Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 29744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
My hands ache again, the desire to touch him nearly overwhelming. Not to satisfy my curiosity this time, but to offer him comfort. I think it's been a while since he's had any of that. I don't know what he faced or what he's endured, but it's clear it weighs on him.
"Why do you want to work for me?" I ask after a moment, trying to steer the conversation back to more steady ground for him.
"Because you need me."
I stare at him, not sure what to say in response to that. It wasn't an answer I expected. There's no arrogance in the statement, though, just simple statement of fact. He said what he means. He wants to work for me because I need him. Not because he wants something from me or because I'm a famous musician. Not because he wants to make it in Nashville and thinks I can help him get there. He's here simply because this is where he's needed. Because this is where I need him to be.
"He's the best man for the job," Riley rushes to say, misunderstanding my silence. "He worked for a special team in the Rangers. If anyone can help keep you safe, he can."
I nod, already convinced he's the right man for the job. "I guess my only remaining question is, when can you start, Ronan?"
"Now."
I blink at him.
"You need me now, so I start now," he says, shrugging.
"You know the situation?" I whisper, relieved they filled him in on everything and I don't have to go through it all over again. I've been over it a million times already. I just finished going over it with the latest detective sent to talk to me.
"I know some prick tried to kill you during the middle of your show two nights ago," he says, his expression dark. He doesn't like knowing I'm in danger.
My heart flutters at the realization before I frown at my friends. "You didn't tell him about last night?"
Kasen curses softly from behind him. "No. Figured we'd discuss it in here in case the garage is bugged. You never know with the fucking paparazzi."
"What about last night?" Ronan demands, his eyes still locked on me. He hasn't looked away once, yet I bet if I asked, he could tell me more about the lobby than I could and I've been here too many times to count in the last two years.
"The concert was the first attempt on her life," Cash says. "But there was a…credible threat last night."
"A credible threat?" Ronan cocks a brow, silently asking what the heck that means.
When Cash and Kasen both clam up, hesitant to discuss the details when they freaked me out so bad, I sigh heavily and do it myself. "He means when I got home last night, someone had been inside my house," I say. "They left behind proof to document the occasion."
"Fuck," he growls. "What'd they leave?"
"Hundreds of pictures of me taped to the walls." I shudder at the memory. Walking into my bedroom felt like walking into someone's creepy shrine to me. My face stared back from every angle, image after image after image. Most were ripped from magazines or printed from my social media. But there were a few that were taken at concerts or around town. Those are the ones that really scared me. Whoever wants to kill me has been following me. They know me. That's utterly terrifying. "There was also a note."
"What did it say?"
"What if thou withdraw in silence from the living, and no friend take note of thy departure," I whisper, wrapping my arms around myself. It doesn't help defeat the pervasive chill I've felt since the festival. I doubt anything will thaw the icicles clinging to my veins until whoever is doing this is caught. "It's a line from Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant."
"Jesus Christ," he mutters, looking away from me for the first time. "The motherfucker knows where she lives?"
"Looks that way," Cash says.
"She can't go back there."
"I have to go home," I protest. "I have a cat and plants and a whole house."
"You can stay with us," Riley says, reaching out to squeeze my arm in sympathy.
"She can't stay with you," Ronan disagrees with a sharp shake of his head. "If he knows where she lives, you can safely assume he knows where the people closest to her live too. She needs to go off the grid until he's caught, somewhere with no ties to her."
"Off the grid?" I gape at him like he's lost his mind. If he thinks I can just disappear until they catch this guy, he has lost his mind. "I can't go off the grid, Ronan. I have an album to finish and two more festival shows, plus a whole list of events I'm scheduled to attend in the next several weeks."