“Wow,” I breathed. “You know a lot about the A-Team.”
“Used to watch the reruns when I was a kid,” he informed me. “If a subject interests me, I find out everything I can about it.”
“Are you on the spectrum?” I asked bluntly.
Colt chuckled before muttering a wry, “Probably. I obsess about a lot of shit.”
“Yeah,” I concurred. “Me too.” I paused briefly before asking, “Is Jake doing okay?”
“So far, so good,” Colt assured me. “He’s already slipped outside, and he’s got the jump on the intruder. Won’t be long now.”
The dragging minutes seemed like hours. I paced the room, biting my lip until it stung. Every second that ticked by increased my anxiety, and every slight noise made me jump until my nerves frayed like unraveling cotton.
After what seemed like an eternity, Colt’s voice murmured, “It’s clear. Iceman’s apprehended the perp, and the cops are on the scene.”
My shoulders slumped. “Thank God. Is he okay?”
Colt laughed softly. “He’s fine. Dunno about the intruder, though. Iceman’s trussed him up like a Thanksgiving turkey.”
I couldn’t help laughing at Colt’s description.
“You feeling okay?” he asked gently.
“Yeah,” I said earnestly. “Thanks.”
“Stay put a bit longer,” he advised. “Ice will be up to get you soon. The cops will probably want to take a statement from you both. I’ll call my contact at LAPD and make sure they look after you.”
I sighed my relief and murmured, “Thanks again.”
“Make sure you get Ice to bring you for a visit soon. Freya’s gonna be jealous as hell when she finds out I met you before she did, and she won’t break my balls if I tell her she’ll get to meet you soon. I’ll let you go now. Tell Ice to call Prez with an update when the cops go, and you take care, Saint,” he ordered before the call clicked out.
I sank down on the bed, tossed the phone on the mattress beside me, and dropped my head into my hands.
My thoughts immediately went to Jacob, and I wondered if he’d caught the person he’d been hired to protect me from. Weirdly, my stomach twisted at the thought. I mean, sure, I wanted my life back. The notion of being able to walk down the street without having to take security made my fears fall away for the first time in weeks.
But I couldn’t stop my inner voice whispering,What about Jacob?
If he’d caught the man who’d been tormenting me, the job would be over, and he’d have to leave. During one of our many ‘get to know you’ sessions, we’d talked about his work and how one minute he could be protecting a diplomat or an actor, and the next, jetting off to a different country to mount a rescue. I was about to head to New York with the band to record the album, and I’d be there for a while, so there was no doubt we’d be separated.
The last time me and Jacob walked away from each other, everything imploded. I knew there wereextenuating circumstances surrounding what happened, but it showed me that nothing in life was guaranteed.
I’d jumped head-first into Jacob in a way where I knew there was no going back, and I knew deep down in my bones that losing him again would ruin me.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ICEMAN
Istood, legs planted a foot apart, and my arms folded across my chest, staring at the fucknut on the ground, hog-tied to within an inch of his life.
My lips twitched like a motherfucker as I listened to the cop rip him a new asshole like he was twelve years old and had just been caught stealing a candy bar.
“So,” one of the cops, who had turned up, drawled. “You thought it was a good idea to come to the home of a celebrity at ten o’clock at night to serve her bodyguard with a complaint and a summons?”
“It’s my job,” a tight voice said from the direction of the floor.
The cop jerked his chin toward me. “And it’s his job to hog-tie intruders who creep around his client’s house like they’re gearing up to rob the joint. Do you see my dilemma?” He shook his head exasperatedly. “You’re lucky he didn’t fill your ass with bullets. Did you know the owner of this house is currently being stalked, and everybody’s on high alert?”
“Well. No,” the guy muttered, his face flushing red.
