She pressed her forehead to her knees. “That sounds really good.”
“Don’t cry, Izzy. Please don’t cry.”
“Allergies,” she said with a sniff.
“Sudden onset?” He knew full well that she didn’t have them, but he played along anyway.
“Damn trees everywhere.” She dabbed her eyes with the cuff of his shirt. “I’m fine. I’m just tired.”
“Go back to bed.”
“Sarah is demanding a little meeting.”
“She works for you, not the other way around, you know.”
“Tell her that.”
“I will.”
“No.” She huffed out a watery laugh. “She needs to know what happened.”
“So do I.”
“I told you already.”
“No, you told me the sanitized version. I got the report from the security people and you failed to add a few details.”
She thunked her head back on her knees. “What were you going to do from Denver?”
“Do I really need to answer that? All I gotta say is flowers.”
“I knew that would bite me on the ass. Just knew it.”
“I get it. I do.” His voice was just as weary as hers. “That’s why Sarah is staying. I don’t want to hear it. Even if you went to stay with Adam and Nic, I’d still have her there. Now more than ever.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you.”
She hated the idea of someone there with her all the time, but there was a small part of her that was relieved. “What do you want me to do about the fence?”
“I got someone through Whole Home to take care of it. They’ll be out there this afternoon.”
“Okay. I could have taken care of it.”
“I know you could have. It was just easier.”
“How did the radio show go?”
“Fine. I did ‘Topas Eyes’ acoustically. It was good. I think I might try it out at the show tonight that way.”
“Yeah?” The song hurt to listen to. There was a lot of their pain in the words, but there was good too. “I guess I’ll have to go look it up on their radio website.”
“I guess you do.”
“Logan?”
“Izzy?”
She smiled. “I gotta go.”
“Yeah, me too. I’ll see you in a few days.”
“I’m heading out to the Berkshires for an auction today, but I’ll be back tonight. So if I can’t text it’s because I’m in the mountains.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“I love you.”
“Ah, babe. I never get tired of hearing that.”
“Have a good show. I’ll see you in two days.”
“Two days. A fucking eternity.”
She laughed. “Go away. I’m saying goodbye.”
“I’m going.”
“Hang up.”
“If he says, ‘no, you hang up’, then I’m going to puke,” Sarah said from outside her door. “We’re wasting daylight, slug. Let’s go.”
Logan whistled. “Jesus, you weren’t kidding.”
“The joy of my life. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Iz.”
She stood up. And because Sarah didn’t know that she was going to be road-tripping today, she went to take a shower to save time. Her bodyguard could wait twenty minutes. No matter what she said.
By the time she went downstairs, it was closer to eleven. “Sorry. I have a work thing. I had to get ready.”
“Then we’ll talk in the car.”
“Sounds good.” Bella moved to the skinny cabinet above her Keurig and pulled down a travel mug. “I have to go to the Berkshires.”
“More driving. Yay.”
“Do we get a discount on the sass or is it just a perk?”
“Definitely a perk.”
“I like you better this way.” Bella said and grabbed her caramel creamer from the fridge. “And you’ll fit in better.”
“Is that right?”
“I was thinking about this in the shower.”
“Should I be worried that you were thinking about me in the shower? That definitely isn’t part of the bodyguard package.”
Bella snickered. “Nice. Good one, but no. This is a very small town. If they knew I had a bodyguard following me around, people would talk.”
“Okay.” She extended the a in exasperation.
“Where are you from?”
“Why?”
“I figure you can be my cousin. Small towns are nosy. Keep it simple, right?”
Sarah shrugged. “I’ve had worse covers.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I’m from Maryland.”
“Excellent. Sarah Webster from Maryland, cousin on my mom’s side. You’re on summer vacation—you teach college.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re the boss.”
“I am. Sort of.” Bella snapped the top on her thermos. “Want one?”
“I’m good. Now, I need details. All of them.”
“You want to drive—”
“I always drive.”
Bella put up a hand. “Lucky for you, I’m used to being a passenger. Logan doesn’t ever let me drive.”
“He’s a control freak. This doesn’t shock me.”
“Profiling my boyfriend?”
“Long ago, princess.”
“Bella.”
Sarah gave her a side-eye and flipped the tail of her braid over her shoulder and headed for the massive black Escalade. “Princess.”
Bella tipped her head back. It was going to be two very long days. She climbed in and buckled up. She gave Sarah the address and they started down the winding drive.
“All right. Spill.”
“What do you need to know?”
“Oh, I don’t know…why a deer was eviscerated and left for four huge coyotes to mangle?”
“God.” Bella glanced out the window.
“So you didn’t look at the pictures?”
“No, they didn’t show them to me. Just said they took them for insurance purposes and Whole Home —the security company—said they had a copy for us for insurance.”
“Yeah, well I got a look at the pictures. It ain’t pretty. And you’re sure it’s this Aimee woman? Logan doesn’t have any other crazies in the closets?”
“Not that he’s mentioned. He has a few overzealous fans, but none that have ever been as unbalanced as Aimee.”
“Obviously she didn’t do the handiwork herself. That was a fourteen point buck. Big. And the property damage was pretty extensive.” Sarah pulled onto the highway and boosted the air conditioning.
“Someone’s coming out this afternoon to start on it.”
“Good. I want that perimeter tight again. Logan sent me an email to acquisition some upgraded cameras for the property.”
Bella sighed. “Perfect. More eyes.”
“It’s not as invasive as you think. Being involved with a man of means will always include security. You’ll have to get used to it, or make some decisions.”
She glanced out the tinted window. “I hate feeling like I can’t go out on my own anymore. And I hate that she’s got so much money that she can work around any police investigation. Nothing ever ties back to her. Including this latest stunt.”
“No. It really doesn’t. Do you know if there was a trigger? She usually just follows Logan around.”
“It’s getting harder to get to Logan. His tour is crazy right now. It doesn’t matter how rich you are, it’s hard to get tickets. And with the restraining order, she can’t get backstage as easily.”
“Well, that’ll do it. This was probably a tantrum.”
“That’s why you’re here. We don’t know if she knows about us being back together yet.”
“If she doesn’t, she will soon. There’s no reason for anyone to be at the house if Logan’s out on tour.”
One of the reasons she’d had lead in her gut since last night. Would things get worse now? Festival pla
nning had been keeping her busy, but she couldn’t put her life on hold for this. Was she really supposed to live the rest of her life with a bodyguard?
Silence descended on the car for the next hour of the ride. Bella used the time to check emails and make a few calls before they got to the winding roads that took them over the border from New York to Massachusetts.
The prettier the landscape, the crappier her signal became, so she sat back and enjoyed the view.
“Have you thought about how you’ll handle the press this time?”
Sarah’s question was a valid one. With the festival gearing up already, she would have to make some decisions. They weren’t exactly hiding their relationship, but they sure as hell weren’t shouting it from the rooftops.
Logan deflected any personal questions that came his way. He blamed the tour for having no time for romance. And because that had been his answer for the last year, the press wasn’t exactly suspicious.
But again, that left her the dirty little secret.
“We’ve been trying to keep things low key.”
“Gotcha.”
Bella laced her fingers tight. “We figured it was smarter.”
“Absolutely. Good way to play it.”
There was no censure in there, but dammit she felt it anyway. When he came home it was like they couldn’t imagine going outside of their little bubble. They didn’t want to talk about Aimee, or the tour, or how many months they still had to do this long distance thing.
All they wanted was each other.
And three days went by so damn fast. Naked Logan was a helluva lot more exciting than facing the house-sized elephant in the room.
“Dammit.”
“Look, princess, there’s nothing wrong with playing ostrich as long as you realize you’re choking on sand.”
Maybe she liked the taste of sand, dammit. She felt along the side for the reclining dials. With all the extras in the SUV, there were plenty to use. “Wake me when we get close.”
Sarah turned on the radio and lowered the volume. “You got it.”
Logan’s voice filled the car and she turned her face toward the window.
“Want me to change it?”
“No, leave it,” she whispered.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Logan climbed into the black SUV waiting on the tarmac. He’d offered their pilot a ridiculous bonus to fly him on the overnight so he could get as much time in with Izzy as possible. A private jet was a necessity for their tour, but he’d been logging a fuckton of hours in the sky with Michael, and the jet fuel alone could probably put a kid through two years of college. But it was worth it to see Bella twice a month.
It was getting harder to do. Management wanted to add dates to the tour, but his voice was the best it had been in years because of the few days off every other week, so he’d been able to decline without too much hassle. Instead of killing the momentum, it just made the tickets that much harder to acquire and the buzz was insane.
Zeke had been riding the social media train and was enjoying some well deserved attention. Logan had been avoiding it as much as possible. After-show VIP’s kept him busy in every city, which in turn had decreased the Aimee sightings.
He’d ridden that high for weeks now, so of course it was going to come back around and bite him in the ass.That was just how his life went. Fighting that would only bring headaches and a pissy mood for when he saw Izzy.
That wasn’t going to happen.
He couldn’t let her see how freaked out he was. It wouldn’t help matters at all, and would just feed the anxiety he heard in Izzy’s voice. He had to shake off the sins and the guilt and keep things positive.
The SUV made the sharp incline to his property. As they rounded the bend to the gate, he sat forward. They’d made good time, and Frankie, his driver, could make this trip in his sleep.
Logan grabbed his weekender and slid out. “Thanks. I’ll see you in—”
“Three days. You got it, boss. Hug Miss Bella for me.”
“You got it.” Logan watched the SUV clear the gate. Dawn was creeping over the mountains, leaving a lemony-pink wash across the sky. His head throbbed with fatigue and the worry that had been eating his gut for the last few days. Just a few more steps and he’d see her. But first he wanted a look at the back. He bypassed security with his code, dropped his bag on the patio, and headed for the far corner of the property. He hopped the half wall that bordered his pool and hiked up the incline to a copse of trees that hid the fence work. The new section of fence was obvious compared to the rest, but it blended nicely. The only proof that anything had happened was the mulched and turned earth.
The huge square of fresh hay and mulch made his stomach twist. A lot of damn blood. He turned to the house and had a direct line of sight into the backyard. Tinted windows afforded them some privacy, but how many times had they opened the back doors for a cross breeze? Anyone could watch them. How many times had he found reporters skulking around the same exact area?
He raked his fingers through his hair and jogged back across the two acres to his patio. He scooped up his bag on the way by and swiped through the back door.
Sarah stood in the middle of the living room, her arms crossed. “Get a good look?”
“Nice to see you too, Sarah.”
“You could have given me a head’s up.”
It was then that Logan noticed the gun tucked under her arm. The harsh reality of the situation jarred him. “You think that’s necessary?”
“When I saw the deer eviscerated? Yeah. That was no prank.”
Logan set his bag down gently and shoved his hands into his cargo pockets. “Do you think I need more security?”
“No. Right now everyone just needs to be more mindful.” She moved over to a skinny cabinet by the fridge and tucked the gun inside.
“Does Izzy know you have that?”
“Does Izzy know what?” Isabella stood in the hallway.
Logan crossed to her. “Hey.”
Izzy moved out of his reach and went for the cabinet. She opened the door and stared. “This is where we’re at now? Guns?” She slammed the door closed. “I don’t want that in my house.”
“Just exactly what do you think I do, princess?” Sarah asked.
“Security.”
“And what? You think that doesn’t include a weapon for protection?”
“We don’t need that.”
Sarah spun around. “Really? What exactly would you call that action the other night? The actions of a woman just leaving love letters? She threatened to kill you, Bella. Murder, death, kill. End your life. Do you think she’s going to do it with frills and cotton candy or something? Or maybe a paper cut with that pretty card stock she likes?”
Isabella’s face went white.
“Miss Webster,” Logan admonished.
“No, both of you need to hear this. Could that little deer stunt just be a stunt? Sure. Absolutely.” She stalked into the middle of the kitchen. “But just who do you think she—unless of course you have more than one person that wants to see your little girlfriend hurt or scared—has hired to do that? A huge buck hunted down and killed, off-season mind you, then strung up on the edge of a very well-lit, very secure property during a widely publicized coyote watch warning?”
Logan stood up taller, straightening his shoulders.
“Don’t posture at me, I’ve worked with men that have seen years of combat and training. Whatever alpha dog you think you might be, you might want to re-assess that delusional idea. I’m here to do a job. Will that job require me to use my gun? I sure hope not. But I’m not going to stay out here in the middle of nowhere without some protection.”
Unsure what else to do, Logan nodded.
“Good. Now, I’m going back up to sleep a few more hours.” She brushed by Izzy and disappeared.
Logan crossed to Izzy but she scooted by him and went to the living room. He tipped his head back with a sigh. Not exactly the welcome home he was envision
ing. “Izzy.”
She turned around with wide eyes, her lower lip trembling. “I’ve been living here because you asked me to. To be safe. And I haven’t minded—mostly. I miss my apartment, but I like having your stuff around me when you’re gone.”
Logan crowded in on her, gripping her hands. “Babe. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“That’s not it. I’m here away from people, my friends…I can work up here, sure. But I’m here all alone while you’re out there living like there’s no difference.” She pulled away from him and moved to the fireplace.
Helpless, he tucked his hands under his arms. “Do you want to go back into town? Sarah can stay with you—”
“I feel like I’m living at home again, Logan. Don’t go there, Isabella. Don’t associate with those people, Isabella. You must act with decorum, Isabella. What would people think, Isabella?” She turned and walked toward him. “People don’t understand what this is in town. All they see is me going up here and you’re not home. Like I’m some kept woman.”
“God, no.”
“Why would they think different? I know we can’t talk about it because heaven fucking forbid a reporter figure out that we’re dating—or whatever the fuck this is. Can’t let that dirty little secret out.”
“It’s just for your safet—”
“Yeah, my safety. Lock her up at the King cabin and take her down off the shelf when you can come back into town. Then I get played with, romanced a little, the occasional present to appease me.”
The slap of her anger knocked him back a step. “I thought we were doing okay. You’re not my mistress, Izzy. When did I ever treat you like you were?”
“You don’t, Logan.” She moved toward him and laid a shaking hand on his forearm. “But some days I feel like it. Intellectually, I get it. Taking precautions means we can be together, but no one knows about me. I can’t really talk about us either. How can I be the happiest I’ve ever been and still be miserable?”
His chest ached and his bones felt frozen even with the early morning sun shining behind her. “I can’t let you get hurt. Not because of me.”
“She has to know about me now.”
“How can she know it’s you? Maybe she would just think it was someone staying at my place.” Just the thought of Aimee knowing Izzy was here, alone, was enough to make his gut seize.
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