Page 17 of Hunted Hearts
“You’re on speaker. What’s happening?”
He shot another look at Juliette’s door, hoping she stayed inside while he briefed his brothers. “I was called in to protect a violinist. Did you know she’s a violinist?”
“No. Does that matter?”
The haunting notes of her performance ruffled over his memory, along with the intense way she moved when she played. He gave himself a little shake.
“No. It doesn’t matter at all,” he mumbled. Then he dove into everything he knew about the situation—facts laced with a few educated guesses, including the possibility that she’d stepped on the wrong toes in her rise to fame, even if she didn’t realize it.
When he told them about the pills, he felt his brothers sober and get down to business.
“I sent her pills and all the containers to the lab. The scorpion is on the way too. I promised to replace her pills with new supplements. So I need help finding the following: ashwagandha, NAC—” He broke off. “Is somebody taking this down?”
Dead silence met his question.
“We still connected?”
Someone cleared their throat. “Willow’s taking notes.”
“I thought you weren’t an official part of the team, Willow.”
“I’m only doing it because Gray promised he’d make me one of his famous margaritas.”
Gray had a famous margarita recipe? Theo exhaled heavily through his nose. If he wasn’t having fun before, hereallywasn’t now.
He finished the list of Juliette’s supplements.
“Got it,” Willow said.
“Good. Send it all to my location. I just ordered her a pill dispenser so no more tampering can take place. It’s arriving tonight.”
A soft female voice that belonged to one of his sisters-in-law sounded in the background. “And so it begins.”
“What?” Theo shot to his feet and began pacing, phone digging into his hand he gripped it so hard.
Gray chuckled. “Your first present for Juliette. That’s so sweet.”
Irritation rolled through him. “I’m just doing my damn job—a job none of you were man enough to step up and take. This is ajob.Even if it weren’t, I wouldn’t go after Juliette.”
A low chuckle filled his ear. “Does that make you her Romeo?”
He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. He was tired, hungry and he didn’t get to catch any damn fish. But he did know his Shakespeare well enough to volley back.
“Actually, I’m more like the friar in this scenario. Forever single.”
Gray snickered. “I did notice you have a bit of a paunch going on.”
Laughter broke out among the group on the other end of the line.
“That’s funny, since I’ve only been out of the military about three minutes, and you’re all stuffing yourselves on tubes of fat topped with ketchup and relish. In fact, I think I’ll do a light workout now. You all have a fantastic—and lazy—evening.”
As soon as Theo hung up, he went straight to his bag on the floor by the sofa. When he told Juliette he would be staying right here in the hotel suite to guard her, she looked like he justsuggested that he crawl into her bed and keep watch from under the covers.
She’d been ensconced in her room for an hour—for all he knew, shewasasleep. Celebrities and the like were known for keeping strange hours, and she traveled a lot.
He, however, was wide awake and filled with adrenaline.
He unzipped his bag and located an essential part of his gear—a jump rope. The equipment gave him a physical outlet, a way to clear his head when shit went south or gave him a way to deplete the adrenaline in his veins.
