Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Olivia and her mother had left messages for Avery on her cell and at home. She’d already called them back and promised she was dealing well with the publicity on her end. They didn’t have to know she’d already had a mini panic attack and taken her pills, or that crazy photographers were still camped outside her apartment. They’d just worry, and her mother had a wedding to plan, and her sister was pregnant. Neither needed added stress.
She’d called her brothers back too, reaching Ian and Scott but not Tyler. And that scared her because there was a very good chance Tyler would take one look at the article and, when he couldn’t immediately reach Avery on her cell, head right over.
A loud knock sounded on the door. “Avery, open up. It’s Tyler.”
“And right on time,” she muttered, letting her brother in.
“Jesus, there’s a massive group of paparazzi out there. Is this what being with that asshole is doing to your life?”
Tyler stood in the doorway, looking less than pleased and ready to take over, something she would not let happen. “If you want to talk to me, back off about Grey. That’s not going to help matters.”
“Who’s causing all the racket?” Ella asked.
Avery turned. Ella had joined them wearing a short silk bathrobe, towel drying her hair as she walked. “Tyler!” she stopped short and stared in shock. Her hand slowly lowered, and the towel dropped to the floor.
“Yes,” Avery said. “My bossy brother’s here to—”
“Check up on you,” Tyler said to Avery . . . but his gaze never wavered from Ella, whose cheeks turned a rosy shade of pink.
“You, go put some clothes on,” Tyler ordered her.
“Tyler!” Avery called him out for bossing Ella around in her own apartment.
Ella, meanwhile, frowned at him, then bent to retrieve her towel. Her robe gaped open, exposing her breasts, something she didn’t realize until a low growl came from Tyler’s throat.
Ella rose and glanced down. “Shit.” She spun around and stormed out of the room.
“What was that all about?” Avery asked her brother. “Are you trying to be an asshole today? Oh, wait, it just comes naturally.”
Tyler blew out a frustrated breath. “Don’t change the subject. I’m here to talk about you.”
Avery shook her head, feeling like she was missing something. Ella knew Tyler, just like she knew the rest of Avery’s siblings, from the two weeks every summer and occasional holidays she’d spent visiting. Had this just been embarrassment? Or something more?
“Avery, I’m worried about you,” he said, his voice softening. “You have a history of anxiety—”
“And I’m on daily medication.” And had Xanax for emergencies like today. “I’m fine.” Or she had been until Grey’s life had exploded around her. But she didn’t want her brother to worry. “I’m not nine years old anymore,” she added as a means of reassuring them both.
Tyler ran a hand through his dark hair. “Between the picture in the paper, the nasty insinuation about breaking up the band, and now the photographers stalking your apartment, you’re in the center of the storm. And considering I do security for a living, I should know.”
Another loud knock sounded on her door.
“Ask who it is.”
Avery shot Tyler a disgusted look. Did he really think she didn’t know how to take care of herself?
Instead of asking, she looked through the peephole and groaned. “It’s Grey,” she said to Tyler and winced inwardly.
The very last thing she needed was a confrontation between Grey and her overprotective brother. But it seemed that was exactly what she was about to get.
Chapter Six
Grey couldn’t believe he had to cut through paparazzi to get into Avery’s building. If he’d known, he’d have found out whether there was a back entrance or brought Marco. The assholes yelled rude questions and tried to crowd him, and it took too damn long to make his way inside. His stomach churned as he imagined what Avery was thinking or feeling. She hated the overzealous female fans, and she’d never been one for large groups of people in general. He just wasn’t sure how she’d handle this. Nor did it help to know that getting rid of him would be the easiest option.
He knocked on her door, unsure if she was home. She hadn’t answered her phone when he’d called on his way over.
The door opened wide. One look at her face and he swore out loud. “I’m sorry,” he said before she could utter a word.
“You damn well should be, Kingston.”
He glanced over her shoulder to find one of her brothers standing behind her, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Grey.
Avery, her face already pale and makeup free, groaned and gestured for him to come inside. “You remember my brother Tyler,” she said.
Grey inclined his head at the pissed-off man. Tyler, the brother who’d been in the army, who ran the security company, and who rightfully hated Grey’s guts. Good to see you, man, wasn’t going to cut it.