“No worries, we’ll chat,” he tells me as he says goodbye and off they go.
“You got them alright in Nashville alone?” Mills asks.
“Yeah, they’re going to Derek’s in North Carolina first. He’s got his own team in place. I think they asked me to come to placate you and Cami,” I tell him with a smirk.
He laughs, “Probably. Regardless of who else is there, they are your responsibility.”
“Absolutely. I got this,” I tell him with a stoic expression. I don’t need to go into details about our plans while we’re there.
“Good, call me if you need anything. Now about tomorrow night…”
Mills launched into the details of how tomorrow night was going to go. Talon, Addison, and Kyle are going to some sort of pre-award dinner and party thing and it will be Addison’s first night out of the house since the twins were born. I imagine the night will be short-lived, but good for her at the same time. Tori, Rusty, Mills and I are handling the detail this time around. I asked about Casey and Mills told me he had some other things going on with the guys. Despite the tour being over, we’re paid and assigned to 69 Bottles, whether we’re working or not. When working, our pay goes up exponentially, and with their appearances and whatnot, they keep us busy enough to keep me afloat. Believe me, I make good fucking money and live rather modestly, but still, the pay while on duty makes up for it.
I’ll be getting paid the entire time we’re in North Carolina and Nashville because I am on ‘hazard duty pay.’ When I go on tour for Alyssa, I won’t be paid from 69 Bottles, but damn if I’m not making more money. There is something to be said for actor and actress protection versus a whole band.
When I get home, I toss my keys in the bowl, put away my gun, and jump in the shower. Different day, same routine. I’m a boring ass motherfucker.
NINE
DEX TEXTED ME around noon the next day to let me know that we’d be coming back to Los Angeles before the album launch. That makes things a little easier for me. When we travel with the entire band, I usually take both of my guns with me, among other things, and rather than having to drag them to North Carolina with us, I can just take the usual one.
I’m back in a monkey suit, a black and white one tonight, headed to Addison and the guys’ house to escort them to some formal dinner affair.
When I arrive at the house, Dex and Raine are there, apparently they’re the twins’ babysitters tonight.
“It will be fine,” Raine reassures Addison who is obviously having a hard time parting from them. I can’t find it in myself to blame her for that. I can’t imagine leaving them like this, but Raine is more than capable of handling them. She’s been a very valuable asset to them, even before the twins were born.
“There’s milk in the fridge, don’t forget to heat it up,” Addison tells Raine and from the exasperated look on Dex’s face, I’m guessing it’s not the first time she’s said that tonight.
“Come on, baby, they’ll be fine.” Kyle wraps his arm around Addison and she leans into him, taking the support she wants and needs.
“We need to get going,” Mills tells all of us.
“Alright, alright,” Addison says as she straightens up.
She tells the twins bye again and again until Talon is practically dragging her out of the house and into the limo where Rusty and Tori are standing by holding doors.
“Beck, Tori - you’re in the back tonight. Rusty and I will take the front,” Mills commands in the way that works best for him. He is all business tonight. Fifteen years in the military can make you paranoid from time to time, but I cannot imagine what would happen if anyone on his detail got hurt or worse, killed.
When Addison was attacked during the tour, I thought Mills was going to lose his shit. He was nearly impossible to live with in the days that followed, but as we always do, we got past it and so did he. At least until it happened again a couple cities later. Though he never really said anything, I know that incident chewed him up worse than the first time. It did all of us because the one place that was supposed to be safe and sacred for the band was vandalized in ways we never could have imagined.
Addison handled it better than most women ever could. I know Raine’s ordeal shook her up worse, but there was a long history there with her attacker. Though I imagine both of them having someone to lean on made it easier for them to handle.
“We’re fifth in line,” Mills says in my ear and Tori tells the trio, who’ve been talking quietly since getting in the car. Addison is still visibly upset about leaving the twins behind, but she’s finding her public side pretty quickly, which means she’ll manage to get through this pretty damn well.
The limo moves up. “Fourth,” Mills calls and Tori and I begin a routine scan around the limo, mostly security and staff surrounding us. Fans are lining the streets to catch a glimpse of all those entering the event tonight. The limo lunges forward again.
“I can’t do this,” Addison cries.
“Yes, you can. Come on, sweetheart. The kids are fine, you’re amazing. Just a little while longer,” Talon comforts her.
“We will leave as soon as it is socially acceptable for us to do so, I promise.”
“I don’t want to see all the headlines,” she cries harder.
“What headlines?” Kyle asks her.
“They’re going to scrutinize me.”
“Addison, we’ve talked about this. You don’t look any different than you did eleven months ago. You look amazing and so what if anyone has anything to say about it.” Talon continues to comfort her and I look at Tori who shrugs.
“Third,” Mills says in our ears again.
The car moves again quickly. “Second.” This time it’s Rusty, Tori and I who scan the crowd outside the limo.
“On deck, guys,” Tori says and Addison manages to right herself pretty quickly. Checking herself in a mirror before stowing it into her purse.
The limo lunges forward. “We’re up,” I say as the door next to me swings open. Mills climbs out quickly and Rusty slides out after him.
“Showtime,” Addison says and I climb out, followed by Tori. I take point, odd. Mills is to my left and Tori to my right. I’m facing the crowd. Scanning, seeing, watching. The crowd is waiting with baited breath to see who steps from the limo. “Kyle’s coming out,” Mills chimes in my ear and the crowd gets excited. Seeing Kyle means that not far behind him is Talon. “Addison.” I tense up a little bit. The crowd gets a little more riled up when she clears the door. My eyes never stop moving, never stop cataloguing what’s happening in front of me. Making little notes of those who aren’t cheering. Those are the ones you have to watch out for.
I bring my hand to my mouth, “Silent one, ten o’clock.” There is a guy just standing there, not doing anything, and then he rolls his eyes at the girl next to him. Though I no longer see him as much of a threat, it doesn’t mean he’s not.
“Roger. Talon coming out.”
That’s when the crowd gets a little crazy and Mr. Ten o’clock claps, getting a little more into what’s happening around him. I go back to scanning the crowd as the door shuts behind me and the limo moves off.
“Signing line,” Mills says, meaning Talon is going to go to the line for a few minutes, snag some pictures and sign some autographs. This is truly the part of the job I hate. It makes it harder to keep tabs on him and keep him safe, but Talon is a stubborn ass and lives for his fans.
Addison joins him and they pose for some pictures. Tori is closer to her than normal, but I don’t question it. With Addison’s emotional state, it might not take much to upset her.
“Addison, you look amazing.” And “Congratulations” are just some of the things being yelled and Addison smiles, blossoming and finding her confidence a little bit more as we make our way to the press line.
Once we’re inside the roped-off area, the four of us settle down slightly. There is security staff placed about every five feet along the fan wall, blocking the view of fans but keeping them at bay.
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The trio is met with questions, photos, red carpet shots and the like and this lasts for over forty-five minutes. Addison seems to be the main focus of their questions tonight before finally Talon whisks her away from the cameras and questions and we are finally inside the venue.
Addison managed to stay through dinner. Once we got inside and she started talking to people, it became a little easier for her to ignore what was happening in her head.
After dinner though, it was an acceptable time to leave and she was more than ready to do so. I, on the other hand, was having a good time. Not like I was partying or anything, but the visual pleasures were more than enough to keep me entertained.
We snuck the trio out the back, avoiding the fans, the cameras and the hoopla out front so that Addison could go home to the kids.
Raine and Dex were mildly disappointed when they got home so early, but Raine understood Addison’s return better than Dex did. The kids were already in bed and Addison made a mad dash up the stairs to check on them. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand what was going through her head, but Talon and Kyle followed right behind her.
After that, Dex and Raine took off and I followed, shedding my jacket and tie before I got in my truck.
As I headed home, I was thankful that I’d worn an undershirt because I stopped at a bar on the way.
“What do you do?” asks the blonde who found her way to my table within fifteen minutes of me arriving in this hole in the wall bar in Hollywood. It was one of the first places I came across after leaving Talon’s. The décor is a bad imitation of early nineteen hundred western saloon meets modern day technology. I’ve seen the place before but I’ve never been inside. The tables are made of glass covered wagon wheels. There is a pool table in the back and a jukebox that only plays music from the nineties on it.
The clientele is definitely college age, but more college drop out. In the twenty minutes I’ve been here, I’ve watched more than a handful of guys fail at picking up on the group of girls sitting at the bar. They are definitely college girls and far more giddy then what I’m comfortable with. But no less comical.
“I’m an actor.” I tell her and her eyes go wide momentarily before looking me up and down.
“I’ve never seen you before.”
I laugh, “That’s because I’m not a celebrity.”
‘Well then, what do you do?” Her voice is whiny and high pitched, almost annoying enough to make me cringe.
“I’m a bodyguard.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I shrug and swallow the last of the scotch in my glass. Coming here was a mistake. There’s not very many women in attendance and not a one is going to be any better than the chick from Sunday night. Including this one. I stand up.
“Where are you going?” she asks me, her disappointment is evident.
“Home,” I state firmly.
She cuddles up to me. “Want some company?”
I blink at her. “No thanks. I just came for a drink.”
I untangle her from around my body as she pouts and I make my escape quickly and confidently. I happen to look back and she’s immediately moved on to the next moron, reinforcing the idea that she is easier than riding a bicycle.
I crash through the doors and stomp my way toward my truck.
Giving up on a bad attempt at picking up a woman. It’s time to go home.
TEN
I SLEPT LIKE shit. Constant tossing and turning because I couldn’t keep my mind off the events of the upcoming weeks. Between North Carolina, Tennessee, then New York and the upcoming premiere tour, I feel like I’m going to start spinning in circles.
I got up early and finished packing, including securing my weapons in their travel cases. We are traveling privately, but there are still laws and requirements that I have to follow. Though it is far easier than flying commercially.
With my packing done and nothing else to do, I go shopping. Yeah, shut up, I know that sounds odd coming from a man’s mouth, but I don’t know what, if any, time I will have to finish shopping once we’re at Derek’s. Christmas is only a week away.
“Beck,” I snap into the phone. I’m home and not in the mood for conversation. I’m due at Dex’s soon.
It’s an unknown number. Not something I usually answer, but with the upcoming tour I don’t know who might be calling.
“I guess from your tone that you’re not happy to hear from me…” There is a pregnant pause on the line before I finally put two and two together.
“Not particularly. What do you want, Alyx?”
“What, I can’t call my brother?”
I roll my eyes. “What do you need, Alyx?”
“I guess this means you’re not coming home for Christmas,” he says sheepishly.
“Why on earth would I do that?”
“Oh I don’t know, because we haven’t seen you in years.”
“For good reason, Alyx. No, I won’t be home for Christmas, I’m working.”
“You’re always working,” he says softly into the phone.
“Yeah, I am, so what? Look Alyx, I appreciate the call, but you knew the answer to my question before you called me. So why…”
“Mom’s sick.”
I sigh. “She’s been sick for years, Alyx. This isn’t news to me.”
“She’s dying, Aryn.”
“What exactly am I supposed to do about it? You know damn well she doesn’t want to see me, so why tell me?”
“Because she’s your fucking mother, Aryn,” he snaps at me.
I shake my head despite him not being able to see me. “A fact that she conveniently forgot ten years ago.”
“I think you should hear her out.”
“Alyx, she kicked me out, told me to get out of her house.”
“Aryn, you beat the living shit out of dad. What did you expect her to do?”
“No, Alyx, I beat the shit out of dad who… oh never mind. You’ll never understand,” I tell him and I pull the phone away from my ear to hang up.
“Wait!” he says through the phone and I reluctantly bring it back to my ear.
“What?” I snap.
“I know why you did it. I don’t blame you. I’d have done the same thing.” I shake my head as he continues, “He deserved what he had coming to him.”
“Is that so? You weren’t so keen on that fact ten years ago, Alyx. In fact, you stood next to mom as she threw me out of the house. You know as well as I do that she was looking for any excuse she could muster up to kick me out. I gave her what she needed. She threw me out on the street and you just expect me to come crawling back for Christmas dinner?”
He doesn’t say anything in response, he doesn’t have to.
“Listen, Alyx, I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work. I’ve scraped myself off the ground so many times, and I’ve done it without you or mom. I don’t need the reminders and you know as well as I do that the only thing that will come out of my coming home is fighting, arguing and a very un-merry Christmas. So just let it go.”
“Alyce misses you.”
I hang my head in shame. Being kicked out didn’t bother me, ever. I knew all along that I was working my way to being kicked out for years, but Alyce was my one and only regret. I knew that if I left, she’d have no one to protect her. I knew that I couldn’t take her with me and I will never forget the day I packed my stuff per my mother’s wishes.
The only thing that came out of that whole fiasco was the fact that my stepdad decided against pressing charges against me. Everything else that came out of that day is a complete disaster.
“I know she does. If she wants to see me, she knows how to get a hold of me.”
“How do you think I got your number?”
I sigh. “She asked you to call me?” I ask, skeptically.
“Uh, no. Mom did.”
“Well, I am not coming home. I have to work.”
“Then will you come when you can?”
“No, Al
yx, I won’t. There is no reason for me to come back, at least not as long as he’s around.”
Alyx doesn’t say anything for a moment. “It stopped that day.”
“I know that.”
“We’ve all forgiven him.”
“Well, good for you,” I snap. “I cannot, and never will, forgive him for what he’s done.”
“You should,” Alyx says simply.
“No, I shouldn’t and I won’t.”
It’s with that I disconnect the call. Leaving Alyx wondering what happened. I am immediately transported back to that house…
“What in the fuck are you doing?” I scream at my stepfather Jason.
“Get the fuck away from me,” he growls back at me, shoving me into the wall.
“I’m only going to ask you one more time. What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?”
“None of your fucking business,” the overweight, middle-aged dirtbag my mother married a few years ago growls at me.
“Oh, yes it is. You. Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Her.”
“Aryn, don’t,” Alyce says from the bed.
My furious eyes meet her terrified ones. Seeing the fear in her eyes sends me over the edge and sends Jason flying into Alyce’s closet doors. Rattling them and knocking them off their tracks. “Alyce, get out of here, now,” I bark.
She scurries off the bed, pulling her comforter with her. Our eyes meet as she passes me. “Thank you,” she mouths and that’s all the validation I need. I nod toward the door, telling her to get out of her bedroom.
My eyes fall back to Jason’s half naked ass as he tries to get up from the heap of doors, clothes and toys on the floor.
“You’ve messed with the wrong little girl for the last time, you sick mother-fucker.” The voice crawling out of my mouth is no longer my own and it’s like I’m possessed as I pull him off the heap and throw him against the wall.
Aryn's Desire: A BOLD Security Novel (Finding Submission Book 1) Page 5