by Raine Thomas
She let out a watery laugh against his chest. “I guess I’ll have to save you a seat.”
“Nah,” he said, pulling back and giving her a wink. “From what I hear, you’re practically a saint.”
She glanced at Keith. “Well, I think your intel is a little biased.”
Benjamin turned and extended a hand to Keith. “Sorry we busted up your evening. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but I’m actually a big fan.”
Keith uncrossed his arms and accepted the handshake. He didn’t reply, clearly not ready to forgive and forget.
“Please tell everyone I’m okay,” Sydney told her brother.
“I will,” he promised. He reached up and grasped her jaw, tilting her head. “Take better care of this face from now on, would you?”
She gave him a playful shove. “I will. Love you. Have a safe trip home.”
“Love you, too. Call me and let me know how things are going.”
“I will.”
He let himself out. When the door closed behind him, Sydney looked at Keith. He waved her closer. She immediately went over to him and put her arms around him, grateful for his embrace.
“You hate apologies, but I’m offering one anyway,” she said.
“What for? Did you call your brothers and tell them to come here and demean you in front of me?”
She wanted to say he was being too harsh, but he wasn’t. “No.”
“Then don’t apologize.”
“Fine.”
They stayed like that in silence for a while. She replayed the scene in her head, reliving the range of emotions she had experienced, from searing embarrassment to the deepest love. She knew this thing with her family was far from over. It said so much to her that while Luke was doing his best to tear her down, Keith was right there building her back up.
Tilting her head back, she said, “Thank you for all of those nice things you said.”
“It was nothing less than the truth.”
He had no idea how his matter-of-fact statements made her heart swell. “You know, for someone who doesn’t say much, you have quite the way with words.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I’m quite envious of your ability to use the f-word with such flair.”
“The f-word?”
She laughed at his expression. “Another fact for the day...I’ve never actually said the f-word.”
His eyebrows rose. “Never?”
“Nope.”
“Well now you have to.”
She shook her head. “Uh-uh.”
“Oh, yes. I have to hear it.”
“Keith.”
“I’ll never stop pestering you until you say it.”
She sighed, seeing he meant it. “Fine.”
Still, she hesitated. Since Keith was staring at her expectantly, she mentally girded herself up for it and just got it over with.
“Fuck.”
Keith winced. “That sounded unnatural.”
“It felt unnatural.”
“Never do that again.”
“Agreed.” She ran her hand along his chest. “Now, maybe we should pick up where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted.”
“Why, Miss Ward, are you saying that you want to go fuck?”
She smiled as she pushed away from him and sauntered towards the bedroom. “No, Mr. Connors. I’m saying that I want to go fornicate.”
“Well, when you put it that way...”
Chapter Forty-One
“Where the hell did you find these guys, Arch? GQ?”
Keith’s muttered question echoed Lily’s thoughts as she joined Dane, Sydney, Christopher, and the band for their first meeting with The Void’s new security team. The hotel had granted them the use of one of their meeting rooms, so they were all gathering there after breakfast.
Standing on the far side of the room as they entered was a rather intimidating group of well-dressed people. Lily’s gaze fell first on the large, African-American male standing in front of the others, dominating the space. He wore pressed gray slacks and a black collared shirt that fit his muscular physique well enough to tell Lily it was custom tailored. He had neatly trimmed facial hair worn in a thin goatee. His head was completely bald, though he was young enough—no older than his late thirties if she had to guess—that it was likely by choice. When Lily saw the gun holstered near his shoulder, she instinctively edged closer to Dane. He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze.
The man strode forward to meet them. He was even larger than he had appeared from across the room, she realized as he stopped in front of them. He was at least three inches taller than Dane’s six-foot-one. In her flat sandals, she felt dwarfed beside him.
“Archer, I’m Frederick Reimer, chief of security for Ordinem Security Group,” he said in a surprisingly mellow voice. He extended a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Dane accepted the handshake. “Nice to meet you, too. Trey’s had nothing but positive things to say.”
Frederick smiled and looked at Trey standing near the door. “I should hope so since I trained him.” His gaze moved to Lily and his smile faded. “Miss Montgomery, I was very sorry to hear what happened yesterday. If we could have gotten here sooner, we would have.”
She hated that his sincere and compassionate words made her want to cry. She had spent most of the afternoon before crying. It should have been out of her system by now. The emotion made her feel weak and vulnerable, something she hadn’t felt since she was a child under her mother’s questionable care.
Dane shifted in a way that told her Frederick’s statement had affected him, too. Lily had never seen him as distraught as he had been after finding her in the spa’s clinic. Not wanting to bring all of that back up now, she took a deep breath and drew upon her emotional cocoon.
“Thank you,” she said. “But it wasn’t your fault.”
His deep brown eyes stayed steadily on hers. “Nonetheless, it shouldn’t have happened. Rest assured we’ll take every precaution to see it never does again.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, if you’ll all be seated, I’d like to introduce you to my team and explain our role here.”
Dane led Lily to the closest chair around the rectangular table. He sat beside her on her right. Sydney took the seat on her left and Keith sat beside her. The others filled the remainder of the chairs with Christopher ending up at one end while Frederick stood behind the chair at the far end. Lily noted that a charcoal gray suit jacket had been placed over the chair’s back and reasoned that it was Frederick’s. It had to be, as all of the other people on his team were wearing suits...including the one female.
“Ordinem specializes in protecting high-profile clients,” Frederick began. “We have offices in twenty-three major U.S. cities and seventeen internationally. Our security specialists are all highly trained with backgrounds in military, law enforcement, and private top-level security agencies. And yes, we’re all licensed to carry and use firearms.”
Lily placed a hand on her churning stomach. She couldn’t believe she was sitting there in need of people like this to protect her, but yesterday had made it all too clear that she did.
She never thought she could be as frightened as she had been when she realized she was bound to that table with her stalker in the room with her. Her very first thought was that he was going to kill her. Her second thought was that she was going to die with her last words to Dane being spoken in anger rather than love...and that had terrified her more than the idea of death itself.
The experience, as thankfully fleeting as it was, had helped mend things between her and Dane. She had been an idiot to walk away from him rather than talk things through, no matter how frustrated she had been. They loved each other. They could work anything out.
Of course, she’d had to remind herself of that after the incident in the spa when Dane tried his best to send her back to L.A. He had been so upset over her close call that he ha
dn’t wanted her anywhere near the tour. Lily had almost let him convince her he was right. After talking it through with him, she had come to a different conclusion.
The incident had been undeniably chilling, but Debra had entered the room within minutes of Lily waking up. Nothing had really happened outside of Lily feeling like she was going to have a heart attack. The guy hadn’t hurt her. In fact, as creepy as it was, he had murmured words to the effect that he would never let anything happen to her.
The more time she had to separate herself from her initial fear, the calmer she became.
“I can’t leave,” she had said to Dane. “House of Archer is built around the two of us now. If I leave—”
“Screw that. Your safety is far more important than a reality show.”
They had been sitting on the couch in the hotel room’s living area. She was pressed up against his side, their arms around each other. His shirt was soaked through from all of the tears she hadn’t been able to stop shedding. After his comment, she lifted her head so she could meet his gaze.
“I didn’t go through all of this only to dismiss House of Archer like it’s not important,” she said.
“Lily—”
“Just listen to me for a minute, okay? I’ve been your best friend for a long time. No one knows better than the two of us why this show is so important. Yes, you’ve had success as an actor. You’ve had success as a musician. You’ve got a strong fan base and plenty of money. But you and I both know that isn’t your end goal.”
When he started to speak, she shifted again, climbing onto his lap and placing her finger over his lips. “Dane, do you have the international sales you want for The Void?”
His brow furrowed. “No.”
“Do The Void’s songs consistently hit number one on the popular charts?”
“No.”
“Have you earned a single Grammy for any of the songs you’ve written or that the band has released?”
“You know I haven’t,” he muttered. “This isn’t making me feel any better.”
She had brushed her lips against his to ease the harshness of her point. “You know I’m asking you these things because those are goals we both set for you and The Void when you were forming the band. You’ve come so close to achieving them without House of Archer. Now you’ve already seen a glimmer of the potential the show has created just from the trailers and PR alone.”
In an effort to help take her mind off of things earlier, he had shared all of the good news that Christopher had revealed to the band during their lunch, including the exciting double-platinum status of “Welcome to Wonderland.” That news was really what had convinced her Dane was wrong to insist that she leave.
“All of those goals are not only within sight, they’re within our reach,” she had said, running her hand along the stubble lining his jaw. “There’s so much interest in the upcoming release of ‘Not Mine.’ The tour revenue is far exceeding the projections. I’m getting more and more traffic on social media from international sources. The press can’t seem to get enough of us.”
Dane sighed and pressed his forehead to hers. “None of that will mean shit to me if anything happens to you. Don’t you understand that?”
“Of course I do,” she said softly. “That’s why you’re already planning to use the money that you’re so insistent on spending on me to help make sure nothing does.”
And here she was.
Dane reached across the arms of their chairs to take the hand she had pressed to her stomach. He wove his fingers through hers. Her stress immediately lessened.
“We will be with you throughout the duration of this tour,” Frederick was saying, “after which we will re-evaluate the band’s needs. We’ll be your shadows, though we’re trained to remain unobtrusive unless the circumstances require otherwise.
“We’ve spent the past few days collecting and reviewing information on all of you. We did this to develop a comprehensive security strategy and to aid us in pairing each of you with the best security specialist to meet your individual needs. I’m going to introduce our team and then you’ll each meet separately with your assigned specialist. Mr. Phillips, I will have the pleasure of working with you.”
Xander’s mouth moved into a considering line. “All right.”
Frederick seemed amused by Xander’s less than enthusiastic response. He shifted to the four people standing behind him and waved the woman forth. Lily thought Aria would approve of the woman’s nicely tailored navy blue pants suit. It flattered her curves while looking smart and professional. The round-necked coral top she wore under the jacket set off the dark honey tone of her smooth skin. She wore her ebony hair pulled back in a sedate bun, drawing attention to her high cheekbones and exotic, almond-shaped brown eyes. In her high-heeled boots, she was nearly as tall as most of the men standing with her.
“This is Specialist Simone Morrow,” Frederick introduced. “She’ll be working with you, Ms. Foxx, and Ms. Dierx when the two of you are together.”
Lily glanced at Dane and saw his puzzled frown. She knew he had requested a female specialist to pair with Barney in her protection detail. He hadn’t wanted what had happened at the spa to be an issue again and he figured a female could remain closer to Lily at all times. Simone, however, was the only female specialist in the room.
Simone nodded and smiled at Noelle. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Foxx. Congratulations on your engagement.”
Noelle smiled back. “Thanks.”
Frederick next turned to a male with short, wavy, blonde hair, almost slumberous amber eyes, a dominant nose that suited the sharp planes of his striking face, and a full, sensual mouth. He defied the professional suit stereotype by wearing one the color of champagne paired with a patterned brown and gold colored shirt worn open at the neck. He looked more like a Malibu playboy than a bodyguard.
“Specialist Iván Velasquez will be working with you, Mr. Connors, and you, Ms. Ward,” Frederick said.
Lily saw Keith’s gaze darken over that news. He was surely coming to the same conclusion about Iván’s appearance that Lily had. He didn’t seem thrilled, especially when Iván immediately looked at Sydney and began speaking in rapid Spanish.
Sydney glanced at Keith before responding in the same language. Iván smiled, revealing straight, white teeth. His next words were spoken in French. Sydney laughed and replied in French.
“This’ll get old pretty damn quick,” Keith said dryly.
Iván turned to Keith and signed, Is this more to your liking?
Lily exchanged a humored look with Dane as Keith grumbled, “English is fine.”
“Very well,” Iván said in a voice lightly laced with a Spanish accent. “Pleased to meet you both.”
When Keith just stared back at him, Sydney said, “Nice to meet you, too.”
Frederick turned to the guy standing on his left. He was a few inches shorter than Frederick, as was everyone in the room aside from Xander. This guy had stylishly tousled brown hair that made his blue-green eyes all the more dramatic on a face that might have seemed pretty if not for the close-trimmed beard he wore. His suit and tie were nearly the same color as his hair.
“Mr. Strickland,” Frederick said to Sage, “Specialist Garrett Parker will be working with you.”
“Hi,” Sage greeted Garrett.
“A pleasure, Mr. Strickland,” Garrett replied in a smooth, southern drawl.
So that confirmed what Lily had suspected for a few minutes now. The last guy had to be her assigned security specialist. She had noticed that his assessing gaze had been on her and Dane from the moment they entered the room until now as he finally stepped forward.
This specialist was even more attractive than his companions. Lily thought that was because of the slight imperfections she detected that told her he’d seen some action. She gauged that he was no more than five to seven years older than her, but there was something in his hazel eyes that made him seem ageless. His strong jaw balanced the slightly c
rooked line of his nose and surprisingly soft curve of his lips. His dark blonde hair was cut short, though it was long enough to tell her that given another inch or two it would be full of curls. His indigo blue suit fit him well enough to show that he took excellent care of himself.
When he moved closer, Lily noticed the scar running along the left side of his jaw. Rather than detracting from his appearance, she thought it made him look fierce. His eyes moved to hers as that thought ran through her mind. She felt an unexpected kinship with him that she couldn’t explain.
“Specialist Ryan Westbrook will be working with you, Miss Montgomery. He’ll pair with Mr. Caldwell on your security detail,” Frederick explained, referring to Barney.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Dane asked.
“Of course,” Frederick said. His gaze swept the room. “At this point the team is going to escort each of you to your hotel rooms to meet with you privately. You can get to know each other a bit better while they review how things will work from here on out. Mr. Archer, if you and Miss Montgomery would wait here, we can talk in a moment.”
“I’ll catch up with you and Aria for lunch,” Lily said to Sydney as her friend rose.
“Sounds good. Hope this goes well.” Sydney looked over at Ryan and Frederick, then to Iván as he approached. “These guys are something else.”
Lily stayed seated as everyone filed out of the room. Dane released her hand and got to his feet. She started to rise.
“Miss Montgomery, why don’t you stay here while I speak with Mr. Archer?” Frederick suggested in a way that made it seem like it wasn’t a suggestion. “You and Specialist Westbrook can take that time to get to know one another.” When Dane looked like he was about to object, he went on, “Mr. Archer, follow me, please. We can talk in private.”
Lily sat back down and met Dane’s uncertain gaze. “It’s fine.”
He leaned down to give her a quick kiss. “All right. I’ll only be a minute.”
He gave Ryan a level look as he once again straightened. He seemed to debate whether or not to say something and then ultimately just turned to follow Frederick out of the room. After a brief exchange of words between Frederick, Barney, and Trey, they all exited the room, leaving Lily alone with Ryan.