Page 28 of Hunted Hearts (Black Heart Security #6)

T heo adjusted his earpiece for the third time in five minutes. As he paced the hallway outside the event ballroom, his cowboy boots thumped like the hands of the clock counting down to the time that the concert began.

The soft hum of voices and the clink of crystal glasses filtered through the walls. The background music was a playlist of Juliette’s recordings from past performances all over the world.

None of it settled his nerves.

He checked the itinerary laid out on his phone again, even though he had it memorized.

Arrival. Cocktail hour. Plated dinner. Keynote introductions.

Then Juliette’s performance, followed by a press moment and mingling with VIPs. Easy. Elegant. Controlled.

Or so he kept telling himself.

Only nothing about this night felt easy. And as for control? He was barely hanging on.

Juliette was in her dressing room getting ready for her performance, and Theo had already checked on her three times. Okay—four.

Denver stood with his legs braced and his arms folded, watching him slowly descend into madness.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet.”

He whirled to glare at his brother. “Tell me you wouldn’t do the same if it were Rhae.”

“I would. I did.” His jaw clenched tight at the reminder of Rhae being kidnapped and held by her stalker, an old business colleague of her father’s who wanted her for his own.

Denver’s nostrils flared as he forced a harsh sigh through his nose.

Theo opened his mouth to say more, but at that moment, a group of well-dressed guests appeared in the corridor…walking toward Juliette’s dressing room.

Into his earpiece came Colt’s voice. “VIPs coming your way.”

“I see them,” he muttered. “What the hell are they doing here?”

“They paid five hundred dollars each to spend a few minutes talking to Juliette before she performs.”

“Over my dead body,” he gritted out, watching the couples approach.

Denver took hold of the situation by stepping in front of Theo and forcing him to meet his stare. “Theo, you’re going to let them into the room. It’s in the plan.”

“Fuck the plan.”

“Denver, get hold of our brother before I come down there and wring his neck myself,” Colt said into both of their comms devices.

Denver’s brow hitched upward. “Quit glaring at the people. You’re going to scare them away.”

“Good.”

“Listen to me. We’re going to smile at these people and allow them into Juliette’s dressing room. We have to leave her alone so we can set the trap.”

Theo sliced a hand through the air, his agitation running off the charts. He pushed past Denver, his shoulder thudding into his brother’s hard one as he planted himself firmly in front of Juliette’s door.

The two couples moving toward them had been chattering with an excited air. But when they saw Theo standing in front of the door, their talk faded to silence.

He leveled the first of the men in his stare. Theo outweighed the guy by fifty pounds of muscle and could crush him with a single blow of his fist if it came to it. But he didn’t exactly give off a dangerous vibe either, dressed in his sleek suit and polished shoes, his hair slicked back.

He shifted his attention to the second man, equally sleek. He oozed wealth with his designer watch, but Theo knew that criminals came from all walks of life. He’d seen it too many times in the military to trust so easily.

The men looked uncomfortable but said nothing. One of the women wearing an elegant red gown stepped forward.

“We’re here to meet Juliette.” She spread her hands out in the shape of the sign that spelled out Juliette’s name in lights as if she was drawing it in the air.

This one had to be Juliette’s stalker. The one who entered her dressing room in London and swapped her pills, then later sent flowers with a scorpion concealed in the blooms.

He took a menacing step toward the woman, but Denver clamped his hand on his shoulder. Hard. His fingers bit into the muscle.

“Of course,” Denver said before Theo could send the group back to their seats. “Do you have your VIP passes?”

“Right here.” The woman reached into her red beaded bag and withdrew four small passes that Aspen had printed out back at the ranch. They were professional enough to become souvenir collectibles.

Theo reached to take the passes, but Denver grabbed them before he could. He gave the passes a cursory glance before clenching tighter on Theo’s shoulder.

“We’re going to let them into the dressing room now,” he muttered.

Theo inflated his lungs to bursting and let the air out in a hot gust. He stiffly stepped away from the door.

When Denver rapped lightly on it, Juliette’s voice came muffled from within.

“Yes?”

“The VIPs are here to see you.”

A beat passed, and suddenly the door swung inward. Juliette stood there in full dress, her makeup impeccable despite not having her artist here. She’d pinned her hair back on the sides, with a few loose tendrils floating around her delicate jaw.

Her stare panned over the group before landing on Theo. He took a step toward her, but Denver blocked his way.

“Hello! Would you like to come in and sit down?” Juliette breezed out to cover the moment. She flung the door wide, and the gentlemen ushered their dates into the room first.

Juliette turned her head, and her warm glance stroked over Theo before she closed the door.

Theo raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t like this.”

Denver forced him to meet his stare. “Focus. She’s safe.”

He started to say more, but his brother cut across him. “If you can’t get a grip, you will be benched.”

“Fine,” he gritted out.

Denver was right. They’d put security measures in place. Theo had personally installed cameras throughout the room, connected to a feed so they could keep tabs on what was going on in there.

He tore his phone from his pocket, only regretting he couldn’t whip out his weapon and order the VIPs to leave the fucking room.

He brought up the feed and stared at the screen.

Denver hovered over his shoulder. “See? She’s safe. They’re just talking.”

“This whole fucking event is a trap.”

“We set the trap, Theo. We’re in control. We’ve got eyes everywhere. We’ve got backups. Colt’s monitoring the perimeter. Oaks is posted at the front, Carson and Gray are floating. We’ve got this covered.”

Theo exhaled hard, tugging at the collar of his tailored shirt. “It’s not enough.”

He glared at his phone. Juliette and her four guests had settled in the seating area. She perched in the armchair facing the camera, hands clasped in her lap as she spoke with the group.

Her guests hung on her every word.

“She’s really good at this,” Denver said.

“She’s fucking great at it.” Theo’s voice sounded like gravel. As he looked on, Juliette stood and crossed the room, her long dress whispering behind her. She picked up her violin and tucked it under her chin, fingers set to the strings.

She lifted the bow and began performing a private concert worth far more than the five hundred dollars those people paid to spend time with her.

“I’d take a fucking bullet for her.” He didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud until Denver nodded.

“I’d take one for Rhae and Navy.”

He glanced away from the screen and met his brother’s stare. “When are you going to set the wedding date and make an honest woman of Navy’s mother?”

His earpiece crackled, and Colt’s voice filled their ears. “Two female VIPs approaching, but nothing sketchy. Denver, you’ve got the angle.”

“Copy that,” Denver replied, starting down the corridor to escort them.

Theo reached for the door handle.

“You’re doing it again,” Denver called after him.

He ignored it and tapped once on the door before swinging it open. All four people twisted to see the disruption.

Juliette finished her run of notes with all the star power everyone expected from her, and slowly lowered her bow, her violin in one hand. The moment he saw her, the oxygen punched from his lungs. She looked like a dream—no, like fire—in silk, glowing with quiet confidence and grace.

“Two more guests are here to see you.”

She gave him a slight nod. “There’s plenty of space for more.”

Her gaze held his for a beat too long. He wanted to believe he’d done everything to keep her safe, but he didn’t trust anything. Not when it came to her.

He didn’t want to leave her, but he forced himself to allow the newcomers to enter.

As he rejoined Denver, his brother arched a brow at him in disapproval. “Let her breathe, man. If you’re hovering, no one will get close—and we need them to.”

“I know.”

He focused on the camera feed in the room. Everyone had gained their feet and formed a semi-circle around Juliette as she played. The notes sang out, gripping at him too.

Minutes later, the VIPs filed out, whispering about the energy Juliette brought to the strings. One woman was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

Theo traded a look with Denver. This was it.

Denver tailed the VIPs to their seats. Theo stepped into the dressing room, his stare moving over Juliette. She cradled her violin in her arm like a baby.

“Ready?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He moved closer, curling his fingers around her waist. “You look stunning.”

A soft flush settled in her cheeks. “You think the plan will work?”

“I do.” He just prayed everything that came after went off without a hitch. But not knowing which direction the danger would be coming from was driving him to the brink.

She tipped her face up to his, and he couldn’t stop himself from skimming her lips with his own.

Then they were moving out the door, down the corridor.

Juliette threw him a dazzling smile that made his heart jolt as she moved into the wings.

The lights dimmed. The air shifted.

Juliette stepped onto the stage.