Page 10 of Protect Your Queen

“Oh!” Jareth almost laughed. “Your ex-fiancée is close with your wife? You must have truly been awful in a past life.”

“They're very open about taking each other’s side during arguments,” Callum grumbled. “But enough about the state of my marriage. What can I do for you Jareth? We’re not close enough for this to be a social visit.”

Jareth placed a theatrical hand over his chest and pretended to be offended, but it was obvious he was anything but. “I’m wounded! I thought chocolate was thicker than blood.”

I had no idea what that meant, but it made Callum sit up. “Aye, it is thicker than blood. Are you in trouble?”

“Not me. When we were in St. Michael’s, I told you that I had younger siblings, yes?”

“Aye, the famous Barkadas. You’ve all made quite a way for yourselves since you all adopted the same last name.”

“Indeed. Barkadas are the Kardashians, but without the sex tapes.” Jareth looked incredibly proud of that fact. “A track record we intend to keep, or else my siblings will end up in an iron-clad conservatorship, and be sent to a nunnery or monastery until I choose to forgive them.”

I had a hunch that he was only half kidding.

I had actuallyseenthat comparison in a headline. Families were trying to keep up with the Barkadas. One of them was a famous pop star. Another was an MMA champion. The other was a musical genius and composer, like this generation’s John Williams.

“You’ve never been a forgiving type,” Callum chuckled.

“True.”

None of this involved me, so I took a tentative step back. If I took enough, then I’d be out of sight, and they’d forget I was even there.

“So, which of your siblings are you here to see me about?”

Another step. I was almost out of the doorway…

“Jestiny, the youngest,” Jareth said. “She’s in America, recording her next album in LA. But we’ve seen some…”

“Don’t sneak out, Ambrose.” Lea’s voice froze me in place. “Christopher Ambrose is our new American member, and the one with the requisite permits to start immediately. My brother and I will join once we know our conceal carry permits are in order. You can trust him.”

Shit.

Chapter three

I’m Christopher Ambrose

Jestiny

“Stay in the house!”KuyaJareth’s anger was palpable, even through the phone. “If you’re not recording, you need to stay home. No restaurants. No coffee shops. Nothing.”

I stood at the lobby of the Dryden Studios, the phone to my ear, begging, like a child, for permission to go out to a restaurant, a coffee shop, or…something!

Ever since the death threat was found in my dressing room, I had been under house arrest. Work, home. Work, home. Rinse, repeat. No deviations, no exceptions. I was going mad.

“What if I’m hungry?” I was grasping at anything that could lift this stupid ban.

My brother’s word was law. That was the hierarchy of our family. The eldest sibling ruled over us like a parent. But that didn’t mean that I couldn’t push back occasionally.

“Darling, you can Uber Eats from any restaurant in LA County.” He took a deep breath. I could almostseehim trying to gain that famous Jareth self-control. “It’s just until we get you proper security. Okay?”

“But I’m bored!” I yelled.

Was that the hill to die on? No. Was that the thing that would change my hyper-logical, robot of a brother’s mind regarding my incarceration? No. But I wanted something. Anything. Would it kill him to give in to me, just once?

The failures from the studio came home with me, into the silence of the beach house. Another day without a song. Another day I wasn’t closer to finishing an album… one day closer to being exposed for the fraud I was.

The sound of the waves crashing on the sand helped, a little. It really did. But it wasn’t loud enough to drown out the black emptiness that took over my mind. The silence was so vast, peppered only by the pulse at my ears.Thump. Thump. Thump.

---