Chapter 45

 

 

The alarm went off too early and Ryan swiped at his phone. It wasn’t his.

Shannon rolled away to shut his phone off and turned over to pull Ryan closer. “I have to leave in a few hours. And I know you need to leave before that. I need to introduce you to your bodyguard. Raven and Luke too.”

“You’re not staying?” Ryan hated the desperation in his voice, but damn it, he didn’t want to let Shannon go after thinking it might be over.

“You want Raven safe, right?”

He nodded.

“I need to set up the security system in Tuscany. I’ll be there when you get there. And I’ll be in your bed every night. As long as you don’t care if the crew knows about us.”

“What about the contract?”

“That clause is out. Sam set it up, not the studio, though the studio has taken over.”

“Okay, sounds good to me. And I already told you I’d tell the world.”

Shannon grinned. “I know you would, but for now, wait. We’ll do that on our time, okay?”

“I appreciate you trying to protect my career, but I’d rather have everyone know so nothing like Max can happen again.”

Shannon sat up. “Can I see your phone?”

Ryan rolled over to grab it. He unlocked it before handing it over.

“You had it locked that night, right?”

“Always.”

“Aren’t you curious how Max got into your phone?”

Ryan lifted a shoulder. “I’m sure he has a few tricks. Bastard programs apps and makes a killing off them.”

Shannon’s brow arched. “You sure he didn’t install something that shouldn’t have been there?”

“Like what?”

“Something to give him easier access. Maybe something to track you. Shit, there’s any number of things he could have done. What kind of apps does he make?”

“Mostly music stuff, last I heard.” Ryan rubbed at his face. “I can’t say I ever paid much attention, honestly.”

Shannon shook his head and pulled up the apps. There wasn’t much there. Typical shit, like maps, email, video. Nothing out of the ordinary besides MSRK. “Recognize MSRK?”

“What?” Ryan asked, sitting up to look at the display. “That showed up a few months back.”

“Sometime after seeing Max?” Shannon waited for the answer.

Ryan thought about it for a few seconds. “Son of a bitch.”

“What?”

“He used to pick up my phone if I set it down and look at shit. I never thought anything of it.”

 

* * * *

 

Max Snyder was a prick. He never liked Emerald Horizon’s music. Now he was glad. He searched for the app on Google and couldn’t find shit.

Which meant the bastard probably created the app and installed it. There was no telling what else Max had access to, but one of the guys on the crew would know. Jonas.

“You need to call and rush order a phone. I don’t want you using this again. I’ll have one of my guys look at it.”

“What do you think he’s doing with the access?”

“Probably just trying to sabotage us. But the fucker had access to your phone, which means anything on your phone. After someone leaked that photo, you really want to take a chance he doesn’t come after you somehow?”

“Fuck. So, changing passwords would be good?”

Shannon nodded. “Just as soon as you get a new phone, unless you can do it on your laptop.”

“Right. Okay. I can deal with that later. I just want some time with you before you have to go.”

“Let’s get a shower. Then make sure everyone is awake. We’ll set up a breakfast meeting up here.”

Ryan nodded. “Anything you say.”

Shannon kissed him before climbing from the bed. He walked to the bathroom. He wanted to stay. Damn, he really wanted to stay and send someone else, but he needed to make sure the home was completely secure, and he didn’t trust anyone else with that job.

Peter had already set everything up so Shannon was the head of security. He was the one planning everything, while the crew did the bodyguard duty. Though he planned to be there when they were all together, at least after they got to the house.

A couple days without Ryan, no big deal after going damn near a month without. Shannon rolled his shoulder and gripped what he could reach.

Ryan pushed his hand away and dug his thumbs in, working out the knot forming there. “Not taking care of yourself, are you?”

“I was a mess.” He turned to face Ryan. “You’re lucky you’re in a different hotel than him. I’d want to beat the shit out of him.”

“I’m lucky Luke was there to stop me. I wouldn’t have stopped.”

Shannon turned the water on. “Come on. We have a lot to cover before I leave.”

“I hate this.”

“What?”

“You going to Tuscany on your own.”

“Yeah, well, it’s just a couple days. And I don’t want anything to happen to Raven, and that’s the biggest reason I’m here.”

“If this job hadn’t come up?” Ryan asked.

“Fuck, I don’t know, Ryan. I want to say I would have listened eventually, but I don’t know. A picture with him next to you would have been fine. Even talking close. But it sounded like you were going down on him.”

“I knew shit was bad when I realized my phone was gone.”

“Doesn’t matter. Now that I know what he’s capable of, I’m going to listen if anything happens again.”

“Won’t happen again,” Ryan promised.

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I should have known.”

“Shh, we got through it. Lesson learned for both of us.”

Ryan smiled, pushing him into the shower.

 

* * * *

 

Shannon stood in the corner of a small conference room downstairs. He’d wanted to do it in the hotel room, but there were eight of them, and the penthouse was big but didn’t have enough seating for all of them.

Ryan and Raven were both already seated.

Luke walked in holding Leona’s hand. “Hey, Shannon. Everything good now?”

Ryan grinned. “Everything worked out.”

“Good. Now he won’t be so mopey.”

Meeker’s brow arched as he stepped into the room. “Hey, man. Who’s mopey?”

Luke dipped his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

He lifted a shoulder. “All right. But the more we know, the better off we are protecting you.”

“He’s right,” Shannon said.

Jonas and Bricker entered the room and took a seat at the table. Shannon walked to the end, nearest Raven. “Hey, guys. Let me make introductions. This is Raven Star. She’s the one with the stalker.” He took a step down. “This is Ryan King, and I’m about to let you in on a secret covered by the nondisclosure agreement you signed. “He’s gay, and he’s my boyfriend.”

Bricker blinked, shook his head, then smiled. “And everyone thinks he’s with Raven, so he may be targeted?” Bricker asked.

“Exactly. And this is Luke Chance, and his girlfriend, Leona Shay. They’re often seen with Raven and Ryan, so to be safe, we’re covering all three.”

His guys nodded. O’Neil moved around the table. “This is Jonas. He’s been with our company for three years. I trained him personally. He’ll be your bodyguard, Raven. You will be safe, and if he finds this guy giving you hell, he’ll make sure the authorities take him away before he gets near you.”

Raven smiled tightly. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

“Raven, please.”

“Of course.”

Jonas was married and would never stray. Part of the reason he paired him with Raven. That and he had a similar background to Shannon, only no injury.

He moved down the table. “This is Meeker. He’s a good man and will be your bodyguard.”

Ryan leaned across the table, offering his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” The guy never said much, but he was trustworthy. That was all Shannon cared about.

O’Neil stepped further and put a hand on Bricker’s shoulder. “Our newest member to this team but has plenty of previous experience to make sure you’re safe. This is Bricker. You’re with Luke.”

“I’ve got your back.”

Luke smiled. “Good to know, but I’m more worried for Raven.”

O’Neil nodded. “They’ll be watching Raven and for anything in the area that seems out of place. You each have a bodyguard, but they know the real target is Raven. The rest of you are precautionary, especially after the threat to Ryan the other night.”

“Forgot about that,” Ryan admitted.

“Easy to do,” Shannon offered, though he had a feeling it had more to do with what was going on with them. “Any questions while we’re all here?”

Bricker met his gaze. “Nope. Have anything else for us?”

“I have a side project for Jonas.” O’Neil handed Jonas Ryan’s phone. “There’s an app on it named MSRK. I’ll need to talk to you in private about what I suspect, but I need you to find out what that app is supposed to do, has done if you can, and let me know what it is.”

“Of course. Shouldn’t take any time at all.”

“There’s more, but that would be better out here.” He walked out the door, to the hallway.

Jonas stepped out a few seconds later. “What’s going on?”

“I believe Max Snyder put that app on Ryan’s phone. I don’t know what you’ll find, but I want to know everything. I want to make sure there isn’t anything that’s going to come back to haunt Ryan.”

“You got it. Though, why didn’t you pair me with Ryan if you’re worried about him?”

O’Neil smiled. “Because once you all get to Tuscany, I’ll be with you all, and I don’t plan to let him out of my sight. Raven is in the most danger here, but I have a feeling this stalker is smart. He’s going to disappear. I don’t think he’s going to attempt anything while they have us with them.”

“Not if he’s smart.”

“Exactly. Besides, I trust you the most. Any one of them could defend themselves in a clean fight, but you and I both know the most vulnerable one in there is Raven, and she needs the most protection. So you’re on it.”

“I’ll take that as a vote of confidence.”

“And trust. Let me know what you find out about the app, please.”

“Sure thing. I can do that while they’re filming. You sure you don’t want to send me to Tuscany so you don’t have to be so far away?”

“Positive. I have some new toys to set up at the house, and I want to be the one to do it.”

“All right.”

They stepped back into the room. Ryan looked Shannon in the eye. “We need to get going soon.”

“I know.” He had one more stop to make before the airport. “You’ll hear from me in a few hours and again tonight. In the meantime, I need to take care of some business.”

Ryan nodded. “I need to talk to you first.”

“Of course.”

Luke hopped up. “That’s our cue to go.” He took Leona’s hand and pulled her to a stand.

The room emptied, except Ryan and Shannon.

Ryan closed the distance. “Tell Jonas whatever you need to about what happened, about me. Tell him to ask me. Whatever.”

“Ryan, relax. I told him enough, and he’ll fill you in as well. I trust these guys with my life, which means I trust them with yours. Okay?”

He nodded slowly.

Shannon pulled him into an embrace and kissed him hard. “I don’t want to go, but I need to. You need to trust them. Okay?”

“You got it.”

“I’ll see you in a couple days. I’ll keep you posted about the house.”

“Okay. Love you.” Another kiss.

Shannon stepped back. “Go. Or we’re both going to have a problem to hide.”

“Love you. Don’t forget it.”

“You too.”

 

* * * *

 

Ryan climbed into a car with Jonas and Meeker in the front. He sat in the back with Raven. Meeker drove.

Jonas turned in his seat to ask the obvious. “Who is Max Snyder?”

Ryan let out a breath and explained a brief history with Max and what happened the night from hell. Jonas’ eyes got bigger and bigger. Then he nodded. “Right, okay. So, a jealous bastard. You already order a new phone?”

“Should be here tonight. Everyone who may need me already knows I’m changing numbers and I’ll send them the new one as soon as I have the new one up and running.”

“Smart move. This guy sounds vindictive.”

He nodded.

Meeker asked, “Any chance the stalker is one of them?”

Raven snorted. “No. He was in my room while I was with Rocco, or while Rocco and Max were on stage.”

“Had to ask. Would make catching the bastard easy.” He glanced over his shoulder. “And I’m sure O’Neil would love to get his hands on the prick.”

Ryan nodded. “Better if he doesn’t.”

Jonas shook his head. “He has a couple hours before he has to be at the airport. Sure he isn’t going to track the guy down?”

Raven shook her head. “Doubtful. As I understand it, he left yesterday morning. That’s why Rocco was pissed he couldn’t have another night with me.”

Ryan changed the subject. “So, have any of you found anything about the stalker?”

Meeker shook his head. “No. Shannon filled us in. The only thing he knows is that the guy is big. He wore a hoodie over a baseball cap with the brim low and gloves. He didn’t want to be seen and knew how to go about it without being noticed. That’s why we’re here.”

“I already feel better,” Raven answered.

Ryan did too. She would be safe, even if they had someone with them all the damned time.