Chapter Twenty Two
Carter
I kicked back into the brown, leather couch that was shoved against the wall in the Harley’s dressing room and watched the woman I loved as she was preparing for tonight’s show.
“See, being back on tour isn’t so bad. Not when they’re not any threatening and creepy boxes being delivered.”
I cocked my eyebrow, and stared into her eyes in the mirror.”
“Okay, okay,” she huffed. “So, it’s exhausting, Tim’s in a bad mood, and you’ve scared the band away with your scowled and constant checking of every single thing they try to bring in. But, at least we’re together.”
This was the fifth city in eight days we were in. I wasn’t even sure which one we were in.
The days blended all together. And I honestly was in awe of how Harley could do this.
She was on a constant move, there was always something she needed to do, somewhere she needed to be.
And her days ended in a venue filled to the brim with her fans screaming her name, and her singing her heart out.
Only to come to the hotel room and either write new songs or sign thousands of autographs on pictures, T-shirts and other merch.
When I came to work as her security, it wasn’t that hectic, but we were coming down to the end of it, so as she explained, it was natural for the tempo to pick up near the end.
But also, the moment we came back, the label demanded she picked up a few more days, to accommodate the loss of the ones she canceled thanks to that fuck who harassed her.
I had mixed feelings about that. Especially, since we still had no clue who that fucker was.
But, Max, Chace and Trevor worked on that nonstop so we could finally catch him, and have Harley go back to her normal, security and bodyguard free life.
Well, not exactly free, she would need some form of security with her at all times from now on.
“Tim’s always in a bad mood,” I said.
Harley stopped what she was doing and smirked at me through the mirror, “No, he's in a bad mood because I threatened to walk away for good if they didn’t back off and stop that bullshit of banning you from my concerts.” I chuckled at the memory of Harley throwing down with the heads of the label, demanding that they stop threatening her like she was their property and or she would stop touring, recording and writing.
They tried to call her bluff, but when she didn’t answer their calls, and couldn’t locate her for twenty four hours, a haggard looking Tim came to Trevor, and promised that they would honor Harley’s wishes.
I sobered up, “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”
She had a big decision ahead of her. Her contract with the label was coming to an end within the next nine months, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue working with them.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to do,” she sighed and turned around in her chair to look directly at me.
“I love the work. And sure, sometimes it gets overwhelming, and I’m exhausted.
But mostly, I love it. I love to write and record my songs, having people who are best in the industry behind me.
I love that my songs can go to amazing artists with one phone call.
And the fact that I keep getting requests from people to write for them feels amazing. I don’t want to lose that.”
I leaned and braced my elbows on my knees, “That’s not the label, Dynamo. That’s all you. If you didn’t have the talent you have, none of it would be possible.”
Her face gentled, and she watched me for a few moments. It was clear she was torn with this.
“What do you think I should do?” She whispered.
I shook my head, “I don’t factor in this. This is all about you, and what’s best for you.”
“The hell you don’t,” she frowned. “If you don’t want this kind of life, you need to tell me. I will not lose you so I could continue to sing. I don’t need the tours, the press, and all that comes with this. I can be happy singing in Elite once a month for twenty people, just as I am now.”
I stood up, crossed the room, and came to her.
Slipping my hand under her wild, brown hair, I palmed the back of her neck.
Leaning down, I kissed her softly. “I don’t factor, Dynamo because I’ll follow you wherever you go.
If you want to travel the globe, performing night after night, going to galas and having press conferences, I’ll be there.
And if you want to sing at Elite, or dive bars, or only in the shower, that’s where I’ll be.
” I squeezed her neck, “I don't care what you do. All I care about is that you let me be with you.”
I stood back up.
“I love you, Warden.”
“And I’ll love you until the end of my days, Dynamo.” I went back to the couch. “Now, finish getting ready so you can blow the roof off in this joint, and then I can take you to bed and fuck you till you’re too exhausted to move.”
Harley’s cheeks flushed as she turned and got back to getting ready.
A beep sounded next to her and she turned her head, looked at the tablet on the table, next ton her elbow and frowned.
“That’s weird,” she muttered.
“What?”
“It’s Cassie’s tablet. She never goes anywhere without it. She says it’s her command center since all the dates and notes are on it. Stuff that she needs to inform me of, places I need to be at, social media stuff she does for me, and so on.”
I’ve seen Cassie rolling her eyes at the device at least hundreds of times, grumbling while she was tapping on it. “Maybe she needed a break from it.”
Harley picked it up, swiped across its screen, and pressed on it. A second later, her face lost all color.
I was on alert in an instant, “What?”
“I-she-Cassie-” Harley stuttered.
“What’s wrong?”
Her grey blue eyes slowly raised to mine, they were full of horror.
Horror and fear. “There’re receipts for the stuff she purchased in here.
Receipts for the gifts. Gifts like I got.
There’s also an invoice for the pictures being edited to be in black and white.
And then processed and printed. Hundreds of them. And then, there’s also this.”
She turned the tablet to me.
On the screen there was a picture of the two of us, walking down the hallway clearly after the show.
Harley’s face was turned up to mine, a big smile on her face.
Her hair was wilder than usual, but also stuck to her face and sweat there.
My head was tipped down to hers, a smile on my face.
I was caught in mid-sentence. Neither of us was looking where we were going.
It was clear, we didn’t care. We were together.
I remembered that night. It was the first night we came back the second time. And it was the first time Harley sang my song. The one she wrote while we were at the cabin. The one that broke all my barriers.
It was the happiest I’ve been in a long time.
However, the picture wasn’t showing that.
It was in black and white.
And there was a big red X mark across my body.
And the words.
She’s not yours. She’s mine. Were written under it.
My entire body turned to stone.
Fuck, we were wrong.
I knew there was a great possibility that someone from her team was behind all of it. But I never suspected it could be a woman.
It all screamed of a man.
“Where is she? Cassie, where is she now?”
Harley shook her head, her eyes full of panic, “Why? You don’t think she’s the one-?” She didn’t finish her question. “Maybe she got that, and it was meant for me. This doesn't make sense. Why would she do this?”
I pulled the tablet from her hand, set it down, then crouched low, and framed her face. “Harley,” I called. “You gotta focus. Where is Cassie now?”
She blinked at me several times, before she took a big breath, “I-I don’t know.”
“What do you know about her?”
“Not much,” she mumbled and looked down.
“I know she’s an only child and was raised by a single mother.
She started working as a receptionist at the label and climbed her way up.
I took her on as my assistant after I witnessed her tearing a roadie a new one because he catcalled to an up-and-coming singer as she stepped down from the stage after her sound check. ”
“Can you think of anything that would trip her. Move her to have something against you?”
She fisted my T-shirt in her hands. “I don’t know.
We were friendly, but we aren’t friends.
She did try to form a closer bon, a friendship these last few months, and I was open to it.
But this is a hard business, you have to watch your back, you can’t let anyone come too close.
And we didn’t have time to form a deeper friendship.
Honestly, I did keep her at a distance, but I do that with everyone except Alina. ”
Tears filled Harley’s eyes, “Do you think she’s the one doing all of this to me? Why would she do this?”
I kissed her forehead, “I don’t know, Dynamo. But I promise you, I’ll find out.”
Someone knocked at the door then, and without waiting for the call, Tim stuck his head in, “Five minutes, Harley.”
“Do you know where Cassie is?” I demanded.
“No,” Tim frowned. “I’ve been looking all over for the damned girl.”
I turned back to Harley, “What’s her last name?”
“Shaw,” Harley looked at her lap.
“What’s going on?” Tim asked as he came fully into the room.
“Reid,” I barked, then said to Tim. “You’ll be with Harley every second until the show ends.”
“I can’t go on stage with her,” he looked affronted by me even suggesting such a thing. “Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Carter, what?” Reid barked, reading the room at a glance.
“Be in the damned wings then, but do not lose sight of her even for a second” I said to Tim, then turned to Reid, “Cassie Shaw. Get Trevor on the phone and tell him to tear this place apart if he needs to until he finds her. And glue yourself to Harley.”
Harley clawed at me, “What’re you going to do?”
I looked down at her and vowed, “I’m going to finish this tonight. I’m going to keep you safe.”
With that I got my phone out, and unlocked it, making the call. Walking out of the room, I said, “Don’t leave her alone even for a second.”
“Yeah,” a voice said over the phone.
“Cassie Shaw, Harley’s assistant” I said the name that would haunt me forever. “Find everything you can about her. Find out if that’s even her real name. I need every detail, Chace.”
“On it, brother.”
I hung up without another word.