Steel 7 (Multiple Love)

I nod my head, indicating to Elijah that I want to talk to him in private. In the corner of the room, I whisper, “This can’t happen again. Nothing that isn’t vetted by us will pass Luna’s lips.”

“Seriously. I don’t understand how this shit is getting this bad.” Elijah says. “We’ve worked with big stars before, and none of them have had people infiltrating their rider items.”

“This might be the last time we work for Blueday,” I say. “Adam was raging on the phone.”

“I’m raging in here,” Elijah says. “Someone out there is trying to make a mockery out of us, and I’m not going to stand for it.”

“When will they release Luna?”

“They want to keep her in for a couple of hours.”

I glance at my watch, mentally calculating forward. “We’ll make the flight tomorrow then.”

“Yes,” Elijah says. “Do you think London is going to be less crazy than the rest of the countries we’ve been to on this tour?”

“Somehow, I doubt it. Trouble has a tendency to follow.”

There’s a knock at the door, and I turn to find Mo, grave-faced, holding his phone.

“What is it?” I ask impatiently.

“You’ve got to see this, Con. We’re fucked.”

“Stay with Luna,” I tell Elijah before I follow Mo out into the sterile white corridor. My feet squeak on the linoleum as my chest tightens with dread. When Mo passes me the phone, the first thing I see is a murky night image. Bringing the phone closer, it takes me a few seconds before I realize what I’m looking at: images of our swim with Luna last night were taken with a high-tech nighttime camera. There isn’t just one either. Seven snaps show Luna in the arms of each of us, and the headline reads “Luna Evans in a seven-times-lucky shocker.”

Shoving the phone back into Mo’s hand, I slump back against the wall, dropping my head into my hands and tugging on my hair with frustration.

This was always the worst-case scenario that I had in my mind when we started this crazy relationship. Luna didn’t want to hear it. She had her own ideas about the risks, and they were a lot more cavalier than mine. And I was weak. We all were.

And look where we are now.

Luna’s in more danger than she’s ever been before, and in a matter of minutes, Adam is going to be on the phone railing at me for another reason.

We’re going to lose the Blueday Records contract, but that isn’t the worst of it.

When we lose the contract, Luna’s safety will rest in the hands of another security firm, and we’ll have no way of protecting her.

23

JAX

We decide between us that we won’t answer any calls or tell Luna what’s happened until morning. Connor messages Adam to inform him that Luna’s wellbeing is our priority, and we need to focus on getting her ready to fly tomorrow. He tells Adam he’ll speak to him when we arrive in London, but he doesn’t get a reply.

Keeping Luna away from her phone isn’t easy, but Asher finds ways to distract her, and Hudson places her purse into the trunk.

It’s so strange to spend time with Luna when she’s not able to speak. She’s such a vocal person, always chatting, humming, and singing. Luna’s voice is one of the traits that makes her larger than life, and without it, she seems diminished.

I didn’t realize how much I love her being strong and loud and capable until she isn’t. I didn’t know how much I would struggle to see her weakened.

When we get back to the hotel room, Elijah runs Luna a bath filled with the subtle fragrance of luxury bath salts. Before she has a chance to object, he undresses her and helps her into the water. The bath is big, and to continue the distraction, he drops his clothes to the floor and climbs in beside her. There’s space for another, and I don’t wait to be asked.

Climbing into the water feels so good. Even though the night at the beach is going to be our undoing, I can’t feel anything but happiness for the time we’ve spent together and the experiences we’ve had. I hope that Luna will feel the same when she finds out that the whole world knows our secrets.

I find Luna’s hand beneath the water and squeeze it gently, hoping that she’s finding mine and Elijah’s presence reassuring. She squeezes back, gazing at me with green eyes that always hook me in the heart. “Thank you,” she mouths to me and then Elijah.

He presses a finger to her lips. “Rest,” he says. “You have to rest. Let us do the talking.”

So that’s what we do.

We play a silly game where I come up with two possible questions to ask Elijah, and Luna gets to pick which one he answers just by pointing.