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She shook her head, causing her long hair to swish and slide along her back. “No, I just need to get away for a little while. And I trust you. Please.”
He searched her face, as if seeking more definitive answers. He must have seen something that reassured him, because his own worried expression eased right before he answered her.
“Okay,” he agreed, and clasped her hand in his.
Raevynn turned back toward Glen, who was watching the two of them intently. She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin as she approached her personal bodyguard.
“I’m leaving with Collin,” she told him.
Glen’s expression turned steely. “No, you’re not.”
She understood he was just doing his job, but she was his boss and Raevynn wasn’t backing down. “Yes, I am.”
The other man’s jaw clenched as he glared from her to Collin and back again. “Where is he taking you?” he demanded.
“It doesn’t matter.” At this point, she didn’t want anyone to know where she was until she was ready to be found.
“Jesus Christ, Raevynn,” Glen said in a low, harsh tone of voice. “You can’t just leave with someone I don’t know personally and haven’t had the chance to do a security check on.”
“I know him. Extremely well. This is Collin Donovan,” she said, even knowing that piece of information would be relayed to her mother, who would then promptly flip out when she discovered who her daughter was with. “We grew up together, right next door to one another, and his sister was my best friend.”
Glen scrubbed a hand along his jaw and shook his head. “What the hell am I going to tell your mother?”
“That I’m on a much-needed and overdue vacation,” she said pointedly, because Glen was well aware of how Joyce constantly pus
hed her and that she hadn’t had any kind of real reprieve in years. “That I need time away from everyone and everything to think and make some decisions.”
The other man groaned, clearly not happy with her choice. “Your mother is going to fucking come unglued and probably fire my ass for letting you out of my sight.”
“Glen, you work for me, not my mother,” she reminded him, kindly but firmly. “I pay your salary, and trust me when I say nothing is going to happen to your job. In fact, let me go without a fuss and there will be a very nice bonus for you when I get back.” She gave him one of her sweet smiles that usually softened the other man, but not this time.
Glen returned his hard, intimidating stare to Collin, whose silent support beside her never wavered. He lightly brushed his thumb over the back of her hand, letting her know he was completely on her side. That whatever choice she made, he was there for her.
“I don’t agree with this,” her bodyguard grumbled.
“You don’t have to.” Normally, Raevynn would have caved under the pressure to “do the right thing,” but right now, the best thing she could do for her mental and emotional health was to step away from this stifling environment, and her mother, for a short while.
“I’m a twenty-four-year-old adult. Not a child who needs constant supervision,” she said, just in case he needed to be reminded of that fact. “And just for the record, I’m leaving of my own free will. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” he replied, albeit reluctantly, then withdrew her cell phone from the inside pocket in his suit jacket, where he kept it for her during performances. “Here, take your phone.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want it. I don’t need it.” She wasn’t stupid and knew there was a tracking device on the phone, which defeated her purpose of running away. “When I’m ready to come back, I’ll get ahold of you or my mother.”
He swore beneath his breath and seemingly realized he’d lost all aspects of this battle with Raevynn. He then glared at Collin as if he were the enemy. “If you so much as hurt even a fucking hair on her head, I will hunt you down and string you up by the balls. Got it?”
Collin winced at Glen’s harsh words but didn’t back off. “Yes, sir.”
“Jesus, Glen,” Raevynn admonished the other man.
“It needed to be said,” her bodyguard replied without remorse. “I also get that you need to do this, and why, but I don’t know this guy and I can’t fucking believe I’m letting you walk out with him. Why can’t you just book a trip to the Bahamas or Hawaii for a sabbatical, like normal celebrities?”
She laughed, but the sound lacked any real humor. “Because you and I both know my mother would insist on being there, and it would be all work in a paradise setting and zero relaxation, which defeats the purpose of a vacation.”
Beside her, Collin cleared his throat, drawing Glen’s attention back to him. “I know it’s a small reassurance that requires you to have some blind faith in me, but I promise you I’ll keep her safe.”
Glen pointed a finger at him. “You damn well better.”
Raevynn smiled, then closed the distance between herself and her bodyguard to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Glen. This means everything to me.”
