Page 8 of Blackstone's Heart
"How is Danny these days?" Ethan nodded as the two headed back downstairs.
"Good, I guess."
"You guess? Don't you two talk? I mean you and Danny were always close."
Krista sighed. She walked into the living room and dropped onto the plush couch, clutching a throw pillow. "We do, when it's safe. After I left, hell after we all left, Danny was alone. Jax was out at Yale, Hayden went off to Stanford and I was up in New York. You remember Parker Thornton?"
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, he was Danny's best friend. Hell of a first baseman as I recall."
"He was also a coke head." She said sadly, clutching one of the throw pillows.
"What?'
"Yeah. No one knew, not even Danny knew. About six months before Danny's graduation, Dad called me. Danny had gone over to Parker's to hang out, but when he got there, the house was full of cops, DEA and paramedics. Parker had OD'd on coke. Danny watched as they rolled him out of the house in a body bag."
"Christ. Was Danny...did he..."
"No! No, Danny didn't do drugs, not even weed. After Parker died, Danny made it his mission to help get drugs off the streets. He joined the DEA. He's now in a deep cover unit. At the moment he's in deep and can only call maybe once every few weeks. We haven't told him what's going on with this guy. He just needs to focus on staying alive." Krista explained.
"Wow. Never would have expected that. Danny always said he wanted to stay away from anything related to law or law enforcement." Ethan stated in surprise.
"Yeah. In fact, the two Feds on my case are old friends of Danny's. Well, mine too. Jimmy Fortner and Cain Harker. I knew I could trust them to not lie to me and to keep me in the loop." Krista nodded.
She watched as Ethan's face grew serious. "Krista, I will be honest with you too. This situation is serious, otherwise Nick wouldn't have come to me and my guys."
"I get that. I really do. This whole situation has me paranoid Ethan and I hate it." She stated, hating the almost pouty sound of her voice.
"Okay then. I know you are independent but I will need you to cooperate with me and my team."
"That depends on what you're asking Ethan. I have a career that means the world to me. Fans that adore me and I them, this psycho withstanding obviously. I will not hide like a craven coward." She hissed.
"I'm not asking you too. Yet." Before she could retort, he continued, merely lifting a hand to silence her. "If this asshole escalates we will adapt accordingly. For now, all I'm asking for is for me and the guys of my team, to be made aware of your schedule. Public appearances, interviews, book signings, that kind of thing. We don't need to know everything you do, but if it involves you going out as Kris James we need to know. Just the major things really."
Krista took a slow deep breath to calm down her temper. "What constitutes as major exactly?"
Ethan scooted closer. She could feel his heat and her heart fluttered. She lifted her gaze and met his blue-gray orbs. "Well, anything that could put you in a vulnerable position. Doctor’s appointments, salon visits, long trips out shopping. We will need to know when and time frame. Just in case this guy gets ballsy and tries something."
"Fine. I will have Jerry send you my schedule as Kris. I can tell you the next month are busy for me. Hell, I have a four-day trip to New York scheduled in about a few weeks."
"New York?"
"Yes. I'll be on Good Morning America and The Today Show. Hell, just because Danny is a fan I'm even doing a segment on Howard Stern."
Ethan frowned a little and rose from the couch. As he paced, Krista took that time to watch him. He moved with a lethal elegance. His muscles bunched and released under the confines of the tight green shirt. He was the epitome of male hotness. Danger and pure raw sex rolled off him in waves. She squeezed her thighs together as her clit gave a little throb.
He stopped pacing and faced her. "Alright, we can work with that. You said it was only four days right?" Krista nodded. "Then I will send at least two of my guys with you. Not sure who yet, but my team are the best. I served with them, I trust them with my life."
"If you trust them, that's good enough for me. Of course, I'd like to meet my potential bodyguards at some point before then." She agreed.
"You'll be meeting Tony and Hawkeye later today. They will be coming over after I leave here to install one of our security systems."
She snorted. "Hawkeye? Will he have an extendable bow and exploding arrows?"
"He might actually." Ethan chuckled. "His name is Lance. He got the nickname Hawkeye cause the bastard is deadly accurate. Guy can damn near shoot a flea off a dog's ass from three hundred yards. Plus, he's a big fan of Hawkeye from the Avengers."
"Is there something wrong with my current system? I'm told it's the best." Krista questioned with a slight frown.
"It is, for a civilian model. Blackout's systems are much better and more hi-tech. You can't get ours on the market. After reading the letters Nick got, I'm not taking chances." Ethan stated.
