holding on to Vee as I began to pace across my office floor trying to get a handle on my thoughts and regain control of my feelings.
“What are you thinking, Liv?” Sebastian asked.
“I think someone’s sabotaging the club.”
If I had any hope that I was wrong, it was dashed by the lack of argument I got from Sebastian. My brother had trusted Sebastian implicitly and often told me he thought Sebastian would make a good manager whenever Mal decided he’d had enough of late nights, too many drunk people, too much loud music. From everything I’d seen in the past two years, I knew Antonio had been correct, but I didn’t think it was fair to either of them to make that kind of a change when Illyria might close before the year was over no matter how much I might want to work with Sebatian rather than Mal.
I looked at both Vee and Sebastian. “Don’t rush to disabuse me of that idea,” I said with a smile, but my attempt at humor fell flat. When Vee glanced over his shoulder at Sebastian, I knew something was up. “Do you know something?”
Sebastian nodded. “Someone’s been stealing our top shelf liquor. I think that’s why the bar seems to be barely breaking even.”
“Do you have any idea who it is?”
The look that passed between Vee and Sebastian told me they’d talked about someone. I also noticed that Sebastian hadn’t let go of Vee.
“Tell her.” Sebastian nudged Vee.
With a bit more prodding, Vee told me about seeing Mal in my office. Though I didn’t say anything, this revelation troubled me because Mal wasn’t supposed to have been in the club that early. Sebastian added his concerns about the security cameras and asked if Mal had passed along Festus’ request to have them serviced. “One of the reasons Vee was able to hide out in the storeroom was because that camera hasn’t been working for months.”
I walked over to the window and stared down at the club where Toby was prepping the bar while Andrew and Maria sat on stools and kept him company. Festus came over at one point, and though I couldn’t hear what was being said, I could definitely tell it was something funny by the way all four of them started laughing. Illyria had always been a safe haven for me, and I had tried to create that for the people who worked here in the years since Antonio died. The idea that one of my employees was actively trying to undermine the club, undermine me , made me sick to my stomach, and I was seconds away from breaking down when Sebastian asked if he and Vee should leave me alone.
I’d never wanted to say no more than I did in that moment. We’d just been comforting Vee, and now I longed for the same treatment, to be held by both Sebastian and Vee and told everything would be all right. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask for it, so I nodded without turning around.
Sebastian told Vee to head down to the bar and that he’d be down in a couple of minutes. I wanted to protest, to tell him he should go, too, but the words stuck in my throat. By the time I was able to dislodge them, Vee had left and Sebastian was standing by my side, his hand on my shoulder.
“Liv?” His voice was gentle. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I turned to face him and his expression was so full of concern, I wanted to fall into his arms. Again, I fought the feeling. I was bewildered by my emotions. I’d always been able to hold them in check. Even the early days of taking hormones—when I would be weeping one minute and laughing the next—hadn’t felt as out of control as I did right now. “I’m okay. I just need to think about what to do next, and I can’t do that with you and Vee being so distracting.”
Sebastian’s expression morphed from worry to feral in a split second, and a mischievous glint lit his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was deeper, gruffer. “Distracting, huh?”
“Yes,” I said, turning to face him full-on. “And right now, I need to put all my attention on Illyria and what to do about making sure it survives.”
“I know.” Sebastian leaned toward me, his face so close to mine I could feel his heat. “I will do whatever I can to help you, Liv. You’ve got to know that.”
“I do.”
My gaze dropped to Sebastian’s lips. They were full and sensuous. It would be so easy to close the small distance that existed between us and feel the warmth of them against my own. Every part of my body was crying out for me to do just that. But I couldn’t. Among other things, I was Sebastian’s boss.
I forced myself to turn away from him and headed back to my desk where I busied myself shuffling papers around on its surface. Even though I wasn’t looking at him, my focus was completely on Sebastian. One part of me wished he would walk across the room and take me in his arms, and another wanted him to leave so I could breathe again.
When he finally closed the door behind himself, it did nothing to help with my pounding heart, but I was able to collapse onto the couch and exhale.
Below me, I watched Sebastian emerge from the stairs that led to my office and join Vee and the others at the bar. Festus had wandered off again to do whatever it was he did before the club opened as head of my maintenance and security. The rest seemed to be deep in conversation, though I couldn’t tell what the topic was.
Vee was seated at the bar next to Maria, but Sebastian stood behind him, one arm around the back of Vee’s seat. It looked casual, but I could tell Sebastian was still being protective of Vee, which warmed my heart, to tell the truth, no matter how much I wanted to have Sebastian take care of me the same way. When Sebastian touched Vee’s jaw with his fingertips, I shivered at the thought of that contact and loved the smile that teased at the corner of Vee’s mouth.
After a little bit of prompting from Sebastian, Vee started talking. Maria and Toby leaned closer to him. If I had to make a guess, I’d put my money on Vee telling them about Mal having been in my office. When the man in question walked across the dance floor with his tablet in hand and they all stopped talking to watch him, I knew I was correct in my assumption. Mal wasn’t popular with the other employees, but Antonio had trusted him and insisted that he was sharp as a tack when it came to the business side of things.
The problem was that he wasn’t a people person in the least, and I’d never gotten the story on how he’d ended up managing a gay club in the Castro. I did have to agree with my brother, the man was good at his job, and he had been a lifeline after Antonio died. Mal’s continued guidance was the only thing that had kept me from selling Illyria two years ago when I feared my lack of experience would have the club in bankruptcy in a matter of months.
No , I thought , it had taken a bit longer than that, but it was still heading in that direction .
A voice in my head—the one that I often thought was Antonio giving me advice or encouragement—whispered that that wasn’t exactly true. Illyria had been doing fine up until a few months ago. It was only recently that our cash reserves had been depleted as one thing after another needed to be dealt with. And now Sebastian was telling me that someone was stealing our alcohol and the camera outside the storeroom was broken so we had no record of who went in and out. It made it ever more likely that the issues with the plumbing and the health inspector hadn’t been random. Add in that Orsino was spying on my club along with Mal possibly snooping in my office, and I really wasn’t liking the way this was going.
Muffled laughter from below brought me out of my thoughts, and I watched Maria run her fingers through Sebastian’s hair. I bristled at the sight, but was saved from doing anything stupid by a knock on my door. Turning away from the window, I got up from the couch and headed for my desk at the same time I said, “Come in.”
Mal entered still bent over the tablet in his hand.
“What’s the word?” I asked, and he raised his head, staring at me blankly as if he hadn’t just shown up in my office and was surprised to see me there. I waved at the tablet. “I assume you’ve got more good news for me.”
“Unfortunately, not.”
I shook my head. Mal had almost no sense of humor. “Lay it on me,” I said, then snapped my fingers. “Hey, has Festus said anything to you about the security cameras?”
Mal’s brow creased for a moment before he pursed his lips and shook his head. “Not that I recall. Why?”
Staring at Mal, I schooled my expression and hoped my inquiry came across as mere curiosity. “No reason. Just check in with him, okay?” I knew my question didn’t come across as entirely out of the blue, but I also didn’t want to lay all my cards out in the open yet. Something was going on in my club, and I wasn’t sure who I could fully trust.
Even as I thought that, Antonio’s voice whispered that I could trust Sebastian, but that just confused me more. If it was truly my brother’s voice offering guidance and not just my wishful thinking, then wouldn’t Antonio tell me I could trust Mal as well?
In any event, Mal was talking about the pageant idea Vee had come up with and why it wouldn’t work for us. I held up my hand, and he stopped talking.
“We’re doing it,” I said. “I think it’s a good idea and a way to get some camaraderie going between the club owners.”
Mal grumbled but wrote something down on his tablet.
“Is there anything else?” I asked as I stood up.
Despite what I thought were clear signals that I was done with this conversation, Mal followed me out of my office and down the stairs. As we emerged into the club, the group at the bar burst into laughter. I was both surprised and happy to see that Sebastian and Vee were still here, but Mal sniffed.
“I hope they don’t expect to get paid for this,” he said.
“I’m sure they don’t,” I said, and then walked over to join them.