I slept most of the day away and when I woke up, I was starving. I grabbed around my bed until I found my phone and then I ordered in a couple of pizzas. I didn’t want to talk to the man that was somewhere in my house, but I didn’t want to exclude him if I was eating. A universal cheese pizza and a spinach and mushroom one for me later, and dinner was on its way.
In the meantime, I stiffly moved to the shower and stripped. The hot water set my body on fire at first, but it helped loosen my muscles until I almost felt human again. I got out and dressed in leggings and one of my brother’s Navy sweatshirts. I braided my hair down my back in two French braids and shoved the larger-than-life glasses back onto my face.
I still had time before the pizza showed up so I sat at my desk and opened my laptop. I pulled up my file on Ricky and then dialed Detective Harding.
“Yeah?”
That was my guy, classy as ever. “It’s Darby.”
He yelled at someone in the background and then refocused. “I heard you got a bodyguard.”
“How the hell did you hear that?”
“Guy’s a professional. He cleared his stay with my captain. Apparently, bodyguard boy packs a lot of big weapons and power behind the whole Patrick Swayze Ghost thing.”
I looked over my shoulder at my door, like I could see him in the living room. “Yeah, well it fucking sucks. How the hell am I supposed to work when I have Buff McHotbod standing over me.”
Harding snorted. “What the hell did you just call him?”
“You heard me.” I sobered up quickly when I remembered why I was really calling. “Ricky found me out. I went to a meeting last night and he trapped me in a park. I had to act like cat woman to get away from him.”
Vibrant cursing came over the line and then silence. “If you can’t do this without getting yourself killed, then I’ll put a stop to it, Connors. I thought you could handle it.”
I got angry fast. “Go to hell, Harding. I can handle it. I’m not giving up. I’m going to expose Ricky.”
“If it’s the last thing you do?”
I winced. I had no plans on dying. I wasn’t that kind of person. I wanted to live. “I just wanted you to know what’s happening. A woman named Pamela set me up. She was a contact through Tabatha, so I need you to check on her if you can.”
“I’ll do it.” He hesitated. “What did your Pamela look like?”
I quickly described her and was met with a telling silence. “You pick up a body matching that description?”
“It wasn’t an easy death. I’ll make sure the coroner pays close attention for signs of Ricky. Maybe we’ll get lucky for a change and I’ll get to arrest the motherfucker.”
Sour acid rocked through my stomach like an angry ocean and I had to swallow back an urge to vomit. “Sure.”
We both knew they wouldn’t find a trace of Ricky.
Harding sighed. “Just be careful. If he’s already on to you, you might really need that bodyguard of yours.”
As if on cue, there was a knock on my door. “I’ll check in when I have something more.”
I shut my laptop and stood up. “Coming!”
By the time I opened my door, my bodyguard was already gone. He called out from the kitchen. “In here. Got your pizzas.”
“You’re welcome to them.” I pushed away the frustration and illness I felt over the events of my day and decided to put my plan into action. It was time to butter him up. “I’ll pour you a drink. I have sweet tea, coke, water, and beer.”
When I caught sight of him in the kitchen finally, he was kneeling in front of the fridge. Even kneeling, he was tall enough to nuzzle his face into my chest. Not that he should do that or that I should be having that thought.
“How sweet is the tea?” He looked back at me and pushed a hand through his thick, chocolate brown hair. “I’m from the south. I need it to be more sugar than tea.”
I grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and handed them to him. “Try it and see.”
His thick fingers brushed mine when he took the glasses and I was amazed at just how small they looked in his big hands. He poured a glass and handed it to me before pouring his own and taking a big gulp. The muscles in his throat worked and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. A low moan pulled from his throat and he finished the rest of what he’d poured in one drink. “That’s real nice.”
I took a big breath of air and held it, let the ache of my lungs drag me away from the lust I was feeling. “Thank you.”
He refilled his glass and then stood up. “Thanks for ordering pizza.”
I pulled my eyes away from him and grabbed the two pizza boxes. “How about we just carry these to the couch? If you’ll grab the plates from above the sink and some napkins?”
His glance at me was slightly suspicious. “Sure.”
I curled up on one side of the couch and dragged the coffee table closer so I could put the pizza there. I glanced up as my guard came in. I couldn’t help but look at him. He was a distraction. One I didn’t need.
He put everything down and sat opposite me on the couch. It was obviously low for his tall frame and his knees looked dangerous close to being in his chest. Instead of complaining, he stretched his legs out in front of him and flipped open the top pizza box.
His face said it all. My spinach and mushroom did nothing for him. “Should’ve known. Why the hell do they put grass on pizza?”
He said it under his breath, so I didn’t reply. Instead, I pushed my box over and gestured for him to open the other one.
“Thank God.” He scooped three slices onto his plate and leaned back. “I thought I’d seen the last of pizza, coming to LA.”
It was time to be his friend. Even if I wanted to smack him because I knew he was making some stupid comment about women in LA not eating crap food. “So, what’s your name?”
He finished chewing his bite and wiped his mouth. “Hendrix Crimson.”
“Where are you from?”
Another suspicious look like the one in the kitchen. “Texas.”
“Which part?”
“The East side.”
I blew out a big breath. Maybe being his friend wouldn’t be as easy as I thought. “How’s the pizza?”
“Good.”
I’d only nibbled on mine, my stomach still rolling from hearing about Pamela. I pushed my plate away from me and turned to face him. “What made you go into private security?”
He took his time chewing another bite. “Just something to do.”
I let the silence go between us because he clearly didn’t want to talk to me. Instead, I studied him.
The thick, chocolate brown hair curled slightly, falling over his forehead time and time again. His blue eyes seemed to alter back and forth to gray. The mouth drew me in. It was soft against a shadow of a beard. I wanted to know if it felt as soft as it looked, but there was no way I was touching the man.
His huge frame was slightly intimidating because I pretty much knew he could snap me in half. It was stunning, though. Again, I wanted to touch, but I wasn’t that stupid.
“Where’d you really go when you snuck out last night? I know you didn’t fall down outside. It wouldn’t have made those bruises on your back like that.”
I blinked away thoughts of his rough hands and focused on his words. “Just outside. How’s your pizza?”
“Outside where? It’s okay. I think they used low-fat cheese.”
“Just outside the house here.” I stood up and took my pizza to the fridge. “You have a thing against low-fat cheese?”
He stared at me. “You didn’t eat any of your pizza.”
“I’ll eat it later. I guess I wasn’t hungry, after all.”
“Darby.”
The way he said my name stopped me in my tracks. I met his gaze and tried to steel myself against his questions.
“I’ve been doing this for a while. I’m not an idiot. I know you’re hiding something and I’m going to figure it out. I’m being paid to keep you safe and I’ll do anything in my power to make sure you stay that way. There are probably going to be times when you don’t like it very much.”
I ground my teeth together and nodded. “Will you be staying the night?”
He shook his head. “You’ll have two guards. I’m here during the day. At night, another guard takes over.”
I let out a sigh of relief. Hendrix was too perceptive. His eyes were constantly on me, searching for clues about what I was up to. It’d be easier to sneak away from someone else. “Okay, so I think I’m going to head back to bed.”
“Uh huh.”
I hurried to my room and shut the door. Frustration bubbled up in me until I wanted to go back out to the living room and smash a slice of pizza into Hendrix’s face. It wasn’t completely his fault. I was having flashbacks of being locked away like some sort of porcelain doll when I was younger. I hadn’t felt so constricted since I’d escaped after college.
As if he knew I was annoyed, my oldest brother, Chip, called at that exact moment. When I answered, he immediately started in. “Darby, what the fuck is going on? I have an itch that I can’t seem to scratch and I know it has to be you.”
That was another thing about them. They swore they could feel when I was doing “stupid shit.” I swore they had spies. “Nothing is going on. Jeez, have you ever called and not been sniffing after something?”
“Have I ever called and you not been doing something you shouldn’t have been doing?”
I flopped down on my bed and sighed. “Just because you think I shouldn’t be doing something doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be doing it, Chip. Your list of things I shouldn’t do still includes dating.”
“Damn right it does. You’re my baby sister. I’m supposed to protect you. So, tell me. What’s happening there?”
I made a decision to tell him a part of what was happening because I knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until I told him something. “I’m on sick leave from work for a couple of days. I was walking downtown and this idiot was speeding down the street. I jumped out of the way because it scared the hell out of me and I ended up all scratched up. The on-set nurse and producer made me stay home to recover. Although, I’m fine.”
Silence met me.
I swallowed. “Chip?”
“I’m coming. I can catch a plane first thing tomorrow morning. I’m assuming you didn’t get the license plate.”
“No! You’re not coming here! Chip, I’m fine. I literally just have scratches.”
“We should’ve never let you go out there. We can’t make sure you’re safe. Jesus, Darby. What if you’d been seriously hurt?”
“I wasn’t. I’m fine. You’re not coming here. I love you, Chip, but I have to go. I’ll call you in a couple of days.” I hung up my phone and then turned it on silent.
With an angry lump in my throat, I stared at my ceiling for what felt like hours, thinking about how I was going to fix my case while imprisoned. I thought about Tabatha and that angry lump became one of worry and sadness. If anything happened to her, it’d be my fault. I wasn’t sure that was something I could live with.