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The rhythm got into her. She swayed with the words and threw herself into her voice inflection to evoke the emotions of the story she was telling to her audience.
When the song ended, the three heavy drumbeats exploded behind her, and Avalynn moved into the next song, an upbeat tune that hit number one on the day the album dropped.
The crowd screamed. Encouraged, she lost herself in her music. Each stomp of her boots as she crossed the stage punctuated that she wouldnotbe cowed by the person attempting to knock her down. She would stand up, stand tall.
All of a sudden, a microphone stand fell over on stage right. She whirled at the sound in time to see two big men lunging at a third guy who was scrambling across the floor. He never made it to his feet before Julius’s men hauled him away.
Shaken, she missed a line of her song and went straight to the chorus, which messed up her band. They recovered quickly, but she didn’t.
Her heart was thundering. She darted a look at the side of the stage where they’d dragged that guy off. Who was he? Could it be her stalker? The one on the tape? The one who drugged her to have his way with her?
She swung around and headed to the opposite end of the stage. Her gaze landed on Julius’s back. What was going on? Heneverfaced away from her.
Then she saw his arm jerk back and forth.
Her blood ran cold. Her voice…was she even singing anymore?
Her bodyguard was beating someone up. He shook the man like a rag doll and then another guy who she guessed to be his brother by their similar build, joined him.
“Avalynn! Over here!”
The male voice made her spin. Several feet away from her was yet another guy. How were they getting past security?
His hand moved toward his fly.
Oh god. No.
He unzipped and began lowering his jeans. “Why don’t you try some of this!”
The drummer hit the kick drum with the hardest beat she’d ever heard. It boomed out, drowning the man’s words until three other security guards employed by the stadium grabbed him and dragged him off.
Tears burned in her throat. But she never cried—ever. How those three men had made the same attempt to reach her within only a few minutes stunned her. If she didn’t need to keep singing, she’d be speechless.
The ingrained memory of her song lineup carried her through several more until the end of the set. When it was time for a break, she couldn’t get off that stage fast enough. She looked up and saw Julius waiting for her. She took one step and then another. Quickening her pace, she reached him in a few strides and his arm banded around her.
She ducked her head against any photographers that might be lurking and allowed her bodyguard to lead her away.
“I got you. This way.” His deep voice broke over her, making her mind reconnect with what was happening inside her body. She was shaking.
“Here.” Julius led her to a door. Her manager whipped it open. She started to follow Avalynn, but he grabbed the door out of Heidi’s hand and shut it in her face.
Avalynn didn’t know what to do anymore. She fisted her hands, battling a heavy case of the shakes.
Julius’s dark eyes loomed in front of her face. The familiar touch of his hand on her spine brought her back to reality.
“What in the world happened out there? The fans were going crazy! Three men tried to jump onstage with me!”
His jaw was tight. “There were more than that.”
“More!”
“It’s all right, Avalynn. We stopped them, and in ten minutes the concert will go on. You will be on that stage finishing out the night.”
She started to shake her head that no, she couldn’t do that. She wanted to go home to her small bungalow in Texas and her comfy bed. The only place she could hide from the world and process her downward slide.
“Maybe we need to make that statement to the press.”
He studied her face. “Is that what you want?”
