All He Wants (13 page)

“Okay,” Maxi took a deep breath and tried to calm her frazzled nerves. She reminded herself that the most important thing was that Carter wasn’t being arrested and his name had been cleared. But she might lose her job over Grover’s request for her to be here. She had questions and she deserved answers. “Why did you need me to be here? You said an anonymous call, what did they say?”

“They claimed to be a student in one of Mr. Simpson’s classes and said that he’d been bragging about having naked pictures of a hot girl in the building that he works at. They said that he’d shown them pictures of you in the shower and in various states of undress and talked about how he was going to put more cameras in your apartment.

“The pictures from the gym were on his computer, I originally wanted you to verify their authenticity, but with the help of Mr. Holmes our team was able to determine that they were inauthentic, meaning someone put them there. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

Maxi couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Sorry for the inconvenience
… She’d just wasted two hours sitting here while her career was sinking faster than a bowling ball in quick sand. Not only that, they were no closer to finding the responsible party. In fact, things appeared to be getting worse.

In an attempt for clarity, she asked. “So someone tried to set him up?”

“It looks that way.” Grover stood when his radio went off. “That’s all we know for now, but we’ll be in touch.”

Both Billy and Maxi stood and shook the detective’s hand.

Maxi felt like she was operating on autopilot as they walked out of the station, her mind was filled with what ifs. What if this was just the beginning? What if they never caught who was behind this? What if another innocent person in her life was targeted?

She didn’t have any of those answers, but she did know that the only thing keeping her from losing her mind was Billy. His constant support and protection would be so easy to get used to, to start depending on. But she couldn’t do that. This was temporary and she needed to keep that top of mind. Unfortunately as he guided her through the station, his hand resting on her lower back, she knew that would be a lot easier said than done.

In the past few days, Billy hadn’t just inserted himself seamlessly into her daily life, he’d shown her things that she hadn’t even known were missing. Like waking up to someone that you’ve spent the night dreaming of. Like having someone to share little moments in your day with. Like having someone that stays after scary movies. Like the tingling sensation that his touch sent spiraling through her. She’d definitely been missing that in her life. And after this was over, never feeling it again scared her more than anything else that was happening.

M
axi had been on the phone with her team, Jessie, and Martin since they left the police station. Billy knew that she had a lot riding on this preview concert and that her missing it wasn’t good. She was working, doing damage control, and he got that. But he had a strange feeling that there was more to it than that.

He had a sneaking suspicion that she was avoiding talking to him. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was scared he was going to try to continue the conversation that he’d started in the interrogation room, or if she just didn’t want to talk about the case at all. But he was convinced that she was trying to make sure that he didn’t get the chance to find out. Every time one call would end she’d make another one. Maybe he was being paranoid. But other than giving him the name of the venue so he knew where to drive them, she hadn’t said two words to him.

Before Grover had come in, she’d been upset. More upset than he’d ever seen her. If they hadn’t been interrupted, he might’ve been able to find out why, but now… He glanced over at Maxi who was on a call as they made their way through the maze of halls in the back of the venue where Ricco had performed six tracks off his new album. From one glance he could see that her walls were back up. She was all business.

He feared that his window of opportunity to find out what she was keeping from him had shut. Being private, keeping things to herself had always been Maxi’s go to move. Which was probably one of the reasons that she was great at her job, but it wouldn’t help him find whoever was doing this.

As they passed a staircase that looked like it was one rusted nail away from falling apart, Billy scanned the area. Other than several groups of girls that were huddled together everyone looked like they were crew or management. Except one. Posted outside a closed door was a tall, imposing looking man that he instantly recognized as Andrew Charles Elliot or “Ace.” He’d seen him in a picture that Seth had on his wall from their days together in Seth’s Marine’s Special Ops unit.

Maxi approached the man with her hand extended. “You must be Ace, I’m Maxi. So good to meet you.”

“You too, ma’am.” Ace nodded as he shook Maxi’s hand.

“Please, call me Maxi.”

Billy knew that it shouldn’t bother him to watch the two of them interacting. It was a pleasant introduction, not anything to be jealous about. So why did he want to pull Maxi to his side and make it known that she was his.

She wasn’t his, no matter what it felt like.

Shaking off the overwhelming bout of possessiveness that had overtaken him, Billy reached out his hand. “I’m Billy, Seth’s said a lot of good things. We’re all happy to have you on the team.”

“I’m happy to be here.” Ace shook his hand.

Maxi lowered her voice and leaned forwards slightly. “How have things been going?”

“We had one incident. A couple of fans from the meet and greet snuck into the dressing room. Other than that, things have been quiet.”

“Quiet?” Maxi’s brow raised in surprise.

Ace grinned. “No other incidents to report.”

“Well, look who finally decided to show up,” a voice that sounded familiar shouted behind them. Billy recognized it as the manager that had left several outraged messages on Maxi’s voicemail.

They turned to see a man that looked to be in his late fifties walking towards them. His thinning hair was styled so that not a strand was out of place. He was wearing tailored clothes, Italian leather shoes, and a high-end watch that probably cost more than most people’s vehicles, and a smug expression that Billy wanted to knock off his pompous face.

“Alan, I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be here—”

The man lifted his hand. “Save it. I don’t give a shit about your apologies. I’d fire your ass myself, but Ricco requested he see you.” Motioning to the door directly behind Ace, Alan asked, “He still in there?”

Ace nodded once and although his demeanor remained professional it was clear to Billy that he didn’t like the douchebag manager any more than Billy did.

When the familiar strands of Guns N’ Roses “Welcome to the Jungle” began playing, Alan pulled a phone from his jacket pocket.

“Stay here,” he instructed Maxi before moving down the hall that they’d just come from and answering his call.

“Oh good, you’re here!” An attractive woman holding a phone in one hand and an iPad in the other exclaimed excitedly as she rushed up to Maxi.

“I am. Cora, this is Billy Marshall,” Maxi made the introductions. “Billy, this is Cora, she heads my social media division. She is the Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat queen.”

“What about Facebook?” Billy asked.

Both Maxi and Cora looked at him like he had just sprouted another head.

“Facebook is not really Ricco’s demographic,” Maxi explained diplomatically. “He trends younger.”

Billy suddenly felt every one of his twenty-nine years. “So, what, is Facebook for old people, or something?”

“Or something.” Maxi’s eyes sparkled as she repeated the same answer he’d given her when she’d asked if he was going into the priesthood. And just like that the rest of the world slipped away. One look, one inside joke, one touch was all it took to transport him to a space and time in which only the two of them existed.

Maxi blinked, looking dazed, before shaking her head slightly. “And I’m sure you’ve met A—”

“Ace, yes, we’ve met.” The young blonde blushed as she spoke.

Billy sliced a glance to Ace who seemed not to notice the reaction he’d caused. His smile was friendly, but there was no undercurrent to it. Nothing to give this girl even a sliver of hope that he’d been as happy to meet her as she was to meet him. He was either oblivious to her interest or just not interested himself. Billy couldn’t tell which one.

The girl looked equally confused and disappointed, but she recovered quickly and returned her attention to Maxi.

There was a panic in Cora’s voice as she whispered. “Has Alan seen you?”

Maxi replied calmly, “Yes. I just spoke to him.”

“Oh, okay.” Her eyes bulged so much Billy was surprised they were still in their sockets. “Did he…are you…are we?”

“Fired?” Maxi finished what she thought the girl was trying to get at.

“Yes.”

“Technically, no. But I think that’s just because Ricco would like the pleasure of doing the honors.” Maxi smiled, but Billy saw the sadness behind it.

She was trying to be strong for her team and he admired the hell out of her for that.

“Let me call Jessie, I don’t want you going in there alone,” Cora insisted.

“I’ll be fine,” Maxi shook her head no.

“She’s not going in alone,” Billy spoke at the same time.

Maxi’s head spun towards him, and the light scent of fruit and flowers wafted through the air. After spending the last two days at Casa Rizzo he now knew that the delicious aroma came from a combination of her shampoo and some stuff she sprays on her hair to “add shine.” Another secret he’d managed to uncover was that she sang in the shower. Off key and always eighties music. This morning it had been “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys from the Tom Cruise classic
Cocktail
.

“Yes, I am,” she spoke through a clenched smile.

He didn’t argue with her, but there was no way she was going into that room alone with anyone. Ricco Kingsley might be the biggest star in the world, but until this entire fiasco was resolved, he wouldn’t be getting any one on one time with Maxi.

No one would.

Maxi’s baby blues narrowed at him, but instead of pressing the point she turned back and spoke to Cora. “Thank you so much for holding things together today. I know you went above and beyond.”

“Of course, it was my pleasure!” Cora enthused. “How is everything? We heard you were at the police station.”

“Everything is fine. There was just something I needed to take care of.”

Cora’s iPad lit up and she glanced down. “I have to go, I’m live tweeting the after party, which would be a lot more exciting if Ricco was actually at it. That’s why I came back here, to get an ETA on him.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Maxi shrugged apologetically.

After giving Maxi a quick hug, Cora waved at the trio, her eyes lingering on Ace for a beat longer than anyone else before rushing back down the hall.

Alan appeared seconds later with a satisfied grin on his face. “He’ll see you now.”

“Great.” Maxi plastered on a huge smile and took a step towards the door.

Billy followed.

When she noticed that he was directly behind her she turned and placed her hand on his chest. He could feel her touch through the thin cotton fabric of his shirt and the jolt of pleasure that it caused stopped him short.

If she felt it too, she didn’t let it show. Under her breath, she whispered, “I’m going in alone.”

“No. You’re not.” Billy hadn’t had any time to case this building. For all he knew this door wasn’t the only one that led in and out of the back room. He wasn’t sending her in blind.

“It’s Ricco Kingsley,” she hissed.

As if it was the most natural thing in the world, his hand slid to her hip and his fingers gripped, just like he had before her date. Leaning down he spoke low, so only she could hear him. “I don’t care if it’s the fucking Pope, you are not leaving my sight.”

Just like the first time he’d done it, her body trembled beneath his touch.

“Ricco’s waiting!” Alan shouted from behind them.

Without another word, she spun back around and opened the door. Billy followed her and tried not to think about how responsive she was to his touch, to his voice.

*     *     *