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Julius’s brain was already racing ahead to how to calm her down and ease her fears, but her reputation was on the line, andthatwasn’t in his wheelhouse. Her manager and public relations team should be notified ASAP.
He pushed out a heavy breath. “This is a doozie.”
Clay made a choking noise. “A doozie?”
“You makin’ fun of me? My momma says it. I’m a Southern boy.”
The joke lightened the moment enough to galvanize Julius into action. “Avalynn doesn’t know yet. She’s still asleep. Concerts wipe her out for at least ten hours, but this can’t wait. Fuck. I can’t believe I have to wake her up for this.”
“Unfortunately, no amount of bodyguard or task force training could prepare you for this. You’re on your own, Abel.”
He bobbed his head in agreement even though Clay couldn’t see him and scraped his fingers over his jaw.
Over the past twenty-nine days, he had begun to relax too. Lost a bit of his edge maybe. Now he would sit the soft, sweet woman down and share something that would scare the shit out of her. His top priority was keeping her alive, but knowing her, she’d care more about the threat to her career.
He returned his attention to the call. “Now we’re facing more security risks. We’re in the middle of the tour. There are a lot more stops to make.”
“Which is why the Sentry team will be meeting you at the next venue.”
“The team?”
“Thewholeteam.”
He’d been working alone for six months. It would be good to have someone watching his back while he watched Avalynn’s.
“See you when you get here, Clay.” Ending the call, Julius moved toward the door that led to his charge. He couldn’t waste another second. He had to wake up Avalynn and inform her of the situation.
He pushed open the door, prepared to fight her battles, the same as every other day on the job.
* * * * *
Avalynn woke to the deep, dulcet tones of her bodyguard speaking. Her exhausted mind drifted on the currents of sleep and his voice. She always wondered if Julius could carry a tune. Surely a voice as buttery as fine leather—and gritty too—would make beautiful music.
His voice changed. Tension made it slightly brittle. His words grew clipped.
She lifted her head from the plush pillow covered in the silk pillowcase she traveled with. She strained to make out what he said. Then she heard a door shut.
With her bodyguard having access to her suites at all times, she was accustomed to hearing him moving about, but did he slam that door a little harder than usual?
Over the past six months that she’d been traveling with her bodyguard, she’d started reading his moods. With a stalker and the kidnapping threats, shehadto take Julius’s moods seriously. If he showed even the slightest shift, she had to believe that her stalker was at work again.
Sure, she had plenty of people she could call overenthusiastic fans. One guy regularly sent photos of himself making out with her image on a flatscreen. Crazy came with the job, but her stalker had taken things to the next level and gained the ;’notice of the FBI.
Then Julius arrived to oversee her personal protection. Leaving her safety up to him meant that she’d begun to relax. Maybe she’d growntoorelaxed.
The sound of that door slamming had her on edge.
Julius’s voice changed pitch again. After all this time together, she recognized that as his “speaking to the boss” voice. She stared at the closed blinds, trying to make out what time of day it was, or even what city she’d slept in. With so many more dates on her tour ahead of her, it was easy to lose track. Where she was, ceased to matter. She just left it up to her people to move her where she needed to be.
And protect her while she did it.
Her job, was to be at peak performance at all times. She didn’tonlyperform music to huge, sellout crowds. Little girls looked up to her. She was a role model to generations younger than her and she used her voice for bettering the world. When she wrote lyrics, she thought about how the world would interpret them and translate them to their own lives.
A low grumble from her bodyguard had Avalynn sitting up in bed and listening harder. Something was wrong.
When the soft rap came at her closed bedroom door, she drew the covers up to her waist.
“Come in,” she called out.
