Invisible (A Night Fire Novel Book 5) (3 page)

“
Go and get a coffee Kaylee, stop thinking about him and find someone better.”

I nodded and made a hasty dash to the stairs before he continued with his loving yet annoying parental advice.

Chapter Three

Evan didn't call. In fact we didn't hear anything from them until Jaxon rang me at dinner time. Ordinarily phones were banned at the dinner table but on this occasion and others that were of a similar nature, El ignored the fact that we got up and checked to see who it was.

“
It's Jaxon.” I sighed as I answered it.

“
Hello Jaxon.”

“
Hey, has Evan called?”

“
Nope.”

Silence, which was odd for Jaxon. He liked to talk.

“
Everything okay?”

“
Not really. Him and Harmie had a fight, think he's gone AWOL. Don't know where he is actually.”

“
Okay well we'll do a drive by and see if he's home. When are you coming back?”

There was silence again, something wasn't right. I couldn't figure it out but I knew Jaxon all too well to know that this tone and this silence was normal.

“
Probably tomorrow. Harmie's a little drunk at the moment, she's kinda passed out on the kitchen floor. I guess it's probably best if we stay until morning to make sure she's okay, right?”

“
Sure.”

It was then that I figured out why Jaxon sounded so different. He was sober. God damn, this was seriously messed up.

“
Okay well, keep us posted.”

“
Sure. Bye Kaylee.”

And then he actually waited for me to say goodbye. I was stunned.

“
Bye Jaxon.”

I hung up the phone to the table of people watching on. Not only was it Jerry and El but their two adult sons were here as well. Nate and Brad had already flown the coop by the time I arrived but I still considered them brothers.

“
Evan and Harmony had a fight, Jaxon doesn't know where he is.”

“
Alright, we'll swing by and see if he's home. We're done with preparations hun?”

“
Of course, finding Evan is priority for tonight. I can stop by for lunch tomorrow, how does that sound darling?”

“
Sure thing mom.”

We were in the car for about five minutes before my father said something about the Jaxon situation. It was inevitable really, like all good fathers he wanted to make sure I was okay and put his two cents in while he was at it.

“
You know what I think the issue is, I think he still sees you as the seventeen year old girl.”

I was surprised by the statement but it was probably true.

“
Maybe your mom needs to take you out and do all that girly stuff with you, make you look a little older. Maybe when he realizes that you're twenty-one he will finally see you as an adult.”

“
It's a great thought dad, it really is but I'm over it. I understand that until I was eighteen I was out of bounds for him but he didn't even...” I sighed as I pressed my head to the window. “He could have easily said that he was interested but wanted to wait until I was of legal age. But he didn't so it proves it conclusively that I'm not what he thinks is attractive.”

Jerry laughed, one that caught me by surprise and made me lift my head from the window.

“
Well then he's an idiot. Honey, you're as cute as a button and if he ain't into buttons then tell him to get zipped.”

I snorted with laughter. This was why I loved this man, his humor.

“
Thanks dad.”

He smiled and pulled into the driveway of Evan's place, punching the code into the gate. They slowly rattled open and he continued through to the dark house. This place was deceptive and there could be a really good chance that he was here.

“
Stay put, I'll do a quick walk around the place.”

With the torch in hand he walked around the place, as soon as he turned the corner his phone rang. I answered the call from Evan's mother.

“
Hello Lola.”

“
Hey Kaylee, I just rang to tell your dad that Evan's at my place.”

“
Oh, we're at his place. Dad's gone around the back to see if he was here.”

I guess not. Interesting that Evan's gone to his mother's rather than going home. Lola hummed quietly.

“
Well I don't know what's going on, he's clammed up and sitting on the lounge with Harry watching a game.”

“
Jaxon said that Evan and Harmony had a fight. He said that she's drunk and passed out at the moment.”

A flash light appeared, moving along the ground. Seconds later my father appeared from between the house and the garage.

“
Yeah, I can't imagine Evan's far off that either. I will see what I can get out of him. Tell your dad I will let him know.”

He opened the door and sat down, looking at me with interest.

“
Okay great, thanks for letting us know Lola.”

She said goodbye and I hung up the phone, I looked at my father and shrugged slightly.

“
He's at his mother's. She's trying to get information out of him and said she'll let you know.”

As he shut the door and turned over the engine he nodded, a solemn look crossing his face. Jerry wasn't the kind of man that found his sad side all too often but when he did, it wasn't good.

An hour later I was ready for bed, sitting on the chaise lounge by the window and watching the world go by. Stupidly I was wondering what Jaxon was doing, as if I didn't already know. Tears rolled out of my eyes, freely and in vast numbers.

It was ten pm and I might have been a little drunk. No, there wasn't a place that had sold alcohol to me. I had swiped it from the second floor where there was always something to drink. Eden had tried to get Evan and Jaxon to slow down but it wasn't working too well. Even Fraser and Austin had moments where they still lived a little wildly. Curtis was always dry, always sober. He had quit the stuff just after meeting Frankie, now he was a reformed alcoholic and swore that he wouldn't go near the stuff ever again. Life was too short, he would always say. Wouldn't want to miss out on this life, was another.

So with that thought in mind I sent Nate a message, telling him that he could go ahead with his plan. I wasn't worried about messaging him at this hour, Nate was a night owl and rarely went to bed before midnight. The plan was that he would search through his many friends and find someone that was perfect for me to be attached to at my party. Seconds later he returned my message with his own, a wink emoticon.

I wanted to find the path to my bed but I couldn't even get off the lounge. The floor seemed too far away. Somewhere along the way I had lost the bottle, with a frown I searched for it. I looked over to the floor and saw it in pieces with a lot of liquid.

“
What are you doing down there?”

It didn't answer me, instead it chose to ignore me. I leaned over to it, reaching out for it and for a brief moment the world darkened more than the night had allowed. Pain ripped through me, feeling sharp stinging sensations across my torso. My head hurt as I lifted it up, I was on the floor.

I had fallen asleep, woken by the sound of my phone ringing. Barely able to lift myself I reached to the lounge where the phone was vibrating and ringing loudly.

“
Yeah?”

“
Hey Kaylee.”

Jaxon. I hate Jaxon. I wanted to cry.

“
What are you doing?”

“
I think I passed out on broken glass, might have bumped my head when I fell off the lounge.”

“
Funny stuff K, what are you really doing?”

I sniffed, not realizing that I was actually crying.

“
Are you serious? Where are you?”

His panicked tone was a little uplifting, not much though. He wasn't here so I still hated him.

“
At home, where are you?”

“
LA, god Kaylee, why didn't you call someone? I'm calling Jerry.”

“
No.” I cried out.

He sighed heavily.

“
Who has a key?”

“
Nate.”

“
Fine. I'll ring him.”

The phone went dead and I cried more, not just the physical pain but the emotional pain. Why did he ring me?

Jaxon ringing me again frightened the life out of me, I don't know if I had passed out again or if I had fallen asleep but either way I wasn't awake. I pressed the button and held the phone to my ear even though it pained me to do so.

“
Kaylee?”

“
Yeah.” I said, feeling so groggy.

“
Nate's on his way. Why are you drinking?”

“
Why did you ring me?”

There was silence for a brief moment, even in my drunken haze I could sense things were a little off.

“
I asked first.”

“
Felt like it. Answer me.”

“
Felt like it.”

Even though it pained me to do so, I smiled. I didn't want to smile when talking to him or thinking of him but this was Jaxon, he could make you smile at a funeral. It wouldn't be because he was being an ass, it would be because he thought that you would need it.

A key slid into the lock of my door, light blinded me as the door swung open.

“
Jeez Kaylee.” Nate groaned as the door shut hard.

“
Go away.”

He took the phone away from me and lifted me back onto the lounge, giving me the quick once over and then walked into the kitchen as he talked to Jaxon.

A few minutes later I was robbed of my bed shirt, lucky that I was wearing a crop top underneath otherwise I might have just taken a swing at Nate. But he didn't look at me like that, I was his sister and that's all there was to it. I lost my shirt for the purpose of picking glass out of my skin, most of them had pulled away when I lost the shirt but there were a few that were actually dug into the skin. Thankfully they weren't that deep and Nate kept telling me that I was one lucky girl.

Except that I wasn't. Or at least I didn't feel like one.

“
Where did I go wrong Nate?”

“
You drank tequila. We'll start with that one, then we'll move onto the one where you fell off the lounge and onto a broken bottle.”

“
That's not what I meant.”

Nate sighed and tossed the tweezers into the dish that had several pieces of glass in it.

“
I just don't get you Kaylee. Why are you chasing after him when he doesn't even bother to acknowledge your existence? You're here alone, drinking your ass off and where is he? In LA, fucking some woman he's known for like five seconds. You can do so much better.”

I nodded, feeling the heavy gaze from Nate. He was caring like his mother but those soft eyes could be so cold sometimes.

“
We've got a few days before your party, we're going to knock this over. Right Kaylee?”

“
Sure why not?”

“
Great. I'll find someone to take you out.”

I shrugged, feeling tired. As I crawled into my bed, Nate told me that he was searching the place for more alcohol. I nodded and drifted into sleep, hearing the sounds of tinkling glass. Clearly he had found my stash and was liberating it from me. The bastard, how dare he.

Chapter Four

Nate was in the kitchen when I trudged in, another day of bleary eyed Kaylee. He held out a takeaway coffee and I wanted to plant lots of kisses on him, he was just that sweet. There was nothing better than a freshly brewed coffee. I just couldn't figure out why, I'd even bought a coffee machine to try and replicate it and I had failed. Sure, it was great coffee but it just wasn't the same.

He flicked his thumb over the screen of his phone, his gaze looking up at me.

“
Wasn't sure what you were into so I kind of based it on him, is that okay?”

Probably not.

“
Sure.” I offered as I took a sip.

He turned the phone around and showed me a picture of one of his friends. His arm was wrapped around another guy, both of them smiling at the camera. They were both pretty reasonable in the looks department but what about personalities? I guess that's what lunch is for. But I couldn't stop comparing him to Jaxon, like my heart needed my mind to fill its addiction to him.

Both had square jaws, unlike Jaxon this guy had freshly shaven skin. It seemed that Jaxon often forgot to shave, not that anyone cared. It would get to a few days and it would be gone again. The man in the photo had brown eyes, Jaxon had blue. Dirty blonde hair graced my dreams, the man in the picture had a paled blonde color.

I shrugged at Nate and he eyed me suspiciously.

“
I'll organize it for lunch today.”

“
Mom's coming for lunch.” I reminded him.

He looked at me as he flicked his phone off and put it into his pocket.

“
She's coming earlier. Come on, I'll drive you to work.”

Half an hour later I was at work, the guard still roamed the exterior of the place on occasions but most of the time he was in his little office at the front gate. He gave us a nod as he pressed the button for the gate, allowing us entry. Ordinarily Nate would wander into the studio but today he followed me up the stairs. Suspicious? Yes. More suspicious was the fact that El and Brad were here already. I walked up the three flights of stairs, more suspicious than ever before. Not a band member, wife or child to be seen. The place was like a ghost town.

Eden was at my desk, answering a call when I reached the top floor. Nate gently took my arm by the elbow and led me to the boardroom. There my parents and Brad were waiting. Jerry pulled a chair out for me with his stern fatherly look. Yep, I was in the shit so I dutifully sat on the offered chair.

I turned to the soft sound of a click, Nate shutting the door and leaning on it. No escape.

“
We know what happened Kaylee.”

“
Blabbermouth.”

Nate shrugged at me, rather disinterested in my disgust.

“
We have no issue with you drinking but there is a limit. Drinking in excess and alone is not wise.”

Jerry began to walk the length of the table, stopping behind El. His hand rested on her shoulder, she gripped it firmly as she looked up at him with a soft smile.

“
You hurt yourself Kaylee, what if Jaxon hadn't rung you?”

Yeah, what if. I wouldn't be miserable. I shrugged, it was the best answer I had at the moment.

“
Right we want to ensure this doesn't happen again Kaylee. Do you need to be made to move back home?”

I shook my head. Independence and the feeling that I was able to take care of myself had done well to boost the self-esteem. Going home would probably sink me further into depression.

“
Do we have your assurances that there won't be a repeat performance?”

I nodded, feeling the heavy weight of Jerry's gaze upon me.

“
Nate will call you every night Kaylee, if he even suspects you're drunk then you'll be back home. Do you understand?”

“
Yep.”

“
Right.” he sighed. “We'll move onto the next point of contention about last night. You need to either do something or forget about him.”

I almost said something. I almost said that I would give up on him rather than say something and be rejected. Except that someone tapped on the glass. Someone blonde and happy. Someone that had another someone with him. I stared at the woman with multicolored hair, like her sister she was gorgeous.

Tears welled in my eyes as I looked at them.

“
Nate.” Jerry hissed. “Get them out of here.”

He was through the door in a second, I could hear the muffled sounds of him talking to them. The words, family meeting and intervention were being thrown around a bit.

But the problem with living in each others pockets like this, people become accustomed to each other, people consider others a part of their family. So I guess I could understand why Jaxon would want to be a part of it. Considering that it wasn't just a family meeting but it was an intervention as well. And he was the one that caused it by calling me last night.

“
You're having an intervention without the rest of us? Don't you people know how to run these things?”

He sat himself into a chair, parakeet hair leaned on the glass wall. I turned to the windows, wiping the tear that had fallen onto my cheek. Silence had hit the table and I wished that this nightmare would end.

“
You know I think I'm done with it.”

I wiped another tear and looked to my parents, well my adoptive parents. They always meant well, they loved me from the very first moment. And they were always right, no matter how much I might argue or fight against what I believed was wrong. Because they were right, about the alcohol and Jaxon. I was wasting my life.

“
On both points of contention.”

I stood from the chair and looked down the table to their sympathetic smiles.

“
Nate's cleaned the apartment and uh, offered help with point two so I'm good. Thank you for your concern.”

I walked out of the boardroom and relieved Eden from doing my duties. Jaxon was asking them what the second point of contention was, unable to figure out what my issues were. No one answered him which brought him to my desk.

Deep blue eyes bored down at me as he leaned on the counter. The parakeet had settled herself onto the lounge, doing something on her phone. Her hair was pretty awesome, a mixture of colors that were bright and clearly worked well on her once blonde hair. No doubt it would look like shit on my auburn hair. But still, I hated her. She had laid beside him, she had kissed him and worse than all of that, she'd had sex with him.

Like all of her predecessors, she'd been given something that I was never going to get. I hated them all but this one was different, this one had the staying power because of her sister being married to Evan. It made it all the more worse. At this point in time I was wondering how long it would take me to find a cave to hide in once they announced they were getting married.

“
What's point two Kaylee?”

None of your fucking business.

“
Nothing.” I whispered.

He sighed, leaning on one side to look at the parakeet.

“
Fine. I will get it out of you, you know that right?”

Jaxon looked back at me, I offered a shrug. My mood wasn't in the right place for his nonsense today.

He hung around, worse yet the parakeet was never far away. It was like Jaxon couldn't understand the underlying mood of all who were in this office or maybe he was oblivious to everything. For a while they went down to the second floor and I found enough time to recover from the emotional pain. Which was just as well, my lunch date with Nate's friend was closing in on me. I couldn't even remember if Nate told me his name.

What was worse than not remembering if I'd been told his name was the viewing committee for his arrival. Team intervention were still hanging around hours after, Eden waddled out of her office and even Jaxon and his parakeet were here. It was exactly what I wanted... not.

Nate had gone down to the gate to meet the guy. I'd managed to extract his name out of him before he left. Lance was his name and that was all that Nate offered. Upon a little more prodding I learned that he wasn't exactly a friend. More of a friend of a friend. Which meant that Nate didn't really know him.

Jaxon and the parakeet were back on the lounge, much to my disgust. Why they couldn't stay downstairs was beyond me. At least then I wouldn't have to listen to the parakeet talking about the latest vegetarian dish or what PETA was doing next. I could not understand what the attraction was between those two. Sure Jaxon cared for animals and didn't want any harm to come to them but he was a man that liked his steak. The bigger the better and here he was hooking up with a veggie. Bizarre.

I could hear Nate laughing as he walked up the stairs, the sounds of another man laughing as well. Taking a big deep breath I grabbed my bag and stood up. The events had caught Jaxon's attention, he casually glanced around the room and realized something was clearly different.

Everyone was watching, I could feel my cheeks burn with pure embarrassment as they waited for this Lance guy to reach the our floor. Nate had barely put his foot onto the top step when I was in front of him.

“
Great, thanks for bringing him up. Come on, let's go.”

The man was a little taken aback, Nate grabbed my arm and hauled me back.

“
Slow down Kaylee.” he said quietly in my ear. “Savor the moment, I can tell you he is watching.”

Nate grinned darkly as he pulled away.

“
Lance this is my little sister Kaylee.”

“
Hey.” he nodded.

I looked at the man in front of me. His beach blonde hair was a little longer than the photo, straggly and in dire need of a wash. What a great effort he's put in. Ripped jeans and sneakers, plain shirt and a shark tooth necklace. Great, a surfer. You're miles away from home buddy, maybe you should go back.

“
Hey.” I returned.

“
Okay you two.” Nate said rather loudly as he slapped my back. “Have a great lunch.”

Lance followed me down the stairs, as I turned to go down the next set I looked back up. Jaxon was almost off his seat as he stretched to look at us. A deep frown etched into his brow, his eyes pinned to me.

We walked to the pizzeria at the end of the block, a quaint little shop that was run by a family rather than a corporation. The pizzas in this place were to die for. I loved the peperoni and cheese one. And thankfully they sold it by the slice for those who chose to dine in. Why was I thankful? Well that's because I'd found another veggie.

He lectured me about eating meat, even the cheese on the pizza was cruel. The sooner this sham of a lunch date was over the better.

“
Hey, look who we found!”

My body tightened to the sound of Jaxon, the parakeet not far behind him. This was the problem with going for lunch in one of the places that was favored by the band. He picked up the menu and looked at it, sliding onto the seat beside me. The parakeet found her way onto the bench seat beside Lance.

“
So what did you guys order?”

“
I'm ordering the usual, Lance is getting the veggie one.”

“
Oh that's great. Seph loves veggie pizzas, don't ya?”

She nodded and looked from him to me, probably feeling as uncomfortable in this situation as what I was. The waitress wandered over with her little note book.

“
One veggie and one pepperoni.”

Jaxon grinned at the young woman as he handed the menus back.

“
Drinks?”

“
You guys wanna share a pitcher of beer?”

He paused and looked at me slightly.

“
Or maybe cola?”

“
Yeah, cola's cool with me.” Lance offered.

The waitress nodded and walked away, leaving us in an uncomfortable silence. That was until somebody with his usual banter.

“
So Lance what do you do when you're not sitting in awesome little pizzerias?”

“
I surf mostly, travel a lot.”

No surprises there.

“
You're a pro surfer?”

“
Nah, I just hit the waves whenever and wherever I can.”

Jaxon nodded his head with pretend curiosity. I wasn't fooled.

“
So if you're a surfer why do you live in Vegas?”

“
Oh I don't. I'm a Cal boy, just visiting a friend for a few days.”

“
Huh.” Jaxon frowned.

Yes, this lunch date was going so well.

After ten minutes Jaxon's inquisition was interrupted by the delivery of the pizzas and the pitcher of cola. The veggie pizza came out with vegetables on a slice and nothing more. The waitress looked at it with a raised eyebrow. Pizza without cheese was like baseball without the ball. It just did not make sense.