Chapter Six
Carter
“How could this happen?” Tim barked. His whole face was contorted and there were red splashes across his cheeks. “I thought we hired you to prevent this kind of thing! And now here we are. Someone was in Harley’s private room, ruffling through her things. Having access to her unpublished songs.”
I looked up at him.
He sounded like a toddler having a fit because his sibling got to play with a toy he wanted.
However…
He had a point there.
One I couldn’t argue.
Someone got into Harley’s room when no one should have access to it.
“I was with her on a site,” I said calmly but was actually anything but.
I came with a team of five to ten men, depending on the situation I was walking into, not including my brother’s, Max and Chace who worked in the background and only came out into the field if it was strictly unavoidable, meaning, the shit hit the fan.
All of my men were highly trained in surveillance, security, some had martial arts training, others had combat.
All in all, the security I provided was thigh and this shouldn’t have happened.
“What if he took pictures of her music sheet, of her lyrics. We don’t know the extent of the damage here,” A man in his fifties groused, clearly shaken up. But not about the invasion of Harley’s privacy, of invading her space and obliterating her sense of security. Or of her life being in danger.
No, he was worked up because he thought his money flow would be staunched. That the golden goose would be taken from him.
I bit the inside on my cheek until I tasted the metallic tinge on my tongue to prevent saying something that would get me kicked out of this room, and put Harley even more in danger.
You walked in like a quiet song
I’d been missing you all along
You don’t see me the way I see you
The words of her song were playing in my mind over and over.
The whole song was haunting, beautiful. It stirred something in me, something that I long before closed away and decided to ignore, but no matter how hard I tried, I could ignore the call of those words.
I knew she was a star in the making, one destined for greatness that would inspire awe in people, more than she was now, but these words, words on a piece of paper were something that was beyond the realm of pure beauty.
It was Harley in a pure form. She bared her soul on that paper, and now some sick fuck had it in his possession, in his mind. It beat through him with every heartbeat.
Just like it did though me.
“It’s time to call off the rest of the tour,” the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
The room stilled.
I couldn’t look up from the back of that photocopy of her new song, a song she had written while I was lying on a couch in the next room, which was now facing down.
I was sure if I saw the reaction my words made, I would flip the table over or tore their heads off.
“Mr. Ryan,” that same man who spluttered his false concern for Harley started. “You know that can’t happen.”
As I predicted, a push back. They were not willing to make Harley safe if it meant losing money.
I looked up at him. The look on my face must’ve shown part of my thoughts on my face because the man gulped before he squared his shoulders.
“You were brought on with one goal in mind. For this tour to continue.” He jabbed a finger my way.
I knew that. When I was brought in, it was stressed, multiple times, that the tour needed to go as planned.
I was brought on because of my ability to keep the high-profile people safe, and enable them to continue with their scheduled planes.
I was good at that. My clients never even missed a step, while also had a thigh security around them that was noninvasive and didn’t trip them on each of their steps.
But this was different.
“No, I was brought with a goal to keep her safe,” I said slowly.
“Same thing,” he waved his hand and turned to Tim. “Talk me through the dates.”
“You don’t understand,” I said leaning his way over the conference table.
“This is not some overzealous fan who got lucky and broke into the star’s room.
This is more than stalking. He’s had her in her sights for a while now.
And you all know it. He kept his distance, only invading her space when she was miles away.
But now he’s here. He’s getting bolder. He’s escalating. ”
“Well, you’ll protect her,” the man said like I was a dull bulb in the box and couldn’t comprehend a simple sentence.
“I can’t do that if you won’t end the tour,” I said, pinning him with my eyes.
I wanted him to see the truth behind my words, and take them in without a shadow of a doubt.
“This ends only one way. With her in a body bag. Unless we take the steps to ensure her safety. The tour needs to be canceled, and she needs to be moved to a secure location.”
“That’s just not possible,” Sloan, her PR specialist, spluttered.
“Have you read this,” I picked the paper up.
“Of course,” I could see them all practically drooling over the words on it. Words that had no meaning unless they were sung in Harley’s voice. Unless she was the one giving them to the world.
To me.
I quickly banished the thought that came out of nowhere.
“She wrote that at four am this morning,” I growled and slammed my palm and the paper against the wood of the table.
“And less than twelve hours later, someone had access to it. That’s not only an invasion of privacy, and a breach of security.
That’s someone sending a message and using her own words against her. ”
“She’ll be fine,” Sloan pushed but I could see a slight tremor of her hands as she shuffled the papers in front of her.
“And everything needs to continue as planned. There’s a lot riding on this tour and her,” the man picked up his thread again.
Fuck me.
There was no talking sense to these people.
“If you push on with this ridiculous idea of keeping her safe while thousands of people have access to her, no matter how diminished capacity, it’s still access, I walk.”
Saying those words felt like I took a blade to my own chest and started carving on my flesh. Even if they weren’t true.
I was at a point where I wouldn’t be able to walk away from her, not until she was safe.
You will never be able to walk away from her.
I ignored the words that flitted through my mind, dead set on ignoring what was happening inside me.
Not after being with her this past week, and seeing glimpses of her while she lowered her walls.
Definitely not after hearing her working in the middle of the night, and then reading the words she wrote in the dark while there was no chance of hiding anything.
How she was digging deeper into me day by day.
But they fought hard to get me on board, to take her on. It took Alina to call me, and tore me a new one for me to agree to it.
I was hesitant because she was Alina’s, my future sister in law, friend. I didn’t want to let my family down once again.
And in my line of business, there were no guaranties, no matter what anyone said.
But I had to say those words. I had to make them see I was serious.
I just had to hope like fuck, they wouldn’t call me on my bluff.
“You don’t mean that,” Sloan bristled, and looked sideways as if seeking reinforcement from the suits sitting around the table.
“I mean every word. If you go through with the tour, I’ll walk.” the words felt like acid in my mouth.
“But what about Harley?” Cassie peeped up for the first time from the corner of the room. I could see fear, worry and a hint of betrayal on her face.
I understood all those sentiments.
“I’ll give you a name you should contact and hope to God he’ll take her on,” I said standing up from the table. “But I can’t stay on and watch you put her more in danger instead of doing anything you can to keep her alive.”
I just hoped to God Max would do what he was best at doing. Tell them to fuck off and listen to me in much more colorful words. I needed time to find who the fuck was doing this.
“Mr. Ryan,” I turned and leveled a look at the big man. “We need all your credentials back.”
Fuck me.
***
“Why the fuck did I get a call from some guy named Tim who demanded I showed my ass at the address you’re currently on and take over Harley Thorne’s security?” Max growled in my ear.
Sitting in the lobby of a hotel I looked over the people walking through or milling around.
None looked suspicious. Then again, for this fuck to gain access to Harley’s room, he had to be someone no one would look twice at. He had to blend with everyone.
“What’d you say?” I asked while checking out a couple in their twenties laughing as they strolled to the reception desk.
Newlyweds.
It radiated from them. That ecstatic energy that felt infectious when it crossed your path, but as with everything, it was fleeting.
Nothing ever lasted.
“What do you think?” Max muttered. “I tore them a new one, and hung up. The guy tried calling again, but I don’t have time for fools.”
A woman in her late thirties was going from the elevators and to the door, sending glances my way. She probably misunderstood me looking at her closely for something else altogether.
Giving her a small smile, I shook my head and looked at another person.
“Please tell me you won’t kidnap her,” Max begged in my ear.
“The fuck?” I asked straightening in my chair.
“Don’t lie. Not to me. From what Chace has told me, she’s under your skin.”
“She’s not under my skin,” I denied a fact that was becoming more obvious by day. But that just couldn’t happen. I couldn’t let it happen. “She’s just a job.”
“Have you not learned anything from your siblings?” His words sounded tired. Like he was resigning himself for another merry-go-round run. I didn’t blame him. All my siblings met their significant others in an unusual way.