Only You (Adair Family #5)(9)

“Has anyone ever told you, you’re an intense motherfucker?”

He stared at me with a cool look that either meant he was bored or preparing to kill me.

See?

Intense.

“Fine,” I agreed. “If I fail to follow through on your decision-making, you get my Black Shadow.”

With a nod, Walker slid out of the SUV. I noted him checking our surroundings, always in work mode. I got out, and we walked into the Gloaming together, looking forward to familiar faces.

Being around my family was a balm. I felt a bit out of it, having missed so much of the amazing changes that had happened in their lives over the last few years, but just being near them was enough.

I’d barely taken in the pub’s transformation when a stranger popped out of nowhere, inches in front of me. She stared up at me with unbridled awe.

“It said online you’d be here, but I never actually thought I’d get to meet you,” she said in an accent that sounded Welsh. “I’m Angharad, and I’m such a fan.”

Discomfort and more than a twinge of annoyance surged through me. I shoved it down as I caught sight of Lachlan, his pregnant wife Robyn and my youngest brother Arran, and his girlfriend Eredine sitting at a table with banquette seating at the rear of the pub.

My attention returned to Angharad as I felt Walker hover just over my shoulder. She’d barely even looked at him, which was shocking since Walk was hard to miss. “Hi, Angharad, nice to meet you,” I said as patiently and pleasantly as possible.

“I came all the way up from Cardiff just to see you and wondered if you could sign me.” She yanked down the collar of her T-shirt, almost exposing herself. “I’m going to have it turned into a tattoo.” With her other hand, she held out a marker.

It wasn’t the first time someone had asked me to sign cleavage. Remembering our deal, I glanced at Walk. “Well?”

He grunted and lifted his chin.

So I scribbled my autograph where Angharad from Cardiff wanted it and said, “Have a nice evening.”

She grabbed hold of my arm to stop my departure, and I heard Walker clear his throat in warning. Angharad dropped her hand quickly. “Can I buy you a drink?”

I looked at Walker in warning. He shook his head, just like I knew he would.

“I’m here to spend time with my family, so not today, but thanks.”

“Oh, okay.” Her disappointment made her smile tremble, but she held up her phone determinedly. “Will you take a selfie with me, then?”

“Nope.” Walker put a hand between me and the phone. “No selfies.”

She stared wide-eyed up at Walker as if she’d just noticed my hulking bodyguard. Then she looked at me. “No?”

I gave her an apologetic shrug. “He’s the boss.”

“Oh.” She frowned in confusion.

“Nice to meet you, though. Have a good night. Safe travels back to Cardiff,” I added, feeling a tiny bit bad she’d come all the way up here and Walk wouldn’t let her take a selfie. I asked him why as we neared my family’s table.

“You’re at home. You need normality. We don’t need her posting your face online and reminding everyone where they can come to get a selfie with Brodan Adair.”

Like I said.

Wise.

Most of my face-to-face encounters with fans went fine. Sometimes overzealous fans tried to touch me inappropriately, but the worst fan encounters actually came in the mail. All of my fan mail arrived at a PO box we set up, and I’d eventually hired someone to sort through it so I didn’t have to see the nasty stuff. Men and women’s unclean underwear wrapped up like presents. Hair clippings. Toenail clippings. Lovelorn letters proclaiming we were meant to be.

The only mail on the darker side I ever saw were the threats. We had to make the police aware of those, and thankfully, they were few and far between. Though, we’ve been vigilant since two years ago when threats I’d received turned out to be from my old school friend Fergus. He’d stabbed my sister’s husband in the gut, killed a guard at Ardnoch Estate, and kidnapped Lachlan and Robyn with the help of Hollywood starlet Lucy Wainwright. Lucy killed Fergus and was now doing a life sentence for her crimes. Lucy was a psychopath obsessed with Lachlan.

Fergus’s apparent reasoning for his part in it was that he resented me for leaving him behind and hated my sister Arrochar for breaking up with him when we were younger.

So, aye, we took those kinds of threats seriously.

And while Angharad was no such threat, I appreciated Walker protecting my privacy.

“Fans found you already, then?” Arran asked, standing up and gesturing to two empty seats. I met Lachlan’s gaze as I took a seat across from him.

“You all right?” my big brother asked.

I nodded. “Fine. You know what it’s like.”

Lachlan was actually the one who got me in the door in Hollywood. He’d started making a name for himself as a young action star, and after being on set with him a few times, I caught the acting bug and took up drama at university. However, Lachlan had never truly enjoyed acting and retired to turn our family’s neglected castle and estate into the esteemed private club it is today.

He met Robyn two years ago, the estranged daughter of Mackennon “Mac” Galbraith, Lachlan’s head of security. Mac had Robyn when he was only sixteen and living in the States. They’d reconnected when Robyn came to Scotland to find him, and she and Lachlan fell in love after a very rocky start.