Guarding Amberley

by Nicole Flockton

  “Looks like a combination of secretions from poisonous frogs, but trust me when I say I’ve seen some scary stuff on my missions. Anything is possible these days, particularly with the dark web. People can get all sorts of shit from questionable people.”

  Amberley tightened her fingers around Tom’s hand. Right now she didn’t want to know what toxins had been in her system, all she cared about was that she was awake and alive. And the man she loved was right beside her.

  Before she could say anything else the door was thrust open and her parents rushed into the room, quickly followed by a nurse. Tom released her hand and pushed his chair back in time for her mom to envelop her in a hug, uncaring of all the tubes that were attached to her.

  “Amberley, you’re awake. Thank God, I was so scared.” Her mom then burst into tears. In all her life she could recall on one hand the times her mother cried. Her dad stood to the side, his hand resting on her mom’s back. From where she lay she could also see the gleam of tears in his eyes.

  After all her mom had put her through the last few months, setting her up on dates and shoving scripts under her nose, having her crying in her arms showed Amberley how much she meant to her parents.

  Amberley closed her eyes and soaked up the love flowing from her parents. “I’m okay, Mom.”

  “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you. I love you, honey.” Her mom kissed her cheek and stepped away to allow the nurse some room to do a quick examination.

  “You’re looking good, Ms. Price. I’ll just go get the doctor so he can check you out.” The nurse left the room and the second she did her father grabbed her hand.

  “I love you too, sweetheart.”

  A throat clearing had her looking to her left and she spied Tom, a small smile playing across his lips. “I’ll give you all some privacy.”

  He left before she could ask him to stay, but she appreciated the fact he was giving her a chance to speak to her parents.

  The second he walked away her mom smiled at her. “When they transferred you to this room after they treated you, the only time he left your side was when we insisted he go get something to eat or stretch his legs. And even then we had to almost push him out the door” Her mom commented as she sat down in the chair Tom had been sitting in. “I was wrong about him.”

  Bettina Price admitting she’d made a mistake? She mustn’t have heard her mom correctly. Bettina was always right, even when Amberley had known full well her mom was wrong. Admitting she’d been wrong about Tom was huge for her mother to acknowledge.

  “How were you wrong, Mom?” she asked interested to see what she was going to say.

  Her Mom leaned over and brushed her fingers across her forehead, as if pushing way stray strands of hair. “I thought I knew who the best partner to travel through life with you was. A man who worked in the same industry as us made total sense to me. But over the last three days I’ve seen who Thomas Grant is, and he’s nothing like the men I introduced you too. He’s better than them.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “Not one of those men I forced upon you would’ve sat in this uncomfortable chair for three days. Slept in it. They’d have been out the door the second something happened to you. Not Thomas, he was the one who worked out what was wrong with you. Demanded the doctor be given the statue. If it wasn’t for him,” her voice hitched but she straightened her shoulders before continuing. “Well let’s just say things would’ve been very different.”

  Amberley took a few moments to process everything Mom said to her. Had she just given Tom her seal of approval? It didn’t surprise her to hear that Tom had slept by her side. She knew she would’ve done exactly the same if the roles had been reversed. It was what you did for people you loved. And there was no doubt she loved Tom Grant with her whole heart.

  “I love him, Mom. You’ll probably think it’s too soon and impossible, but…” Her mom laid a hand on Amberley’s arm.

  “I knew the second your father stepped onto the set that he was for me.” She looked over at her husband and Amberley couldn’t believe the softening of her mom’s expression. She’d never seen her mom look at her dad that way. His look mirrored her mom’s. “He didn’t succumb easily, I had to work hard to make him notice me. But when he did, I had no plans on giving him up. So you won’t get any judgment from me as to how soon you and Tom fell in love.”

  Mom was jumping the gun a bit. Amberley knew he cared about her. Guilt may have kept him by her side the last three days. “I don’t know that he loves me, Mom.”

  “Oh honey, no man would act the way Tom has acted the last three days if he didn’t love you. Trust me. I know the signs.”

  Tiredness swept over her and it was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open. “I think I need to sleep now, Mom.”

  As her eyes drifted shut she hoped her Mom spoke the truth and Tom loved her, because if he didn’t her heart would never recover.

  Tom closed his eyes and rested his head against the glass window of the fifth floor waiting room. He hadn’t spent much time in the space since Amberley had been moved from the ICU to a normal room once she’d started responding to treatment. It had been late in the evening the first night she’d been admitted. He’d spent all of his time sitting by Amberley’s side, willing her to wake up.

  When her parents insisted he leave the room to eat or take a walk, he’d been so worried that the second he left she’d take a turn for the worse. Like when he was on a mission, he rushed through eating his food so that he could get back to Amberley.

  A hand touched his shoulder and instinctively he turned and grabbed the wrist. His heart pounded in his chest, angry that he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings, leaving him vulnerable to a surprise attack.

  “Shit, Red, settle down. It’s me, Robot.” His team lead took a step back, holding his arms up in the universal sign of surrender.

  The fight drained out of Tom as recognition sunk in. “Fuck, Robot, you should know better than to creep up behind me.”

  “Sorry, dude, we called your name like three times and thought you heard us.”

  Tom looked over Robot’s shoulder and noticed Antonia, Cowboy and Faith standing behind him. “What are you guys doing here?”

  The next second he was engulfed in a hug from Antonia. “Where else would we be? You need us and so here we are.” She took a step back and Robot slid an arm around her waist, before kissing the top of her head. “The others would’ve been here too, but Brielle’s blood pressure is high so her doctor doesn’t want her flying and Emma and Kieran are teething so Suzie and Erin didn’t think taking a long flight would be an enjoyable experience for anyone. So of course, that meant that Joker and Italy would stay home with them.”

  “I, uh, thanks. I didn’t expect you guys to come all the way here. What if we get called to go on a mission?”

  “Commander Black knows where we are and why. If there’s a crisis he’ll get one of the teams to cover it.”

  Tom rubbed a hand over his head, still shocked to see his team mates and their partners in the room with him. “Right. Well thanks for coming. I appreciate it.” He turned back and resumed gazing out the window. He could hear the murmuring of the couples talking to each other and he figured it wouldn’t be long before Robot was back by his side. It was what made him a good leader, knowing when to speak and when to act. Keeping his gaze fixed on the horizon he sensed Robot beside him.

  “How’s Amberley?”

  “She’s awake. Woke up about twenty minutes ago. I left her so she could spend some time with her parents. They needed to see for themselves that she was okay.”

  “Any idea who did this and why?”

  Tom clenched his fists at his side. “I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt her. It’s not like she’s been auditioning for any roles so a fellow author wanted her out of the picture. She’s been concentrating on starting her career as a screenwriter and writing the script for this new movie.”

  “What abou
t a competing writer? Someone pissed that she got the job and they didn’t?”

  Tom shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. She never mentioned anything about anyone else being up for the job.”

  The questions Robot was asking weren’t any different to the ones he’d asked himself as he’d sat by her bed, watching her breathe. The steady rise and fall of her chest had reassured him that she was still with him.

  “How about an ex? Anyone in her past that would be upset she’s seeing you?” This question came from Antonia who’d come to stand next to her husband. Once the two of them had gotten their heads out of their asses and worked out they loved each other, they didn’t like to be too far away from the other.

  “Again, not something we talked about. In fact her mom…fuck, why didn’t I think of this before?” How could he have forgotten that important piece of information.

  “Think of what, Red? What have you remembered,” Robot questioned

  Tom faced his team lead. “When Ambs, first came to see me in Virginia she told me that her mom was continually setting her up on dinner dates. She said that one guy didn’t take the hint when she told him she wasn’t interested. He only backed away when she threatened him with a restraining order.”

  “Do you know his name? Maybe we could get Tex to look into him?” Robot asked.

  Frustration that he couldn’t answer a simple question built in him. “Nah, she didn’t say and I don’t think she told her mom either, so she won’t know who the guy is. Besides, as far as I know, the guy has been keeping his distance.”

  “You don’t know that,” piped up Antonia. “She may not have got around to saying anything to you about it. You did say that it was the morning after you arrived that she collapsed. I’m assuming you guys were too busy getting reacquainted the night before to talk about whether creepy dude was annoying her again.”

  Heat suffused his cheeks and he couldn’t believe he was blushing in front of two of his teammates and their partners.

  “Ohh is that how you got your nickname?” Antonia asked laughing when she noticed his blush. He swore his cheeks got redder.

  “T, leave him alone,” Robot said and pulled her closer to his side.

  “Tom? Who are all these people?”

  Tom swiveled and spied Bettina and John standing in the doorway.

  “Oh my God, you’re Bettina and John Price.” Faith gushed excitedly. “I love all your movies. You’re both so fabulous.”

  Bettina acknowledged Faith’s praise with a slight nod. “Thank you.” She turned her gaze to Tom’s again and raised her eyebrow, clearly seeking an answer to her question.

  “Bettina, John, these are two of my teammates, Robot—ah—Brendan and his wife Antonia.” Tom indicated to his team lead. “And this is Cow—Greg and Faith.”

  The couples exchanged pleasantries but seeing Bettina and John in the room had him itching to go back to Amberley’s side. It didn’t matter that she’d woken up and appeared to not have any side effects from her ordeal, there was still a chance she could relapse. Not to mention the fucker who poisoned her in the first place was still lurking around. After talking to Robo and Antonia, he had a lead on who that person may be.

  “Bettina, do you know the name of the guy who wouldn’t leave Amberley alone? The one who she had to threaten with a restraining order for him to finally back off.” Tom tried to keep the anger out of his voice but at Bettina’s raised eyebrows he figured he hadn’t succeeded.

  “Steady, Red, you don’t want to get on her bad side.” Robot hissed out of the corner of his mouth.

  Bettina lifted her chin, every inch the Hollywood A-List actress. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Thomas.”

  As he suspected, Amberley hadn’t said anything to her mom about the situation. In her mother’s eyes all the guys she set her daughter up with were upstanding citizens. He needed answers though and if he had to lay it out for her to understand he would.

  He kept his gaze trained on the actress. “One of the guys you set your daughter up with wouldn’t leave her alone. Wouldn’t accept it when she told him she wasn’t interested. She had to block his number numerous times and eventually told him if he didn’t back off she’d get a restraining order against him.” Tom explained everything again.

  Bettina looked at her husband, her brows drawn down in confusion. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Amberley hasn’t breathed a word of this to me. If she had I would make sure whoever this person was never worked a day in Hollywood.”

  Tom didn’t doubt that she would follow through on her threat. She had enough power in Hollywood to make it happen, which was exactly why the guy probably had backed off.

  “Do you think he’s the one who hurt our daughter?” asked John.

  Tom shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know if he’s contacted Amberley recently. But after,” he pointed to his team lead. “Talking things through, it hit me that this guy could be considered a person of interest.”

  “Well don’t go barreling into Amberley’s room demanding answers. She went back to sleep,” Bettina said, crossing her arms over her chest—mama bear was in the house. “And the doctor was going in as we walked out.”

  “I wouldn’t do that to her, but I’m going back to sit with her.” He looked over at Cowboy and Robot. “You guys staying at a hotel?”

  “Yeah, we’ll head there now. Text us when you find anything out and we’ll do whatever we can to try and find this guy and get to the bottom of who hurt Amberley.” Robot confirmed.

  “Will do and thanks again for coming out here. I appreciate it.”

  Cowboy walked up to him. “You dropped everything to help me when I needed you. It’s what we do. We’re family.”

  The girls gave him a hug and the quartet said goodbye to the Prices before disappearing out the door.

  “Is that true?” John enquired once it was just them in the waiting room.

  “Is what true?” Tom responded, eager to get back to Amberley’s side.

  “That you guys will drop everything when one of you needs help?”

  “Absolutely. We’re more than just team mates. As Cowboy said, we’re family. We have to rely on each other when we’re on missions and if anyone needs anything when we’re back in the States, we’re always the first ones there to help. No matter what it is. If it’s painting a house, putting together baby furniture or getting our women out of trouble, we answer the call.”

  “That’s extraordinary,” John said shaking his head, clearly bemused at the idea of people willingly helping each other. Tom supposed in the cutthroat world of Hollywood that working together as a team was an anomaly.

  “Are you saying that if Amberley stays with you, if she needs anything at all or gets into any type of trouble, all she has to do is call someone from your team and they’ll be there?” This question came from Bettina, who had the same befuddled look on her face as her husband.

  Repeating himself should have annoyed him, but he would say it thirty times if it would reassure the Prices that Amberley was safe with him.

  Taking a deep breath, he laid everything out in the open. “Bettina, John, I love your daughter. I know I’m not the type of guy you wanted to see her with. I’m not from your world. I can’t help her advance her career. But I will support her in what she wants to do with her life, even if she wants to go back into acting, or continue writing scripts. Whatever she wants I’ll be right by her side and will do whatever is necessary to keep her safe. Anything she needs I’ll make sure she gets it. And yes, my team and their partners will do the same. They’ll be there if and when she needs it. No questions asked.”

  Bettina moved forward and he waited to see what she was going to do next. When she reached up and touched his cheek, he tensed for half a heartbeat before relaxing. “As I told Amberley, I was wrong about you. I can see that now. You’re everything I’ve been looking for in a man to love my daughter. And I know that what you feel for her is real and not
as a way to get in good with us. I trust…” She paused and looked at her husband who smiled lovingly at her. “No, we trust that you will keep our daughter safe.”

  And just like that, Tom was aware that he’d been given their seal of approval. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, and now go, I know you’re itching to get back to our daughter,” John canted his head toward the door.

  “Yes, sir, I am.” With a chin lift he left the couple behind, a spring in his step. Now that he knew her parents had no issue with them being together, he planned to convince Amberley that they were meant to be together.

  Chapter Twelve

  Amberley jolted awake when the hand closed over her mouth. Her heart beat loudly in her ears, matching the rapid increase of the beeping from the heart monitor. She’d drifted in and out of sleep while the doctor examined her.

  Her eyes widened as recognition set in. Simon Wilson stood over her, a maniacal smile on his face. “I’m sorry it had to come to this, my sweet Amberley. If you’d just continued to date me, none of this would be necessary. We could’ve been the darlings of Hollywood, just like your parents. Now be a good girl and don’t scream when I remove my hand, otherwise…” He lifted his hand, the light glittered off the polished silver of a knife blade. “I’m going to have to scar you and I don’t want to do that. We won’t be able to get roles opposite each other. No one wants to hire a scarred actress.”

  A shiver of fear rippled through her when he ran the blade down her cheek. If she moved her head to get away from the tip, it could dig in and cut her. Weakness still pervaded every inch of her body so there was no way she’d be able to fight him off, and how she wanted to.

  As if sensing that she was going to go along with everything he wanted Simon lifted his hand away, but he kept the knife close to her face.

  He lifted his hand and she sucked in a deep breath. “Now, that’s a good girl. Did you like the figurine I sent you? It’s my way of being supportive of this little dream you have of being a screenwriter. But I know acting is where your talents really lie.”