by Sybil Bartel
It had been too much.
Which was why I hadn’t renewed my contract with my label.
As if reading my quiet was uneasiness in disguise, Ronan glanced down at me. “Almost to the elevators.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, keeping pace but unable to see past the wall of tall muscle surrounding me.
Shocking me, he gave me a short but cordial reply. “You’re welcome.”
It felt like the first civil exchange between us since he’d stepped on the airplane and back into my life.
Foolishly letting my guard down, I breathed in a lungful of hope as we all stepped onto the waiting elevator hotel security was holding for us.
The door quietly slid shut and, with it, the noise of the lobby receded. Even with all the men surrounding me and their different colognes, deodorants and laundry soaps, I could still single out Ronan. As little as a hint of his scent made me feel homesick for a life and a future I’d lost.
Mentally shaking myself out of despair, I asked what I needed to know. “Who was the man in the crowd?”
The first thing I noticed was Ronan’s jaw tic. Then Vance exhaled.
I looked between the two of them. “Tell me,” I demanded.
“He had a note,” Vance admitted. “But he isn’t our bomber. He was paid to deliver it to you personally in the guise of getting close enough to get an autograph.”
Anxiety prickled at my nerves. “What did it say?”
Ronan pulled out his cell phone, swept his thumb across the screen and showed me an image of a handwritten note.
Did you think 4500 miles would save you?
My blood ran cold.
A cell phone’s distinctive buzz with a text alert echoed in the sudden heavy silence of the elevator, and Tyler pulled his phone out. “We have company upstairs.”
“Who?” I demanded as Ronan slipped his phone back in his pocket.
“Leo Amherst, ma’am,” Tyler replied.
My stomach bottomed out.
SHE WENT PERFECTLY STILL WHEN she saw the image of the note, but when Tyler mentioned Amherst, every muscle in her body tensed.
I glanced down at her, but she kept her gaze locked straight ahead. “Is that a problem?”
Vance smirked. “Have you met him?”
“Yes.” Fuck Vance. Everyone at L&A had met Amherst. He was a complete prick. He owned the label Sanaa was with and I figured she knew him, but I wanted to know why she’d stiffened when his name was mentioned. Giving her my eyes even though she wouldn’t look at me, I asked again. “Do you prefer not to see him?”
Weary, she sighed. “I’ll speak with him.”
It wasn’t what I asked, but I had to take her reply as consent, because the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. “Tyler, Ty, patrol. Harm, you’re with me.”
Harm nodded, Ty grunted, and Tyler said, “Copy.”
Vance swiped the key card and opened the door to the suite before he glanced at me then addressed Sanaa. “Wait a moment, love. I’ll be right back.” He stepped inside.
Sanaa looked up at me. “Who paid the man to deliver the note?”
The young girl I’d met all those years ago had been shy and innocent, but she’d also been brave. Staring at an older version of her now, the innocence was gone, and I didn’t think shy was in her vocabulary, but her bravery had grown.
I didn’t want to admire her for it. I wanted to be fucking immune to her, and I wanted the hole in my chest to be gone. But despite everything, I was proud of her.
I told her the bulk of what we knew. “A woman paid him a hundred dollars to deliver the note to you.”
“A woman?” she asked, surprised.
Nodding once, I glanced at Harm.
Harm gave her the rest of what we knew. “She approached him as he came out of the hotel bar, said he would get another hundred if he got it in your hand, and that she’d be watching. He didn’t know her, couldn’t describe her past having brown hair, and she was gone when I had him show me where the woman said she’d be waiting for him after he delivered the envelope.”
Sanaa sighed. “So a dead end.”
“Not a dead end,” I clarified. “This tells us he’s here.”
She frowned. “How do we know it’s a he?” She looked at Harm. “You just said it was a woman who approached the man in the lobby.” She looked back at me. “This whole time we thought it was a man, but we don’t really know, do we?”
I gave her the easy answer, because I wasn’t going to ask what I needed to ask in front of Harm. “Statistically speaking, a woman is far less likely to build and detonate explosives in this scenario.”
“How do you know?” She crossed her arms protectively against herself.
“Being an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician in the Marines, you learn many things,” I evaded.
Her frown deepened. “So you actually built bombs? For what?”
“Usually neutralized them. Sometimes built them.” She didn’t need to know context.
Looking at me like I’d lost my mind, she dropped her guard, and a trace of her accent came out as she bled her words together. “You chose that job?”
It chose me. “I had an aptitude for it.” Steady hands, no emotion, I didn’t crack under pressure. In fact, the two times in my life I’d lost my shit, she was involved.
The door to the suite opened, and Vance stuck his head out. “All clear.” Dropping his voice, he aimed his next words at Sanaa. “Luna and Amherst are in the lounge.”
She inhaled, and the mask of her fame was back. “Very well.”
Vance nodded once and stepped back, opening the door wide.
I glanced at Harm as Sanaa walked in. “Did you call Luna?”
“No,” Harm replied only loud enough for me to hear. “Texted him the same information I gave you.”
Not fucking happy I didn’t know what was up, I followed Sanaa into the suite.
Leo Amherst stood from the couch and smiled like a starstruck prick as he held his arms out. “Sanaa, babe, you look amazing. Come here, gorgeous.”
Hesitating, looking reluctant as hell, she stepped into his embrace.
“So good to see you,” Amherst gushed, as one of his hands skimmed over her ass.
I palmed my piece.
Caressing her arm, Amherst kept fucking touching her. “You look even better than the last time I saw you. The music videos don’t do you justice, sweetheart.”
Hitting me like an IED blast, realizing a decade too damn late the repercussions my actions had set in motion for her all those years ago, my finger curled around the trigger.
“Brother,” Harm whispered as Luna’s gaze cut from hand to my eyes.
Hating myself, wanting to kill Amherst, I ignored Harm and glared at Amherst. “Why are you here?”
Dropping the performance for his protégé, Amherst eyed me over her shoulder. “I could ask the same of you.” He glanced at my hand on my Sig.
My finger didn’t fucking move. “Protection detail.”
The asshole chuckled. “What a coincidentally small world.” Amherst’s gaze cut to Vance. “And let me guess, you’ve set your sights higher now.” He suggestively rubbed Sanaa’s arm.
My nostrils flared.
“Let it play out,” Harm warned under his breath.
I kept my finger on the trigger.
Vance smiled mildly at Amherst. “I work for Miss Narine, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“As?” Amherst wasn’t asking, he was throwing down a challenge.
Vance didn’t bite. “As whatever she needs.”
Amherst fake laughed again. “We’ll see about that.” Turning his attention back to Sanaa, gripping her hand tight, he gave her a salacious smile. “Your team is pretty up in arms. You left them high and dry in London. Your manager has been calling me daily, but no worries. I’m here to take you back. I wouldn’t want you to miss your next concert.”
Finally pulling out of his grip, Sanaa stepped back. “Last I checked, Leo,
I do still have the freedom to go where I please when I’m not performing.”
I shifted my finger off the trigger.
Amherst smiled wide. “You always were a handful.” Glancing at Luna, he nodded. “You and your men can give us the room.”
“We could,” Luna agreed, “but we won’t.”
Instant frustration, like an insolent child, clouded Amherst’s expression. “I have the right to speak to Sanaa in private.”
“You’re right, you do,” Luna seemingly acquiesced. “If Miss Narine wishes it.”
“Not happening,” I warned.
Sanaa waved her hand through the air. “All of you stop. Leo, I’m here because I want to be. It’s as simple as that. No need to worry, I’ll make the last concert.”
Amherst’s expression darkened. “Yes, about that. Your contract—”
“My contract?” Sanaa spit the offending word out. “I’ve more than fulfilled every contract you strong-armed me into signing, and the concert next week is the last of my obligations to you. My lawyers have already expressly explained that to you and your team. My time with Trinity Media is at a close, as is this conversation. Thank you for coming, but you needn’t have bothered. Vance will show you out.” She turned toward the short hall off the main area of the large suite that led to the bedrooms.
“I know what’s going on,” Amherst blurted.
Sanaa spun. “Yes, and what’s that, Leo? What do you think you know?”
Leo glanced around the room.
“Go ahead,” Sanaa taunted. “Say it.”
Amherst squared his shoulders and pitched his voice low like he had any kind of authority. “You’re being threatened.”
“Yes, I am.” Sanaa crossed her arms.
“I’ll handle it,” Amherst blustered.
Sanaa’s expression turned mild, and her voice softened. “And how would you propose to do that?”
I saw the change in her tone for what it was.
Amherst didn’t. The fucking prick demeaned her again. “You let me worry about that, babe.”
“Mm-hm. So you’re going to step in now, three months late, and do what everyone else couldn’t? When neither my manager nor security team, both of which you employ I might add, were capable of stopping it?”
“I’m here now, and I’m prepared to take you back myself and sort this out.” Amherst kept fucking talking. “We have security services and legal teams for a reason. Now is not the time to go off on your own, half-cocked, and try to solve this yourself, Sanaa. You have no experience in dealing with these kinds of threats.”
Sanaa gave the prick the withering look he deserved. “Don’t I?” she asked calmly.
Amherst, asshole that he was, opened his mouth to respond.
Sanaa held a hand up. “Before you answer that, let me remind you that I was there ten years ago when you threatened to invalidate my contract if I didn’t do exactly what you wanted. So before you embarrass yourself any further, Leo, I suggest you leave. You’ll get your last concert out of me. You’ll also hear from my attorneys regarding the cost of the private security I had to hire because the security services you provided failed to do their job.”
Amherst went nuclear. “Now listen here—”
Luna and I flanked the asshole.
“Conversation’s over,” Luna warned, beating me to the punch.
Amherst sneered at him in disgust. “You work for me.”
“I also work for Miss Narine, and my sole job at the moment is her safety.” Luna leveled him with one last warning look. “No matter where the threat comes from.”
“Door’s behind you,” I added.
Amherst spun on me. “You’ll regret this.” Turning back to Luna, he pointed a finger at his chest. “And you’ll regret it more. I’m terminating my services with you.”
Luna didn’t even blink. “As you wish.” His hand on his piece, he nodded toward the door. “I’ll remove all of your protection details from my schedule effective immediately.” He glanced at Harm. “Show him out.”
THE BURLY-LOOKING BODYGUARD FOLLOWED LEO to the door. Leo tried to intimidate me with a look, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of cowering.
When he couldn’t threaten me, Leo threw a glare at Vance. “We’re going to talk about this.”
“Are we?” Vance gave his signature mild smile that said he had the upper hand. For all of our sakes, I prayed that he did.
“Yes,” Leo ground out right before Harm ushered him out the door.
I turned toward André. “I do not like being blindsided, Mr. Luna. I should’ve been consulted before he was allowed into my suite.”
André nodded. “Understood. It won’t happen again. In my defense, he was here when I came up. He said he saw the news, his driver brought him, and he talked his way past hotel security to the top floor.”
Tension swirling around me like the suffocating smoke from a fire, I tried to be reasonable. “Thank you for explaining. I’m sorry you lost his business.”
“I’m not,” he clipped. “Shall we discuss the latest note?”
Nerves added to the tension, and I glanced at Vance.
“Right.” Vance pulled his phone out. “I’ve had hotel security forward me the footage of the security feeds from the front of the building going back until daybreak this morning, and I saw nothing. Luna, I’ll forward them to you so you can double-check.” He glanced at Harm. “Did we get any other information out of the courier before we cut him loose?”
Harm shook his head.
“There you have it.” After swiping his thumbs across the screen a few times, Vance slipped his phone back in his pocket. “We have nothing more to go on, but we do know he’s here, has a female accomplice and the handwriting matches the previous notes.”
“Are you going to run the note for prints?” André asked Vance.
Vance shook his head. “No point. We ran all the other notes and came up empty. We may get a hit on the female accomplice, but I suspect she was paid just like the courier in the lobby.”
“Concur,” Luna agreed. “I’m checking traffic cams and a security camera across the street to see if I can get a lead on the meet with the courier and at least verify his story, but so far nothing.”
Ronan eyed Vance. “I want to know how the woman knew when to approach the man in the bar. The timing was too close to be coincidental. She knew when Sanaa would appear in the lobby.”
“I’m not sure that matters other than to indicate our bomber had eyes on the lobby and is now presumably here or en route.” Vance glanced at Harm. “Did the courier say when he was approached?”
Harm nodded. “Right before we intercepted him. He said he was walking out of the bar in the lobby when the woman handed him the sealed envelope and cash.”
“So no security cameras in the bar would have picked her up.” Vance rubbed his hand over his chin. “Okay, I’m still less concerned with the timing on that and focused more on the fact that we have movement and he employed a courier, which is both risky and sloppy and exactly the kind of mistake that will help us catch him.” Vance glanced at me. “Don’t worry, we’re getting closer. For now, you’re safe, but I am going to speak with hotel security about letting Amherst up here.” He glanced at Luna. “Are you staying?”
“No, but I’ll be close,” André answered Vance before looking at me. “Miss Narine, I highly recommend we add a couple more of my men for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. You won’t notice they’re here, but it will give us coverage on the parking garage and loading dock at the back of the hotel. Those access points are the weakest in your current security plan, along with food and maid service.”
My heart already racing, the thought of a maid or a room service delivery bringing a bomb up here or, worse, detonating en route made my stomach heave. “Fine,” I agreed.
“I’ll make it happen. Ronan will keep you apprised of any updates.” With a curt nod, André headed to the door.
Vance followed. “Back
in a few, love.”
The door shut behind them, and Harm blended into the wallpaper, but Ronan, he stared at me.
Anxiety pinging around my body like pinpricks all over my skin, I crossed my arms tighter against the chill of the air conditioning. “What?”
His eyes never leaving mine, Ronan addressed the silent bodyguard. “Harm, post outside.”
Without a word, the silent man let himself out of the suite.
Tension almost immediately closed in around us as I was left standing next to the man I had betrayed. “I’m not in the mood to talk.”
“What are you doing?” he demanded, ignoring my assertion.
“Trying not to get blown up,” I snapped. “What the hell does it look like I’m doing?” Suddenly feeling more intimate than the private jet, this suite was too small for the both of us.
“It looks like you’re hiding.”
I couldn’t swallow past the sudden lump in my throat. “There’s a bomber after me. Of course I’m hiding.” Hoping he couldn’t see my lies, I turned toward the glass sliders overlooking the turquoise ocean I’d missed so much. With strong winds kicking at the coast, the waves were higher than usual.
Smelling like the view I was staring at, Ronan stepped next to me. “Vance isn’t throwing all of Trefor’s resources at this. You won’t let Luna use all of his. The gamble of coming here was beyond a calculated risk, and you’re not asking the most important question.”
I should’ve told him what we knew.
I couldn’t even remember a good reason now why I hadn’t, except Vance said not to.
Nothing to say, I stared at the roiling waves, and for one quiet, immeasurable moment, the man I wanted to spend forever with stood next to me as if he’d always been there.
And he had been. In my heart.
I wanted to tell him that. I wanted to tell him so many things. But I couldn’t undo the one thing he’d made me promise more than fourteen years ago.
The memory so strong, tears choked the words in the back of my throat. “Do you remember what you said to me the morning of my first day of high school when I told you I was nervous?”