Javier whipped his gaze around. “Have you still not learned the meaning of ‘fuck off’?”
“I don’t trust you in this state with her.”
“Bastard.” His brother’s face twisted with anger. “I would never hurt her. You know that.”
“Yeah?” Xander challenged. “What about Whitney?”
Javi flushed an angry red. “I was . . . having an episode that day.”
“And you could have one in the next ten minutes. If you want London to go with you, I’m driving.”
As Javier opened his mouth to argue, London stepped between them and put a hand on both of their chests. Xander felt her light touch reverberate through his entire body. Lust flooded his veins. Even one small moment with her made him completely hot to touch her, kiss her. Anymore, he had to work up enthusiasm to fuck a girl he’d usually consider pretty. But London changed the game completely.
“It’s for the best, sir. You’re in no shape to drive, and I can’t. Let Xander.”
“What do you mean you can’t?” Javier frowned.
Embarrassment crossed her face as she dropped her arms away from them both and looked down again. “I’m not medically cleared or able to drive.”
Javier’s face softened, and he cupped her shoulder. “Is that the reason for your prescriptions, little one?”
Xander’s gaze fell to his brother’s caress. He frowned. How the hell had Javier known that she took any meds? He hadn’t known anything about it himself. Then again, he hadn’t asked.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Are you sick?” Xander didn’t mean to grill her, but his demanding tone made him wince.
“N-no. Not the way you mean.” But she wouldn’t meet his gaze.
He pressed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to him. “Does that have anything to do with why you didn’t want me to see your back when I had you naked?”
London flushed an even deeper shade of red, then risked a glance at Javier, whose eyes bulged. He looked twenty kinds of furious.
“You dirty motherfucker!” Javi charged at him. “What did you do to her?”
“Stop it!” London screamed. “Both of you. Sir.” She turned to Javier. “I met Xander just before you interviewed me. Our connection is personal and will in no way affect my job performance. You’ve asked me not to bring my work home; I won’t bring my home life to work.” Before Xander could silently cheer that she hadn’t bowed to his brother’s pressure and severed their connection, she turned to him, her blue eyes hurt and admonishing. “I don’t know why you’re trying to convince me that you’ve, um, changed your mind. Or are trying to stake some claim on me when we both know that your brother is strictly my boss and that you’ll move on before the sheets are even cold. Please leave me out of your arguments. I won’t be another something to come between you two. I’m going to tell Luc where I’m going. I’ll meet you both by the front door.”
London exited the room, and Xander couldn’t miss that both he and Javier watched her leave. Silent tension thickened the air in the room. They’d both fucked up. Xander had suspected when he met her that, under her sweet nature, she had hidden depths. Now she was showing that she had limits she’d enforce, that she possessed more than a bit of spine. He liked it.
Beside him, Javier raked a hand through his hair and muttered a curse, staring at the empty space she’d just occupied. “I don’t want you anywhere near her.”
Xander stiffened. “I don’t want you anywhere near her, either. But I’m not going to get my way on that. Neither are you.”
Knowing they’d just argue again, and that making sure London was all right was more important than whatever had crawled up Javier’s ass, Xander left the room in search of her. Behind him, he heard Javier cross the hall into the powder bath and shut the door. Good. Maybe he’d have a few minutes alone with London.
Instead, he ran into Luc, who glared at him with a raised brow. “Let’s make this quick. London is gathering a few things in her bedroom, and I don’t know how long your brother needs to pee, but I doubt it’s more than a minute. Quickly, what is going on with you three, and why is my wife’s cousin crying?”
While Xander would really like to tell Luc that it was none of his business, that wasn’t going to fly. The man would tell Alyssa, who would blow her stack and come between him and London. Time to be blisteringly honest.
“Javier has had too much to drink to be driving, and if London can’t drive—can you explain that?”
“No. That’s her secret. If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”
Xander’s mind flew with a million possibilities, most of them terrible. What the hell had happened? Who would hurt someone so sweet? Frustration wracked him, but a glance at the chef’s stubborn expression told Xander that he wasn’t going to budge.
“All right,” he conceded. “If she doesn’t drive, someone’s got to. I volunteered. I don’t trust my brother alone with London.”
“Why should I trust her alone with you? We all know you’re the king of one-night stands.” Luc crossed his arms over his chest.
“London is a grown woman.”
“She isn’t completely a woman, and you’re too smart not to know it.”
Of course he knew. “Give her some credit. She may not be the most experienced, but she’s smart enough to make her own decisions.”
“Maybe, but just so we’re clear, I have a huge collection of knives, some very sharp. Others . . . not so much.” Luc shrugged like it didn’t matter, but tension tightened his shoulders. “With those, it takes a while to slice things.”
Xander rolled his eyes and tried not to groan. “Luc, come on, man . . .”
“Seriously? Do I sound like I’m kidding to you?”
Not at all. Fuck. “I’m trying to protect London here. Javi is a natural Dom who’s been burying his instinct and need under work, guilt, and booze. He’s not centered. Before we came here, I paired him with a sub at Thorpe’s club in Dallas. He walked off. Just flat left. If I hadn’t been there, he would have abandoned that girl while restrained to a spanking bench in the middle of the dungeon. If you’re not aware, Logan, Hunter, or Jack will tell you that’s bad.”
“I don’t need them to explain, but it’s not like London is going to let your older brother tie her down and take a paddle to her tonight.”
Something burned his chest, searing, clutching. Jealousy. Spec-fucking-tacular. “The way Javi looks at her, he might try to persuade her. Or at least attempt to get her on her back so he can slide between her legs.”
Luc raised a brow at him. “She’d have to let him first. London is a really sweet girl.”
Yes, she was, but she wanted to be rid of her virginity. And Xander had seen the way she’d looked at his brother. She would welcome him. “I don’t want to give him that chance. As far as I’m concerned, she’s mine. No way am I giving Javier the chance to steal her out from under me before I’ve even had a damn date with her.” Before he had the opportunity to make her his own.
“London being alone with Javier would only bother you if you thought she was interested in your brother, too.”
On the other side of the wall, the toilet flushed. Javier would be coming out soon. He and Luc needed to settle this quickly.
“It doesn’t matter.” Xander shook his head. “I saw her first.”
“That’s mature,” Luc pointed out.
“I’m not ready to let her go, especially to Javi. He’s a mess!”
“Maybe, but I don’t think you’re ready to be a one-woman man. It would be better for her if you left her alone.”
As the tap water in the sink in the bathroom on the other side of the wall began to run, everything inside Xander rebelled. “I can be good for her.”
“She doesn’t have enough experience to deal with you,” Luc argued.
“I’ll handle her carefully.”
“But you’ll still leave her someday, probably soon.”
Normally, he’d agree, but now? “You don’t know that. Either way, I’m not relinquishing her. I can give her an experience to remember.”
Luc cocked his head to one side, considering. “And who’s going to be there for her when the orgasm fades?”
“Why are you acting like you’re a father and she’s your teenage daughter? I’ve sworn that I’ll be good to her. I’ve said that I’m interested in her. I can’t commit to more than that. I only met her about three days ago.”
With a bob of his head, Luc seemed to ponder that point, then he changed tactics completely. “You know, I think your brother really needs you.”
Xander bristled. “Not to hear him tell it.”
“As you pointed out, he’s weighted down by anger, guilt, and booze. What the hell does he know? He needs a stable force in his life. If you’re not even willing to commit to your own brother, what makes you think you can do any better with London?”
“Not willing? I brought Javi here to try to stabilize him. He threw me out. Now he’s latched onto Alyssa’s cousin like a life preserver. But I won’t give her up.”
“I doubt Javier will, either,” Luc pointed out. “You know the answer to this, don’t you?”
The tap water in the hall bath turned off. Javier would be out here in seconds.
“What?” Xander asked.
“Share her.”
Xander’s jaw fucking dropped. He’d heard Logan’s drunken rant about Deke and Luc sharing his sister, Kimber, once upon a time. A virgin taken by two men . . . until she’d finally chosen Deke and married him.
“Two minutes ago, you didn’t want me touching her.”
“I still don’t. But you’re not going to give up. I saw the way your brother has been watching her all afternoon. He’s not giving up, either. London doesn’t need to be in the middle of your argument. She’s got enough problems of her own. Share her, and when you’re ready to move on, she’ll probably still have Javier.” He shrugged. “No one gets hurt.”
Sucking in a breath, Xander’s thoughts raced. Did he want to fight to keep London until death do them part? Probably not. Hell, he barely kept a woman longer than a few hours. From now until the day he died should be a long damn time. He could enjoy her for now . . . But sharing her? Leaving her to Javier?
The lock on the bathroom door rattled. He snapped his fingers impatiently, trying to untangle his thoughts as Javier swung the door open.
“You’re insane,” Xander muttered to Luc, then headed for the front door, determined to beat his brother to it—and the girl.
Chapter Eight
XANDER used the key to open the door of his brother’s darkened house. London wrapped her arm around Javier’s muscled torso as he leaned on her for balance, secretly reveling in his closeness. Despite what he’d said under the influence of vodka, Javier was too refined to start any sort of torrid affair with his assistant. A man of his stature in the business world would want someone sharp, witty, at the top of her game. His equal. That wasn’t her, and she had to get the foolish idea that she could help him—and that he might want her in return—out of her head.
Once inside, Xander flipped on lights. The foyer looked into the living room. Both sumptuously decorated and spotless. White marble floors and expensive throw rugs all added elegance, as well as accented the huge picture windows along the back of the house. They looked out over the pool glimmering in the backyard. A chandelier glittered overhead. The space was every bit as sophisticated as Javier himself.
“This way.” Xander directed her through the living room, then down a little hallway. He opened another door, turned on a light inside the room, and stepped back.
London gasped. The bedroom was enormous. A contemporary version of a four-poster bed dominated the space with clean lines and dark woods. An off-white comforter in a downy, textured fabric covered it. Throw pillows in greens, golds, and rusts decorated the pristine surface. French doors, flanked by two sizeable windows, led out to the patio, lit by the last rays of dusk. Along one wall rested a fireplace. Right beside it, a sitting area with built-in bookshelves gave one a cozy place to curl up with a book or a loved one and enjoy a relaxing evening. On the far side of the room, double doors stood open, leading to a shadowy bathroom. She had an impression of size and luxury. The standing glass shower seemed to glow in the near dark.
“I’ll take him. Pull back the bed. He needs to lie down,” Xander ordered.
When he came to support his brother, however, Javier balked. “I don’t need to fucking lie down. Piss off,” he told Xander. “You’re welcome to stay, little one.”
