Page 96 of Under the Ink

Sage came out first, so she asked, “Is he dead?”

“No.” Naomi felt her entire body melt into a jelly-like state, chemicals rushing through her veins, filled with something similar to relief. Sage continued, “He’s out cold.”

Lex appeared in the doorway then, making Naomi nearly jump out of her skin. “The cops are on their way. You’ll need to give them your statement when they get here.”

Oh, no. No way in hell. Naomi knew that reporting assault didn’t do anything. While she’d never reported Jacob’s assault to the police, nothing had happened when she had bothered telling someone she thought she could trust—and she knew if she’d gone to law enforcement, the same thing would have happened.

“Nope. Not gonna do it.” Naomi turned to leave.

Until Lex grabbed her around the forearm. “You can’t leave. You need to give the cops your statement.”

“No,” she said, pulling her arm away from him, but he had a firm grip on her—and now she wondered why she hadn’t just left after she’d gotten out of the room. “The cops won’t do anything.”

“They will.”

Sage said, “Canwe—you and me—tell them what happened?”

“Yeah, and how’s that gonna go over?”

“Let go of me,” Naomi growled…with fierceness she hadn’t known existed inside herself. “You can’t make me stay.”

Lex’s steely eyes told her he most certainly could—but Sage gave him a nod and he released her arm. Finally free, Naomi started running back down the hall, rubbing her forearm. She didn’t know where she was going or what she would do, but damned if she was going to stay here. Pausing in front of the elevator, she debated for just a second taking it down and changed her mind. For all she knew, the cops were already heading up in it.

To the stairs then.

Now, though, she was walking quickly. When she heard Sage say her name, she turned. He was pursuing her as well, but he was the one guy here she wasn’t afraid of. “One second.” Naomi gave him a curt nod. “I want you to know I support you no matter what. But if you want to go up against Andy, I’ve got your back. We can do this together.”

“What’s the point? Nothing will happen.”

“You don’t know that. Just…give the cops a statement at least. Tell them your side of the story.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Look…Lex is here. I’m here. You’re safe now.”

No…she really wasn’t—and she never would be again. That much was abundantly clear. And there was no way she was going back in her room right now.

Still…she trusted Sage. And she wanted to do the right thing. The last thing she needed was for Andy to let everyone believe her defensive maneuver was unprovoked. “Fine. Just…stay with me, okay?”

“You got it.”

Against her better judgment, she nodded and started walking back down the hall—even letting Sage hold her around the shoulders, even though she didn’t want anyone or anything touching her right now.

When this shit was over, though, she was going to drink an entire bottle of brandy. And maybe another one.

And the fucking beach was just going to have to wait…

EL PASO, TEXAS

AUGUST 20

For a couple of days now, Sage had been trying to talk with Johnny—but they’d been going nonstop, one venue after another, and there was no break for a while in the future, either. The journey from Selma, Texas, however, had gotten them here with a few hours to spare.

So Sage had asked Johnny if he’d mind going to lunch.

Of course, the frontman agreed. One thing Sage would have never expected before becoming a member of a rock band was to find a mentor, someone who gave solid advice. Sure, Johnny was a few years older so maybe he should have seen it coming. But it was way more than any of them had signed up for—in the very best of ways.

He hadn’t had to ditch Naomi for this chat, either. They didn’t have a whole lot of time at this venue, because right after the show, they would be back on the road, so she wanted to do a little exploring, knowing they were close to the Mexican border.

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