Maya Banks - Sweet Possession

“Send her a bill,” she heard Connor say. “Or don’t. Either way your employment has been terminated. You’ll be escorted from the premises, and if you step foot on or around her tour again, I’ll have you arrested.”

Her eyes widened when a thump sounded. And then a crash. Then she heard what sounded like something or someone hitting the wall.

She took a step forward but Kane pressed in close and maneuvered her farther away until she was against the far wall in the hall. She was surrounded by male bodies, and it drove her crazy that she couldn’t see what was going on.

A few moments later, Kane stepped back just in time for her to see R.J. and Trent being manhandled down the hall by Kane’s men. Blood smeared Trent’s nose and R.J. was sporting a swollen eye.

“Oh my God, Connor!” she exclaimed as she rushed into the room.

He turned and she saw he was fine. In fact, he looked cool and calm, like he hadn’t just taken on men larger than himself. Her only sign that he had in fact mixed it up with them was the curling and uncurling of his hand. The knuckles looked bruised and there was a smear of blood over the top of his hand.

“Are you okay?” she asked anxiously as she reached for his hand.

He cracked a smile. “I think your boyfriends fared the worst.”

She scowled. “They aren’t my boyfriends.”

“You don’t have to worry about them anymore. I told them if they had anything to say to you at all, to contact your label and they’d provide the name of your new manager whenever you get around to hiring one.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. “I suppose that was cowardly of me but I didn’t want to have a confrontation with them.”

“Lyric?”

She turned to see Kane holding a piece of paper in his hand. His face was dark with a frown as he concentrated on the note. Then he turned and stared at Connor.

“I think you need to go after those two and bring them back. This was hanging on her mirror.”

He held out the note and Connor yanked it from him before Lyric could reach for it.

“Son of a bitch,” Connor muttered. “I knew it was them. Those bastards.”

“Connor, what does it say?”

He held it out to her. She took it and glanced down at the colored cutout letters in varying fonts and sizes.

You won’t be safe.

Her brows came together and unease skittered down her spine.

“Run them down,” Connor ordered Kane. “Detain them and I’ll call the cops. We’ll turn the matter over to them. Our priority is Lyric’s safety.”

Kane nodded, then motioned to his men. They disappeared from the room a few moments later, leaving Connor and Lyric alone.

“I’ll leave you to dress. Your people should be here any moment now to help you get ready.”

“Don’t go,” she said, reaching for his arm. “I mean, it’ll be boring. They’ll do my hair and makeup and arrange my clothing, but it won’t take long. There aren’t any wardrobe changes for tonight’s show. It’s really like a miniconcert. Just eight songs total.”

A knock sounded at the door, interrupting them. “I’ll get that,” he said as he turned to open it.

Moments later, the room was filled with people. Chatter rose. Lyric was poked, prodded and made up until she barely recognized the woman staring back at her. For several days she’d lived a normal existence. No makeup. No outrageous clothes. Would Connor be repelled by the role Lyric played?

She glanced into the mirror to see him leaning against the back of the couch, hands shoved into his pockets as he watched her stylist put the finishing touches on her makeup.

Lyric couldn’t make out the expression on his face. She had no idea what he was thinking.

“You look great, Lyric,” the stylist said with a bright smile.

“Thank you, Stacy. You did a great job.”

Another knock sounded and Kane stuck his head in. “Five minutes, Lyric. They need you outside.”

Lyric rose, smoothed her tight jeans down her body and checked her appearance. It was a good costume choice for the rodeo. Though she didn’t sing country music, her outfit would appeal to the more conservative types, and what was the saying? When in Rome?

She pulled on her boots, slapped the sassy straw cowboy hat over her hair and grinned at Connor. “Showtime.”

Connor saw the light reenter Lyric’s eyes. Her confidence was back in spades and he was so relieved he nearly keeled over. She strutted into the hallway where he and Kane’s men surrounded her. Kane led the way and they stopped at a black Ford jacked-up pickup that bore the performers to the stage in the middle of the dirt-packed rodeo arena.

The lights were dimmed and the crowd buzzed with excitement.

Connor helped Lyric inside, then crawled in behind her. Kane’s men started ahead of the truck, even though the arena had security positioned at intervals around the stage.

Kane’s men positioned themselves between the area where the fans who had chute seats were allowed from the stands close to the stage and the stage itself.

It seemed the entire stadium was electrically charged and waiting for Lyric to arrive.

With a roar, the truck lurched forward and drove toward the stage just as it lit up and the stadium came alive with laser lights. The huge LCD screen that wrapped the back of the stage flashed Lyric’s sassy face and smile. The crowd went wild as she stepped from the truck and ran up the ramp to the stage.

Lyric yelled a greeting to the Houston fans and immediately launched into one of her upbeat songs.

The stands thumped and rocked along with her. Cameras flashed a repeating staccato of light, peppered throughout the thousands of people gathered for the rodeo.

Connor gained a new appreciation of what it took to get out and perform the way she did. She threw herself into it. She held nothing back. It was loud. It was raucous, and the fans loved every second of it.

She was sassy, cute, seductive and endearing. Her fans loved her and she clearly loved them.

At one point during the show, a mechanical bull rose from underneath the stage through an opening in the floor and Lyric climbed on and proceeded to ride like a champ. She waved and rotated and threw her hat into the crowd of fans assembled near the stage.

The bull sped up and she was tossed several feet into the air. His heart pumped into his throat and he was about to leap onto the stage to see about her when she popped up, laughing uproariously.

Then she slowed things down and sang the ballad that Connor had liked so much. “Going Home.” The crowd sang and swayed with her, and when she finished, the lights dimmed for a moment and then blazed back on as she led into her last song choice of the evening.

The show had lasted only a little more than an hour, but sweat gleamed on her face. Her hair was damp and her shirt clung to her like a second skin.

But she wore a smile and waved enthusiastically as she headed down the ramp toward the truck. Connor and Kane met her at the bottom, ushered her into the back, and she stood, holding on to the roll bars as they drove across the dirt. They circled once while she waved to the cheering crowd and then they disappeared behind the gate to the backstage area once more.

As soon as they stopped, Connor hopped off and then reached up to lift Lyric down. She was buzzing with energy. Her muscles jumped and jittered and she beamed from ear to ear.

He took her hand in his and led her back to her dressing room. He was gratified to see that food and drink were waiting for her. A few people with security passes milled about. Lyric ignored them, latched on to a bottle of water and chugged it down without taking a breath. She tossed the plastic and then reached for another as she slumped onto the couch.

“I have it on good authority you’re going to be having company in a very few minutes,” Connor said dryly. “You want to shower and change and I’ll hold them off for you?”

She sent him a puzzled look.

“The girls. They have passes with their tickets. I thought you knew.”

Lyric’s face lit up. “Oh that’s great. I asked Phillip to make sure they were taken care of but I wasn’t sure what arrangements he’d made for them.”

“The blue-haired brigade will descend.”

She chuckled. “You make us sound like a horde of little old ladies.”

“Hey, it wasn’t my idea to dye your hair blue.”

“Okay, let me shower and get into some nonsweaty clothes. You can let them in. They can wait in here so they won’t be pushed and shoved around by the crew outside.”

Connor nodded and checked his watch. He needed to call and get a report from the police on whether charges would be pressed against Frick and Frack.

As soon as the hot water hit Lyric, she wilted like a flower in a hundred-degree weather. All the adrenaline left her and she sagged against the wall as water beat down over her. All those sleepless nights were catching up and all she really wanted to do was go to sleep for about a week.

It took considerable effort but she washed her hair and rinsed off and then stepped out to dry. She combed through her hair but left it wet and then pulled on jeans and a T-shirt. It was nice not have to be meeting with regular fans. She could relax, kick back with the girls and not have to worry about a façade.

And Lord, but she was starving.

She trudged back into the dressing room to see Faith, Serena, Julie and Angelina sprawled on the couches while their guys stood to the side talking to Connor.