Sweet Temptation: A Players Rockstar Romance (Players, Book 3)

not exactly a stranger to B and E’s myself. I mean, you know. Back in my young and irresponsible days.”
Right. Fucking predictable.
I wasn’t sure if I was annoyed or grateful that this was the member of Jude’s crew who’d shown up tonight. Maybe he’d prove useful, though, given his “expertise.” Maybe not.
“You live nearby?” I asked him.
“Nope. Was at my girlfriend’s place. She’s a few minutes away, down by the beach.”
“Good of you to come so fast.”
“Brody called me,” he said simply. “You know how it is.”
“I do.”
“If we’re finished feelin’ each other up, maybe we head back down, see what’s goin’ on?”
I held out my hand, like, After you, and once he’d cleared his ass out of Summer’s bedroom, I followed him back down to the kitchen. Brody was standing by the bar, talking to Summer. She was sitting on her barstool, gripping her mug of tea.
“Maddox.” Brody greeted the biker, shaking his hand. “I was just telling Summer that you’ll be back in the next few days with some guys from your brother’s company, to install an alarm system.” He gave Maddox a meaningful look, as Summer looked at him, unsure.
“Yup,” Maddox said. “Absolutely.”
“You really think that’s necessary?” Summer said, but she sounded weary. “I mean, the police responded so fast. He didn’t even get into the house.”
“Honestly, Summer, we probably should’ve dealt with this sooner,” Brody said. And I was glad to hear that he realized it. “I’m talking to Jude about this tomorrow. We’ll want enhanced security measures put in place, to protect you.” He glanced at me. “We’ll be discussing it with Ronan, too.”
More like security measures, period. The more I assessed this whole situation, the more it became clear they’d had no security on her until this point.
But I just nodded in agreement.
“Ronan advises us on these things all the time,” Brody went on. “He’s the best in the business.”
I appreciated the endorsement. I knew Brody also contracted guys from other security firms in town. But I was glad I’d been able to take the call tonight; if I hadn’t picked up, he probably would’ve had to call in someone else.
For some reason, I didn’t love that.
“You should have an alarm on the house,” I told Summer, backing him up. “We can discuss, beyond that.” It didn’t seem like right now was the best time to get into the finer details. One look at Summer made that clear. The woman needed the assorted men out of her house, and she needed sleep.
“We just don’t want this happening again,” Brody told her, gently. “One random break-in attempt, where the police were able to intervene, should be a warning. And we need to heed it.”
“I don’t think it was random,” she said softly.
“What?” Brody said.
She looked up at him. “His name is Blair Sanchuk.”
He stared at her, absorbing that, as I did. “Did the police tell you that?”
“They didn’t have to,” she said. “I saw his face.”
Well, shit.
Even though I already suspected that the intruder knew her, it made the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end to hear the truth.
She knew him.
Brody sat down on the stool next to her. “Summer. You know this guy?”
“Not really. I mean, I met him a bunch of times. He comes to my shows. He hangs around in the scene, you know? He’s never been here before. I’ve never invited him here. I don’t keep cash here or anything… I have no idea why he’d try to break into my house.”
Brody glanced at me.
I shook my head.
Now was not the time, so whatever he was thinking, I silently willed him to bite his tongue. Telling a woman in her pajamas that she just had some obsessed fan try to break into her bedroom was not what she needed to hear.
Brody had assumed it was just a random break-in attempt, and maybe the police did too, depending on what she’d told them. But this changed things. Complicated them.
I wasn’t gonna question her anymore right now, except for one thing.
“Did you tell the police that you knew him?”
Summer looked at me. “I don’t think so. It was a bit of a blur.”
I doubted that. If the police asked her, point-blank, if she knew the guy—and they would ask—I was pretty damn sure she’d remember whether she said yes or no. Whether she lied to the police or not.
I wasn’t sure how to read that.
Was she lying to me, and Brody, too?
“You’ll need to call the police,” I told her, “and request a restraining order.”
Summer looked from me to Brody. “But the police already arrested him. They’re taking him to jail, right?”
“I’ll talk to our lawyers in the morning,” Brody said. “And we’re putting a guy on you. A bodyguard.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard, Brody,” Summer protested.
I thought Brody might push back, but he didn’t. I took his cue, and we all just let it drop, for now.
Maddox left, and while Brody calmly explained to Summer that he was leaving a bodyguard with her tonight, that it was non-negotiable, and that they could discuss it further in the morning, I called a cab to come get Andre, who I’d almost forgotten about.
It was the middle of the night and we all needed sleep. Summer tried to argue with Brody for a bit, and I just stayed out of it.
The woman was clearly a fighter.
She was strong, but right now her other survival instincts were kicking in—she was going into flight mode. Mentally, she wanted as far away from this event as possible.
Maybe she was in denial about the seriousness of it all.
But this was gonna hit her in the cold light of day tomorrow. Hard.
And tomorrow, I’d need to talk it all through with Brody. Because his client didn’t seem to have the first clue how vulnerable she was in this house, and maybe in her life in general.
I wasn’t sure Brody really got it either.
I was kinda pissed off about the whole thing myself, and I’d just met