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I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice faltered.

“The one you're holding is the latest piece of weird in a long line of weirdness,” Talia spoke for me. “The gifts began to arrive about a week ago. The weird fan mail goes back months, as far as we know. It could’ve been longer, but that was when the department that deals with fan mail for the band noticed a pattern.”

Jacob’s stare slid toward his colleague, who’d introduced himself as Gambit. “He’s escalating.”

“You think it’s a guy?” I asked.

He picked up the image of the butt plug. “This speaks volumes to me, but I've got a brother with connections who can look into these further and profile the sender.”

“Like Criminal Minds ?” Boomer asked.

Jacob examined the other photographs. “Seeing as he’s an FBI agent, then yeah.”

Sam grinned. “Your brother. Is he as smart as Spencer Reid?”

Jake’s eyes snapped up, and he lifted an eyebrow at him. “Nope. My bro’s smarter.”

“Right on,” Sam murmured, visibly impressed .

Jacob reached into his inside pocket and pulled out his phone.

After clicking it, he held it to his ear, his blue eyes fixed on mine.

He greeted somebody by the name of Colt, then said, “Gonna get some photographs overnight couriered to you. Need a full examination of them and a profile put together.”

A wave of calm washed over me, and I closed my eyes.

This was exactly what I needed. Amongst all the anxiety and uncertainty, I couldn’t help feeling grateful for Jacob’s no-nonsense attitude and air of capability.

Despite our complicated past, he was here when I needed him, and okay, he was getting paid for his trouble, but the peace of mind it brought me was priceless.

He was displaying the same protectiveness as the night we met, and it filled me with a sense of comfort that I hadn’t felt in weeks. I couldn’t have been more appreciative of how his confidence instilled the same assurance in me.

My shoulders relaxed, and for the first time in a long time, a genuine smile crossed my face.

“Thanks, brother. Appreciate you. I’ll keep you posted,” he muttered before saying his goodbyes and ending the call.

Slipping his phone back in his jacket, he leaned across the table to address me.

“You don’t leave my sight,” he stated. “If I go anywhere, Gambit takes over until I get back. He’s ex-SAS, British Special Forces, and his instincts are on par with mine.

No midnight walks on the beach and no silly games where you decide you don’t need protection and try to slip away.

This is serious, Saint. Whoever’s doin’ this to you is getting more desperate for you to notice them.

You need to accept that until we catch this guy, you’ve got a new shadow. ”

“She’ll be good,” Talia assured him .

“Need to hear it from you, Saint,” he insisted, his icy blue stare still locked with mine.

“Of course,” I agreed. “I’m not stupid. It’s starting to hit me just how serious the situation is.”

As much as I wanted to wave everything off and put it down to an over-enthusiastic fan, I was beginning to see just how dangerous things were becoming. Those topless photographs had made me feel so goddamned vulnerable that it was no longer something I could brush off.

“No unnecessary risks,” he ordered.

“Agreed.” I gave him a resounding nod and repeated, “No unnecessary risks.”

He nodded thoughtfully before turning to his men.

“Gambit, you’re with Boomer. Ghost with Sam, and Trick with Jonny.

We’ll keep vigilant around Talia, too. The first thing we need to do is sweep the house, check for anything that shouldn’t be here, then walk the perimeter and discuss how we can increase security.

” He turned back toward the table and tapped the topless image of me angrily while lifting his stare to me.

“This is unacceptable, and it won’t happen on my watch, but it means you have to play it smart.

You can sit out here in the daytime but not at night, and never alone. ”

“Saint had a new security system fitted a few days ago,” Tally relayed.

“We’ll need to go over it,” Jacob advised her.

“I also want the details of the company that fitted it so we can vet them. From now on, wherever Saint and the band go, my guys dig into the people they’re meeting in advance.

Colt can do a deep dive in minutes, so it shouldn’t inconvenience you too much. ”

Talia grinned. “I’m starting to see just how shitty at security Covershield really is.”

Jacob shrugged. “We’re ex-military, so we don’t cut corners. You may think we’re over-cautious at times, but Saint’s stalker is getting more confident and more desperate. That confidence may give us an advantage eventually, but in the meantime, I don’t want to take any chances.”

“It wasn’t a criticism,” she assured him. “I’m glad you’re taking Saint’s safety more seriously than Covershield did. Whatever you need from me or the label is yours.”

“We’ll start with the band’s itinerary,” Gambit interjected. “We can ping it over to Colt, get him to check everything out, and Trick can plan the routes.” His head turned to one of his men. “Right, brother?”

Trick jerked a nod.

“No last-minute bookings,” Jacob instructed. “We know stuff can crop up, and we’ll work with it, but we need to plan ten steps ahead. That’s impossible if you’re throwing spanners into the works.”

Tally dipped her chin. “Got it.”

“Any questions?” Jacob asked.

Silence.

He got to his feet. “We’ll sweep the perimeter, look for any gaps in security. Then we’ll all settle in with each other. Sound okay?”

We all murmured our agreements, watching as the SDSS guys stood from the table and headed down toward the beach.

My stare followed Jacob’s high, muscular ass as he walked away, and my mouth went dry.

“Put your tongue back in, babe,” Tally whispered from beside me.

“What?” I muttered, feeling my cheeks pink at being so blatantly caught checking out a member of the opposite sex. I was all about respect and consent, but something about that man messed with my control.

“What’s with you and Jacob Irons?” Boomer asked .

Every gaze turned to me, and my warm cheeks began to burn red. I widened my eyes innocently. “Dunno what you mean.”

One side of his mouth tilted up. “Did you fuck the bodyguard?”

I raised one brow and glared. “And that’s your business, how?”

He raised his hands. “Just asking. If you have, I was gonna suggest we swap bodyguards. Don’t want you to feel uncomfortable if there’s history there, and if my memory serves me, he was the same guy who helped you out with that lunatic fan at the Festival of Rock a couple of years ago, right?”

My stomach twisted at the thought of losing Jacob as my security. “Yeah, and that’s why I don’t want to swap bodyguards. I feel safe around him. I didn’t know how much I needed that until it was taken away.”

My friend leaned to the side and slid his arm around me. “I didn’t realize how much all this stalker business had affected you. Why didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t know myself, Boom. I thought I was handling it okay until the gifts began to show up.

Then those topless images.” I swallowed down the sudden surge of emotions.

“I’d fucking die if they got into the hands of the tabloids.

My dad...” My voice trailed off because the guys and Talia knew about my family dynamic and how screwed up it was.

“It won’t come to that,” Jonny said reassuringly, nodding toward the spot where Jacob and the other guys were discussing the boundaries of my property.

“These guys obviously know what they’re doing.

I don’t think your stalker stands a chance against them.

Also, Jake never took his eyes off you. I think if any fucker tried anything, he’d slice their throat. ”

My heart skipped a beat, but I blanked my face, trying to play it cool even though I felt like punching the air in glee. “Jacob’s just doing his job. Don’t read too much into it.”

Jonny glanced at Boomer, who barked a laugh. “This is gonna be interesting.”

I twisted my neck to stare haughtily at my friend. “You’ve been binge-watching rom-coms again, haven’t you?”

“Riiiight,” he drawled, his gaze going over my shoulder toward the men. “He couldn’t tear his fucking eyes away from you. Don’t care what you say; that dude’s invested. I’m still trying to work out if he wants to strangle you or fuck you, but either way, you’ve got him by the balls.”

“Know how he feels with the whole strangle fuck thing,” Jonny muttered, his stare drifting to Talia. “I feel like that about somebody we know.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Jonny,” Talia snapped.

“Stop being so goddamned dramatic. I’ve told you.

I don’t take shits on my own doorstep. It’s too messy, and I hate having to clean up.

Go find yourself some airhead reality star who’ll bleed you dry for everything you’ve got before sucking the life out of you.

” She paused, holding a finger in the air and looking thoughtful.

“Oh, wait... didn’t you just impregnate one? ”

“Told ya,” he drawled. “It’s not mine.”

“This time,” she bandied back pointedly. “You won’t be so lucky if you carry on giving Don Juan a run for his money.”

“Don who?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing together.

“God help me,” Tally said with a sigh. “It’s like running a damned kindergarten. Thank God for Saint, or I would’ve walked years ago.”

I grinned because that was such a lie.

Tally loved us, but I suspected she loved Jonny J the most. Not that she’d ever admit it, though I couldn’t blame her for that.

Relationships within bands never worked out well, and when everything imploded, you were stuck with an ex whose guts you either still loved with all your heart or hated with all your soul.

And to top it all off, you had to face them every damned day.

Yikes.

My eyes drifted to where Jacob stood chatting with his men, and I wondered if it was the same for bodyguards.

As much as I yearned to believe Jonny and Boomer about Jacob having feelings for me, I knew it was a lost cause.

Even if Jake was single now, he still hurt me last time, and that wasn’t something I could forgive easily. It was going to be hard to stay aloof and even harder not to smile into his eyes like a lovestruck fool.

But he was here to do a job, and I was going to let him because I might not have trusted him romantically, but he’d only ever shown me care when it came to keeping me physically safe. Right now, he was exactly the man I needed around me.

If anybody could keep the monsters at bay, it was Jacob Irons.

But I couldn’t help wondering who would keep my heart at bay from him .