Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"My cello." She pointed toward the back seat and then dropped his jacket entirely to rush over and stick her head back through the driver's window. "Oh, God." She reached an arm through the opening as far as she could. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

Phoenix came to her side, cringing at the way she was reaching through the opening. He thought he'd gotten all the glass out of the way, but there still could be some lingering shards. "Lyra." He set his hands on her shoulders. "I promise I'll get it in the morning."

She pulled her arm out and twisted to look at him, eyes wide. "I can't leave it here." Tears formed and rolled down her cheeks. She hadn't cried yet, not about the accident or the car, but the cello…

"Cellos are replaceable, Little one," he said soothingly. "What's important is that you're not injured."

She gasped as though he'd told her to run and jump off a cliff. Her head started shaking. "No. You don't understand. That's my life."

He was starting to understand. "I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with musical instruments. Is a cello really expensive?"

"Well, yes. Very. But that's not what matters. It's like my baby. I've had it since I was fourteen." She looked back into the car. "I hope it's not damaged. Do you think it might be?" Her voice was frantic now.

Phoenix was beginning to realize how important this instrument was to her. He needed to be sensitive. He stuck his head into the car to get a view of the back seat. As far as he could tell, the case was sitting on the seat unharmed. "It looks okay, but I can't tell for sure, Little one."

She was breathing frantically now, panicking.

Phoenix turned her to fully face him and cupped her face with both hands. "Take a breath for me, Lyra."

She grabbed his forearms. "Please. I know you don't understand. I get that, but I can't leave my cello."

"Okay." He rubbed her arms. "We'll get it. Don't worry." He lifted his gaze to search for Caesar, finding him up on the road, assisting the helpful citizen into her car. A moment later, she pulled away.

Caesar looked back down the embankment. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, but we need to get the cello out of her car."

"Right. Of course. Be right there." Caesar jogged back toward the SUV and came back into view a moment later, holding his crowbar.

Lyra seemed to breathe easier, but she was shaking again.

Phoenix released her to pick up the jacket and drape it around her shoulders once more before locating his own discarded crowbar against the side of the car.

Caesar joined them. "You okay, Lyra?"

"Yes." She smiled. "It's a bit weird that you both know my name. I'm a cellist, but I'm not that famous."

Phoenix quickly responded. "I told her we knew she was checking in tonight and suspected she was the one who'd been in the accident."

Caesar swallowed. "Right." He'd made the same mistake as Phoenix, calling Lyra by her name when there was no way they should have known who she was. Even if they'd been the world's biggest symphony fans, they couldn't have recognized a cellist in a wrecked car. "My name is Caesar. I work with Phoenix at the resort."

"Do you think you can get it out?" Lyra asked, shuddering.

"I'm certain we can, Little one. Step back a few feet so you don't get injured. We'll pry the back door open."

Lyra took a minuscule step away from the mangled car, making Phoenix work hard to refrain from chuckling. If she were his already, he would send her a brow-lifted look that said, do I need to take you over my knee ?

Caesar reached for the handle of the back door and tried to open it. It didn't budge. He glanced over his shoulder. "Figured I better try that first. I'd hate for us to pry open a door when we could have just used the handle." He chuckled.

Phoenix joined him. "What if we broke the back window? Would it fit through?"

Caesar peered into the back seat. "I don't think so. It's too wide."

"Then let's get to work." Phoenix stepped closer again to assess the best way to go about this. "Wait. I have another idea. Maybe the trunk will open." He leaned into the driver's side door again to reach for the trunk release. It was a long shot, but the moment he heard the popping sound of the trunk releasing, he grinned. "Winning."

Caesar walked around to the trunk and lifted the lid.

"At least I'll be able to get my suitcase out, but how is that going to help us get to the cello?" Lyra asked, joining them at the rear of the car.

Caesar reached in and removed her suitcase to set it on the ground.

Phoenix set a knee on the bumper and reached into the back of the trunk. He felt around and determined the seats would definitely fold forward, but the cello would be in the way. He glanced at Caesar.

Caesar drew in a deep breath and nodded understanding. "Let's break the rear window glass, then I can reach in and pop the levers to release the seats. I'll hold the cello out of the way so you can push the seats through."

That's exactly what Phoenix had envisioned. It was a bit out of the box, but this was his Little girl, and she wasn't leaving here without her cello. Phoenix was going to make it happen. Thank goodness Caesar easily agreed without flinching.

Lyra's eyes widened, and she was chewing on her bottom lip. She kept swiping at tears, which Phoenix acknowledged were tears of worry about her cello. Not her car or the fact that it was totaled. Not her body, which would undoubtedly be sore tomorrow. She was panicked about her cello.

Caesar moved around to the trunk and reached in deep next to Phoenix. Confused, Phoenix, who had a foot propped on the bumper, suddenly realized Caesar didn't have his head inside the trunk to double-check the validity of Phoenix's assessment. He had something to say.

He whispered. "It's probably worth more than this car."

Phoenix tried not to react. Ohhh .

Caesar grabbed the crowbar and went to the passenger door behind the driver's seat. "Step back, Little one. I don't want any glass to fly at you."

Lyra took several steps backward.

Caesar shattered the glass easily, knocked it out of the way, and reached into the back seat. "I've got it," he shouted.

Phoenix leaned all the way into the trunk to push the seats forward. A second later, Caesar gently set the cello on top of the folded seats and slid it through to the trunk.

"Oh, God," Lyra murmured next to Phoenix as he brought it closer. She threw her small arms around him and hugged his side. "I can't thank you enough. You have no idea what this means to me."

He wrapped his arm around her and luxuriated in the feel of her body pressed against his. He hated that it would take some time to explain to her that she was his before he could take the liberty of actually holding her intimately and setting his lips on hers.

Instead, he returned the friendly hug, and when she released him, he lifted her cello carefully out of the trunk.

"Do you think it's damaged?" she asked, trembling.

"We won't know for sure until you take it out, but I bet the case kept it safe. Let's get to the resort, and then you can open it."

"Okay."

Caesar took it from Phoenix and put the strap over his head. He also picked up her suitcase, and bless him, he already had her purse tucked under his arm. "You help her up the slope. I'll get the rest."

Climbing back up the embankment proved far more difficult than descending it. Caesar managed effortlessly, but Lyra, who was wearing black flats, kept slipping every time she took a step.

Taking the initiative, Phoenix bent down, lifted her into his arms, and carried her up the rest of the way to the road.

"Oh!" She held on to his neck, once again causing him to wish he didn't have to release her.

While Caesar stowed her belongings in the back of the SUV, Phoenix set her on her feet and helped her into the back seat. He even reached across to fasten her seatbelt. He wanted to climb in next to her for the drive back, but that would have been over the top.

"I'm so lucky that woman happened to drive by and saw me swerve off the road," Lyra said as soon as Caesar pulled onto the road.

Phoenix twisted around to look at her. "Very lucky. What a blessing."

"And you got here so fast." She rubbed her arms.

"As fast as we could, Little one. Where did you come from?" Phoenix asked.

She swallowed and glanced down at her lap, fiddling her fingers. Something was not right in her world. That was obvious. Phoenix wished he had had the chance to dig deeper and learn more from Kingsley's flash drive. Later, he would read the rest of the file, but for now, he hoped to get some information out of her.

Finally, she looked out the window. "I've been on tour in New Zealand. We wrapped up two nights ago. I was hoping to take some time off, and…" She hesitated and glanced at him as if uncertain she should share more information.

He hated her hesitation. "And what, Little one? Did something happen?"

She shrugged, but it was forced. "No big deal. It's just my agent wanted to head immediately to another country, and I didn't want to add more stops to the tour. I thought if I found something local… But you don't want to hear all this."

He reached over the seat and set his hand over hers on her thigh. "I do, Lyra. Tell me."

She met his gaze and held it for a long time. "Why do you both call me Little one?"

"It's just a term of endearment. I could give you a nickname instead." He tapped his lips dramatically, thinking. "Mmm."

"Might I suggest ‘foolish' or ‘stupid' or ‘blind' or ‘daft?'"

Phoenix's eyes widened. "Why on Earth would you speak so poorly of yourself, Little girl? I can already tell you're none of those things."

She chuckled, but not in a funny way. The tone was wry. She leaned her head back and stared at the roof of the car. "Trust me. All those words apply."

Phoenix really wanted to know more now. He was aware of Caesar glancing in the rearview mirror and the tension wafting off his body. He was also gripping the steering wheel far too tightly.

"Tell me what happened with your agent, Lyra," Phoenix encouraged gently.

She sighed. "I finally came to my senses and realized he's an ass. That fact was reinforced when I told him I was absolutely not going to fly to Japan tomorrow because I wanted to stay in New Zealand and vacation as I'd planned."

Phoenix still had his hand over hers, and he gripped her fingers. He was relieved she thought her agent—a man he knew was also her boyfriend—was an ass. That certainly helped. From what little he'd gleaned in her file, the man had not been putting this precious Little girl first in his life. How bad was the situation?

"Was he angry?" Phoenix asked, hoping to gauge the threat level he might be dealing with. He suspected this man was the reason Phoenix had been assigned to protect Lyra.

She groaned. "Angry is a mild word."

"Tell me what happened, Lyra." Phoenix tried to keep his voice calm. He didn't want to make her panic even worse, but he needed to know what he was up against.

She stared out the window with her lips pursed as Caesar pulled up to the front of Danger Bluff and parked the SUV. "I'll take her things to the front desk and meet you there," his friend said.

Phoenix jumped out of the SUV at the same time as Caesar and moved to open the passenger door where Lyra still sat, still buckled in, not moving. Silent tears were running down her cheeks.

Fuck .

He reached across to unbuckle her and then cupped her face. "Did he hurt you, Lyra?"

She shook her head.

"Tell me, Little one," he encouraged again.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

He rubbed her tears away with his thumb. "Call me crazy, but I feel a connection to you. I want to haul you into my arms, wrap you in a warm blanket, and rock you until you fall asleep."

She gave him a small smile. "That sounds so nice. It's been a long time since anyone was that kind to me."

"Well, I intend to be that kind to you from now on. But I need you to tell me more about your agent because if you're in danger, I want to protect you."

She sighed heavily. "He's never hurt me. He wouldn't dare. I'm a public figure. He needs me to be in good physical shape so I can perform."

Phoenix frowned. "Is he stealing your money, Little one?"

Another heavy sigh. "I don't even know. I don't think so, but I've never looked."

Shit .

"He's been my manager for fifteen years."

Phoenix flinched. "How old are you?"

"Thirty."

"You were fifteen when you started…working with him?" Please tell me this man has not been sleeping with her for fifteen years . Phoenix lowered his hands to her waist and lifted her to move her over to the center of the seat. He climbed in next to her and shut the door. He wanted to hear the rest of this story, and he wasn't willing to risk breaking the connection with her by suggesting they go inside. Plus, the dim lighting would probably make it easier for her to continue.

She looked at him. "You're intense."

He chuckled. "I've heard that before."

"And…" her gaze ran up and down his frame, "…huge."

"I've heard that before, also." He needed to touch her, so he picked up her hand and held it against his thigh. He shrugged. "I used to be in the Army, and then I was a firefighter, and I like to stay fit."

"And now you work for a resort?" Her brows furrowed. "Did you get injured or something?"

He smiled. "No. It's a long story. I'll tell you my story after you tell me yours. Yours is a priority. I'm worried about your safety."

She licked her full lips. "Boyd—that's his name—suddenly declared two days ago that after the last concert on this New Zealand tour last night, he and I were heading to Japan today. I usually let him make those decisions because it's easier than arguing with him. And I'm too tired to argue." Her shoulders dropped.

Phoenix rubbed her knuckles. He already wanted to clobber Boyd. "Go on."

"This time, I'd reached my limit. I did not want to go to Japan. He never even asked me before he booked me there."

"Don't you play with a quartet?"

"Yes, but in between our tours, I often do solo performances without them. Boyd likes to keep my schedule full. The quartet wrapped up. We're on a break now. Boyd never lets me take a break."

"What does Lyra want to do?" he asked gently.

She gave him a gorgeous smile. "Lyra would like to take back her life, ditch Boyd, and make her own decisions, which is why she found an opening playing here at Danger Bluff and took it."

"And what did Boyd say?"

"He locked me in my room in our suite at the hotel, barricaded the door, and went out drinking. When I was unsuccessful at getting myself out, I called the front desk in the middle of the night. A hotel employee came and let me out. I packed my stuff, called for a rental car, and by morning, I was on the road headed here."

Shit . "Does Boyd know where you went?"

She shrugged. "He probably does by now. He has a tracker on my phone. He probably has a tracker on my damn cello. He knows I would never part with it."

Phoenix drew in a breath. Don't scare her . "He sounds controlling, Lyra."

"That's putting it mildly."

"Are you also…in a physical relationship with him?" He didn't want to hear the details about her with that asshole, but he needed to know. Maybe the information he'd gotten from Kingsley had been wrong. Maybe his Little girl hadn't been sleeping with some dick up until yesterday.

She let out a sardonic laugh and rolled her eyes. "Not really."

Phoenix leaned in closer. "What does that mean, Lyra?"

She met his gaze. "You really want to hear this? You don't know me. I'm just some crazy girl who drove off the road into a ditch."

He shook his head. "I told you not to talk about yourself like that, Lyra. I mean it." He badly wanted to tell her the next time she spoke ill of herself, he would take her over his knees, but she was just leaving an abusive, toxic relationship and had no idea that she was ultimately going to be his Little girl to cherish and protect. Piling that on her right now would be a bad idea.

"You say that like you intend to spank me," she responded, and holy hell, she also squirmed on the seat.

He gripped her chin and held her gaze again. "Lyra, I'd be happy to spank you if that's something you enjoy, but we'll talk about that possibility later. Right now, I want to understand what your relationship with Boyd is because, Little girl, your next relationship is going to be with me, and it won't look anything like the one you just escaped." He lifted a brow.

She shuddered and licked those pretty lips again, not looking away. "You mean that."

"I do, Little one."

"I haven't had sex with Boyd in three years."

Thank fuck . "How old were you when you started sleeping with him?"

"Twenty-two. Before that, he was just my agent. He was fun back then. He took care of everything so my parents didn't have to. He managed my life, both my professional and my personal. He got me through calculus. He held my hair back when I had the flu for a week when I was nineteen. He picked me up in the middle of the night when I snuck out to go to a party with friends and got drunk."

Phoenix turned to more fully face her and set a hand behind her neck. His other still held her fingers.

"I realized I was in love with him when I was about twenty. It took me two years of flirting to get him to see me that way. We moved in together soon after that. My parents were pleased. They loved him as much as I did. A few years after that, he changed. He was different somehow."

Six years ago … If his math was good, she'd been with him for six more years after he'd stopped treating her like spun gold.

"In public, he still holds my hand and puts on a show for everyone to see. The world thinks I'm the luckiest woman alive. As soon as we're alone, he gets us a suite, we sleep separately, and he basically ignores me. Usually, he's on his phone or computer. He says managing me is a lot of work. He's always busy. He's always angry. But this is the first time I've witnessed him losing his shit over a tour. When I told him I wasn't going to Japan, he picked up a vase and threw it hard against the far wall. He got in my face and shouted at me that I damn well was going to Japan and then pointed at my bedroom door and told me to get some sleep. He was going out. He'd be back later."

"And then you discovered you'd been locked into the room."

"Yes." She finally lowered her gaze. "I sound foolish."

Phoenix slid his fingers from her neck to her chin and lifted her face again. "Don't denigrate yourself like that. I know you don't want me to spank your naughty bottom right here in the SUV."

Her deep brown eyes went wide, and her mouth parted. Finally, she said, "Maybe I do. Maybe that's exactly what I need. It beats being ignored."

"I will never ignore you, Lyra. Not for one minute."

She swallowed hard. "I must be really tired because you're very tempting."

He grinned. "I'm glad you find me tempting. Now, here's what's going to happen. We're going to go inside and pick up your things from the front desk. Then, you're going to stay in my apartment."

She gasped. "I can't do that."

"Sure, you can. It's safer. I'm not going to sleep with you, Lyra. I'm not going to spank you yet, either. You need sleep. It sounds like you never slept a single minute last night, and then you drove all the way here today. I have a room in my apartment. That's just what you need."

She shook her head. "I can just check into the resort like I planned. I don't want to be a burden. I'll be fine."

"You're not a burden, Lyra. But you're also not safe. My apartment is on the fifth floor, which is secured. No one can get to you there. You can sleep as long as you'd like without worrying."

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "That sounds like heaven. I really need to sleep. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Lyra, there's a lot about me you need to know, but not tonight. Tonight, you need rest. Tomorrow, I'll explain more to you about who I am and what I really do here at Danger Bluff."

She hesitated. "Okay."

"Good girl. Shall we go inside now?"

"Yes."

Phoenix opened the door, hopped down, and then lifted Lyra out to set her on her feet. He threaded his fingers with hers and led her toward the front entrance of the resort.

Damn, she felt good by his side. Her scent had filled the SUV, and after leaning in close to her for so long, he had it memorized. Vanilla. Maybe it was her shampoo.

He couldn't wait to explain everything to her, and he prayed she wouldn't freak out and tell him to take a hike. He needed to pace himself and watch her closely. She probably had no idea she had Little tendencies. He also suspected she'd only slept with the one man, and he'd been a douche.

Did she know she was leaning into his side and holding onto his arm as though they were a committed couple who'd been together for years? Did she know how hard his cock had gotten when she'd reacted so positively to the idea of being spanked? Of course not.

It was going to be a long night. Once he got her tucked into bed, he intended to dig deeper into the file Kingsley had sent him. He also intended to find out everything he could about Boyd. That asshole had no idea that his cellist was no longer going to kowtow to him.

He would undoubtedly come here and try to get Lyra to leave with him, but he would fail. If Phoenix had his way, the man would never even get the opportunity to see her in person. He didn't deserve to.

What scheme are you up to, Boyd?

The man was about to have a rude awakening because whatever he was using Lyra for was coming to an abrupt halt, starting now.