Page 18 of Silent Verity

Jesse hummed in agreement. “Got to admit though, she gets the job done,” he said, his voice husky and thick with sleep. Lifting my pillow, he aimed a sleepy smile at me. “Shower?”

I shook my head, then rolled onto my side so I could pull him into me. He shifted so he was lying on his side, his back facing me. I smiled and pressed a kiss to his shoulder blade as I curled my body around his. “I love being your big spoon.”

He snorted a laugh. “I’m setting an alarm to be up at ten-thirty,” he warned me.

“Kay,” I mumbled. “Now shh. My dick and I need more rest.”

He barked out a laugh. “Oh, my God, Dalton.”

“What?” I asked, nuzzling my face between his shoulder blades. “You wore both of us the fuck out last night. Now hush. For real. I’m going back to sleep.”

He snorted again but remained quiet, his fingers idly tracing patterns into my forearms. It wasn’t long before sleep dragged me back under, and I fell asleep inhaling the scent of our sex on his skin mixed with the smell that was purely him.

Jesse and I were the last ones to file into the conference room, and I shut the door behind us before taking a seat at the table. Richard was already present, and there were pizzas laid out on the table. Salem, without even having to be prompted, was already balancing two plates and depositing two slices on each. After he set one of the plates in front of Tor, he took his own seat, then promptly dug in.

“Pigs,” Delia muttered.

Salem gave her a stiff middle finger, making me snort.

“Go ahead and dig in,” Richard said, gesturing at the pizza laid out on the table. “Then, we’ll get started.”

Once we all had pizza in front of us, Richard leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers together in front of him. “I need a favor from you all.”

“Oh, boy,” Spike muttered. Richard shot him a look I couldn’t decipher, but Spike pointedly ignored him, making Kalin snort in amusement.

“I know this is spur of the moment, and I know you all were taking some time off, but I really need your assistance with this. There’s a charity event being sponsored by Nightwork Records, and the band I originally had planned to play all caught the flu. They’re bed-ridden and unable to be present, even if they were to just lip sync.”

“You want us to step in?” Tor asked. When Richard nodded, he pursed his lips. “When is this event?”

Richard visibly winced because no doubt, one of us was going to end up throwing a fit—more than likely Salem. “Tonight.”

Salem calmly set his pizza down, then turned his dark eyes on Richard. “Tonight?” Salem repeated. “You brought us in at lunchtime and buttered us up with pizza to ask us to perform tonight?”

Richard sighed. “Yes.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Salem muttered, shaking his head. “Jesse can’t even have the full seven days to mourn the loss of his mom before you or Delia is asking us to do something.”

“Hey—” Delia snapped at him, but Richard calmly held up his hand to her. She snapped her mouth shut, but her glare didn’t waver from Salem. He just dismissed her like he did everyone else he deemed unworthy of his time.

“I don’t mind,” Jesse spoke up. I gripped his thigh beneath the table, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Really. I’m okay,” he said when Salem shot him a look that told him to shut the fuck up. I glowered at Salem, but just like he had with Delia, he ignored me. “This will be good for me. I love being on stage.”

“Are you sure?” I asked him.

Jesse looked at me with those gorgeous dark eyes I loved and nodded. “Yeah. I need this, Dalton.”

“Only if you’re sure,” Kalin said, speaking up finally. “You deserve to have whatever time you need, Jesse.”

Jesse shook his head, then looked at Salem, Tor, and Spike. “Are you three okay with doing this?”

Salem sighed. “I don’t like the very little time we have to prepare, but if you want to do this, bro, then we’ll do it.”

“Yeah,” Tor agreed, smiling at Jesse. “We’re in if you’re in.”

Spike shrugged. “I’m down.”

Richard visibly relaxed. “Thank you,” he said, sounding like he truly meant it. “Delia will fill you in on everything you need to know, and I’ll have bonuses deposited into your accounts for doing this on such short notice.”

He didn’t have to do that. Technically, while we were under contract with him, he could make us do this charity event whether we wanted to or not. But Richard wasn’t that kind of record label owner. While he was rich and could definitely be an asshole, he treated us like human beings with our own thoughts and feelings. I had no doubt in my mind that if we hadn’t agreed to do this, he would have figured something else out.

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