Page 38 of You Found Me
“I realize the venue isn’t ideal.” Renic tapped on his keyboard. “I’m sending a note to Morgan. She’ll have accounting arrange funds for you. Hire whoever you need.”
“Budget?”
Renic gave him a patient look. “Try not to bankrupt me. Point is, there’s no Bellamy Sisters without Piper and Della doing their jobs. We’ll talk Della around to the relocation after. Lizzie can chime in, get her to see reason. Can you keep the house secure until the concert?”
He thought about it. “It’s a good setup here. It’s at least familiar ground. We’ll lock it down tighter and bring on another team. Hopefully, that’ll be enough. But from now on, she’ll have to party alone.”
Chapter Seven
Della was greeted at The Rox by a line of biceps and brawn that blocked her view of everything from the SUV to the back entrance. She gave her warden the side eye. “This is overkill, don’t you think? We’re four hours early. The parking lot is empty. There’s nobody here but us.”
“There’s ten different vantage points that give a sniper a clear shot of your head.” He scanned from left to right as if he expected to have to leap in front of a bullet at any second.
He couldn’t be serious. Wait, who was she kidding? Ward the Warden wasalwaysserious. “You know, I think that’s more than you’ve said to me in the last two weeks. I’m glad you’ve finally figured out how words work.”
“Keep moving.” He gestured for her to move ahead of him, his face set like carved stone. “Please.”
She wiggled her fingers at the waiting line of men. “I hope you’re all getting paid overtime for this. Be sure to check out the after-party. Drinks are on me and Piper. Tell them I sent you and have one for me, okay?”
A couple of them shifted their gaze to her for a heartbeat or two, but none of them spoke. They didn’t even crack a smile.
She was losing her touch.
“This way, Ms. Bellamy.” Greg gently took her elbow.
“It’s Della, Greg. We’ve been friends for three years. That hasn’t changed. I don’t care what he says.” She immediately regretted snapping at him. Greg didn’t deserve her irritation. She fell into step beside him. “He doesn’t get to boss you around. You work for me. Not him.”
Greg opened the door for her. “We’ll all feel better once you’re inside, Del. Please?”
“Fine. Becauseyouasked.” She stepped inside.
The long hallway that led to the backstage area was also paved with men. It wasn’t an overly large space to begin with, but now it was claustrophobic and more than a little intimidating.
She nudged Greg’s arm. “Where did he find these people? Is there some kind of bodyguard cloning program on eBay?”
Greg’s shoulders jiggled a little in a chuckle.
Ward cleared his throat.
Greg straightened and walked so stiffly that she thought it might take an entire warehouse of Vaseline to get the pole out of his butt.
She tossed a glare at Ward. “You get this is supposed to be a fun thing, right?”
“For you. Yes.” Ward’s tone was carefully neutral, but she caught the accusation in the words all the same.
“It’s hard to get amped up to entertain a crowd if everyone around you is determined to be a vortex of sullen,” she pointed out.
“A professional wouldn’t let anything stop them,” he said in that quiet but derisive tone she hated.
Since Piper would be done with the sound check by now, Della headed straight for the dressing room. Ward and Greg clomped around her, making the halls echo with a beat that was hard to ignore. She hummed Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” in timeto their stomps but resisted the urge to raise an imaginary baton like a band leader.
Romi and Piper stood next to the open door, watching their approach.
“Great song, DellBell.” Piper’s lips quirked with amusement. “Hey, Greg. Ward.”
Romi gave her a hard stare.
“Piper,” Greg said with a slight nod. He positioned himself against the wall opposite the door.
