Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (24 page)

“Could be
. I’ll look around and see if it makes any sense. I’ll have Lee check it out as well.”

“Thanks
, Ace. We don’t have much time. Lizzy is only here a few more days. Evan is here with her.”

“I know
, sweetie. We’ll do our best.”

When I end the call, Jack pulls me into his arms. “Thank you, baby.”

“For what?”

“For always having my back.”

“You would do the same for me.”

“And then some.”
He bends to kiss me gently. “You’re right. We have a ton of support.”

“I’m glad you agree. You shouldn’t doubt the wife.” I tease as I stand before him.

“Yes, dear.”

“
It’s late, let’s try to get some sleep.” I tug on his hands until he is standing. Without warning, he lifts me into his arms. “What are you doing?”

“Just practicing.” He says
, as he carries me into the bedroom. “I love you, Mrs. Lair.” The intensity of his gaze melts my insides.



Jack looks exhausted. He tossed around all night, until he finally got out of bed. He insisted that I stay and try to sleep, but it was useless. So I joined him on the couch as we watched
The Hangover
and
Ted
. It was nice to hear him laugh and forget things, even if for a few hours.

To make things easier, we asked Lizzy and Evan to join us in our room for breakfast.
Jack and I both decided to tell them this morning. They need to know and prolonging it isn’t going to help matters.

As our breakfast is
being wheeled in, Lizzy and Evan follow right behind the bellhops.

“Good morning
, guys. How was your night?”

“It was good,
” Jack responds quickly.

“Jus
t good?” Evan turns towards me, “Already acting like an old married couple?”

“Shut
it, Miller.” He chuckles and throws a strawberry at me. “You’re so annoying.”

Evan’s antics help lighten the mood. The four of us end up having a pleasurable time in spite of Danny’s bullshit.

“So what’s the agenda for today?”

“We have all day, until rehearsals at five.”

“Rehearsals? Haven’t you been playing long enough to know the words?”

Rolling my eyes, I stare at him for a few seconds.

“What?”

“It’s more like sound checks.”

“Oh.”

“I wanted to take Leila
sightseeing, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Jack says quietly. We exchange a look that Evan notices.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um…last night I received a text from Danny.”

“What did it say?” Lizzy asks.

“It was a picture.” Jack sighs heavily before continuing. He opens his phone and turns it towards his sister.

Her gasp is heart
breaking. “When was this taken?”

Evan takes the phone and looks at me. “What the hell is this?”

“He’s making a point.”

“He’s following me?”

“Yeah, Liz.”

“I’ll fucking kill him,
” Evan barks.

“Ev, Ace and Oscar are on it. They will come u
p with a plan,” I say to try and calm him down.

He turns towards Lizzy and demands,
“You’re staying with me.”

“Evan, I can’t stay with you.
I need to be in New York.”

“I’ll hire a bodyguard.”

She moves closer and cups his face. “You can’t afford that.”

“We’ll f
igure something out. Ace is going to the police to see if there is anything they can do.” Now it’s Jack’s turn to try and comfort them with his words. “I’m sorry I had to tell you, Liz. I really didn’t want to, but you need to know.”

She gives Jack a sympathetic smile. “You can’t always protect me Jack. I’m not a little girl anymore. You were right to tell me.”

“What is the deal with this asshole?” Evan asks Jack. “Really, what does he want?”

“He wants to ruin me, a
nyway he can.” Jack looks at me and then at Liz. “He knows my weaknesses.”

“Your
weaknesses both happen to be two people I care about very much. This is no longer between you and him. He just involved me as well.”

My cell buzzes loudly on the coffee table. Jack
leans over to pick it up for me. “It’s Ace.”

“
Hi, Ace.”

“Lei, we think they are meeting
points. I don’t know what most of them mean, but a few are obvious.
A168 dam
, might mean Amsterdam and 168
th
. It’s a location for crack deals.”

“So now what?”

“I’ll keep checking for a new post. Hopefully he’ll tip us off to the next meet. If it turns out to be what we suspect, we can call in a tip and maybe nail him that way. This post was weeks ago, and no new ones since. I hope he isn’t using an alternate form of communication. We’ll keep digging.”

“
Ok. Thanks, Ace.”

“
Also, Lee is putting a guy on Lizzy when she gets back. At least until we figure something out.”

“Ace, I want to compensate him. I’ve told you this before.”

“He really wants to do this. He’s a fan and he said we’ll worry about it later.”

“Ok. Tell
Lee thank you.”

“What did he say?” Evan asks the second I end the call.

“They believe the posts are places to score drugs. They’ll keep looking into it. Lee will be putting a guy on Lizzy when she gets back to New York. He wants to help.”

“This is not necessary. He has paying clients he needs to worry about.” Lizzy says stubbornly.

“Liz. He wants to do this and we are going to let him. Jack, tell her.” Evan pleads.

“He’s right. I have no idea what Danny wants. Again, this could all be empty threats. Who knows if he’s just trying to fuck with
me? We simply can’t take that chance.”

Lizzy glances from Jack to Evan and then concedes, “Fine.”

Evan and Lizzy stay a little while longer before heading out to do some shopping. Once they leave, Jack sags on the couch in defeat. “It’s my fault you are on his radar and now my sister. What the fuck?”

“Jack, none of this is your fault. He’s a lunatic. You couldn’t have predicted this was going to happen.”

He pulls me into his embrace, holding me tight.

“I don’t want you going anywhere without me or Oscar.”

His request is a bit unreasonable. I am with him constantly anyway and decide not to argue. “Ok.”

“I’m sorry our engagement has been tainted by that fucker.”

“You gave me the best engagement a girl could ever ask for. I love you for that.”

He allow
s me to pull his lips to mine. His kiss is demure compared to his normal response.

I pull away and search his eyes. He looks so tired.
“You are exhausted. Do you want to take a nap?”

“Yeah, I think I need one.
”

I pull
him towards the bedroom. “How long do we have this room?”

“Four.”

“Plenty of time.” I give him a salacious grin over my shoulder and he quickens his pace.

Distraction is my best line of defense.




I finished up with my preshow ritual quicker than usual. My ring is safely pinned between my breasts. My makeup and hair are done. I’m dressed and ready. I quickly text Jack my usual message.

I love you so much.

My nerves are getting the best of me. All I can think about is Jack meeting with that bitch tomorrow. It’s going to be the longest few hours of my life. Evan
offered to keep me well entertained, but I know my brain. I wouldn’t be able to put on a happy face and pretend, so I declined. I feel bad I’m not spending as much time as I could with him. But no one could have predicted the crap that’s been slung at us. I know Evan understands completely.

Tonight’s show is bittersweet for me. I am so thrilled
he is here in the front row with Lizzy beside him. They’ll meet us backstage afterwards. Jen has arranged for another meet-and-greet, after the show tonight. This time there will be about one hundred fans mulling around at an after party. The one that we had in Chicago only had a few dozen people in attendance. This is not going to be fun for me. I’m sure of the one hundred attending tonight, at least half will be women. Fifty women will all be vying for Mr. Lair’s attention, while he needs to pretend we are not together. 

Oh,
yay
.

I hope to attach myself to Evan and Lizzy as much as possible
, without them declaring me a leech.

hey
, my wife. I love you too
.

you’re turning me on

I’ll be right there

No!

Buzz kill.

A quick rap on my door makes me think his text was serious. “I told you…Oh, hey Dylan.”

“Can I come in real quick?”

“Sure.” As I
turn to shut the door, Jack and the guys walk past. A raised eyebrow and a subtle tilt of the head are my clues he saw Dylan entering my room. Ignoring him, I shut the door.

“So, what’s up?”

“I haven’t had a chance to tell Jack yet, because he’s been surrounded by the roadies. Jen knows though. We got something on Jessa.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m serious. Krista contacted the New York lab. That document is a complete fake.”

“
I had called the lab to be sure it was real. It didn’t occur to me to check if the test was.”

“We all assumed it was legit.”

“Wait, so it’s not Jack’s baby?”

“Well, we don’t know that. It can still be his. But the fact she had the test done by sending
the samples in the mail to an Internet company opens the possibility it could be anyone’s baby.”

I
t takes a few seconds for his words to register with me. He waits patiently while smiling. He’s definitely not prepared when I throw myself into his arms.

“You have no idea how happy you’ve made me. This changes everything tomorrow.”

“It sure does.” Dylan releases me and quickly steps away to put some distance between us. It occurs to me right then that I must have really hurt him. “Go, have a good show. I’ve held you longer than I wanted to. They’ll be frantic soon.”

I
move towards the door, but then turn to touch his arm. “Dylan, I really am so grateful for all you are doing for us.”

“I know.”
He gives my hand a quick pat and leaves the room before me.

That bitch. She must think
we are complete idiots. So she’s trying to nail this pregnancy on Jack. If it truly was his baby, she could have easily proved it by going through the proper channels. Why the hell would she take this route?

“What the hell?” Jack stands in a threatening stance at the stage steps
as I approach.

“Relax, I’m here.”

“Barely.”

Fuck, I love when he acts like an asshole. I’ve got it
real
bad.

I
really wish I could give him a signal somehow. It’s going to have to wait until the show is over. The house lights dim, and the guys run onto the stage. Jack has been the first one on lately, and the fans have picked up on that. Even in the dark, the screams are always deafening the minute his feet hit the top step.

“Hey
, Vegas!” he croons into the microphone. The lights haven’t even come on yet and the response is still thunderous.

“Wow. Thank you. We’re so excited to be here.” The crowd agrees and he laughs a low, sexy,
oh my
- kind of laugh that goes right to my special place. “Has anyone slept at The
Bellagio
?”

Once they respond, he adds
, “Those beds sure are comfy, or maybe it was the company?”

He’s such a ball-buster.

“Anyway,
I love this town! I might move here. Guys, do you want to move to Vegas?”

Trey responds with an
ear-piercing chord on his bass. “Would that be a yes?” After Trey repeats the riff, Jack chuckles and says, “Ok, let’s get this party started. I’m a bit hung over. I’m going to sit the first one out and have Ms. Marino take the floor.”

He motions at the center mic and takes a seat near Hunter.

“Hey, Vegas! How is everyone tonight?” Once their cheers lessen, I motion for the band to start a song I’ve been singing off and on for the past few weeks. Jack loves it and begged me to add it to our show. The stage lights dim, except for a spot on me. Trey starts off the intro to Pat Benatar’s
Promises in the Dark
. The first few times I sang it, I was a nervous wreck. I am now so comfortable with the song and with singing it. It’s a part of our show that I actually look forward to.