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From the looks they were all giving him, he could guess they’d heard a hell of a lot. A couple people on her PR team gave him a look like they held him personally responsible for the entire mess. Or maybe just for stealing her firsts.
“Don’t you all have something better to do? Likework?” If they weren’t smart enough to remove themselves, he hoped his tone would clear them out.
Lana turned toward the guys on her team. “Heidi, we’ll keep monitoring social media in my room. If you need me, you know how to get in touch.”
Heidi nodded.
“I’ll be making arrangements for the next press conference too.”
Heidi slid her stare to Julius. He sent her a flat look. The last thing he could deal with right now was the manager’s attitude.
Heidi barreled over to him. “You leaving the conference looked bad!”
“That wasn’t my call.”
She bobbed her head. “But everything that has to do withAvalynnis.”
“That’s right.”
“Do you even know what you’re doing? How trained are you?” She jutted her chin in a challenge.
In general, Julius didn’t dislike Heidi, but he wasn’t in the mood for her accusations either. “Look, Heidi, I know that you’ve got Avalynn’s best interests in mind, and that you’ve been with her a long time. But in this case, I have a reason for the things I do. I ask that you trust me.”
“I’ll never trust you, especially in this matter. You think you’re standing up for Avalynn’s honor, but who’s to say that you’re not just riding on the prestige of all this? After all, you’re going to be marrying her!”
He held the woman’s stare for a long beat. “That’s right. I will make her my wife to protect her from ridicule and damaging rumors. So never question my loyalty to Avalynn. I’d even claim that what I’ve done—and will continue to do—is bigger than what you will do to protect her. I spend my days and nights thinking up ways to keep her safe and to find the bastard who’s stalking her!”
Heidi glared in the face of his anger but didn’t back down. “I care enough to worry about what this will all do to her when it’s over!” She held his stare for a heavy minute before his glare must have become too much. She twisted her head aside.
He already bore a huge responsibility for Avalynn’s welfare, and she was right. Dealing with a divorce was probably just as scandalous if not worse than having sex out of wedlock and making a sex tape about it when her reputation was snow-white and pure.
He also couldn’t forget the fact that she was passionate about not being another one of those celebrities who had multiple marriages. The thought that he’d be racking up one smudge on her reputation was difficult enough to live with.
But he was doing this all for her.
Through his nostrils, he let out a sigh. A few feet away, Clay sliced a hand through the air. Seeing that he was close to his snapping point, he signaled for everyone to clear out of the suite.
Julius watched the four members of her team leave first, followed by Sentry.
When they were alone, Julius scrubbed his knuckles over his jaw. “She’s calmed down.”
Clay heaved a sigh. “This is one of the most complex cases I’ve been involved in, and you know that’s saying a lot.”
He did. Months ago he would have said that the most complicated case Sentry had dealt with involved a crooked church pastor on the run after Sentry discovered several crimes he committed.
“What do you want to do, Julius? Do you want to call it? Throw in the towel?”
He had to think of Avalynn. His ward. He’d sworn to protect her, but now he didn’t know if he could do that, not with her heart involved. He knew she didn’t mean that she had feelings for him, only that she didn’t want to lose all those opportunities she would have gotten with a man shedidlove.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. Christ, he wished things were different, but there was no way to turn back now—not without a second, larger-than-life scandal.
Clay thumbed his hat up a bit. “I see how you look at her.”
“And?” He wasn’t even going to deny it. Not after the previous night. As soon as Clay was finished with him, he’d go out and find more condoms so he could do it again.
“What’s your motive?”
He squared his shoulders. “I will go to any lengths to get the guy stalking her and keep her safe. This means flushing out the bad guy.”
