A pang picks up in my heart as I see the joy and beauty plastered across Skyler’s face. She deserves this. Needs this type of feeling in her life. The shit with Tracey second-guessing our relationship, her parents dying, the drama with Johan back then, and more recently with her stalker/fan . . .
I shake my head.
Skyler deserves more.
She deserves the world, and I’m going to be the man to give it to her. This freak situation with Annie is going to stop. We’ll confront her and discuss a legal restraining order, I’ll have the pleasure of firing her, and it will be done. If she so much as attempts to send Skyler another letter or reach out to her, we’ll take her to court for harassment.
Skyler’s problems are over. My girl is going to breathe easy and live every moment with that beautiful happiness plastered across her pretty face.
I’m going to make sure of it.
While I watch JJ do her thing, I can finally catch my breath. I’ve got a plan for Skyler, and as seen on the stage, our job here is done. If Alejandro doesn’t love the progress made by International Guy, he’s going to have to shove it.
Juliet is a star up there, and as I look at each of the bigwigs’ faces, the awe clearly visible in every person who’s watching her, including Alejandro, I know we’ve succeeded once again.
Our job in Spain is over.
I grab Skyler’s hand, interlace our fingers, bring them to my lips, and kiss each tip. She turns toward me, eyes swirling with delight. Then, my love smiles at me, and it’s everything.
Time to go home.
11
SKYLER
Leaving JJ and Violeta was difficult, but we exchanged numbers, and both girls promised to let me know when they were in the States and keep me in the loop on what’s going on in their lives. I warned JJ about being a celebrity and not to fall to peer pressure or into traps of any kind. I stressed that I was only a call, text, or email away at all times. They swore they’d be smart and stick together as much as possible, but I still warned them I’d be checking in . . . regularly. Now I’m exhausted, coming off a long-ass flight with a man who was so fidgety I couldn’t handle sitting next to him. So, instead of talking it out like I thought we would, he decided to strategize with Nate and come up with a plan for taking down Annie.
Taking down Annie.
Like it’s really a thing. It’s absurd. I’m not convinced she’s actually done anything wrong. So she sent a bunch of fan mail over the years. Technically for more than a decade, but none of the letters were threatening. Sweet, if anything. I just can’t comprehend that Annie was the same person sending all of those texts, unless this entire situation just turned into one of those freaky afternoon TV specials where the bad guy actually has two personalities and you’re being threatened by both.
I guess it’s possible. Unlikely, but possible.
Parker grabs my hand once we step off the plane and leads me straight into the back seat of Nate’s SUV. Officially my SUV, but it’s dedicated to my security team to keep me protected.
“Stop yanking on me.” I pull my hand away, and Parker’s shoulders drop as he goes around the car and gets into the other side. He sits close, our legs touching, and turns sideways toward me.
I make a shocked face. “Oh, you’re finally going to talk to me? You know, me. Skyler. Your girlfriend. The one you just sat on a plane ignoring for the better part of eight hours?” I blink a bunch of times to make my point.
He deflates before my eyes, his entire expression becoming one of unrest and apology. “I’m sorry, baby.” He holds my hands and rubs both of his thumbs over the top of mine. “I’m unhappy. Angry. And this entire situation is unsettling.”
“Yes, it is. But you can’t shut me out to make it easier for you to deal with. Remember, we do everything together. You and me against it all.”
Parker closes his eyes and dips his forehead so that it presses against mine. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Can you forgive my brooding, petulant, caveman ways?”
I smile, lift my chin, and kiss the tip of his nose. “Always. Just don’t shut me out. I can handle anything but that. If you’re angry, tell me you are and that you need some space. I’m not ignorant to the fact that a man needs to process things in his own way. A woman does too. Usually it involves ice cream or wine and a bestie. Sometimes all three at the same time, but in the end, she always needs her man by her side.”
“I need you too. That’s why I’m so angry. I need you more than I want to need you. You’ve gotten so far under my skin, baby, there’s no way out. Not ever. We’re a part of one another. I have to do whatever it takes to protect you. Protect what we have.”
Before I can respond, Nate opens the door at my side and places Midnight on my lap, who goes directly over to his daddy and settles by his side, and then Sunny, who immediately licks my neck and cuddles in.
Both Parker and I smile at one another and pet our babies. Until my phone begins buzzing against my ass, and I start wiggling around. Parker’s squawks similarly in his coat pocket, and he reaches for it at the same time I reach for mine.
The display sends a chill down my spine.
From: Unknown
LESSON 1: YOU WERE WARNED.
Under the text is a picture. I click on it and gasp, covering my mouth with my hand. Parker goes silent at my side. The image is of the bed in my master bedroom in the penthouse. The entire thing is engulfed in flames.
“Oh my God, honey.” I reach for Parker’s hand, and he holds mine tight, his eyes focused on his own phone.
Another text comes in as tears prick the back of my eyes, fear digging into my chest.
From: Unknown
LESSON 2: YOU CAN’T HIDE.
“Fuck!” Parker’s voice is an avalanche of icy-cold rage.
He presses a few buttons and then puts his phone to his ear, his other hand not leaving mine for a second.
“Wendy, where the fuck is Annie right now?” he blasts, that chill now directed at our friend.
I can’t summon the urge to freak out about it too much since my teeth are starting to chatter, and I can feel the cold filling my bones as he speaks.
“What? That can’t be. We just got two texts in a row. Does she have her phone on her?” His voice is harsh and unrelenting, his jaw a chiseled stone as he scowls.
Parker lets out a fast breath. “We were just sent two threatening texts along with a picture of Skyler’s master bedroom . . . ablaze.”
As he says that, I can hear alarms blaring through his phone.
“Get the fuck out of there, but do not take your eyes off Annie! I want her by you and Royce at all times. Handcuff her if you need to. Don’t lie and say you don’t have a pair on you.” He pauses and clenches his teeth. “That’s what I thought. Meet you at the front of the building. Go now.”
“Park?” The one-word request from Nate comes out more as a demand.
I hand over my phone to Nate when Parker puts the phone to his ear again.
“Roy? You got Kendra, Zeus? Okay, Wendy has both? Yes, get out of there, but do not let Annie out of your sight. Call Mick. He’ll lose his mind when he finds out there’s a fire in the same building Wendy’s in. I do not need him on my ass right now.”
Nate makes a low, animalistic sound deep in his throat as he scans the texts and image. He hands the phone to Rachel and slams the door to walk back to the car where Bo is waiting for us to head out. I turn and look out the back window as Nate tells Bo the bad news.
All I can think is I hope they’ve got everyone out of the building and the fire department is putting the fire out before it reaches any other floors.
My hand trembles in Parker’s, but he drops the phone, turns toward me, and cups both of my cheeks. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. You hear me?”
I nod, but the trembling inside turns into a full-body smackdown. The fear is crippling in its intensity. “Wh-what a-about the other p-people in the b-b-building?” I stutter through my chattering teeth.
> “Baby, it’s going to be fine. The firefighters were already heading up there when Wendy and the team were heading out.” He caresses my face. “We’re going to go there right now. Speak to the cops and Annie. Find out what the hell is going on.”
“B-but how could sh-she start a f-fire while in the of-of-office?”
He shakes his head and brings me against his side while Nate hops in the SUV and fires the engine, and we’re off.
“I don’t know. Doesn’t look like she started it.” He makes a snarling, discontented sound.
“Or the t-texts?” I suck in a big breath, inhaling Parker’s citrus-and-earthy scent. Breathing in his familiar smell along with feeling his hand running up and down my arm helps the shaking subside, and my heartbeat goes back to a more even pitter-patter.
Before long, we’re screeching up to the building but are stopped by a barricade the cops set up. Nate gives our credentials, and the cops let us pass through. We park across the street, out of the way. Out in front of the building we see Royce standing close to Kendra, Wendy, and an obviously frightened Annie. Annie has Zeus in her arms and is petting him methodically while staring up at the building. Heavy black smoke is billowing out from my balcony doors on both sides.
Once we make our way to the group, Annie’s eyes light up. “Oh, thank goodness you’re both okay! I was so worried because I didn’t know when you two were coming back. Skyler, Parker, I’m so sorry about your home.” Her eyes fill with tears, and a few fall to the sides. “I got Zeus, though. Please tell me your puppies weren’t in there?” She hiccup sobs.
I shake my head. “Uh, no. They are in the SUV with the windows down, sleeping.”
“Another miracle.” Annie looks up and wipes at her eyes, then continues to snuggle Zeus, who genuinely seems to enjoy the cuddle time.
“Where’s your phone, Annie?” Parker asks, malice filling his tone.
She looks at Parker and blinks a few times. “Uh, I don’t have it. It isn’t working. I need to get a new one.”
“Convenient. It’s broken all of a sudden,” he sneers.
She takes a jittery breath. “I um, because I broke it two days ago. Dropped it into the fountain over there when I was having lunch. I like to eat out here in the sunshine.”
Nate comes up behind Parker, and I hear him whisper near his ear, “She does eat her lunch there daily.”
“And I called my provider, and they said I wasn’t due for an upgrade, and I couldn’t afford the extra insurance, so I have to wait for my next paycheck to get another. Don’t worry, though, it’s not going to affect my job. At all.”
“Do you have a burner phone?” He continues with the questions.
“A what? I’m not quite sure I know what that is. Is that a new name brand, like Apple or Samsung?” she asks with such innocence I can’t help but nudge Parker’s shoulder, wanting to get his attention. This is all wrong. Off in a really bad way.
“Honey—” I try again, but he cuts me off.
“Annie, do you or don’t you have a phone?” Parker grates through clenched teeth, his shoulders and body so tight where he stands that if Nate tried to bodycheck him, he’d bounce right off as though he’d run into a freestanding brick wall.
Annie shakes her head. “No, but like I said, it’s not going to hinder me in doing my job . . .”
Wendy cuts in. “Park, she didn’t have a phone on her when you got those texts because she was sitting right in front of me going over the schedule. And although I’m tech savvy enough to pull off sending a text at a specific time from an alternate location and number, Annie is not. I’ve been looking into her the last two days since we figured out the connection to her and Skyler, and it’s just not possible. I’d stake my life on it,” she insists, but it’s as though Parker doesn’t even hear her, his anger fueled by his fear and lack of control.
Annie’s eyes widen. “What . . . what do you mean you’ve been looking into me?”
“You have been sending fan letters to Skyler for over ten years,” Parker spouts, his face a mask of frustration and arrogance. Not a good look on him.
She frowns and cuddles Zeus closer, pushing her chin into his ginger-colored fur. “Yeah, because she’s my best friend,” she says so sweetly I can smell the sugary scent from a few feet away. She glances at me, frowns, and then looks back at Parker.
“No. You’re her stalker.” Parker lays it out in a brazen tone.
Annie’s expression flutters from confusion to concern. “Wh-what?” She shakes her head a bunch of times. “No. We’re pen pals. We have been for years. I even have a card with a headshot that she signed. I have several actually. I have them all framed. In my house. We’re friends. Longtime friends. I just thought Skyler maybe didn’t recognize it was me because we always corresponded by mail, and since she meets so many people, I’m sure it’s easy to get confused.”
“I sent you a card and a signed headshot?” I close my eyes and remember back when I was a teen signing hundreds of headshots for my mom. She’d fill out these multicolored little cards that she wrote on my behalf.
“Yes, of course.” She smiles brightly. “You wrote the first one on a pink card, I’d say about eleven years ago. On the inside you said—”
“My fans are my friends.” We both say it at the same time.
Jesus. I forgot about those days. They stopped once Tracey took over and hired a publicity team.
I reach for Parker’s arm and curl my hand around his bicep. “Honey, I used to do that with Mom. She’d have me sign five-by-seven images, and then she’d send them to my fans whenever we had a little downtime. I must have had five different cards and images over the years.”
Annie nods wildly, her blonde hair shaking with the effort. “I have all five! I did think it was odd that you’d say the same thing.” She frowns. “I just figured it was our special thing to one another. You sent it to others?” Annie looks crestfallen.
My goodness, she really believed we were longtime pen pals . . . friends.
“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry, Annie,” I say softly, not wanting to hurt the poor, misguided woman.
“So, we’re not friends?” Annie’s voice quavers, and her bottom lip trembles.
“We are . . . ,” I say at the same time Parker blurts out, “Fuck no.”
Annie swallows, and tears fall down her pearlescent cheeks. Her eyes are the size of dinner plates, looking wide and afraid. “But I thought . . . You were there during all the bad things. When she hurt me over and over, and you’d send me pretty cards, and I had nothing else. Nothing else to look forward to. No. My God. It was all a lie. Just like she said. Always told me you’d never be my friend. But . . . but I believed. And your cards . . . I-I have to go.”
“I don’t think so, Annie. The jig is up. You can play coy and innocent all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve been sending threatening texts . . .” Parker continues to nail her when she’s clearly hurting.
“Parker, no,” Wendy butts in. “I haven’t been able to trace any of those texts back to Annie. A lot of those were delivered at times where I was able to verify she was in the office, and the signal the text came from was not bounced off our towers or anywhere close. Annie didn’t send the texts.” She bites into her bottom lip.
He scowls. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Wendy puts both of her hands on Parker’s biceps and looks him straight in the eyes. “Parker, she goes from work to the bus stop, to the convalescent hospital where her only relative—her dying stepmother—lives, and then home, and back to work to repeat the process again the next day. From my digging, the stepmother has been her only parent for the last fifteen years. The same woman who was visited multiple times by child services after repeated trips to the hospital for Annie’s suspicious falls and accidents. The poor thing has had more broken bones than an NFL player. It’s no wonder she’s awkward and has an unrealistic relationship with Sky. In all likelihood, being Skyler’s friend was the only escape
the poor, abused child had. It kept her hope alive.”
My stomach twists, and my heart squeezes as though there’s a vise around it. I reach out to touch Annie, but she jerks back.
She shakes her head and holds Zeus close. “You’re researching me. Looking into my past!” Her voice is but a whisper when she looks at me, tears filling her frightened eyes. “You’re not my friend. Y-you, you just think I’m a crazy fan. Oh my God!” She bursts into tears, dropping Zeus to the concrete, who lands perfectly on his feet without a problem and goes straight over to Parker’s legs, where he proceeds to spin a circle around them. Parker picks up his cat at the same time Bo makes his way to us.
“I’m guessing you’ve already had it out with your stalker?” Bo adds to the conversation with the most shit timing in history.
Annie hears his words and starts wailing. Wendy leads her over to a nearby bench and sits her down, an arm around her back, comforting her. Kendra moves in to assist.
“I wanna go home. I don’t want to be here. I have to go. I . . . I . . .” She bursts into tears and covers her face with her hands.
I don’t think the situation can get any worse. My heart hurts, my mind is in a tizzy, and I’ve just broken an already-fragile young woman.
Parker’s phone buzzes as I lean against his side. He hands me Zeus, letting out a long, tortured breath before lifting the phone and staring down at the message. I hover over his shoulder and read it along with him.
From: Unknown
DID YOU LEARN YOUR LESSON?
Another one pops up while we’re reading the first.
From: Unknown
BREAK UP WITH HER OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.
With the last text, Parker yanks me to his side, his embrace so tight I worry we’re going to squish his cat.
From: Unknown
YOU CAN’T KEEP HER SAFE.
I rub my hand up and down his back. “Honey, whoever it is, they’re messing with us.”
“You think?” he says flippantly.
International Guy: Volume 4 Page 13