Page 46 of Another Postcard

“Goodnight, Baylee Bear,” he murmured. She giggled and mumbled a response before falling back asleep. Cecily had crossed to the other side of the room and was sitting in the chair at the desk, watching us.

“See you in the morning, Cecily,” I told her quietly as Levi opened the door and ushered me out. “See ya,” I heard her say as the door shut.

Levi leaned his back against the wall and tugged me into his arms, dropping his head to kiss me deeply. “The way you love, with everything you are. It’s incredible,” he murmured when his lips left mine. “Not to mention sexy as hell.”

“Reeeeeally,” I asked coyly with a comical wiggle of my eyebrows. He laughed and kissed my nose.

“Absofuckinglutely, baby. Every time you tell me you love me, I have to resist the urge to drag you to the nearest dark corner and fuck you.”

Heat raced through me, a shiver skittering down my spine and bursting into flames when it reached my core. “We’ve got a room one floor up and I’m pretty sure there are some dark corners in there. How about you show me what you’d like to do whenever I tell you I love you.” I tugged on the front waistband of his jeans and started walking backward toward the elevator. Levi’s grin was so big, it looked like it might be in danger of breaking his face.

In the next second, I was dangling over his shoulder, fireman style, and giggling hysterically while he jogged to the elevator. The doors slid open and Levi came to an abrupt stop, quickly setting me down. I flipped around and saw Noah stepping out with a grim look on his face. Luca, Cameron, and Lindsay were following behind in much the same state. “I need to speak with both of you,” he said in a low, angry voice.

I shot Levi a questioning look but he didn’t meet my eyes, keeping his attention on Noah. Levi grabbed my hand and held it tightly. Noah turned to Lindsay and gestured in the direction of my sister’s room. She nodded in confirmation of whatever silent command she’d received and stalked down the hall with Cameron behind her. She planted herself in front of their door and Cameron knocked quietly.

“Maybe we should talk alone, Noah,” Levi suggested with a meaningful glance I could only speculate about.

Noah shook his head. “This concerns both of you.” His eyes strayed to me and they were filled with sympathy.What the hell is going on?

“Let’s go to your suite,” Noah urged and hit the up button, causing the doors to glide right open since the elevator hadn’t left the floor yet. Glancing at Lindsay one more time, my sense of alarm began growing.

A million scenarios were assaulting me. Was Baylee in danger? Had some crazy fan threatened her? I was in a haze of worry and barely noticed when Levi put a hand on my lower back and guided me in. As we rode up to the next floor, I had the overwhelming sense that the shit was about to hit the fan.

26

Levi

There wasno doubt in my mind that Noah had news concerning the person sending the postcards. I was a little surprised at how quickly he’d come up with something since I’d only shown him that last postcard at the bar before dinner. It irritated the fuck out of me that he was going to bring Brooklynn into it. I’d kept the more recent ones away from her, only vaguely mentioning them as though they were harmless. Nobody but Noah and our security guys knew how threatening the last several had been. Technically, the threat was directed at her and I’d put extra security on her because of it. But, it was truly about me and she didn’t need more stress than she was already under with all the recent changes in her life.

When we reached our room, we went to the sitting area and Noah dropped heavily into a chair, tiredness lining his face. I led Brooklynn to the couch across from him and sat, pulling her down with me and keeping her as close as possible.

“Okay, spit it out, Noah,” I demanded.

He looked at Brooklynn sadly and shook his head. “Brooklynn, I’m so sorry you’ve been dragged into all of this. And, for what I’m about to tell you.”

She sat up straight, tense and on edge. I lifted her ass off the cushion and plopped her sideways onto my lap, one arm banded around her waist and the other, rubbing slow circles on her back. She slumped against me a little, soaking in my strength rather than shouldering the burden alone. If it wasn’t such a fucking shitty moment, I would have celebrated the way she’d come to trust me.

“When we left the restaurant tonight, Luca saw a stray bag that had obviously been forgotten by someone in our party. He grabbed it and brought it with him, planning to return it to its owner once we arrived back at the hotel.” Brooklynn’s brow furrowed and she glanced at me, but I shrugged, not knowing where Noah was headed. “Once he got back to their room, he opened it to find the owner’s ID and”—Noah cringed and scrubbed his hands over his face—“he found postcards.”

“Postcards?” Brooklynn echoed, confused. My spine snapped ramrod straight as what he’d said sunk in. Someone in our crew had been sending them? The idea had my fists and jaw clenching so hard they ached. But, at the same time, I recognized that the theory didn’t make sense. They’d all been mailed from the East Coast.

“Postcards with chimpanzees on them. There were three, one of them written on and addressed to someone in Maine, named Gladys Turner.”

“Turner?” Brooklynn parroted, seemingly unable to do anything else.

Turner?Then it hit me. “WHAT. THE. FUCK?” I shouted, immediately trying to move Brooklynn so I could stand.

“Levi, sit your ass the fuck down,” Noah commanded. I was about to argue at an elevated level with a whole lot of fucks while I stormed out, but his minute nod in Brooklynn’s direction cut through the red haze of my anger. I took several deep, calming breaths, before taking a seat again and cuddling Brooklynn close to me. I set her sideways again so I could see her face and run soothing fingers through her hair.

“Gladys…” Brooklynn mused as though chewing over the name. Slowly, I could see the light going on in her mind. “That’s Cecily’s mother’s name.”

She turned to me, her face apologetic. “Cecily’s been sending them? Shit, Levi. I’m so sorry. I swear, I had no idea.”

I grabbed her face and brought it inches from mine, staring into her gorgeous mocha eyes. “Do. Not. Apologize,” I gritted. “This is absolutely not your fault. I’m just so sorry about what this is going to do to Baylee.”

“She can’t keep working for you, Brooklynn. We’ll be calling the police and filing a restraining order,” Noah informed her.

“A re-restraining order?” she sputtered. “For some ridiculous postcards from a love-struck fan?” She shook her head in denial. “I get that you want me to fire her, and I respect that because she abused the knowledge she had of the band from me. But, you’re acting like she was threatening Levi. I mean, she just complained about us as a couple—” Brooklynn cut off suddenly, her face becoming pensive. “Tonight though…”—she trailed off then her head spun to look at me, her accusing eyes piercing right through me—“You haven’t shown me any lately. Were you hiding them from me? Are they that bad?” I wasn’t sure what answer would get me in the least amount trouble so I looked to Noah for help.

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