I pondered it for less than five seconds.
Valeriecouldn’tbe involved.
“She’s my best friend,” I whispered before breaking down into tears. “Myonlyfriend.”
Saying it out loud was doing something to me that thinking about it hadn’t.
Each incident on its own had felt like something I could explain away. But laid out in order like this, one after another, the shape of it became something I couldn’t ignore.
“She was there every time,” Bronson announced, his hand still on arm, soothing me.
“It’s not like she had the knife in her hand.”
He grunted.
“I know how it sounds,” I started.
“It sounds like escalation,” Bronson said calmly. “And we can’t rule Valerie out.”
“But she’s all I have.” I knew that made me sound weak and afraid.
But it was true. She was my only friend. And she’d been by my side before I ever knew Jimmy… before I got famous.
Tears spilled down my cheeks, and his hand slid from my arm to my waist, pulling me firmly against his chest. I locked up momentarily, then sank into his embrace.
He didn’t hesitate. He just held me. Like I already belonged in his arms.
“She’s not involved,” I said more firmly.
“Someone has been trying very hard to take you out. The top three suspects are Valerie, Jenna Love, and your ex.”
I breathed in the scent of him, letting myself go limp in his arms. This man was the oak who could keep me standing.
“It’s not Valerie. And it’s Jenna,” I told him with certainty.
Jenna was an up-and-coming singer who’d shared a few inflammatory thoughts about me on Tik-Tok. But the girl was just chasing fame. She wanted her name linked to mine to raiseher popularity. I’d never responded to any of her jabs. Had never even met her.
“That leaves Jimmy.”
I sighed.
It still felt impossible that my soon-to-be-ex could be behind this.
But I couldn’t rule him out as easily as I did the other two suspects.
“What’s your plan to keep me safe?” I asked as I burrowed deeper into his arms.
I shouldn’t be holding my paid protection detail like this, buthestarted it. Was it my fault that I was having a hard time letting go?
“It means we don’t wait to find out. You stay where I can see you. And I’ll do everything I can to protect you, but you need to stop taking risks. At least until we catch who’s behind this.” His voice was sturdy, and it was impossible not to believe him.
I tipped my chin up to meet his eyes.
Why did it feel so natural to stand here with Bronson’s arms around me?
He stroked my cheek lightly and rumbled, “Your ten minutes are up. Let’s go back inside where it’s safe.”
But right as he finished saying that, a flash of light went off down on the beach, followed by a whole series of them.
