He kissed her between her shoulder blades and started singing, his voice low, more of a whisper against her skin, and he kept it up as he melted the stress from her body. That same song he'd been singing since the first night he'd stayed over. The song was older than she was, had been written before she was born, but when he sang it, she thought of it as only hers.
She settled against him. "I'm glad you're here."
"Sunshine, I'll always be here."
That wouldn't be the case. Eventually, he'd want to go back home to California. Eventually, the band would start recording, and then touring, and getting increasingly busy with Furious Records. And then she wouldn't be able to rely on him to calm her down or make things better, or have him to hold every night.
She needed to start getting used to handling things on her own. Too soon, he'd be out of her life.
Chapter Fourteen
Audrey had been awake for hours by the time the alarm clock pealed, signaling the start to another new day. Sleep had come in small doses while her thoughts had run rampant, darting from clothes choices for the bands, to the slurs on her windows, to the sexy, solid man sleeping beside her.
She hit the off button and rolled out of bed.
"Too early," Luke murmured from beneath the covers. "We're still on California time."
Her lips twitched. She wished they were still in California. Things seemed happier for her out there. "You can sleep in if you want. I have to go to work."
He sat up reaching for her. "I think it's better if you wait until the spray paint is gone before you go in."
"As hurtful as it is, I can't let it stop me. I need to reorganize some things." She pressed a kiss to his hand. "Go back to sleep. Maybe you can meet me later for lunch."
"No, I'll go in with you. I have a few calls to make anyway." He tossed the covers aside and rose. "I'll give you space and hang out at the coffee shop. Then do my own thing until lunch, when I'm going to convince you to play hooky for the rest of the day."
"Think so, huh?"
"Don't underestimate my powers of persuasion." Strong hands clamped on her waist and dragged her against him.
She wrapped her arms around him and enjoyed the feeling of solid male still warm from sleep. "I like your persuasive powers."
"Enough to climb back in bed? The sheets are still warm."
Nipping his lip, she laughed. How was he always able to make her forget about the bad things? "Let me make a dent in my to-do list at the studio. That way, if I play hooky later, I won't feel too guilty. Everyone is coming in tomorrow to select clothes for Friday's show. I want to be ready."
"That reminds me, I have a radio interview at three o'clock today with the local rock station to promote Friday's show. An in-station interview for an hour, taking calls and discussing the new band."
"Better set an alert in your phone. I don't want to be responsible for you missing it."
When she stepped out of the cab half an hour later with Luke, the ugly slurs hidden behind large sheets of cardboard taunted her. She tightened her hand in his.
"You don't have to go in today." He rubbed her back with his other hand. "Putting off the organizing for a few days won't hurt anything."
"No. I'm going in." She unlocked the door, surprised when Luke followed her inside. "I thought you were going to the coffee shop."
"I am. When Renee gets here."
"I'll be fine on my own." But she was glad he was staying.
When Renee breezed in twenty minutes later, he kissed Audrey goodbye. "I'll be back at noon."
She locked the door behind him and glared at the red paint covered by cardboard obscuring her view of the street. Pretending to be fine hadn't worked. Luke had seen through her ruse. She hadn't told him the organizing was a start for packing up the studio.
Renee stood at her desk, checklist in hand. "What's up with the list?"
"My lease is up in a few months. I'm not renewing here."
"I don't blame you. That graffiti is bad energy. Where are you thinking of moving the studio?"
"I'm not sure yet. But it's time to start looking."
"I'll keep my eyes and ears open." Renee settled onto the floor two feet from her empty chair and sipped her tea. Audrey had given up trying to figure out Renee's quirks.
"Do me a favor? Don't mention anything to Luke. I don't want him to think I'm spooked about the spray painter."
"But you are spooked."
"But I don't want him to worry."
"Got it. We're totally cool. Unflappable women just checking out some new digs."
Laughing felt good. "Yes, we are. If you don't mind, I want to double-check the inventory to make it easier to estimate the number of moving boxes and the moving truck size we'll need."
They worked side by side, not stopping for a break until the mail arrived at eleven-thirty. Audrey dusted her hands on her pants and dropped the letters onto her desk. She'd also received a large package.
Renee pointed at the box. "What did you order? Anything fun?"
"I'm not waiting on anything. I have no idea what this is." She turned it over, seeking the return address. No name, just a New York City street she didn't recognize. She grabbed a box cutter and sliced across the top and then dug through a layer of newspaper. She instantly recognized the material and pattern of one of her designs. Frowning, she pulled out the fabric. The bronze dress sprinkled with sequins was identical to the one she'd worn to the fashion show. It had been one of her best-selling pieces from the Fall collection.
It was in tatters.
Her breath caught. Large, ugly gashes crisscrossed the chest and back of the dress. Dried drips of brownish red were splattered all over it...
Like blood.
Icy cold shot up her spine.
A single sheet of paper lay at the bottom of the box. She reached for it with tingling hands. She didn't want to read it. Didn't want to know. But she couldn't look away.
Stay away from Luke or next time this will be YOU.
"What's wrong, Aud? You've gone white." Renee's voice came from far away.
Spots appeared in front of her eyes. Audrey's heart pounded as fast as a needle whipping through a straight seam.
"Oh, shit." Renee took the dress from her hands and eased her into a chair. "Deep breaths and put your head between your knees. I'll call the police."
She nodded, or gave some semblance of a nod.
Numbness overtook her body.
The hate would never stop.
She couldn't handle it anymore.
***
Luke spent the morning on the phone with the contractor who'd renovated Irisa and Dom's house. Halfway into the lengthy chat, he'd realized having Audrey in on the call would have helped immensely. Still, he received an estimate on how long it would take to convert the lowest level of his home into usable studio space for Audrey. He'd wanted her there anyway, but the vandalism had pushed him to get the project done immediately.
Then he called Irisa and Zander to report in on Audrey. In painstaking detail, he told them what had been happening. Sweat beaded all over his face while Zander insisted they think about getting Audrey a security guard and Irisa exclaimed her relief about the authorities now being involved. He felt like he needed another shower. More importantly he needed to figure out who was behind the spray paint. Close to noon, he ended the call and then walked back to the studio.
From down the block he saw two cops walk through the previously locked door. Fear choked his heart and he ran hard, flinging back the door and taking the stairs two at a time. He knew he shouldn't have left her alone. Not even with Renee. He burst inside the studio, screaming her name. "Audrey?"
Four pairs of eyes turned toward him—two cops, Renee, and his precious Audrey, pale and shaking.
He moved to her as fast as he could. "What's going on? Why are the cops here, again?"
Audrey pointed to a tattered bloody dress in one of the officer's gloved hands. "I had a special delivery. A stay-away-from-Luke-
special."
The one cop showed him a sheet of paper. "This note was found in the box."
Stay away from Luke or next time this will be YOU.
Fuck. "What can you do with this?"
The first cop answered. "The only identifying information they used is two crumpled pieces of newspaper from last Sunday's circulation. The return address is a fake. Ms. Pierce gave us a list of the clients who ordered that dress. We'll go through the list, but considering the dress has been available on the secondary market, that's not a lot to go on. We'll test everything for prints, but if there's nothing in the system, there's nothing we can do."
"What about the blood?"
"That could be anything too. We're not sure this is real blood but we'll have it tested."
"The message was clear enough." Audrey's hands shook and her body trembled. She rocked back and forth.
Luke wrapped his arms around her. "We had an incident yesterday with the spray paint on the front window. The property manager called it in."
"Yeah," the second cop nodded. "But we'll need the three of you to come down to the station to give statements."
Luke nodded. "Whatever you need."
Two hours later, after enduring another retelling of the cyberattacks and watching Audrey's shaking slow to a stop and cool stillness set in, Luke accompanied Audrey and Renee from the police station and back to the studio. Renee found work in the front room, leaving him alone with Audrey in her office. This had gone way too far. Anger and fear mixed together into a dangerous cocktail. Luke pulled her into his embrace. "Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise."
"How? How exactly can you promise that?" Her voice rose octaves higher. "Things keep getting worse, not better."
"I can help." He held her tighter. "It's okay. We'll fix this."
"It's not okay. And you can't fix this." She wrenched free. "Every time I post a picture online, I'm being attacked. My name is dragged through the mud every day. It's hurting my livelihood and it's killing me inside. I thought I could handle that part, but this..." She gestured to her studio window. "This is it. They win. I'm spooked."
"Audrey—"
"That bloody dress? I don't need some rabid fan gutting me because she thinks you're her true love."
"That's not going to happen."
"Really, how can you prove it?"
"We can hire a security guard and get you a guard dog."
"No. That's no way to live. I love you, Luke, but I'm not going to wait around to see which type of kitchen knife they use to fillet me." She laughed. A bitter, desperate sound. "It's over. They've won. I'll fulfill my obligation to you and the band for the show, but our relationship is over."
Desperation clawed at him. He grasped her hand. "Don't do this. I'm here with you. With you. Like I promised."
"I absolve you of your promises. Go back to California, back to your beach, back to your fans. What I said all those weeks ago is true—we don't always get what we want." Tears shimmered, turning blue eyes into pools. She pulled her hand free from his and swiped underneath her eyes. "I'll miss you. I'm glad we gave it a try. But I can't live in constant fear for my life."
His own eyes grew damp—something that hadn't happened in more years that he could remember. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. She'd said she loved him. Loved him. And she wouldn't stay. Couldn't stay. How could he let her go?
He opened his eyes and grabbed her by the arms.
She pulled away. "Give me a minute. I'm going to the restroom."
His phone rang. What now? He glanced at the screen and swore. The fucking radio interview. "Hello?"
"Hi, Mr. Thompson. I'm checking on your estimated arrival time. The show is live in twenty minutes."
Goddamn. Fucking. Hell. "I'm on my way."
He backtracked to the front room and found Renee. "Tell Audrey I had to go. I forgot about the radio interview. Tell her we're not finished with our conversation. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"No problem. I'll take care of her until you're back." Her smile indicated she hadn't heard any part of his conversation with Audrey.
He ran for a cab, intent on finding a way to cut the interview short.
By the time he returned to the studio, an hour and a half later, it was locked. Audrey and Renee had gone.
Anger and fear twisted into one again. She was probably at home. No need to panic.
As soon as he set foot in her place, he knew she'd been there. Her perfume hung heavier in the air.
His suitcases were stacked on the floor in front of the couch, close to the door, far from their place in the bedroom. Seeing them there was like a sucker punch to his stomach. On top, lay a note in her flowing script.
Luke,
I'm staying with Renee tonight. I wasn't sure how late you'd get in from your interview, so you can sleep at my place, but please move your things to a hotel tomorrow morning. If you need clothes for Friday's show, I'll see you at the studio tomorrow at noon for the bands' appointment. Regardless, please drop my key in my mailbox after you lock up in the morning.
Audrey
Goddamn it. He slammed his fist onto the dresser.
He dialed her number and cursed the automated voice mail recording. "Audrey. I know you're upset, but we can figure this out." He closed his eyes, suddenly weary and discouraged. "I love you. I need you. Just call me and come home."
Three hours after he'd left the message, Audrey still hadn't returned his call or returned home. He should leave and find a hotel but on the off chance she came back, he wasn't missing an opportunity to talk to her.
He paced the apartment, alternating between hating and loving each item that reminded him of her. Hopes crushed and royally pissed off, he initiated a video chat with the band.
One by one, they picked up, until he had Irisa, Jayne, Zander, Brendan, and Landry on his screen.
He didn't wait to exchange greetings. "Audrey received a serious threat today." He launched into the story, cringing and angry all over again. When he'd finished, everyone was silent.
He shoved a hand through his hand and forced himself to focus. "So, I don't know what to do. She's scared out of her mind that someone is going to kill her."
"Luke," Jayne's soft voice spoke up. "Hold it together. Channel that anger. Use it to focus on a solution."
"I'm trying to think of one. My posting a please be nice message didn't do a damn bit of good."
"Then do the one thing I'm always cautioning against—go on a tirade." Irisa nodded at him when he frowned. "You need to get as much attention as possible and reach as many people as possible, and you exploding might finally get those commenting to shape up."
He let the idea settle. Tirade—he could do a tirade. Like they'd never believe. "Jett's show is live. I can ask him for two minutes of air time at the end of the show, after we perform with Wild Intention."
"That's smart, man. I'm sure he'd let you do it." Zander gave him a thumbs up.
"Hold up." Jayne waved at the screen. "Owen and Swindle Ox just released an announcement. They're going to be on Jett's show with us. A last-minute fill in for Jon Briarline. Jon's wife went into early labor and he's staying in Seattle to be with her. Swindle Ox is in the city this week, performing some private shows."
Goddamn Owen. Shit. "It doesn't matter. We're still going to do what we need to do."
"Don't forget, you'll have us with you. We always have your back." Zander met his gaze. "Try to get some sleep. We'll all see you in the morning."
A phone call to Jett secured his two minutes of air time at the end of the show. After texting the confirmation to Zander, he asked Jayne and Irisa to check in on Audrey.
The bottle of whiskey on the top shelf of Audrey's cabinet had his name on it.
Despair set in, and being surrounded by her things made his feelings all that much harder to explain.
Ignoring his social media sweep, ignoring everything else, he poured the first shot.
He just wanted to
be numb.
Early morning sunlight beamed across Luke's face. He woke up alone, in Audrey's bed. Dull pain throbbed in his temples when he raised his head. She hadn't come back and she hadn't called. He'd woken up countless times during the night to check.
His phone, on her pillow, blinked with missed messages from Zander and Irisa. She'd sent him the band's hotel information, along with a room reservation for himself. He took his time getting ready to leave, wondering if this were the last time he'd ever be in Audrey's space.
When he reached her mailbox, he paused, bags at his side, turning the key over and over in his hand. To him, dropping it in said giving up on them. But, keeping it said he couldn't follow her wishes.
He stood for a long time before finally making his decision.
Chapter Fifteen
After a night spent tossing and turning on a futon in Renee's apartment, Audrey unlocked her studio at eleven-thirty, intending to stay open only for the appointment with the bands. Safety had been shattered with the dress delivery. Whoever had sent it knew where she was and that made her a sitting target. She and Renee hustled inside and then she locked the door behind her.
Renee set her tea on the table. "Are you sure you don't want me to handle this appointment on my own?"
"I made a commitment. I'm seeing it through." Though it would be hard. Really hard. Especially when she saw Luke.
In his emotional message, he'd said he loved her. Loved her. But fear kept her from celebrating that love and creating a life with him. She loved him and he loved her, but someone else wanted him enough to try to blot her out of existence.
"Do me a favor?" She waited for Renee to catch her gaze. "Do whatever you have to do to keep this appointment rolling."
"We need to be out of here at two o'clock to meet with the real estate agent anyway."
Mauro had been understanding about her decision to not renew her lease. "Let's try for one-thirty and I'll buy you lunch."
"If it's going to be a repeat of last night's dinner and breakfast this morning where I ate and you picked at your food and pretended, I'll pass. That was depressing. You need to eat."
Love Song (Rocked by Love #2) Page 13
