Sam didn’t want Lia in the same room with Lally.
Ever.
He kept recalling Marshall Weathers slashing at him with that knife and had the bizarre, irrational fear that someone like Weathers was lurking close by, that they would attack and Lia would get caught up in the turmoil.
No. He needed her safe.
“Lally, why the fuck are you here?” he asked irritably. And she pouted. “No, scratch that, how the fuck are you here? Who told you where to find me?”
“Craig.”
“What?” Sam asked blankly. Who?
“Craig. Your mom’s boyfriend. I called her to ask for your address, but Craig answered. He’s such a sweetie. We had a lovely chat. He told me he was a huge fan.”
Sam groaned. Of course it was Craig. The idiot.
“Look, you need to go home. You’re intruding in my private life, and that’s uncalled for. You’re my client, not my fucking girlfriend. Tyler is my best CPO, he had the situation under control and you made his job incredibly difficult with your childish and inappropriate behavior.”
“You can’t speak to me like this. I pay your bills.”
“But you don’t fucking own me. If you cannot comply with our rules—rules, I might add, that have been put in place to keep you safe—then I’m afraid I will have no option but to sever the agency’s relationship with you.”
“I was scared. The news said Marshall Weathers escaped.” She sniffled, looking contrite, and Sam rolled his eyes. He knew all her tricks, and the wounded-little-girl thing was something he’d indulged in the past when he gave an actual fuck about keeping her business, but right now his single major priority was to get her the hell out of Riversend and away from Lia and her family.
“You and Chambers can stay here tonight. But I want you out of here by tomorrow. Meanwhile, keep a low profile. Do not leave this cabin for any reason.”
“Where will you stay?”
“That’s none of your concern. I want you to think long and hard about whether you still want to retain our services. If not, I’ll instruct Colby to commence with contract severance procedures.”
Lia barely remembered the short drive home, and after she parked her car in her driveway, a rented sedan slid to a smooth stop in front of the house. Lia glanced at it and then froze. She felt her face settle into a glower and marched up to the car and rapped on the window. The big, muscled man in the driver’s seat opened the window and removed his sunglasses. He had really lovely violet eyes. Quite striking on a man. She was momentarily distracted by his pretty eyes before glowering again and folding her arms over her chest.
“Why did you follow me?” she demanded, and he shrugged easily.
“Boss wanted me to.”
“Well, you can tell your boss that I don’t need random strangers following me for no reason.”
“He probably felt there was reason to keep an eye on you.”
“No, there isn’t. Go keep an eye on his girlfriend—that’s your job, isn’t it?”
“Lally’s not the boss’s girlfriend.” He reached into the glove compartment and withdrew a pack of gum. He lifted it inquiringly toward her, and she shook her head. He unwrapped a stick for himself and popped it into his mouth. Chewing lazily while he squinted up at her.
“I would like you to leave.”
“Can’t do that, ma’am. I’m in deep shit as it is, I won’t make it worse by telling the boss that I left his lady unprotected.”
“I’m not his lady. You heard him, I’m nobody.” She choked on the word and felt that stupid sting again, this time accompanied by the familiar burn in her nose. She would not cry in front of this amiable thug.
“Don’t rightly know why he lied about that, but I think it’s because he was pissed off with Lally.” He popped his gum. “Ma’am, I don’t mean to be a bother, but I’m just coming off a seventeen-hour-long journey with someone who is not the easiest of travel companions, and I wonder if I could trouble you for a glass of water and an aspirin, please?”
Focusing on the man’s discomfort gave her something to think about other than her own heartache, and Lia immediately went into fussing mode.
Sam was packing an overnight bag and listening to Lally talk to her agent, then to her parents, then to her secret backup-dancer boyfriend. Finally, she lapsed into silence for two seconds before finding the TV remote and starting to flip through the channels.
Somebody needed to keep an eye on her after he left, and that meant taking Chambers off Lia duty until Sam could replace him. Which left him in a bit of a quandary—leave Lia alone or leave Lally alone. It was like one of those fox, hen, grain crossing-the-river-type conundrums that he’d so enjoyed when he was a kid. Except now there was no logic in his decision making.