Come As You Are (Twisted Bard)

14. Olivia

Olivia

As relieved as I was that the Grotto’s pageant was a flop, it didn’t take away my anxiety about Illyria’s financial position. Even the preparations for Vee’s prom didn’t help with the lead ball of dread in my guts every time I looked at the club’s spreadsheets.

If it hadn’t been for Sebastian and Vee, I might have raised the white flag and walked away from the whole thing. They were my rocks and cheerleaders whenever I got depressed about Illyria, not to mention how cherished and adored they made me feel when we were together. Until I had a steady supply of hugs and kisses and caresses as well as orgasms, I hadn’t known how desperately I needed them, and I couldn’t imagine only being with one or the other. Vee and Sebastian were so different, and yet so perfectly complementary, and the three of us fit together seamlessly.

We spent most nights together at my house since my bed accommodated the three of us easier than either Sebastian’s or Vee’s. Lying awake between them, I sometimes wondered if I had been waiting for them, or they for me. It certainly seemed as if Vee’s arrival at Illyria had caused something to shift in both Sebastian and me. I was well aware that Bast and I wouldn’t have been possible without Vee because Vee had brought out a side of Sebastian I hadn’t seen before.

I was also beginning to wonder if my reluctance about making our relationship public was unnecessary. It was obvious from the looks the three of us got that most of my senior staff—with the exception of Mal, who seemed oblivious to anything but what was on his tablet—knew something was up between us.

Contemplating that on a Tuesday afternoon as I watched Sebastian getting the bar ready for the evening while Vee practiced a new dance routine Andrew had choreographed for the go-go boys, I decided it might be time to bite the bullet. I left my office and descended to the club.

As usual, Sebastian was focused on the stairs as I emerged. It amazed me to remember how many times he had done that in the past, and how oblivious I had been to the feelings behind his expression. I’d sold Sebastian short by believing his reputation rather than the man my brother insisted he was underneath the playboy image. Now that I knew the truth, I was thankful I got to call him mine.

I crossed the dance floor, Sebastian’s gaze tracking me the whole way, and I shivered at the desire I saw in his eyes. None of us had made any declarations, but I knew that moment was coming. I could feel it welling in my heart as I went to him, drawn by emotions as surely as a carrier pigeon finds home.

“Can I get you anything, Liv?” Sebastian asked as I put my hands on the bar top.

“Yes,” I said, then cleared my throat against the sudden constriction that had rendered my voice small.

“What would you like?” he asked, already grinning at me.

I put my feet on the bar rail and leaned over until I could take hold of Sebastian’s shirt. “You,” I said, then I pulled him toward me and kissed him deeply.

A sigh at my shoulder told me Vee had joined us. Sebastian broke the kiss, and I turned my head to Vee to include him in this moment. Vee laughed as our lips met, a huff of air that brought the taste of him into my mouth as I opened to him, wrapping my arms around his strong shoulders so I could remain balanced on the rail. Vee continued to kiss me as he bent his knees and lifted me onto the bar.

It was my turn to laugh as Sebastian leaned forward, grabbed Vee by the neck and pulled him in. They were beautiful together, and my breath caught as their mouths met. Then they both turned to me. I had not thought it possible to kiss two people at once, but we made it work, the taste of them both combining in my mouth to make a flavor that was uniquely ours. Cinnamon, vanilla, and a rich, earthiness that warmed me and made me feel safe, protected, loved.

I sighed as we broke apart and rested our foreheads together, then cringed at the sound of applause and catcalls.

“About damn time,” Maria called.

“More like blessed time than damned time,” Toby said. “But since when does the heart run on a man’s clock?”

“Especially since one of us isn’t a man,” I called back to them, but I was laughing.

“And if she had waited for a man’s clock to strike, she’d be waiting still.” Maria gave Toby a playful shove as Vee helped me down from the bar.

“We knew something was afoot,” Toby said as he raised the bar pass and slipped in beside Sebastian.

“Afoot, abed, amiss,” Maria quipped with a nod toward me. “And we’re happy we were correct.”

Toby nodded and bumped his shoulder against Sebastian’s.

I should have been embarrassed to be teased about my personal affairs by employees, but I wasn’t. Instead, I felt elated, accepted, embraced by the family I had not been born to, but which Antonio had built and given to me.

Vee moved closer to me, and I put my arm around him, feeling a thrill when he settled against my side. “I wish I’d done this sooner,” I whispered to him.

In response, he shrugged. “Everything happens in its own time. You weren’t ready until today.”

I was about to say something back, but Andrew arrived at that moment, and Vee said he needed to ask him something about the new routine. The others carried on talking, but I watched Vee approach my lead dancer. At first, it was for the pleasure of watching Vee move, but as he came even with Andrew, I noticed something odd. Andrew seemed agitated as Vee talked to him, and when Vee showed him the move he was having difficulty with, Andrew shook his head, the expression on his face almost panicked.

Turning toward Sebastian, I nodded toward the two of them as surreptitiously as I could and raised an eyebrow to draw his attention to them. Whatever was going on, Andrew didn’t seem to be interested in talking to Vee.

“Andrew, I just want some help with this move.” Vee’s voice rose in volume, and I heard the note of frustration in it.

“If you can’t be bothered to pay attention when I’m showing you something, then why should I take time now?”

“You made it sound like it was important on Friday.”

“And today I’m telling you different. Obviously, it’s too difficult for you, so just forget about it. Now, I’ve got things to do, and you’re only slowing me down.”

“What do you have to do today, Andrew?” Maria called across to him. Both she and Toby had noticed what had drawn my and Sebastian’s attention.

Andrew’s head whipped around, and his face flushed as he saw us all at the bar. “Just…something…” He waved in the direction of the dressing rooms. “Not a big deal, but…” And without any further attempt to explain, he fled.

I looked at Sebastian, and he nodded, then left the bar and headed for the hallway down which Andrew had just disappeared. Vee rejoined us at the bar.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“I have no idea, but he’s been like that a lot recently. Forgetting things, getting upset about us not remembering dance routines…well, maybe that’s not so unusual since he’s been like that since I started—” Maria snorted, and Vee smiled. “But, it’s different.”

“I know what you mean,” Maria said. “I asked him about new costumes a couple of days ago, and he looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.”

“Any other odd behavior?” I asked, thinking about Sebastian spotting Andrew at the Grotto.

“Andrew’s always been odd,” Toby said. “He blusters and fusses, but he’s mostly harmless.”

Sebastian reappeared at the entrance to the hallway and motioned that he wanted to speak with me upstairs. I nodded and excused myself, climbing the stairs to the second floor. As soon as I entered my office, Sebastian closed the door.

Without preamble, Sebastian said, “Andrew was trying to get into the storeroom.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I’m just grateful that Mal changed the code, and that only he, you, Toby, and I know it.”

“Do you think he’s the one who’s been stealing the liquor?” I wandered over to the window and watched Toby continue the bar setup. Maria had taken Vee aside and was helping him work on the move with which he was struggling. Andrew was nowhere to be seen.

“I’m not sure,” Sebastian said. “It makes no sense, but then I wouldn’t have expected him to be in league with Orsino.”

“Where is he now?” I asked.

“He said something about an errand he needed to run and headed out the back.”

“That’s certainly not suspicious,” I said, and Sebastian snorted. “I think we need to keep an eye on Andrew.”

I returned to my desk and stared at my computer. As far as I knew, Andrew wouldn’t have the capability of hacking into our accounting system and changing the numbers. I ran my index finger over the keyboard bringing the screen to life. Almost as if he knew what I was thinking, Sebastian came around behind me and embraced me. I sank back against his chest, and he kissed the top of my head.

“We can put cameras in here, and in the storeroom,” he said.

“I’m not sure I want everything that happens in this office to be recorded,” I said.

Sebastian laughed and gently rocked me in his arms. “How about if you can push a button to start it recording?”

“That would work.” I turned to face him, looping my arms around his neck. “I don’t want what we do to become someone’s amateur porn.”

“Absolutely not,” Sebastian said. “The only people who get to know what we do is you, me, and Vee, and I’m not sharing either of you with anyone else.”

“What a relief,” I said.

I was joking, but Sebastian must have heard the doubt in my voice because he leaned close and kissed me. When we parted, he rested his forehead against mine.

“Liv, I have wanted you since the day you walked into Illyria. I am going to do my best not to screw things up now that I have you.” He sighed. “I told this to Vee as well. Both of you know my background, you know that Antonio saved me. I’m not going to repay that trust by doing anything to hurt you or Vee.”

“I can live with that.”

We kissed again, allowing ourselves to sink deeper into the moment.

A knock on the door brought us out of our growing haze of desire, and then the door opened and Vee stepped in.

“Is this a private meeting, or can anyone join?”

I reached out my hand, and drew him to us when he took hold of it. “It’s a very exclusive meeting. Members only, but luckily, that includes you.”

We didn’t leave my office for a fair amount of time, and I was more than grateful for the lack of video by the time Vee and Sebastian returned downstairs.

By Friday, Sebastian had my office and the storeroom wired up with a motion-triggered video recorder. I could set it before leaving my office for any length of time, so it would only film someone who entered when they shouldn’t.

And then we waited.

I had started recreating the books on a computer at home, looking for where the discrepancies started and feeling foolish that I’d put this off as long as I had. Both Sebastian and Vee told me to cut myself some slack since I had believed my lack of experience was to blame for Illyria’s losses and then didn’t want to find out one of my employees was stealing from me.

The numbers finally started making sense about six months prior to Sebastian alerting me to the problems with the alcohol. While that gave me a timeframe, it didn’t help me figure out who was behind the alterations in the official spreadsheet.

Then, on a Monday night when all three of us were at my place, I got an alert on my phone that someone was in my office. The system we’d installed wasn’t sophisticated enough to relay video to my phone, but we headed back over to Illyria as quickly as we could to try and catch whoever it was still in the act. If we couldn’t do that, at least we’d be able to review the tape.

Sebastian drove to Illyria because I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. Vee sat forward in the rear seat, gently massaging my shoulders in a sweet but vain attempt to lessen my anxiety. By the time we reached the club, I was a bundle of nerves, but my men stopped me from running inside by pulling me into a hug.

“Whatever we find, we’ll face it together,” Sebastian said, and I let myself settle within the strong embrace of his and Vee’s arms.

“We’re here for you, Liv,” Vee said. “Whatever you need.”

Their words were the steady foundation I needed in that moment, and I hugged them tighter in gratitude, allowing myself a few moments to bask in their strength and confidence. Though I dreaded discovering proof of what we already suspected, I knew Illyria would be stronger for it. My desire to save the club overrode all other concerns.

I kissed both my men, took a deep breath, and squared my shoulders. “Let’s go,” I said.

Together, we entered the club. Maria was in the middle of one of her Dick Pic monologues and faltered slightly as she caught sight of us. I shook my head at her and continued toward the stairs.

“I’m going to ask Toby if he’s seen Andrew around tonight,” Sebastian said, voicing the name none of us had spoken on the drive over.

I nodded my agreement and proceeded up the stairs with Vee on my heels. Once inside my office, I surveyed my desk. Not finding anything amiss, I moved to the locked filing cabinet where we’d hidden the receiver and withdrew it. Again, my hands were shaking badly, and Vee took the device from me, then guided me to the couch and sitting next to me. He handed me the receiver, and I stared at the screen wishing Sebastian was sitting on my other side.

As if he’d heard me, Sebastian appeared at the door. He stepped inside, then closed and locked the door. In a few long strides, he crossed the room and took his place beside me on the couch.

“Tobes says he hasn’t seen Andrew around at all today,” Sebastian reported.

I nodded, then held my breath and pressed Play.

The screen came to life and showed the three of us sitting on the couch in grainy black and white. I began rewinding. It didn’t take long before we caught up to someone exiting my office, and then watched them sit back down at my desk. Even in the tiny screen at four times the speed, we could clearly see Andrew doing something at my computer. I kept scrolling back until we reached the moment he entered my office, then I released the rewind and let the action unfold.

By the time the Andrew on the screen left my office, I felt like I was going to throw up. I couldn’t believe how much it felt like someone had punched me in the guts. Beside me, Sebastian vibrated with rage, muttering curses under his breath.

“At least I know,” I said, my voice small. I hated how hurt I felt, and was grateful Sebastian was able to express the anger I should have been experiencing.

“Can I see that?” Vee asked and held his hands out for the screen.

I passed it over without a word, happy to relinquish it to someone else so I wouldn’t be tempted to watch the scene again. When Vee started to rewind it, I got up and began to pace.

“I don’t understand why he would do this,” I said as I attempted to wear a groove in my carpet.

“We’ll ask him when we talk to him,” Sebastian said.

“Hold on.” Vee motioned me over. “I don’t think this is Andrew.”

I returned to my place between Sebastian and Vee, and Vee put the screen on the coffee table. He scrolled back to the beginning, and we watched what appeared to be Andrew opening the door to my office and slipping inside, then walking to my desk.

“Here,” Vee said as he paused the video. “This guy’s got a bit of a hitch in his step, like he’s got an old injury, or a stiff joint. Andrew doesn’t walk like that.”

Sebastian rewound the video, then pressed Play, and we watched maybe-not-Andrew walk across my office, sit at my desk, do something with my computer, and then stand up. The tiny figure on the screen momentarily steadied himself with a hand on the desktop before heading for the door with a slightly rolling gait. Without Vee pointing it out, I would have missed it.

We watched the video again, and I wished we could zoom in on this person’s face. How could one person look so much like another? My gaze strayed to my desk and the photo I had of Antonio and myself from my first day at Illyria. We looked similar, definitely related, but before my transition, we were almost carbon copies of each other. It had been disconcerting to see photos of one of us and not know whether I was looking at myself or Antonio unless I knew when the photo was taken.

“Does Andrew have a brother?” I asked.

Sebastian startled and turned the video off. “Not that I’ve heard him talk about, but…the dancers at the Grotto called him Aaron. Do you think…?”

Vee had his phone out and was searching for Andrew and Aaron Hughes. “Identical twins,” he said and put his phone on the coffee table so we could see the search results as he scrolled through them. “Looks like Aaron was in a bit of trouble,” he said as he clicked on a police blotter from a couple of years ago. “Holy…” Vee’s eyes got round. “The dude was arrested for hacking into his employer’s payroll system and giving himself a five-figure raise.”

I’d been leaning forward to see Vee’s phone, but now I sat back with my hand over my mouth, so many thoughts whirling through my head, I had no idea where to start. Do I call Andrew in now and confront him? Wait until tomorrow when it was his regular shift? I wanted to believe the best, that Andrew was clueless and his brother had taken advantage of his position at Illyria to make a few extra bucks, but I had a hard time convincing myself that he knew nothing about this.

Sebastian and Vee watched me intently as I made up my mind. I told Sebastian to make sure Aaron wasn’t still lurking in the club somewhere, and asked Vee to tell Festus I wanted to see him in my office. I still needed to clear up the issue of Sebastian seeing him at the Grotto, and if he happened to see Aaron or Andrew there, so much the better.

Once I was alone, I stood and walked to the window overlooking the club. The drag show was underway, and the crowd was lively. At the bar, Toby flirted and made drinks all with a big smile on his face. Maria stood to one side of the stage, watching the show, as avidly as the customers. Even Mal seemed to be having a good time tonight as he leaned against the bar and watched the stage, his tablet nowhere in sight.

Illyria was a beautiful place. I loved the pulsing lights, and the steady beat of the music, the flamboyant queens with their exquisite costumes and makeup, and the customers who came to Illyria to have a good time. This was my home, the people who worked and played within these walls like family to me. I hated the idea that one of them had tried to hurt all of this, that one of them might have allowed Illyria to be in danger of closing. This wasn’t how family was supposed to treat each other, but I also knew I had a responsibility to protect those who depended on me.

A knock on the door clued me in that Festus had arrived. I turned, greeted him, asked him to come in and close the door.

“It’s not one of your usual nights,” he said.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Am I in trouble?”

“I have some questions,” I said. “Please sit.”

I returned to the couch, and Festus sat opposite me in one of the chairs.

“I know you’re aware of the problems the club has been having,” I said, and he nodded. “Sebastian went undercover at the Grotto by auditioning for their pageant.”

“He saw me there,” Festus said, and I was relieved at how easily he admitted it. In my heart, I had doubted my head of security was doing something underhanded.

“He did. Do you want to explain to me why?”

“Claudio, who’s in charge of their security, found a number of bottles of what looked like our liquor in a closet. We’ve been friends for years, so he called me and asked me to come take a look. He was correct. A number of the bottles were ours. Sebastian started labeling them about a month ago with a black light marker, so it was easy enough to figure out.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We wanted to see if we could catch whoever was bringing our stock into the Grotto, but since I was there, none of it has been touched and no new bottles have shown up.”

“That would have been too easy,” I said. “When did Mal change the code on the storeroom?”

“A couple of weeks ago, I think. I can look at my log and tell you exactly if you’d like.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” Again, my mind was whirling as I considered my next moves. “Did you ever see Andrew at the Grotto?”

Festus had been hunched over with his hands clasped between his knees, at my question he looked up. “You think Andrew’s behind this?”

A knock at the door interrupted us, and I bade whoever was out there to come on in, already suspecting it was Sebastian and Vee. What I wasn’t expecting was to see them return with our possible suspect. It remained to be seen if it was Andrew or Aaron standing awkwardly in my office.

I stood. “How about if you three take the couch,” I said, knowing full well Sebastian and Vee would bookend Andrew/Aaron, and taking note that this man did not walk as smoothly as Illyria’s lead dancer.

Once everyone was situated, I leaned against my desk and contemplated the man sitting between Sebastian and Vee. He looked so much like Andrew, but he had a hard glint in his eye, a calculating and assessing look that my employee did not. Still watching him, I took out my cell phone, selected Andrew’s number, and placed the call on speaker while it dialed.

“Olivia? Is something wrong?” the voice on the other end of the phone sounded as if I had woken him up, which I was sure I had since it was now after eleven.

“Everything’s fine. Who am I speaking with?”

The man on the couch opened his mouth, but Sebastian and Vee nudged him and shook their heads.

“This is Andrew. What’s going on?”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Andrew, do you have a twin brother?” Silence greeted me. “Andrew?”

“Olivia, I’m so sorry. It’s only been a couple of times, I swear.”

“Andrew, shut up.” The man on the couch—Aaron—who looked so much like the man on the other end of my phone it messed with my head, tried to get up, but Festus stood instead.

“I suggest you stay quiet,” Festus said, leaning over the coffee table and getting in Aaron’s face.

“Oh, fuck,” Andrew’s voice said. “What the fuck did you do, Aaron? Shit. Olivia, I swear, all I asked Aaron to do was fill in for me a couple of times. I got offered a part in a show that was in development, and some of the rehearsals conflicted with my schedule at Illyria. Oh my God. What did he do? What the fuck did you do, Aaron? Jesus Christ, if you screwed up my job—”

I took the phone off speaker and told Andrew I needed to see him. “I know it’s late, but if you could come to the club right now, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’m on my way. And I am so, so sorry.”

“We’ll talk when you get here,” I said and ended the call. Then I called 911.