Page 82 of Protecting Mr. Fine

I smiled. “Awesome. Thank you. When you guys come to the States next year, maybe you can come to a show again. I’d hook you up.”

“Really?” Carina grabbed her mother’s arm and squeezed. “Mama, can we?”

Gisella laughed. “I’ll talk to your father, and maybe we can add it to the list. It’s already fairly extensive.” To me, she added with a wink, “Disneyland, you know?”

“Yes,” Carina agreed. “When Papa went to California and I begged and begged him to bring me so we could go to Disneyland! Have you been, Zee?”

“I can answer that,” a familiar voice cut in.

I turned to find Bodhi standing beside us, flashing a knowing grin. He looked so good, so familiar, I opened my arms to hug him without thinking. As soon as the hug was over, I quickly pressed the button on my watch and glanced at Boomer, who’d appeared at Bodhi’s elbow. He was glaring at Bodhi with a death stare not unlike the ones Bear gave me when he’d warned me not to do something, which was kind of interesting.

At least this glare wasn’t aimed at me, and Bear hadn’t seen our hug.

“Better let me tell the Disneyland story,” I said to Bodhi with a laugh, remembering the night in question. “You never get it right.”

“You just don’t like how accurate I am, man,” he teased. He clapped me on the shoulder in a friendly gesture before stepping back. Within seconds, Lou had appeared between us, glaring at Boomer for letting Bodhi touch me. She made a show out of handing me a small plate of appetizers. Where the food had materialized fromon short notice, I had no idea, but using it as an excuse to put some distance between us had been genius.

Bodhi didn’t seem to notice. I could still feel the imprint of his hand on my shoulder, but thankfully, it had been over my clothes. Bear was clearly keeping an eye on him, and I even thought I’d noticed him say something to the royal guardsman, Kasper, before tilting his head at Bodhi.

As if I needed the entire security force of Ventdestine looking out for me in addition to Lou, Boomer, and my own grumpy Bear.

“Zee and I played this gig the summer after our junior year at Yale,” Bodhi continued. “It was at a tavern not far from Disneyland. We’d gone to LA that summer to try and get discovered, you know? And we ended up getting some really great gigs. So at the tavern, we met this super-chill bass player who also worked as a cast member in the park. He got us tickets one night and let us stay for this extra hour thing…” He continued to tell the story about how I’d been fine on every thrill ride, but my stomach had revolted on the spinning tea cups. The Ventdestinian kids were riveted to his every word.

A few moments later, the event hostess pulled me away to greet the mayor of Amsterdam and her husband. I gave Bodhi an apologetic glance, but he waved me away good-naturedly. Boomer got called away for some reason, but Lou stayed with me as I was led from person to person around the room. It was a little exhausting, but the compliments not only on my music but on my charity efforts were really uplifting.

“We’re looking forward to the fundraiser in Berlin,” someone said. “It’s quite a lineup.”

I nodded politely. “I’m very excited for it. The LGBTQ Youth Coalition is working together with the Marian Foundation on some exciting projects. It’s an organization I’ve worked with in the past, and I’m thrilled to be included in this benefit show.”

The room was more crowded than I’d expected. “Lou,” I muttered, “I thought this was supposed to be pretty small.”

She nodded but didn’t look concerned. “Apparently, the royalfamily invited some additional dignitaries. Don’t worry, they were fully vetted by the royal guard. Boomer’s making sure no one else gets past security.”

“If you guys are okay with it, I’m okay with it,” I said, even though the crowd was getting large enough to make it nearly impossible to avoid being touched. People brushed past me here and there, and it became difficult to keep my eye on Bear. The king seemed to be monopolizing his attention by introducing him to the prime minister, the mayor, and a few other people I didn’t recognize.

Throughout it all, though, I felt his eyes on me. I knew he was making sure I was okay. And because I wanted him to be okay, too, whenever I caught him looking, I offered him a reassuring smile.

After that, everything happened in a blink.

Someone bumped me from behind and gasped a feminine apology. I turned to see Queen Gisella glaring down at her shoes in disgust. “Zee, I’m so sorry. I’m wearing impossible heels today. But I wanted to get a photograph of you with the children before you leave, if that’s okay?” Her own security officer, a quiet but attentive woman, was murmuring into an earpiece for someone to arrange different footwear for the queen before the concert. While she was distracted, Gisella grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the side of the room where the royal teens were. I glanced back to make sure Lou was with me but saw someone had stepped between us, blocking her way.

“It’s fine,” Gisella said, “Hedda is…” She looked over her shoulder and realized her own protection officer was also separated from us. Several people had filled in the gap in the crowd we’d come through and were now standing between us and our security detail. Gisella sighed. “She’ll catch up. She always does. I’m sorry my husband has taken Ryan away. He and Kasper are probably trying to lure him back to the royal guard for an obscene amount of money again. I told them no amount they offer will be enough. When Ryan left, he said he wanted to be in the US, closer to his family. That’s important.”

Before I could process what she was saying, Noelle appeared outof nowhere and reached for my hand. “There you are, Zee! Ryan asked me to find you and escort you to him.”

I was so surprised to see her there I didn’t know what to say. “Noelle? What are you doing in Amsterdam? How did you get in here?”

She marched through the crowd, keeping one hand on my back while shooing people out of the way with the other. “Sorry for the lie. I haven’t actually talked to Ryan. I’m here consulting with the Ventdestinian team about some upcoming PR stuff, but I saw you without your protection and wanted to help.” She took a breath. “I also wanted to thank you for releasing me as your publicist… but that’s not important right now. Here’s Lou.” She pulled me even with her until I was standing beside Lou again.

My head spun with Noelle’s words as Lou reached for her earpiece to signal Bear. Bodhi approached and put his hand on the back of my neck to pull my head out of the way of the high tray a server rushing by was carrying behind me. “Hey, you okay? Boomer sent me over to keep an eye on you, but it looks like Noelle rescued you first.”

He and Noelle exchanged polite smiles.

I shook Bodhi off and pressed the button on my watch. Suddenly, it felt like everyone was touching me, and Lou was distracted, talking to Ryan on her ear mic. “I’m fine,” I told Bodhi. “It just got a little chaotic there for a second.”

“I know. It’s super crowded, and everyone wants a piece of you. Boomer’s too nice to say so, but I think he’s been really stressed about this.” He gave a little sigh. “Anyway, I’m glad I found you again. I wanted to grab a minute to talk to you about this girl I met in Dublin. I think you need to hear her music, Zane.”

I glanced at him in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

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