Page 38 of Kiss Marry Kill
“Joey, Megan got a text. I’m going to send it to you now. Later I’ll bring you her phone.”
“What kind of text?”
“The bad kind. Call me if you can get something from this. See if it’s traceable, at least to an area. Anything.” He chanced a glance her way and her leg was going up and down like it did when she was nervous. She was gnawing on her thumbnail.
“I’ll see what I can do, brother. She okay?”
“Not really. Talk to you later.” Jax hung up and forwarded the text to Joey.
“I know you’re scared—”
“I’m not scared for me, I’m scared for them. I’m not going to let them get hurt because I’m too proud to admit we have a big problem. He’s going to Atlanta, Jax. He’s going, he’s not even hiding it.” She sounded hysterical.
Taking her shaky hands in his, he tried his best to calm her. “I don’t think he’s after them, Meg. He hasn’t contacted them once. It’s all about you. Don’t cancel the tour. Don’t let him win. Remember when we met, you were this sheltered girl, did what everyone told her to do? You’re not that person anymore. You’ve grown up, you’re independent, you have fans, and you have a career you love. Are you going to let this asshole fuck up everything you’ve worked so hard for?”
“But—”
“I was going to finish up the security in the house, and then help MBPD with the investigation—whether they wanted my help or not. Now I’ll secure the tour instead. I’ll make sure everything is safe. I’ll go with you.”
“Like my bodyguard?”
“Among other things. My people will secure all the venues and tour buses and I’ll be close by at all times too. You’ll be safe.”
“Jax . . .” she exhaled. “Nelly and—”
“Talk to them. Tell them what’s going on. If they want to cancel, we’ll cancel. But if not, let’s be brave. Let’s not let him scare you off. What are you going to do, hide in here forever?”
“And you’ll come with me? On tour?” Her leg had slowed but her eyes were still wild.
Jax had a security firm to run and clients to take care of. Leaving on a three-month tour with Megan was the last thing he should be doing, especially when he knew the truth. Yes, he wanted her safe—needed her to be safe—but his motives weren’t completely altruistic. The thought of being away from her for three months, after not having her in his life for five years, was what drove him to say, “absolutely.”
And then her leg stopped completely.
* * *
Megan slept terribly that night. Jax had spent most of the day on the phone and the computer dealing with the security of the house and beginning to put together the team for the tour. She’d barely had a moment alone with him. All the flirting and occasional touches had ceased—both of them focused on trying to figure out what exactly was going on with Ryan. The threat of mortal danger wasn’t exactly an aphrodisiac.
The text had shaken Megan more than she wanted to admit. The call had been easy to brush off as a simple prank or wrong number, but even knowing that Jax was in the room right next to hers, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her. She made sure all the window shades were down and kept the covers over her head the entire night. But she still felt a tingle at the base of her spine that said someone was out there. It made sleep impossible.
“Morning,” she mumbled crabbily the next day.
“Up at the crack of eleven this morning,” he chuckled. She scowled as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Didn’t sleep much either.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re worried.” Shit, if he was worried, where did that leave her? He was the one who’d pushed her not to cancel the tour. Her thoughts were spiraling.
“Calm down. It’s not because I’m worried. I don’t sleep much normally. So I spent all night trying to figure out where the photo was taken. I narrowed it down by your clothes and the way you were wearing your hair—it’s either at Rio de Janeiro or Caracas.”
“That was two and a half years ago. How’d you narrow it down?” She stood behind him and leaned into the computer screen. Close like this, she just wanted to touch him. He smelled like fresh soap and Jax and it was so tempting to put aside all her trouble and get lost in this man.
“Surfed the internet for photos of your concerts looking for the combination of your clothes and your hair, and also Nelly’s and Taylor’s—what I can see through the black marks.” His voice sounded gruff, and it made her wonder if his thoughts had also drifted to the growing sexual tension between them that intensified when they were close like this.
“If you’re right, that means that the first time I met him wasn’t the first time he’d seen me.”
“Exactly.”
