Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Lily
We all fell asleep in the living room. The guys are sprawled all over the floor while Paisley and Cora are curled up on the love seat together.
Waking up in Tristan’s arms is where I want to wake up everyday.
He’s even gorgeous when he’s sleeping. I haven’t told him about the conversation I had with Paisley.
But I’m excited to talk to him about it.
“Is it time for breakfast?” We hear Apollo mumble from under his blanket.
“Um. I think you killed your bed.” I laugh as I look over at him. The air mattress he’s sleeping on is flat as a pancake.
“Ugh. No wonder I couldn’t get comfy. Stupid bed.”
“Maybe you should skip breakfast.” Armando laughs.
“Uh no? Why would I do that?”
“You broke your air mattress. It’s dead.”
“And? It was faulty, it had nothing to do with me. I just happened to get the shitty one.”
I laugh as I get up to make breakfast. I’m definitely going to miss all of this when they go home.
I never really thought that I was lonely before.
I mean I have Paisley and Cora, we’re together almost everyday.
But lately that’s all I can think about.
How lively my house is with all the guys here.
Lake Renegade is sounding more appealing as the days go by.
I’ve already finished Carter’s book and he said it will be coming out in a few weeks. I always get excited for my authors when it’s time for the release.
“Sebastiano texted and said they haven’t been able to trace the number. It’s a burner phone. But they’re not giving up. They can see that whoever’s using it is here in Texas.” Armando says to us.
“We should update Grayson on what’s going on.” Tristan says.
“I’ll head over to the Ranch to talk to him.” Keegan answers.
I finish making breakfast and then get ready for work. I’m not sure how I’m going to explain why I have Tristan with me. The guys suggested that I tell my boss the truth, that I’ve been getting threatening texts. I just don’t want him to worry about me.
“So I need to tell you all that we have plans to go to Chicago in a few weeks. And no, we can’t change the dates.”
“Why? What’s in Chicago?” Tristan asks.
“We have tickets to see Twisted Bonds. It’s on a Friday and Saturday night.”
“You like Twisted Bonds?” Eros asks.
“Well I do.” Cora smiles. “And then I forced Lily and Paisley to listen to them too.”
“You said the concert is in three weeks? I think we can make that work, it’ll be nice to see our families. And you can all meet them. Our family does their security.” Apollo tells them.
“Are you kidding me?” Cora exclaims. “You know Twisted Bonds?”
“We do. We’ll make sure you can hang out with them.”
“We have VIP tickets for both shows. I got them for Cora’s birthday.”
“I’ll call Scott now and make sure he know’s we’re all coming.” Keegan says.
“Who’s Scott?” Cora asks.
“Scott’s their dad, he was in the original band. Now he takes care of things for the band. So who’s your favorite band member?”
“Presley is my favorite. He’s so sexy.” Cora smiles.
Keegan laughs. “Ew.”
He gets on his phone and we hear him talking to Scott. The look on my besties face is priceless.
“Hey, do you think we can be in Chicago on Wednesday or Thursday?” Keegan asks us.
“Yeah, I’ll put in for my days off when I go in today.” I say as Paisley and Cora nod.
“I can’t believe you know them. How does this even happen?” Cora giggles as she makes her phone calls.
“We should get moving. I need to get some articles done and ready for this week.”
Tristan
Whoever’s stalking my Lily is doing it in a way that we’re not used to.
Most stalkers are consistent. This one doesn’t text everyday.
It’s been every few days. Now that we know the number is here in Texas, I wonder if they’re following her.
None of us have noticed anyone, but that doesn’t mean they’re not doing it.
Today’s her first day back to work and it’s making me a little nervous.
It’s easy to keep an eye on her here at her home.
It wasn’t hard at the festival either because all of us were together.
But now it’s just the two of us at her office.
And I don’t know how it’ll go when she’s at work.
It’s not like I can follow her into the bathroom.
“I’d feel better if we could do a sweep of her office.” Eros says to me.
“I think that’s a good idea. Are any of you coming with me today? I’d like someone to be with Paisley and Cora too.”
“I’ll come with you, Apollo can go with Paisley and Armando with Cora. Since Keegan’s going to talk to Grayson.”
I nod. “Thanks. I know this isn’t what you all signed up for on the road trip.”
“You should know by now this is how we work. And if one of us needed to head home, someone else would come take our place.”
“I know, I just appreciate the help. I’m worried that we’re missing something. Like it should be obvious.”
“Yeah, I’ve been feeling that too. And I don’t like it. I’m going to talk to the council today and see what they think too. They might send more guys to help us. If they suggest that, I’ll make sure we talk to Grayson first.”
“Thanks. I’m glad I’m not doing this alone. I don’t know how other security guys do this alone.”
“Well most security guys are there to prevent things, this time the threat is already here. And Lily has a job that puts her more in the spotlight than a regular everyday person.”
“You mean because she’s a journalist?”
“Yup. People know her and so it makes it a little harder sometimes. Like our family, all the women have bodyguards. But it’s a preventive job. Not one that has an active threat to it. And when it does escalate, we add security.”
What Eros is saying makes sense, on one hand I’m happy that Lily had a need for security.
Because it’s given me the chance to be with her.
But on the other hand? I want to kill whoever’s threatening her.
The fact that we don’t know anything about this person is making this harder.
I look at everyone we see as the stalker and I want to put Lily into a bubble and leave her there till we find them.