Howard frowned. “And your boyfriend is here with you?”
She winced. “He’s also my bodyguard.”
Howard laughed.
“Is that funny?”
“It’s notnotfunny. So he’s an ex-soldier, security professional. And his relative—”
“His baby brother. That he raised.”
“Ah.” Howard shrugged. “Tell him to go home.”
“I did.”
“Was that before or after you had another panic attack and someone hired me on an emergency basis?”
She hung her head.
“Hey, Liana. I’m going to tell you something that I don’t know if you hear enough. Cut yourself some slack.”
She jerked her head up. “What kind of therapist are you?”
“A pretty good one. Do you think you can trust me with your mental health long enough for your boyfriend-slash-bodyguard to go bid his brother a fond farewell?”
— —
Dean didn’tlike this plan at all. But Liana wasn’t wrong. He’d feel like shit knowing he could have gone to say goodbye and he didn’t. So he got on a plane after she left Denver. He’d rejoin the tour in Salt Lake City.
He had a connecting flight in Chicago, and after he landed and checked in with Liana, he called Matt. “Hey, bud.”
His brother was somewhere busy, from the roar in the background. “Dean! How’s the high life?”
“Pretty ordinary. How’s everything at home?”
“Same old. What’s up?”
“Do you know what Sean is doing tomorrow?”
“Packing, probably. Why?”
“I’m on my way back. Just for a day.”
“What?” Matt muttered something in the background, then the dull roar faded. “Sorry, I was…occupied. No, don’t come back. You’ve got a thing to do. It’s all good.”
“It’s not. I need to…” Dean heard his voice catching and he swallowed that down. “I want to see him off.”
“You’re such a sap.” Matt laughed. “Okay. Cool. I’ll make sure he doesn’t disappear into the woods.”
“Thanks.”
“No worries, man. When do you arrive?”
“I’m in Chicago. Getting on a plane for Toronto in a couple of hours.”
“Cool.” Dean listened as Matt headed back into the fray of whatever he was doing. “See you soon!”
He killed the time before his flight in a sports bar, then grabbed a news magazine to read on the plane. He didn’t mind all the air travel, actually. He could do this regularly. He needed to talk to Zander about what that meant for the business.
