Fuck.
seven
BILLIE
Rhett woke the second I tried to wriggle free of his embrace in the morning. His arms tightened, and it was strangely intimate, given we hadn’t even kissed. Somehow in sleep, I’d moved closer, curling around him like a koala. Should I be embarrassed by that? Because I wasn’t. I was just sad… because our time was up.
“I should go,” I whispered reluctantly. “Before…”
Before Jace finds me here.
Rhett gave me another squeeze, then released his arm from around my body. He yawned and scrubbed his hand over his face, mussing up his turquoise hair.
“Might be too late,” he admitted with a grimace. “I don’t usually sleep so heavily, but I think thesneak out unnoticedboat already sailed, Thorn.”
His admission made me sit up, listening. Deep voices rumbled from outside the bedroom door, and I groaned my frustration. How were the rest of the band already awake? They can’t have slept more than a few hours, especially whoever was auditioning for PornHub all night.
There was a frantic part of my mind, a part racing and torturing me, that had to know if it was Jace last night absolutely destroying some poor chick’s vagina. I mean, it wasn’t as if I thought he was a virgin rock star, but knowing he was with other women was the one thing I never allowed myself to think about. I’d already been half on the edge of giving up at times. I really didn’t need the visuals.
Seemed I now had the soundtrack.
“We need to talk,” Rhett said huskily, voice still laced with sleep. Thankfully, his voice wasalmostenough to distract me from the darker direction of my thoughts. “You fell asleep last night before we had a chance to discuss the next moves to keep you safe. I still don’t even know what happened that had you running.”
Right.Right.What the fuck was I doing stressing over the other asshole in the band when I had the much more pressing issue of the Ricci family hunting my ass down to murder me? Pushing myself up higher, I scooted back until I was sitting straight against the headboard of the bed. Hugging a pillow against me, I debated how much information I should reveal.
“I don’t want to drag you into this,” I whispered. “It’s dangerous. And you don’t deserve to pay for helping a damn stranger.”
Rhett propped himself up even further, and I tried not to let my gaze drag along the bare muscles and ink lining his naked upper torso. He wasn’t completely covered in tattoos, but he had enough that I could spend an hour or two exploring them with my hands… or my tongue.
Tatted-up rock star was apparently the shit that got my lady parts humming.
If only the timing was different. The timing. The past. Every fucking part of my tragic story.
“There’re very few people in the world that can get to me,” Rhett said, his eyes darkening as concern crept into his tone. “And you’ve already come back to my hotel. Word gets around about shit like that, so I’m in whether you want me to be or not. Might as well give me the whole story and see if my massive resource reach can help you move forward.”
A sad laugh escaped me. “You’re too good to be true, you know? A fucking savior.”
I’d always been warned about “too good to be true,” but I couldn’t find it in myself to push him away. Even if a massive fallout and heartache were in the future for me.
Rhett sobered in an instant. “I’m no savior, Thorn. But I know what it’s like to be dealt a rough hand. I dragged myself up from—” He broke off and shook his head. “Just trust me when I say that my help comes with no strings, but I’m not as altruistic as it might seem.”
I doubted that very much, but I wasn’t about to argue with him.
“I got kicked out of my crappy apartment last night,” I said in a rush, hugging the pillow even tighter as memories crashed into me. “Couldn’t pay the rent, of course. Good jobs are all but nonexistent at the moment. Especially unskilled ones. I don’t even know why I came back to Siena, but I was sick of running from town to town.”
Big fucking mistake on my part.
Rhett’s gaze softened, even as his eyes darkened further, but he didn’t interrupt. Instead, his long fingers reached out and grasped my hand, which was still clutching the pillow, offering his strength. Somehow… some-fucking-how, this guy knew exactly when I needed a boost of strength and comfort.
“I never used to be so pathetic,” I blurted out, the words having a double meaning. I was still talking about the lack of job and home, but also about needing his strength because my own was… depleted. Gone. “But the last few years have really kicked me in the tits. Anyway, another chick who lived in my building,” I couldn’t bring myself to say her name, “heard my eviction and offered me a lifeline. She had a job, good pay, close by. I didn’t even know it was one of Angelo’s family restaurants until it was too late to back out. Fuck, I wish I’d just dropped my apron and walked out the fucking door.”
But then I wouldn’t have met Rhett, and maybe it was worth it to have known someone this kind. Even if just for one night.
“Something happened at the restaurant?” he pressed gently, his voice a little raspy. He sounded upset, but it didn’t show on his face.
I nodded. “Yeah. We got through the entire shift, and I was about to clock out and head back to my friend’s place. She had a special dinner party that was the last booking of the night.” The words stuck in my throat as I tried to forget the fear and darkness. “Something must have happened at the booking. I was getting changed, and I heard shots.” I had to stop and clear my throat. “They killed her. Her and another man. Probably more. I saw them shoot him in the alley, and then they caught sight of me.”
Rhett’s grip on my hand tightened almost to the point of discomfort before he must have realized it and loosened his hold. “Then you ran to me?” he asked.
