Chapter 39

 

Banging on his door woke Ryan up at three in the damned morning. He climbed out of bed and found Raven in the hallway.

Raven stood there, shivering, her coat pulled tight around her. “He was in my room!”

“Who was?” Ryan asked.

“Stalker.”

He pulled Raven into his room and hugged her tight. “Stay here. You know you’ll be safe with me. I don’t want to worry all night.”

“Not going anywhere. I can’t.”

“Okay, well, I’ll hold you if you behave.” He winked, then yawned and climbed back into bed. “Come on. I’m sure Shannon will understand.”

“I won’t tell if it makes it better.”

He beckoned her into bed. “He knows women aren’t what I’m interested in.”

“I really like you two together.”

He grinned. “Yeah. Now sleep. I don’t know how you’re managing to do so well on such little sleep.”

She yawned. “Never needed much sleep.”

“What did he leave this time?”

“Flowers. They’re all over my bed. I didn’t look more closely. Security called the police. They’re all over it.”

“Does the studio know yet?”

“Nope.” She scooted under the blankets, into his arms. “I’ll tell them tomorrow.”

“You need to. They need to move us at the very least.”

She blew out a breath. “Yeah, but will it do any good?”

“Better,” he answered. If not, he’d find his own solution.

She yawned again. “Sleep. Sorry I woke you.”

“No worries. You’re my best friend. And if you want to talk, you know I’ll listen.” This time he yawned.

“Sleep. I’ll talk after we wake up.”

 

 

* * * *

 

Later that morning, but still early, the studio sent them to a different hotel. That was their answer, figuring that would end the gifts.

Raven had only mentioned the first time someone slipped something under the door. Not the three following times. She hadn’t mentioned the gifts showing up at her trailer. At least she came to him when the bastard broke into her room.

Before they went to shoot, they moved everything to the new hotel and then went to the set. He tried to call Shannon on the way to the location, but he didn’t answer the phone, so he left a quick message.

The rest of the day flew by. He sent a couple texts and only got back brief replies saying he was busy dealing with a troublesome client.

He hated it, but the man was focusing on work while Ryan was away. He couldn’t blame him.

Raven pleaded with Ryan, “Please come out with me tonight? We can skip backstage. I just want to see them play.”

Ryan sighed. “Isn’t everyone else going?”

“Sure, but I’d rather have you there. Like I said, we don’t have to go backstage.”

“Oh please,” Alexa pleaded. “I really do want to meet the guys of Emerald Horizon.”

“You aren’t going to ditch me, are you?” Keenan asked.

“Not a chance,” she promised.

“Maybe none of us should go,” Ryan suggested hopefully.

“I’ll beg.” Raven pouted, giving him the saddest puppy dog eyes.

The last thing he wanted to do, and he would have to warn Shannon. And still, he couldn’t ditch Raven knowing some asshole was freaking her out. “Fine. Just don’t expect me to go backstage.”

“You have my word,” she promised.

“And you can go backstage, as long as you keep the rest of these fools with you.”

“I will,” she promised.

Alexa grinned. “I’m glued to your side, which means Keenan is too.”

Keenan pulled Alexa closer. “I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”

 

* * * *

 

The entire day passed without a phone call. Between Ryan’s busy shooting schedule and the client from hell, he hadn’t had a chance to do more than send hasty replies.

And now, he was out with the cast, eating. So, Shannon sat in his office, working on his proposal to take on more clients. Perhaps open a self-defense training course. The more he’d considered Raven’s issue with the stalker and how the cops weren’t doing enough about it, the more he wanted to ensure she could protect herself should the need arise.

He spent the last two hours outlining the new services when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Distracted?” Ryan asked in a low voice.

He sat back, a smile on his lips. “I was by work, but now by you. What’s going on?”

“I know I said I planned to stay in, but Raven’s stalker left more gifts in her room last night. The last place I want to go to is Emerald Horizon’s show, but she begged. I plan to sit at the bar and ignore Max and everyone else, until it’s time to go.”

Shannon chuckled. “I love that you’re so loyal to Raven. I trust you. I’m sure Luke and Leona will be there too. Stop worrying so damned much.”

“If she hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t be going. But she’s freaked the hell out.”

“Is she okay? Has she seen this guy?”

“No, hasn’t seen him. And she’s putting on a good show, but I know better.”

Shannon moved into business mode. “What’s being done about it?”

“They moved us to a different hotel. That doesn’t make me feel any better considering the asshole found her at the last one. He’s left stuff at her trailer on set. None of us have posted on social media. I don’t know how he found us.”

“Shit, okay. The studio should really be doing more.”

“That’s what I told them. If anything else happens, they’ll come up with a new plan. In the meantime, I’m trying to keep her mind off everything.”

“Okay. Well, you have my number if there is anything I can do.”

“You got it. I’ll try to call tonight, but I can’t guarantee it.”

“Do what you need to.” He considered flying out to play bodyguard but wasn’t sure how he would explain that without a contract. Besides, with Ryan there, he’d be distracted.

There was a knock on Ryan’s end. “Shit, I need to go. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, take care of her.”

“I will.” He hung up.

Shannon dialed Peter. Maybe he could do something about it all sooner than later.

Peter answered, “What’s going on?”

“I was going to wait until tomorrow, but it seems one of the cast on Ryan’s movie is being hassled by a stalker. I know we’ve done some one-off security events. But she needs more than that.”

“Are you expecting me to contact the studio?”

“No, but they contacted us to train the actors. I want to be ready if they do contact us. Someone got into Raven Star’s hotel room, and trailer. They moved hotels, but if there is another incident, we need to be prepared.”

“You want to go out there for Ryan?”

“I’ll do my damned job. But he’s often seen with her. Who’s to say he won’t become a target?”

“Okay, fair enough. Send me what you have. Annette won’t be home until late.”

“Well, if she’s out, why don’t you come over here? I’ll order food, we can go over the details, and go from there.”

“Give me half an hour, and I’ll be there.”