Page 12 of Guarding the Shadows (Pulsetunes Rock Gods #5)
R aff
During the trip up north, rage grew in my gut while Bodhi filled me in with what had happened with Beth the previous night. To cut down on travel time, Levi had sprung for a private charter flight from Miami to Jacksonville, then we picked up his SUV at his other place there.
By the time we arrived in Jacksonville, Bodhi had acquired the CCTV download from the venue for us to study. So we got straight into scrolling through the footage that had been sent to his phone during the transfer from the airport to pick up Levi’s car.
It was unfortunate that there wasn’t any cameras in the auditorium itself, but there was one covering the front entrances and a few in the parking lot.
We were disappointed when we couldn’t see anyone who fit his description at all.
But the fact that he’d deliberately dodged the CCTV surveillance equipment told us two things: he knew the venue well, which probably meant he was local, and purposefully evading the cameras meant he was undoubtedly planning to act out something and was making sure he didn’t get caught.
After viewing the footage, I was relieved that Beth had called Levi, but as we got nearer to the hotel where she was staying, the thought of seeing her again made my heart skip a beat.
I wasn’t sure whether the nervous feeling in my chest was due to facing Beth after my breakup with Gwen or because I was going to be working closely with her now that she needed protection.
I also questioned whether I was whole enough to manage my feelings without doing something I’d later regret.
“Fuck, if that guy hadn’t tried to get another passkey made, he could have waltzed straight up to her door, if he’d learned what room she was in,” I remarked, after we’d strode unchecked past the reception desk and had entered an elevator.
“There’s no security in this place whatsoever,” Bodhi ground out as the elevator car jolted to a halt on the floor where Beth was staying.
Bodhi’s dark gaze met mine and I sensed we’d had the same thought—Beth had been extremely lucky.
As we reached her hotel room, my breathing and heart rate grew faster the moment Bodhi knocked on the door, then an electric buzz of anticipation ran through me at seeing Beth again.
My heart stalled when a deep male voice came from the other side of the door. “Who is it?”
“Bodhi,” my partner muttered, then he turned and glanced at me with a what the fuck look on his face.
“Hey, come in, she’s in the shower,” a tall, good-looking guy with a rock star vibe said, smiling.
I glanced down at his bare feet and almost cracked a molar with how hard I’d clenched my teeth.
An unexpected streak of pure jealousy coursed through my veins, followed by feelings of rage and discontentment that tightened my chest and gut.
A guy in her room was the last thing I had considered before we’d reached her floor.
In a split second, I immediately regretted not taking the call she’d made over a month ago. Pressure built in my head from an instant regret that I’d missed my chance with her, which I reasoned was a ridiculous thought since until the moment when he’d opened her door, I hadn’t been over Gwen.
“Maybe we should give her some privacy until she’s dressed?” Bodhi asked, hitching his thumb at the door behind him toward the door we just came through. Personally, I’d already decided since I’d arrived, I was going nowhere.
He waved Bodhi’s suggested away. “Honestly, it’s fine.
She took what she’s wearing today into the bathroom with her.
She’s annoyed with her brother making a fuss, but I’m glad he sent you here,” he mumbled, sweeping his long, wet hair back off his face.
I felt my fists clench at the thought they may have showered together.
“Beth should be out in a minute, she’s been in there a while …
and we were expecting you,” he muttered when there was a pause in the conversation.
“I must say we weren’t expecting Levi to send two of his people,” the rock god said, glancing past Bodhi to eye me uneasily.
“Well, you appear to know who Bodhi is, but you haven’t told us who you are yet,” I stated flatly.
Reaching up, he scooped his wet hair from both sides of his neck and tied it up in a bun, using a ponytail band from around his wrist.
“Benny, and you are?” I glanced at Bodhi, and with my mind still playing catch up from the distraction of him being there, I realized Bodhi hadn’t asked him to identify himself because he already knew who Benny was.
His reply told me nothing. “Benny who, and what’s your relationship to Beth?” I asked, sounding less than friendly toward him, and ignoring the strange look Bodhi gave me.
“Ah, so you’re Raff,” he stated, wagging a knowing finger at me. He gave me the once over and nodded. “She’s told me about you,” he disclosed.
“About me? What about me?” I ground out. My eyes darted between Benny and Bodhi because I suspected Beth might have told that guy that she’d caught feelings for me, while on the tour.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “How you two were close while she tagged along on the tour with Screaming Shadows.”
Surprised by how disappointed I felt that he didn’t expand on his comment. “Then you have the advantage over me, Benny, because Beth has never mentioned you,” I replied gruffly, sounding smug.
Bodhi stared at me wide-eyed, then frowned, and I realized I’d attempted to start a pissing contest with a guy I’d only just met. Luckily Beth opened the bathroom door before anyone said anything else.
“Wow, Raff. You’re the last person I expected to see,” she said, acting casual, but sounding kinda breathless. Her feet faltered and I believed she was surprised to see me.
“Surprise,” I muttered, unsmiling because I was busy recovering the breath she had stolen from me by how amazing she looked.
My heart raced in the brief seconds her familiar, beautiful gray eyes met mine.
Averting her gaze, she squeezed past me, her breasts brushing my upper belly.
She reached up, hugged Bodhi, and thanked him for coming, and for a moment I thought she’d considered hugging me and became disappointed when she didn’t.
Instead, she crossed the room and stood next to Benny.
“I see you’ve met Benny.” She blushed as she slung her arm around his waist and placed her other hand on his chest.
“Met him, but he was just about to tell me what his relationship is to you,” I ground out, sounding more like her father than a potential love interest.
When Beth smiled as she glanced up at the guy, with an adoring look in her eyes, my heart crumbled up tight, because it reminded me of all the times she’d looked at me like that.
“Benny’s my hero,” she said, interrupting my thought. “If it hadn’t been for him, I shudder to think what might have happened to me last night.”
“No one mentioned a boyfriend when we were given the brief to come here,” I muttered, pissed that I’d agreed to come because I’d thought she was on her own. Bodhi turned around to look at me, and when I saw a puzzled look on his face, I wondered what I was missing.
When the guy pulled Beth into a side hug and laughed, I fought back an overwhelming urge to throat punch the fucker for disrespecting me like that. But I caught something flicker in Beth’s gorgeous gray eyes and she let go of him straight away.
Benny immediately made space between them, and I felt myself relax. “Jesus, dude. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not her boyfriend, although I certainly wouldn’t kick Beth out of bed. I’m sad to say, I’m only this beaut’s faithful roadie.”