Jace heaved a long sigh, staring at me from way too fucking close. His eyes were so familiar, yet so foreign. Barely a shadow of the boy I knew seemed to remain in this man, but for the first time, I caught a glimpse of him. Then it was gone, and he pushed to his feet.
“Rhett!” he barked, his voice hard again. “She’s awake. Get her into a car and back to the hotel. Cops want us in a conference room for questioning.”
Thatwoke me up properly. “Cops?” I squeaked, sitting up again now that Jace wasn’t pushing me back down. My gaze darted around the room, searching for Grayson. Where was he? Was he okay? Did they arrest him? Holy shit, hekilledthat guy!
“Thorn!” Rhett exclaimed, rushing back into the room. We were still at the concert venue, in the greenroom where I’d napped during their show. His hand cupped my face, his panicked eyes searching mine for a moment before he crushed me into his chest with a hug that stole the wind from my lungs. “Thank fuck. Were you hurt? Did he hit you?”
I frowned into his leather jacket, still bewildered and lost for what the fuck was happening. Then I realized what he was talking about, and a slightly unhinged laugh escaped.
“I’m fine,” I replied, peeling myself away from his chest just enough so I could breathe. “I fainted. It’s so stupid; the sight of blood always makes me faint. Didn’t Jace tell you?”
Rhett loosened his grip slightly, giving an annoyed grunt. “He did, but I figured he was just being a dismissive prick. You were out for way longer than a faint usually lasts, though.”
I shrugged. My dizzy spells used to be quick. Basically, as soon as I hit the ground, I was waking up. But the last few years had seen them increase in length. My explanation was simple; I was straight up exhausted andweakfrom irregular meals, so my body took the opportunity for a little nap when it could.
“We need to go,” Rhett told me with a grimace. Before I could protest, he’d scooped me up in his arms, and I held onto his neck simply in reflex so I wouldn’t fall.
“She can fuckingwalk, Rhett,” Jace snapped, his glare like acid as Rhett strode out of the room with me in his arms.
I was inclined to agree, but Rhett just held me tighter and ignored Jace as he carried me. His strides were long, and I decided not to argue. Ilikedbeing in Rhett’s arms, and Jace’s irritation about it only made me want to stay.
The drive back to the hotel was quick and silent. Rhett was visibly furious with the identical security in the front seat, and Grayson was nowhere to be seen. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to talk about what had just happened, and Rhett didn’t push me for information. Instead, he just kept an arm around me, and I rested my head on his shoulder.
When we pulled into the underground parking, Rhett totally ignored his security when they tried to speak with him. He even went so far as flipping them his middle finger as the elevator doors closed, leaving them behind.
“It’s not their fault, Rhett,” I said softly.
He scowled, shaking his head. “Their job is quite literally to prevent harm from coming to their charge. They failed at their job, therefore they shouldn’t fucking keep said job.”
I released a long breath, choosing my words carefully. He was angry, and I didn’t blame him. But his security probably saw me with Roger and thought nothing of it. If Roger was trusted to act as Jace’s bodyguard, why on earth would they think he was a threat to me?
“Just sleep on it, Zep. You can’t fire them until you have a replacement anyway, right? It would be stupid to just go without security while you’re on tour.” Maybe calm logic would sink in better than an emotional response. “Where’s Grayson, though? Jace said something about cops? Did they arrest him?”
Fuck, I hope he wasn’t being charged with the creep’s death. He’dsavedme; the man needed a medal, not a jail cell.
“No, they didn’t arrest him,” Rhett replied, a touch of tension dropping out of his shoulders. “Not yet, anyway. We’re pretty confident the video surveillance will confirm he was acting in your defense and that it was just an unlucky blow that killed Roger.” He paused, frowning slightly at me. “That is what happened, right?”
My eyes widened. “What? Yes! Roger was working for Angelo. He told me himself!”
Rhett nodded. “Good. Just… maybe don’t mention the Ricci’s to these cops. We don’t know if they’re on the take or not, but so far they’re proving to be sensible in not arresting anyone so let’s just keep it that way.”
“Understood,” I whispered as the elevator doors opened on the ninth floor. It was full of business suites, and Rhett led the way down to one of the rooms, where Florence and Tom were already seated opposite two uniformed Siena policemen.
Tom sent me a nasty glare, but Florence just frowned. Was that a touch of concern in her eyes? Or just tiredness?
“I think we’re pretty much done already, don’t you?” Tom asked one of the policemen with a pointed look. “The video evidence supports the fact that Mr. Taylor acted in defense of our employee, and it’s inallof our best interests that this is closed as an accident.”
The cops exchanged a tense look between them, then one sighed and looked over at me. “Miss, we just need to hear the events from your perspective.”
Rhett gave me a small, reassuring squeeze, and I haltingly told the police exactly what had happened, from Roger grabbing me outside the restrooms to when I passed out. The only thing I left out was Roger’s connection to Angelo Ricci.
When I was done, the cops just took some notes, then gave me a tight smile. “Thank you. Sorry, we didn’t catch your name. Mr. Tucker keeps calling you anemployee, but we need a name for our report.”
Tom’s glare turned hard, and my mouth went dry.
“Oh, um, Billie,” I replied nervously, “Billie Thorn.”
Rhett released a long breath and bent down to brush a kiss on my shoulder. I guess the bandreallydidn’t want my real name getting out into the press, and it would be sure to if it got entered into a Siena police report.
