Chapter 5

5

C laire woke up the next morning and sprang out of bed, wincing at the pain that radiated through her body. She looked around, her eyes wide, trying to get her bearings. She was in a hotel room, and Ben was in the other bed, still fast asleep and snoring softly.

Everything rushed back to her from the day before. She had left in the middle of the night and drove twelve hours to Texas to get to her brother. And now that she was here, she still jumped at every noise. Every touch. It felt good to be hugged by Ben. To know she was safe with him. Now she wondered how long it would take to feel safe in general.

She gently touched her stomach and winced. Claire had hoped to save up more than a few hundred dollars before she left. She had wanted to disappear so Charles couldn't find her if he tried, but the last straw was when she found out she was pregnant. In her mind, when Charles found out, he would be more loving. He would take care of her, and they could be the happy family he had always promised.

But he got angrier. In a drunken rage, he had kicked her in the stomach repeatedly. Not only had he given her two black eyes, she suspected she also had broken ribs. Her only concern had been for the baby. The innocent baby she carried.

It had been two days since he had last beaten her, and she hadn't miscarried, or so she had hoped. Her priority today was to get to a doctor without telling her brother. If she had played her cards right, she would have gone before she came to Ben.

She grabbed a change of clothes, tiptoed to the bathroom, and locked the door. After stripping down, she stared at herself in the mirror. Dark bruises covered her body. It was only a matter of time before Ben found out it was worse than she had let on.

Claire turned on the shower and stepped inside. For now, she wanted to wash off the memories of Charles and feel somewhat human before she started her day. It had been a while since she had joined her brother's tour. They were far more popular than they had been four years prior, so she didn't know what their schedule would be like now, but she suspected it would only be busier. It would make for the perfect opportunity for her to get away and to a doctor to get checked out while Ben was busy.

Once she was freshly showered, she wrapped a towel around herself and used a washcloth to clear the steam off the mirror. Jake's face flashed in her mind.

Jake.

As much as she wanted to avoid thinking about him, she knew coming to Ben would mean she would have to see Jake, despite forgetting temporarily in her haste to get there. But being awkward around him was better than being around Charles any day. She and Jake were adults. They could be around each other. It was only a small fling several years ago.

She pushed thoughts of Jake aside and quickly dressed and ran a brush through her hair. Ben was still asleep when she stepped out, so she swiped a room key off the dresser and left as quietly as she could.

Claire glanced down the hallway and found Lonnie leaning against a wall near the elevators, flicking through his phone.

"Hi, Lonnie," Claire said.

Lonnie had been a part of the security team since the moment the band began gaining momentum. He was easily twice the size of the guys and could take down any threat in their way. His size alone deterred most fans from attempting to get past him.

"Hey, girl. It's good to see you again. I'm sorry we couldn't chat much after the chaos last night."

He was always one of her favorite security members. She stepped closer to him, and he pulled her into a gentle hug.

"Now, tell me who I need to destroy," Lonnie said.

"How do you know it wasn't a car accident?" Claire asked. No one had assumed anything other than her being beaten up.

Lonnie gave her a hard stare. "I haven't seen you in four years and then you show up unannounced with bruises all over your face. I'm going to take a wild guess they're all over your body as well. Just say the word, and that guy is finished."

She pulled a lip between her teeth before clearing her throat of the emotion that suddenly clogged it. It had been a while since someone had truly cared.

"It's good to see you," she said softly.

He tipped his head toward the elevator. "Are you grabbing food?"

Claire smiled gratefully at him for the sudden change in the subject. "I was hoping to. I haven't eaten much in the last forty-eight hours."

"I'll bring you down. We rented out one of the banquet rooms so everyone can eat breakfast before things pick up today." He radioed he was leaving his post, and one of the other security members said he was on his way to take Lonnie's place.

It only took a moment for another member of the team to step out on the floor while Claire and Lonnie stepped into the elevator.

"You don't need to escort me, Lonnie."

He tilted his head to study her. "Claire, you showed up looking like that and you expect me to leave you alone?"

She crossed her arms in front of her body. "I'm okay."

Lonnie took a similar stance as her, but widened his legs as if to hold his ground. "I'm not going to beat around the bush because no one has time for that. That guy you left, I'm going to suspect he didn't know you were leaving, which means you fled during the night or when he was out of the house. Which also means he will probably come looking for you. I hope he doesn't. I hope he lets you go, but dicks like that are on power trips and always try to get the woman back. You're going to be around the guys, and it's only a matter of time before you're caught in a paparazzi photo. He will know that you're with the guys, which means he'll also know where you are since the tour schedule is an easy internet search away."

Claire's heart seized in her chest. She knew Charles wouldn't have to look very hard to find her, but hearing it all laid out like that had her in a panic. Her only goal had been to get to Ben.

The elevator doors opened. Lonnie took her hand and pulled her out and off to the side before tucking her against his chest. "I will not let anything happen to you. We already made arrangements for you to have extra protection for as long as you are on tour with us. I've made it my personal mission to be your security guard, so you are stuck with me, whether or not you like it."

After a moment, Lonnie pulled back and looked down at her. "I know you don't want to talk about it, and that's fine. But I need to know what this guy looks like. Do you have a picture?"

Claire shook her head. "I ditched my phone and got a new one so he couldn't track me."

"Good girl. Does he have social media?"

She nodded and pulled her phone out, searched for him, and found Charles's social media page. The profile photo was a smiling picture of the two of them. What you couldn't see was that her arms had fingerprint bruises from when he had roughly jerked her around that morning for forgetting to make him coffee.

Lonnie took a photo of her screen with his own cell phone before typing a message. "I'm sending this to the rest of the security team so they can keep an eye out."

After he deposited his phone back into his pocket, he bent down so they were eye-to-eye. "I'm proud of you for leaving and for coming here. Despite the public eye, this might just be the safest place for you. He won't be able to get to you easily. But I honestly hope he tries. I could teach him a few manners."

"Get in line."

Claire and Lonnie looked over to find Jake standing beside them. His hair was mussed as if he had run his hands through it repeatedly, and his eyes were bloodshot, like he hadn't slept in days.

Claire's stomach did a flip-flop. Even exhausted, he looked good.

Lonnie straightened up and clapped Jake on the back with one large hand before moving them along the hallway to the banquet room.

"If he shows up here, I suspect there will be a lot of us in line ready to have a turn at him," Lonnie said.

Tears sprang to Claire's eyes. She should have come here in the beginning. She knew it then, and she knew it now. If she had, she would have saved herself several years of pain. But the man standing beside her, scooping eggs onto a plate from the buffet tables set up around the perimeter of the room, was one of the main reasons she hadn't come. Claire hadn't thought she could face Jake again, not while fleeing another man.

"Ben still asleep?"

Claire met Jake's eyes from across the table where they had both sat to eat their breakfast. "Yes. I didn't want to wake him."

The three of them ate in silence until Lonnie stood up and excused himself, meeting another security member across the room to discuss something.

Claire could feel Jake's eyes on her, but she kept them focused on her plate. He reached across the table and his fingertips brushed the back of her hand. Electricity shot through her and memories of them flooded her mind.

"Claire," he said softly. "Can we talk later?"

She pulled in a shaky breath before meeting his eyes.

"Okay."

Ben burst into the banquet room at that moment and frantically looked around. Lonnie pointed toward their table, and Ben weaved his way to them before sitting next to Claire.

"Fuck, Claire. You scared me half to death. I thought you left."

His eyes were wild, and his hair stood on end. The clothing he wore was wrinkled, and guilt immediately came over her.

"I'm sorry. I haven't really eaten in a few days, and I didn't want to wake you."

She didn't miss the look Ben and Jake exchanged.

Ben let out a breath and scrubbed his face. "It's okay. Just wake me up next time. Or leave a note."

"Okay," she said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Ben wrapped an arm around her middle and squeezed her to his side. She gasped in pain and pulled away, tears springing to her eyes. He held his hands up.

"Are you okay?"

She wrapped her arms lightly around herself and took a deep breath. Pain radiated through her body, and she squeezed her eyes shut to will the tears back.

"I'm good," she said with a gasp of air.

Ben urged her off her chair and took her lightly by the elbow as they left the banquet hall. Jake followed them onto the elevator with Lonnie and they rode back up to the fourteenth floor where their rooms were located. Lonnie stayed at the elevators as Ben steered Claire back to their room. He scanned his card, and the lock clicked open. He motioned for Claire to enter, and the door closed behind them.

"Claire, I need you to tell me where else you're injured," Ben said.

Claire looked at him. Jake stood behind him with a worried look on his face. His eyes roved over her body as if he were attempting to see any injuries she might be hiding.

"I'm fine," she whispered.

"You're not," Ben said, a little forcefully.

Claire flinched and took a step back.

"Dude," Jake said, setting a hand on Ben's arm.

Ben sat down on the bed and dropped his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, Claire. It kills me that this happened, and I didn't stop it."

She didn't reply. Her eyes flitted between Ben and Jake.

Jake looked between where Ben sat on the bed and Claire stood near the window.

"How about I call the tour physician to come check Claire out?"

Ben looked up and nodded. "That's a good idea."

"Claire?" Jake asked.

Claire nodded. "Okay."

She hadn't realized there was a physician on tour with them, but it made sense. There were many people on the crew and with the hours they pulled, they likely got sick frequently. Plus, with their popularity, it would be easier to have a doctor with them than to be running into medical clinics where they would constantly have to transfer records. And this solved the problem of having to find a doctor to see today.

Her eyes met Jake's, and she tried to give him a small smile of thanks.

He nodded his head before pulling out his cell phone and making a call.