Page 158 of Play Dirty (Brooklyn Dawn 1)

But I wasn’t a novice at this. I’d fought for many things since I’d become the unofficial spokesperson for the band. I could feel Nash at my back. Whether he was literally in my corner, or just being his usual antagonistic self, I wasn’t sure.

Donovan glanced up at Nash, then back to me, then unlaced his fingers. “And now?”

“I’m not stupid.”

“Never said you were.”

“But it’s about more than just my own feelings on security. You know I don’t like creating a wall around us. I want fans to believe we’re approachable.”

“Those things are not mutually exclusive.”

“In my experience, they are.”

“I’ve spoken with Lila and Sabrina.”

Great. Sabrina was more of a shark than even Lila was about touring and rules.

“We’re going to bring in Noah Jordan. He’s aware of the special needs of this business, thanks to his intimate knowledge of the subject.”

I crossed my arms over my middle. “How so?”

“His brother is Hunter Jordan from Hammered.”

“Oh. I guess he would be very intimate.”

Donovan nodded. “They had an unfortunate situation, which is how we came to create our protocols. Roth Defense is well versed in dealing with multiple levels of personal security and on a larger level. Mr. Jordan will build a security team you can live with. He’s a high-end agent at Roth, so it will be a temporary situation. He’ll make sure things are well in hand.”

“We’re not exactly in an emergency situation, Donovan.”

“The fuck they’re not.” Nash spoke up.

I turned to him. “Alex.”

He didn’t spare me a look. “She’s underselling just how scared she was. I saw her. I even got a verbal assault from her bandmate.”

I sighed. “Jamie is…Jamie.”

Donovan gave me a half smile. “I’m well aware of Miss DuCaine’s predilections. But I’ll have to agree with Nash on this. Have there been other instances beyond the one getting by security?”

I paused. The more ammunition I gave them, the more locks I’d have to deal with.

“Duchess?”

I gave Nash a hard look.

Donovan straightened. “So, that’s the way of it?”

Nash gently put his hands on my shoulders.

I shook him off and stood. “Nash means well, but it isn’t his call. It’s mine.”

“I’m afraid you misunderstand, Miss York. It’s very much my call. Until this incident, I was willing to wait you out on this. But now it’s about keeping the band and the crew safe. It’s not just about the talent. As with many people that are unbalanced, it’s often the people on the fringes who can be hurt most. Because they have one target. One focus. And we’ve seen plenty of instances where it really didn’t matter who was hurt. Lest we forget a stage full of people who were injured during the show where we lost Randy Pruitt.”

I shoved my hands into my pockets. “No, I didn’t forget.”

“Do you know how many crew were hurt that day?”

I tightened my mouth, but didn’t answer.

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