Assured (Soul Serenade #2)(61)

“You called me ‘babe.’” Pulling back, he cups my cheek. “I want to hear it again.” His eyes are pleading, as though maybe he didn’t hear me right.

“Babe.” I keep my voice low, just for him.

His lips cover mine, slow and easy.

Give and take.

Pulling back once again, he rests his forehead against mine. “I’m so f*cking sorry, baby. He’ll never touch you again. I swear to you.”

“I’m okay. It’s just a few bruises. I was worried about you. I didn’t want you to lose what you’ve worked so hard for over me. In my mind, that led to me losing you, and that just isn’t an option for me,” I tell him.

“Not gonna happen.” He looks over at Gavin. “What do we need to do?”

Gavin looks at me. “You ready for this, Stacy?”

Cole squeezes my leg.

“As I’ll ever be. Are you all sure about this? I don’t want to ruin anything for you.”

Gavin nods as he pulls out his phone I’m assuming to alert our security team to bring the cops to the bus.

“What you need to understand is that you are one of us.” Kacen points at Cole. “He loves you, we love you—it’s that simple. We’re going to push through this, and it might actually work to our advantage. An established label is a hell of a lot easier to get off the ground. Not to mention it’s in Nashville, close to home.”

“We’ve talked about this as a group for a while now, more so since Kace got married. This has always been the plan as we all start to settle down,” Cole says.

“Let’s do it.”

Gavin unlocks the door. “Bring them in, guys.”

I move to sit beside Cole instead of on his lap. Gavin mentioned pictures. Cole keeps his arm around my waist as I sit on the edge of the couch. A female officer steps onto the bus.

“Ma’am, I’m Detective Morris. Is there a private place where we can talk?” She looks around at the guys. They can be a little intimidating.

“Here’s fine. They’re family.”

Cole gives my hip a gentle squeeze; I assume that means he approves. I start my story from the beginning, telling her about the run-in outside the bus and every detail of last night. Cole never stops touching me; rubbing circles on my back, kneading my shoulders, squeezing my hip among other things, his hands stay on me. He handles hearing the story again better than I thought he would. His grip would tighten, and I’m pretty sure I heard him growl a few times, but other than that, he kept his cool.

“I’m going to need to take some pictures.” Detective Morris pulls a Polaroid camera from her bag.

Standing, I pull off my long-sleeve Soul Serenade T-shirt. Cole gasps and I laugh. “I have on a cami,” I tell him.

“Woman,” he says, shaking his head.

I’m filled with relief at our banter. It gives me hope that this is not going to turn out like I had originally thought. The guys seem like they’re okay with the plan, and Cole . . . well, he still wants me. I just hope Gavin knows what he’s talking about, that this will all turn out good for them. The Soul Serenade guys are my biggest concern at this point.

“Thank you. I’ll get this processed and there will be a warrant out for his arrest.” Detective Morris looks at Cole. “You make sure she’s not alone until we catch him.”

“I’ve got her,” he says, pulling me close.

Once Detective Morris is gone, I turn to Cole. “Are you sure this is the best way? What if this doesn’t work like you think it will?”

“It’s going to be fine. Besides, it doesn’t matter. We have two weeks left of this tour and then our contract ends a few months after that. Regardless, once this tour is done, so am I. I will not continue to work for Stone Records with Wilson at the helm.”

“This was our long-term backup, if you will. I want to spend more time with Logan and the baby. I don’t want to miss a minute. This is something we’ve talked about. Don’t stress,” Kacen adds.

“If it weren’t for the fans, I would say f*ck the rest of the tour,” Tristan chimes in.

“No shit. I would hate to disappoint them, but it pisses me off that that f*cker is going to make money off us,” Gavin remarks.

“You can’t.” I cover my face with my hands. “Your fans will hate me.”

“Pretty sure your boy took care of that. Our fans are loyal, and he told them he loves you tonight. When this gets out, they’re going to rally around you. That’s only going to help us, and you,” Kacen explains.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Bruce the driver says. “We need to get on the road if we’re going to make our next destination.”

“Let’s do it,” Kacen responds.

“Babe, let’s go to bed. It’s been a long-ass night, and I need to hold you.” Cole stands and holds his hand out for me.

“Wait!” Logan reaches out and pulls me into a hug. “Don’t you ever keep something like this from me again. Ever. Do you understand?” she scolds me.

“Yeah, I just—”

“No excuses. Stacy, it could have been so much worse.” Her voice cracks.

“It could have, but it wasn’t. It’s just a few bruises that will be gone in a few days,” I try to soothe her. “Get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow.” I hate putting this extra stress on her and the baby.