The elevator doors opened. Lonnie took her hand and pulled her out and off to the side before tucking her against his chest. “I will not let anything happen to you. We already made arrangements for you to have extra protection for as long as you are on tour with us. I’ve made it my personal mission to be your security guard, so you are stuck with me, whether or not you like it.”
After a moment, Lonnie pulled back and looked down at her. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and that’s fine. But I need to know what this guy looks like. Do you have a picture?”
Claire shook her head. “I ditched my phone and got a new one so he couldn’t track me.”
“Good girl. Does he have social media?”
She nodded and pulled her phone out, searched for him, and found Charles’s social media page. The profile photo was a smiling picture of the two of them. What you couldn’t see was that her arms had fingerprint bruises from when he had roughly jerked her around that morning for forgetting to make him coffee.
Lonnie took a photo of her screen with his own cell phone before typing a message. “I’m sending this to the rest of the security team so they can keep an eye out.”
After he deposited his phone back into his pocket, he bent down so they were eye-to-eye. “I’m proud of you for leaving and for coming here. Despite the public eye, this might just be the safest place for you. He won’t be able to get to you easily. But I honestly hope he tries. I could teach him a few manners.”
“Get in line.”
Claire and Lonnie looked over to find Jake standing beside them. His hair was mussed as if he had run his hands through it repeatedly, and his eyes were bloodshot, like he hadn’t slept in days.
Claire’s stomach did a flip-flop. Even exhausted, he looked good.
Lonnie straightened up and clapped Jake on the back with one large hand before moving them along the hallway to the banquet room.
“If he shows up here, I suspect there will be a lot of us in line ready to have a turn at him,” Lonnie said.
Tears sprang to Claire’s eyes. She should have come here in the beginning. She knew it then, and she knew it now. If she had, she would have saved herself several years of pain. But the man standing beside her, scooping eggs onto a plate from the buffettables set up around the perimeter of the room, was one of the main reasons she hadn’t come. Claire hadn’t thought she could face Jake again, not while fleeing another man.
“Ben still asleep?”
Claire met Jake’s eyes from across the table where they had both sat to eat their breakfast. “Yes. I didn’t want to wake him.”
The three of them ate in silence until Lonnie stood up and excused himself, meeting another security member across the room to discuss something.
Claire could feel Jake’s eyes on her, but she kept them focused on her plate. He reached across the table and his fingertips brushed the back of her hand. Electricity shot through her and memories of them flooded her mind.
“Claire,” he said softly. “Can we talk later?”
She pulled in a shaky breath before meeting his eyes.
“Okay.”
Ben burst into the banquet room at that moment and frantically looked around. Lonnie pointed toward their table, and Ben weaved his way to them before sitting next to Claire.
“Fuck, Claire. You scared me half to death. I thought you left.”
His eyes were wild, and his hair stood on end. The clothing he wore was wrinkled, and guilt immediately came over her.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t really eaten in a few days, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
She didn’t miss the look Ben and Jake exchanged.
Ben let out a breath and scrubbed his face. “It’s okay. Just wake me up next time. Or leave a note.”
“Okay,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Ben wrapped an arm around her middle and squeezed her to his side. She gasped in pain and pulled away, tears springing to her eyes. He held his hands up.
“Are you okay?”
She wrapped her arms lightly around herself and took a deep breath. Pain radiated through her body, and she squeezed her eyes shut to will the tears back.
