A Sub to Love [Club of Dominance 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Read online

Garth looked over at Derrick and found his brother frowning at Justine’s back. He’d heard the anxiety in her voice, too. She rattled off the office number and then slumped into the chair while listening to her brother’s response.

  “Shit, can’t you cook your own dinner for a change? It’s not like you and that friend of yours have anything pressing to do.” Garth could hear the agitation in her voice and really wished he could hear the other end of the conversation. When she sighed resignedly before lowering her voice as if she didn’t want to be overheard, his ears perked up and his gut began to churn. “Okay, I’ll cook dinner when I get home, but you and Bart have to clean up.”

  Garth wanted to respect her wishes for privacy, but with his alarm bells ringing, he wasn’t about to relent. She worked for them now and as far as he was concerned she was under their protection. He would do anything to keep her safe but most of all he wanted her to be happy. Her stormy-gray eyes had such sad depths to them and he wanted to be able to change that. The anger in her voice drew his attention once more.

  “Why the hell do you have to go out tonight? You and Bart go out every night. Can’t you just pitch in a little? I’ve been the only one bringing in an income for the last five years and doing all the chores. Why can’t you stay home and clean up for a change?”

  Garth wished Justine didn’t have her back to him. He liked to be able to see a sub’s face and gauge their reactions, although Justine’s body language was readable enough from behind. Her shoulders were tense and scrunched up toward her neck and her voice gave her away. She wasn’t happy and he didn’t blame her one little bit. Anger ran through him at the thought of her having to take care of earning the money and doing all the other chores. He wondered how old her brother was. Maybe he was just a teenager and she had been taking care of him.

  Are her parents still alive? If they had died, then the responsibility of raising a young teenager would have been tough. But if he was a young man, he needed to have his ass kicked. And why was the brother’s friend living with them?

  “I’m sorry. Forget I asked. I’ll see you when I get home.”

  Justine placed the phone down gently. That she hadn’t lost control was a conundrum to him. It seemed that Justine Downey kept a tight rein on herself, even if her body language suggested she had wanted to slam the receiver down.

  Would she ever totally let go if I topped her?

  Garth really wanted to know the answer to that question and since he and his brother were very attracted to her, he hoped he got the chance to find out. But how long would it take them to get her to relax around them?

  Chapter Two

  As Justine settled into her place at the receptionist desk, she couldn’t keep her mind from focusing on the Jackson brothers. She had never been more aware of a man, or men, as she was of those two.

  They were freaking huge and so damn good looking her panties were wet.

  Derrick stood well over six feet and made her feel like a kid in his presence. He towered over her, and because of his height and bulk she was a little intimidated. He had short dark brown hair, the most soulful brown eyes she had ever seen and lightly tanned skin. His brother, Garth, was a couple of inches shorter than Derrick but he was still hellishly tall for a man. His hair was a lighter shade of brown, almost amber, and his eyes were hazel. They were both brawny and ripped with muscle and the aura of power around them drew her to them like a moth to a flame. But she had learned that men were all lazy assholes and had no intention of getting burned.

  Her brother, Mark, had taught her as much, anyway. They’d been the only family each other had for the twelve years since her parents were killed during the September Eleventh attacks. Mark was five years older than her and should have been helping her carry the financial burden, but instead he’d never worked a day in his life, unless she counted the work that went into making the messes she had to clean up once she got home.

  The phone on her desk rang and she reached for it. “Jackson Security, Justine speaking.”

  “Hello, Jus.”

  “Bart, why are you calling me at work?”

  “You need to get some food before you come home. We had a few friends over to watch the game. You know how it is.”

  Justine shivered as his slick, oily voice caused her muscles to tense. She didn’t like Bart one bit. In fact he downright frightened her. The fact that he had decided to move into her home rent-free five years ago and had yet to vacate meant she never got a break from him or his lecherous grins every time she passed him in the hallway.

  But to avoid making a bad impression at her new job, she suppressed her boiling anger and replied, “I can’t get any food, Bart. I don’t have any money left. I only bought groceries three days ago and that should have been enough to last for the rest of the week.”

  “Come on, Jus, don’t get mad. You know we like to watch sports with our friends.”

  “Look, Bart, I don’t care what you like. If we need more food, then you and Mark are going to have to go out and get it. Don’t call me at work again unless there is an emergency.” Justine hung up the phone and hoped her new bosses hadn’t heard her. The deep voice behind her filled her with dread.

  “Everything okay, Justine?”

  Justine looked up into Derrick’s brown eyes. Another shiver worked its way up her spine, but this time for a totally different reason.

  “Yes, thanks. I’m sorry for the personal call. Hopefully it won’t happen again.”

  “I don’t care about the call, honey, but I do care that you are upset.”

  “I’m fine, but thanks anyway.” Justine looked away. She wasn’t fine at all and couldn’t lie worth a damn. Her parents had instilled good morals into her and Mark, and that was one of the reasons she couldn’t understand her brother’s lazy attitude. They hadn’t been brought up to be lazy or to expect everything to be handed to them on a platter.

  “Okay, but if you ever need to talk, you can come to me or Garth.”

  Justine just nodded and then concentrated on the brochure again and was able to finally relax a little when he moved away.

  By the end of the day, she was utterly exhausted. The awareness she had of Derrick and Garth had kept her on pins all day long. Just as she shut down the computer and switched the office phone to the answering machine, Luke and Matt Plant walked down the hall toward the desk.

  “How was your first day, Justine?” Matt asked.

  “It was good, thank you. I spent most of the time reading up on the security systems.”

  “Are you heading straight home?” Luke leaned against the reception desk.

  “Yes.” Justine glanced at her watch as she reached for her purse, which she’d stowed in a drawer. The next bus was due in ten minutes and if she missed that one, she would have to wait a half hour for the following one. She was going to have to hurry as it was, because the bus stop was a couple of blocks away. “I have to get going. It was nice meeting you both.” She rounded the desk and was out the door moments later.

  “Wait up, Justine,” Luke called. “Can we give you a lift anywhere?”

  “No thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hurried down the street. The Plant brothers were nearly as big as the Jacksons, but she wasn’t drawn to them at all. She could see the interest in their eyes but had no intention of letting them get close to her. Justine wasn’t interested in a relationship with any man. Not after living with her lazy-assed brother and friend for so long. Justine had begun to suspect that Mark and his deadbeat friend were on drugs. She’d never seen him taking anything but the niggling feeling that she was right wouldn’t leave. She’d even come out and asked him point blank one day and he had adamantly refuted her question, but he hadn’t been able to look her in the eye. She was sick and tired of dealing with his and Bart’s mood swings and carrying the load. What she needed to do was find a place of her own so she didn’t have to work herself to the bone all the time.

  You would jump at the chance to have a relationship with one or b
oth of the Jackson men. Stop lying to yourself, girl.

  Shut up. Not only was she talking to herself, but she was answering, too. Maybe she was going crazy with exhaustion.

  Justine was just in time to get on the bus. As it pulled away from the curb, she checked her purse. She had the grand total of twenty bucks left and that was supposed to last her the entire week. If Mark, Bart, and their friends had cleaned out the fridge and pantry then they were screwed. While she rode the bus, she tried to figure out what to buy to get them through until she got her first paycheck. Bread, eggs, and milk were a must. Protein was filling and so was bread. That would have to do. If Mark or Bart complained, she would tell them both to go to hell.

  An hour later, Justine walked into the kitchen and put the small amount of groceries away. The house was quiet and she wondered if Mark and Bart had already gone out. God, she hoped so. It would be nice to spend the evening alone without them around. She walked into the living room and nearly screamed with frustration. Dishes covered every inch of the coffee table, the arms of the lounge had glasses on them, and the floor was also littered with crockery, crumbs, and papers. Sighing with frustration and the futility of getting angry, she began to clean up. She had just bent over to pick up three mugs off the floor when she heard a noise behind her.

  Turning her head she saw blue denim jeans and was about to straighten when male hands gripped her hips painfully. She gasped when he shoved his denim-covered erection into her ass. Justine was so scared and shocked she fell to her hands and knees and scrambled away. When she was close to the sofa she used it to lever to her feet and turned to face Bart. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “It’s just you and me, babe.” Bart spread his arms wide and gave her a lewd smirk. “Why don’t we go and have some fun?”

  Justine edged her way along the front of the lounge and then skirted around the side and didn’t stop until the large piece of furniture was between them.

  “Where’s Mark? I thought he wanted me to cook dinner for the both of you before you went out.” Justine didn’t like the lustful look in Bart’s eyes and it made her skin crawl with fear.

  “Plans have changed.” Bart moved close to the front of the sofa and Justine stepped back. “There was something he had to do. He won’t be back for a few hours.”

  Bart was five foot eleven and his body was turning to fat from lack of activity. He’d been drinking and she could smell the alcohol seeping through his pores. He moved slightly clockwise around the lounge, and she mimicked his movement, maintaining her distance as she looked for the best escape route. One led to the kitchen and the other led toward the hall. There was no way she was going to the kitchen. He would have her trapped if she did. She pushed off the lounge and hurried across the room. Once she reached the hall, she raced toward her bedroom. Besides the bathroom, her room was the only other one that had a lock on the door.

  She was only a couple of yards away when hands gripped the back of her shirt. Justine screamed and fell headlong toward her door. She cried out when her eye and cheekbone connected with the hard metal handle, her cry of fear cut off as pain radiated into her face and head and then her hands and knees as she crashed to the floor. She cried out again when cruel hands flipped her over onto her back and then the front of her shirt was ripped open. Buttons flew and landed on the cold tile floor, making little pinging noises. Justine brought her knees up, using her feet and the strength in her legs, and tried to push Bart away. He raised his hand and was about to slap her in the face when she heard a key in the front door.

  Bart quickly got to his feet and walked down the hall to meet her brother. Justine was shaking so much her limbs felt totally boneless and she didn’t have the energy to get up off the floor. With a sob she pulled her shirt over her bra-clad breasts and stared at the two men who had been exploiting her for nearly five years.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Mark yelled and tried to walk around Bart.

  Bart grabbed Mark’s shirt and twisted it in his fist. “Calm down, dude, it’s not what it looks like. Justine tripped and hit her face on her bedroom door handle. I grabbed her shirt to try to help her up, but the buttons ripped off.”

  Mark pushed Bart aside and hurried over to her. He knelt down next to her and cupped her uninjured cheek. “Is that what happened, Jus?”

  She looked at Bart over Mark’s shoulder to see him glaring at her angrily. He was trying to intimidate her into not telling the truth. She wasn’t about to let him get away with trying to rape her. This was an opportunity she wasn’t going to let pass.

  “No,” she replied, her voice cracking with emotion. She took a deep steadying breath and then told her brother what really happened. Mark gripped her elbow and helped her to stand and then placed himself in front of her.

  “That’s it, man. Pack your stuff and get the fuck out. You think I haven’t seen the way you looked at Jus? You need help, Bart. You’re more fucked up than I am.” Mark spun around to face her again. “Go into your room and lock the door. Don’t come out until I come and get you. I’m sorry, Jus.”

  She glanced around Mark toward Bart and didn’t like the fury she saw on the other man’s face. Her brother was taller than Bart, but the asshole was at least thirty pounds heavier, albeit fat, not muscle. If they ended up physically fighting, Justine hoped that Mark was the stronger of the two. Justine hesitated but knew she wouldn’t be a match to Bart if a fight started, so she went into her bedroom and locked herself in.

  She stood with her ear pressed against the door, but she couldn’t hear anything. When she moved to walk over to her bed, she heard a loud shout and then what sounded like a gunshot. Covering her mouth with horror she prayed that Mark was all right. Glancing around her room, she looked for her purse and realized she’d left it on the kitchen counter. There was no phone in her bedroom. She was trapped. A fist landed on her bedroom door and then she heard his voice.

  “This is all your fucking fault, you bitch. If you had given me what I wanted, none of this would have happened. I’m gonna make you pay for what you’ve done.”

  The front door slammed in the distance and she hoped that Bart had left. Opening her door was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do but Mark was out there somewhere, maybe injured. Her whole body was trembling with fear, but her brother needed her. She had to use the wall to steady herself as she walked down the hallway. When she entered the living room, she stood frozen for a moment as she stared uncomprehendingly. Mark was lying on the floor, covered in blood.

  “Mark,” she sobbed. She sank down next to him and ripped his shirt open. There was a bullet hole in his chest close to his heart. Justine ran to the kitchen, grabbed her cell phone from her purse and a heap of clean dish towels and hurried back to her brother, pushing 9-1-1 as she walked.

  She placed three dish towels to her brother’s chest and applied pressure using both hands. The cell phone was resting on her shoulder and she used her cheek to hold it there.

  “9-1-1, state your emergency.”

  Justine spoke into the phone, all the time praying that her brother would survive. Justine disconnected once the operator told her paramedics and police were on the way.

  She cried with relief when Mark opened his eyes.

  “Jus, I am so sorry. I’ve been a terrible brother.” He paused to gasp for breath and tears streamed down her face when she heard a gurgle. Blood was seeping from his mouth and the dish towels were soaked through.

  “I should have taken care of you, honey.” He drew in another shallow breath. “I was so messed up after they died. The drugs…You n–need to get a–away from here. Bart’s…dangerous. L–Love…you.” Mark’s eyes stared at her and it took her a moment to realize he wasn’t breathing.

  She tilted his head back and breathed for him and then began pushing on his chest. It seemed like hours had passed but she knew it had only been minutes before the paramedics arrived. They used a defibrillator on her brother and placed a mask over his m
outh, but nothing worked. Everything felt surreal as she watched the paramedics cover Mark’s body with a sheet and call the coroner.

  “Miss, are you okay?”

  Justine looked up into the eyes of the concerned police officer and knew she would never be okay again.

  Chapter Three

  Justine entered the office of Jackson Security and walked over to her desk, waving to Garth and Derrick as they looked at her through their open office door. She’d been up all night dealing with the police, giving her statement. She was so tired all she wanted to do was curl up in bed, cry out her grief for her brother and sleep. Her energy level was nonexistent, she was running on empty, and she was in pain.

  Her left eye was so swollen she could barely open it and the bruising on her cheek was so dark it was nearly black. She’d been wearing her sunglasses since she’d walked out the front door of her rental, and had no intention of taking them off while she worked, and she’d tried to cover her bruised cheek by applying makeup. It had been a painful experience, but she had persevered and hoped like hell it would be enough to hide the bruising. Even though she thought that the Jacksons would give her time off after what had happened, she had no intention of asking for it. She had no money left and she needed her next paycheck. One thing she was really glad of right at that moment was that she had her back to the two men. The last thing she needed was for them to start asking questions until she broke down. She was only hanging onto her emotions by a thin thread, and anyone being nice to her would set her off, but she had no intention of breaking down while at work.

  After putting her purse away, she turned the answering machine off and booted up the computer.

  “Justine, can you come in here for a bit?” Derrick called out. “I want to show you our price lists and how we do quotes.”

  She didn’t want to go in there but she couldn’t refuse. This was what she had been employed to do and she still had so much to learn. With a sigh of resignation she rose to her feet. Her head and face were throbbing and she felt herself sway slightly. Gripping the edge of her desk until the dizziness passed, she then slowly turned and walked into Derrick and Garth’s office. Derrick’s phone had just rung and he held up a finger without looking at her, silently asking her to wait. Garth was looking at his computer monitor and talking on the phone, too. Thank you, God.