Dare to Rock (Dare to Love 5)

Grey didn’t like what he had to do next, but he looked at Tyler. “Can I have a word with you?”

Avery’s gaze shot between them. “What? Why?”

“It’ll be fine.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

She stood and he rose with her.

“I’ll go see if Ella’s okay.” She looked between them one more time. “And I expect an explanation later.”

Grey waited until she’d disappeared down the hall before turning to Tyler. “Look, you don’t have to like me, but can we agree we both have Avery’s best interests at heart?”

“That remains to be seen.”

Grey swallowed a curse. The man wasn’t going to make anything easy. “There’s another security issue you need to know about.”

“What’s going on?” Tyler asked.

“I got a fan mail …” Grey went on to explain the connection between the email he’d received from Emerald and Avery’s blog, and the woman’s implied threat to break them apart.

He wanted nothing more than to hide the information that would give Avery’s brothers even more reason to dislike him and want him away from their sister. But he wouldn’t put his self-interest above Avery’s safety, and he wasn’t foolish enough to think he could handle things on his own.

He rolled his shoulders, tension settling there like lead. “I don’t know what it means, but I don’t like what my gut’s telling me.”

“Fuck. And you can’t just walk away and leave my sister alone?” Tyler muttered.

Grey had had enough. He stepped into Tyler’s personal space. “Listen carefully. I may let you get away with the occasional insult because I know I brought this shit into her life.”

“Not to mention how badly you hurt her when you left? Who do you think picked up the pieces? The same people who are going to have to do it when you bail on her again.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m serious about your sister, and you’d better get used to it. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you’d use your expertise to help keep her safe.”

Tyler eyed Grey warily, but Grey thought he caught a hint of admiration in the man’s gaze when he didn’t back down.

“Fine. I’ll do my job and keep an eye on you at the same time,” Tyler said.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. Now, you mentioned anxiety.”

Tyler straightened his shoulders. “Not my story to tell.”

Grey inclined his head. He wanted to hear anything about Avery from Avery. “Can you at least tell me if I should let her know about the crazy fan?”

Tyler blew out a harsh breath. “I’m torn between honesty and whether or not this will put her over the edge.” He paused in thought. “Tell you what. Send me the email, and I’ll shoot you one back with the information I need to dig into who sent it. Let me get to work on the email and look into her blog. If I find out we’re dealing with someone seriously unhinged, I’ll let you know, and we’ll change tactics.”

Grey nodded. He was clearly in the dark about Avery in ways he hadn’t expected. He needed to trust her brother’s judgment.

“I hate lying, even by omission,” he said, his voice low. “But I don’t want to freak her out either.”

Tyler ran a hand through his slightly longer-than-military-cut hair. “I know. I don’t want her blindsided, but I also don’t want her under a crazy amount of stress. Not until we see how badly this current band-breakup news is going to get for her. So we’re agreed?”

He nodded. “Agreed.” He extended a hand, a peace offering of sorts toward Tyler.

Tyler shook his hand. “Doesn’t mean I like you, Kingston.”

“Understood.” Grey didn’t need anything more from Tyler than for him to know the facts and help keep Avery safe.

Tyler glanced toward the bedrooms. “Tell Avery I’m running out to buy supplies to get her locks updated. I’ll be back to install and let her know who’ll be watching her six.”

Grey respected her brother’s ability to pull together all the safety features Avery needed. “I will.”