Stay calm.
My hands were trembling as I pulled out my phone to text Ronan… and found a text from Sledge.
Sledge: Where are you? I’m outside. They won’t let me back in.
Me: Back office. What’s happening?
He didn’t reply right away. I texted Ronan.
Me: Where are you? Are you ok?
Then someone started crying. I glanced over at the girl; her friend put an arm around her. The girl in tears looked maybe twenty.
“Just chill,” one of the other girls said. “It’s the French/Irish gang war shit.”
“There’re gangs here?” the girl next to me squeaked.
“Every city has gangs,” I told her, though I wasn’t sure why I thought that would make her feel better. “It doesn’t mean they want anything to do with you any more than you want to do with them. Stay away from them and you’ll be okay.”
“But what are they doing attacking each other in the club?”
Yeah, good question.
In my limited experience, when gang violence erupted in a nightclub, it was because the nightclub was somehow involved in gang business.
“I really don’t want to know,” I said. I didn’t.
This was my first and last gig here anyway.
“Are you the DJ?” the teary-eyed girl sniffed from across the room.
“I am.”
“I love your dress,” she said.
“Thank you.”
The other girls didn’t say much. They were all on their phones.
I checked mine again.
Fuck, where was Ronan?
I hugged myself and tried to just concentrate on breathing.
“We’re good,” the woman who’d let us into the office announced, still looking at her phone. “The police are here.”
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Sledge: Cops are here. Hang tight.
I took a deep, quiet breath and did my best to be patient.
But fuck patience. I wanted out of this windowless room.
It seemed to take for-fucking-ever, but finally, someone knocked at the door, and a male voice called through. “All clear. You can open the door.” It wasn’t a voice I recognized, but hopefully the girl who unlocked the door did. A bouncer was standing outside.
And… Ronan.
The relief that swept through my body was intoxicating. I felt floaty and fucking high, and all I wanted to do was rush to him, so I did, pushing past the other girls. His hand was already out to me.
I took it.
“Get me the hell out of here,” I said, but he was already whisking me away up the hall. He gripped my hand, and it was definitely different than when Andre or Yancy held me.
I was magnetized to his warmth, electrified by his touch on my skin.
Adrenalin buzzed through me, and I clung to him as he guided me through a fire exit door to the back alley. He slipped off his suit jacket and wrapped it around my bare shoulders, and I pressed into him. My coat was inside the venue, but I was hardly going back.
The police were all over the place. There was a squad car in the alley and I could see the red and blue lights flickering all over the distant street. No doubt, they’d be shutting the club down for the rest of the night.
Halfway down the alley, Andre was waiting in our rental car.
I saw Yancy, standing with some people at the mouth of the alley. He headed in our direction with a couple of girls in tow. “Summer—”
“Get the fuck out of the way,” Ronan growled.
He ushered me past, using his body to block Yancy from getting to me. I barely gave him a look, snuggling under Ronan’s jacket. I could talk to Yancy later. But really, my time working with the man was done. I owed him nothing more, personally, at this point. Including my time.
Ronan put me in the car.
“My stuff is inside,” I said as he settled in next to me.
“We’ll make sure you get it.” He was already texting someone. “Sledge can grab it, or I’ll send Andre back for it.”
“Can you stay with me, though?”
The desperation and fear in my voice seemed to snap him out of business mode. We both heard it.
He looked at me, forgetting his phone. The hard lines of his face softened. It was the first time I’d straight-up asked him for his protection.
But right now, I couldn’t stand the thought of him going anywhere.
“I’m staying right here,” he said.
I nodded tightly. “What happened? Was it a gang thing?”
“Yeah. The bouncers seemed to know the guys involved. I didn’t ask too many questions. I just stayed out of the way, made sure the police were coming and waited for the situation to be diffused, so it was safe to come get you.”
“Was there a gun?”
“I don’t think so. Some guys were trying to drag another guy out of the bar.”
“Holy shit.”
He seemed to be carefully choosing his words. “They don’t really want to make a scene right in the bar. Witnesses, cameras… They must’ve known their target was in the club, and just showed up to drag him out.”
“And did they…?”
“Yup. Knocked out a bouncer, too.”
“Jesus. Before the police arrived?”
“Yeah.”
“My God.”
Ronan was watching me. He hesitated before he spoke again. “It’s gang bullshit, Summer. It’s probably better if they deal with it on their own, out of the public. The longer they stayed, even with the police showing up… more people might get hurt.”
He was probably right about that.
But what a way to end the night.
I took a breath, sat back and tried to get myself together.
As Andre drove, I looked out the window. The adrenalin charge was fading. The electric shock of Ronan’s touch had left me kind of stunned. I felt cold, sitting here alone on my side of the backseat.
And I felt creeped out, all over again. Just like the night Blair had tried to break into my house.
I felt rattled to my core.
Even though the violence that just erupted in my vicinity had nothing to do with me.
It still left me shaken.
Ronan was texting on his phone, and I managed to collect my thoughts enough to remember Sledge. I texted him to make sure he was okay. He’d have to stay behind and tear down my equipment. It was easier for me; I could just evacuate when shit went sideways.
He texted me back with his customary easygoing attitude.
Sledge: All in a day’s work, Sum. Keep safe.
I texted him back a simple XO, because I loved that man. I seriously didn’t know what I’d ever do without him. I made a mental note that the next time I spoke with Brody, I was ordering him, on the spot, to hire Sledge onto the Players’ road crew, full-time.
I’d simply refuse to tour without him. I owed him that much, after all these years.
Then Ronan picked up a call. He muttered a few responses. I couldn’t tell who it was or what it was about, but it didn’t sound like a happy chat. It sounded like business, and not good news.
When he hung up, he seemed tense and jagged around the edges.
Actually, he seemed pissed. I watched his jaw work as he stared out the window.
He said nothing to me.
And instead of opening my mouth, I kept it shut.
I’d been biting my tongue with him for the last two days, unsure of how to proceed with a man I was attracted to—okay, deeply attracted to—who wouldn’t go there with me. Under any other circumstances, I might’ve tried to push his buttons. Crank up the heat. Ramp up the sexual tension…
Dare him not to do me.
But Ronan wasn’t just any guy. He was my bodyguard. And he was… different. I cared what he thought about me.
Too much, maybe.
That much was already clear to me. I didn’t actually want to piss him off, or disrespect him when it came to something he seemed to take so
damn seriously.
Yup. Elle had called it. I liked him.
I tried to stop staring at him. Because if he was staring at me, I was pretty sure I’d feel the heat of his eyes boring into me. Maybe he could feel me staring, too.
But every time I gazed out the window into the dark, the city lights blurring by, I replayed the whole crazy scene in my head…
Chairs flying. People screaming. The crowd surging.
Andre grabbing me and pulling me to safety.
The lights coming on.
And I wondered, where was Ronan when it happened? Had he been worried about me?
Yes. Of course he was worried.
I was terrified.
It happened so fast, I could barely register how I was feeling at the time. I’d gone kind of numb. But I was definitely scared.
And when I got scared, all I wanted was Ronan.
“You alright?” he asked me, breaking the silence.
I looked over, and that penetrating look of his hit me, deep inside.
I could still feel the way he’d touched me when he’d steered me out of the club. His fingers entwining with mine. His other hand on my back, my waist. Brushing my arms as he laid his jacket over my shoulders. He’d lifted my hair off my neck afterwards, laying it over the coat so it wouldn’t pull.
A shiver went through me at the memory of that gentle, careful, unnecessary touch.
“I’m fine. All in a day’s work, right?” I repeated Sledge’s words, which were fresh in my mind.
The concerned look on Ronan’s face clouded over. “Yeah? Is this how all your shows end?”
“You were at one of my shows last night,” I said. “How did that end?”
He said nothing. He knew very well that it had ended civilly, with martinis and hugs, a few classy afterparties, and him taking me back to the hotel safe and sound.
“I’m not saying that was normal,” I clarified. “But it wasn’t exactly the first time things went to hell at a show I played. Crazy shit happens in nightclubs. Gang violence. Stupid drunken brawls. People get busted with weapons. I’ve definitely had a few shows end with the lights flipping on and the police storming in.”
“And yet, you never had a bodyguard,” he said flatly.
“Well, no one was after me,” I said defensively. “I was never in danger. And sometimes the venue provided a bouncer to hang out by my dressing room or whatever. I had Sledge to walk me out. I usually have a ton of friends at my shows… I’m never alone.”
He just stared at me for a moment, his jaw hardening again.
Then he looked away, out the window.
When we pulled up to the hotel, Andre dropped us at the front entrance and Ronan escorted me up to my room. He walked me in without a word, turned on the lights and searched the room before heading back to the door.
“What’s wrong, Ronan?” I asked him. Because something was wrong.
Something was going on. Something more than his usual hard-ass security guy routine. And more than the thing at the club tonight.
I could feel it.
Ever since this morning, he’d been edgy and tense. And it was starting to put me on edge, too.
I was all stressed out now, thanks to some idiot gangbangers who’d decided to tear apart a perfectly lovely fundraiser over… whatever. Money? Territory? Male egos gone totally out of control?
I needed to destress, and so far, it wasn’t happening. With Ronan all tense, I couldn’t seem to relax.
For someone I’d only known a week, I was waaay too tuned into him and his moods.
He was standing by the door, and he drew a deep breath before he looked up and met my eyes. “Tell me. Is that really the kind of people you want around you?”
“What people?”
“I mean, is that the kind of man you want?”
I stared at him.
After what just happened… he was challenging me about my feelings for Yancy, of all things?
Before I could even respond to that, he said, “Because I’m telling you, Summer, that is the kind of man who shrivels when someone tries to break into your house in the middle of the night.”
“I was never planning to marry Yancy,” I informed him. “He’s always made it clear that he’s attracted to me, but we had a working relationship. Tonight was just a work thing.”
“Right. Well, you might want to screen your ‘work things’ a little better. You deserve better.”
I just kept staring at him.
He stared back.
“I realize that,” I said slowly. “And if I knew what was going to happen, I never would’ve asked you to leave me at the club.”
He straightened. “That wasn’t—”
“I didn’t exactly expect a black tie brawl to break out in the middle of the event.” I sniffed a little. I wasn’t crying, but I was close. Not sadness, but frustration.
And my reaction to the whole experience, which was really starting to kick in—sending my emotions in every direction at once. I wanted to take a hot shower and wash off the whole thing. I wanted him to stop looking at me like that.
I wanted to curl up in his arms.
But I stood where I was, alone.
Why didn’t I bring any of my girlfriends with me on this trip? I usually brought a friend when I traveled.
This time… I brought Ronan.
“Summer…” He shook his head, like he was frustrated, too. “I just want you to be safe.”
“I know.”
That was the job. The one he’d told me, the very first day he came on as my bodyguard, that he’d bleed out on my living room floor for, if it came to that.
He walked over to me. He reached up and lay his hand gently on the side of my neck. He was so warm. His thumb whispered over my jaw as that incredible electricity between us danced across my skin. It buzzed through my body and made me feel light in the head.
Couldn’t he feel it?
“You want a man who will stand up for you when shit gets rough,” he said in a low, gentle voice.
Then his hand dropped away.
I nodded a little. I didn’t know what to say.
“Stay in this room and keep the door locked.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
He left, and the door closed softly in his wake.
Chapter Sixteen
Ronan
I stalked over to my hotel room, just down the hall from Summer’s… pissed right off.
I was fucking kicking myself for leaving her at the club. For not being glued to her side when the shit hit the fan.
For letting other people get into my head.
Naveen, warning me not to go off the deep end with this assignment. Andre, after I’d dumped that drink on Yancy, telling me to chill out, walk the room before I did something else I’d regret. (I didn’t regret it.)
Worst of all, I’d let Summer get into my head.
I’m fine. I’ve got Yancy.
Why the fuck did I leave her with that guy?
No alpha in history had ever been named Yancy. The man was beyond useless. Was probably more afraid of breaking a nail than Summer getting hurt.
And Summer was scared.
Andre was on top of things, of course, but there wasn’t much he could do when chaos broke out and chairs started flying—except lock her in that office backstage. By the time I found him, most of the bar had been cleared out and Summer was in there with most of the female staff.
The look of fear and relief on her face when she saw me did me in.
I had a major soft spot for this woman.
When I looked at her… it was almost like I had a heart or something.
In the car on the way here, I’d almost broken right down and touched her. Again.
Already touched her way too much on the way out of the bar. I did not need to hold her hand like that, or put my hands on her bare skin at all, or brush her hair off her neck when I gave her my jacket.
But I did.
I could still feel
her impossibly soft, warm skin, her hair, on my fingers.
That was a major fuck-up that was definitely gonna stick with me.
And fuel my jack-off fantasies.
Bad move.
But since I’d already jacked off so many times thinking about her, what the hell was one more?
Or one-hundred more?
As pissed off as I was, all I really wanted to do right now was get my hand on my dick and maybe release some of this pent-up tension from this fucking day.
I started stripping off my suit… but my mind was too busy to focus on my throbbing dick anyway. I’d almost gotten used to the load I’d been carrying around. The constant tension and discomfort.
It was the same thing, every day.
It was the combination of being around Summer at her shows, when she was on fire like she was when she performed and worked the room… and being in the position of protecting her. It was doing something to me. Twisting me inside-out and making me ache for her like I’d never ached for any other woman.
It was some kind of primal thing. Alpha bullshit.
She was the party queen, and I wanted to conquer her or something. Have her down on her knees, gasping my name as I rammed myself into her.
Fuck, I was in trouble if I couldn’t get a hold of this shit.
I’d just never been this fucking tempted before.
I’d never lusted after a client. My role as bodyguard had never felt so goddamn sexual.
It was the way she looked at me.
The way she’d wanted me close to her tonight.
Can you stay with me…?
The way she’d looked at me when she said those words.
It was fucking with my head.
And just to make matters worse, Naveen had called while we were driving back to the hotel.
Blair Sanchuk was missing.
Our tail had lost him. Last night.
I’d found out early this morning, just before we flew to Montreal. Vancouver was three hours behind us, so I figured he’d turn up at some point by dawn, or at the very least, sometime today.
He didn’t.
All day, I’d become increasingly agitated when there was no news. He hadn’t reappeared, and we’d been unable to pick up his trail.
Sweet Temptation: A Players Rockstar Romance (Players, Book 3) Page 23