Phil
Sophie was asleep, and I held her exhausted body in my arms. Her leg was over mine, and her arm lay across my waist. I kissed her head as my mind spun about all the things I needed to double-check and figure out before Wembley.
We had two days. Sophie needed to do a run through the next day, and the following day would be the concert.
Panic coursed through me. I wasn’t used to panic.
We had started to make progress. Collin handled the label, and the clause was enforced. Our team would have full control of security. Guards we had chosen had been flown in.
I should have been feeling optimistic.
But all I felt was panic.
And that wasn't like me...ever.
Slowly, I slid out from under Sophie so I didn't wake her and I put on my clothes. I went downstairs and into the great room, flipped on the lights, and stared at the wall.
Thirty-eight men's faces stared back at me. The vile acts each of them had done to other women and wanted to do to Sophie were all fresh in my mind from earlier that day.
I had known about everything before our meeting, but watching Timko and Sophie go back and forth earlier that day made it scarier.
I started to pace the room, from time to time stopping and gazing closer at one of the photos, then pacing some more.
I didn't know how much time went by with my mind spinning and hearing Timko's voice from earlier that day.
"Phil?"
I jerked my head to the door.
Tom walked into the room. "What are you doing?"
I ran my hands through my hair. "I don't know."
Tom went over to the bar area and grabbed two beers out of the mini-fridge. He opened them up, then held one out to me. "Sit down, Phil."
I grabbed the beer and kept pacing.
Tom grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. "Phil, sit."
I looked up at him.
He pointed to the chair. "Just take a breather and sit down."
I blew out a big breath and sat down.
He grabbed the chair across from me.
My fingers started to tap my thigh.
"Take a sip of your beer, Phil." He pointed to the beer in my hand.
Ethan walked in. "Hey Phil, didn't know you—"
Tom pointed to the fridge. "Grab a beer, Ethan."
Ethan stood, looking at me. "Phil, are you all right?"
Almost in a trance, I slowly looked up at him and nodded.
"Grab a beer, Ethan," Tom repeated.
He walked over, grabbed a beer, and sat down in the chair next to me.
My fingers were tapping faster. My mind was racing faster than it had ever raced before. I need to keep her safe. I stood up again and started walking back to the wall.
"Phil, what's going on?" Ethan asked nervously.
"Nothing," I muttered and went back to the wall, then started to pace again.
Tom said sharply, "Phil, sit your goddamn ass down. You're freaking me out. Just sit down and drink your beer."
I jerked my head to him. His leg had a small twitch to it, and both he and Ethan were looking at me with worry on their faces.
Ethan patted my chair. "Phil, sit down."
I realized I probably looked like a crazy person and needed to go sit down, so I walked over and sat down.
"Take a sip of beer, Phil," Tom ordered.
I took a sip of beer.
He nodded at me. "Good. Now take a breather and tell us what’s going on."
My pulse was beating fast, and my chest was tight. "I don't know. My mind is spinning. I feel like we’re missing something."
"Missing something how?" Ethan asked.
"With the threats...security...the plan... I don't know. I just feel like we’re missing something to keep her safe."
"We have a good, solid plan. Timko reviewed it all with me, and he's confident everything will be fine. Let's review it tomorrow and you'll feel better about all this."
I pointed to the wall. "I'm never going to feel better about all this."
"Fucking Soph," Ethan muttered under his breath.
I jerked my head at him.
"Sorry. I'm still pissed that she did that today. She really screwed with all our heads."
"Get over it—you're not in her shoes," I spat at him.
He softly laughed.
"What's so funny?" I glared at him.
"My dad used to say that. When we were little kids, Sophie used to do all kinds of things to torment me, and my dad would use those exact words."
"What did she do to you?" Tom asked.
"Anything to annoy me. Stomp on my sandcastles, hide my toys, 'borrow' my video games and CDs and not return them. My dad always had a sweet spot for her, so anything she did wasn't a big deal."
Tom raised his brow at Ethan. "Well, it looks like you've got some childhood baggage you need to deal with before tomorrow, because I know you and Sophie have this brother-sister thing going on, but she doesn't need you mad at her tomorrow."
Ethan sighed. "You're right."
I looked at Tom. "Did we figure out who leaked her death threat count to the investigator?"
"Not yet, but we will," Tom confidently stated.
The hair on my neck stood up, and I blurted out, "She was right today. Even if we get past Wembley safely, they’re always going to come after her. How do I protect her from this?"
Tom put his beer down on the table next to him. "Phil, I'm going to tell you the same thing you told me when I started seeing Liv. We will protect her. We will figure this out."
I shook my head. "This is too big."
"Phil, you're spiraling. You gotta take a breather and get some sleep. We will protect Sophie."
"How? How are we going to protect her against them?" I pointed to the wall. "And that doesn’t even include the other thousand threats out there."
Tom shifted in his seat. "I've been thinking about that."
"And?"
"What did we used to do with Charles?" He raised his brow at me.
My mind started to shift gears. "We trailed him…and hunted him when we couldn't find him."
Tom nodded and stared at me.
"You want to hunt these guys down and trail them?" Ethan asked.
"Why not?" Tom shrugged.
It actually was a good idea. We would at least know their every move. At the very least, we could get a better handle on the most extreme threats. I slowly nodded. "Okay. I think that makes sense."
Ethan stood up and walked over to the wall. He started to take the photos down.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
He spun toward us. "This isn't helping, Phil. We've reviewed it. All of us know what they look like. It's time to take it down."
"But—"
Tom interrupted me. "No, Ethan is right. This isn't helping." He nodded at Ethan to continue.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the chair.
"Phil?"
I opened my eyes and looked over to see Sophie in her robe, standing in the doorway.
"What's going on?" She glanced between Tom, Ethan, and me.
Ethan continued to remove the photos, and Tom's leg started to twitch faster.
"Nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing." She walked over to Tom and me.
"We're having a beer. You want one?" Tom asked.
She shook her head. "Hey Tom, I'm—"
He held up his hand and cut her off. "Already forgotten. But I won't forgive you if my video goes viral."
She softly laughed. "Maybe it'll be your next career move."
"Doubt that."
She walked over to the wall and started to pull photos off. She mumbled, "I'm sorry," to Ethan.
"I'm still waiting for you to return my Gwen Stefani Tragic Kingdom CD to me."
She laughed and pulled another photo off the wall. "You know I get inspiration from Gwen."
"She's done you well."
They continued to remove all the photos, then walked back to where Tom and I were sitting. Sophie gave me a worried look and sat down on my lap and put her arms around me. She cocked her head to the side.
"What's wrong, Petal?"
She stroked the side of my head. "You need to get some sleep."
"I'm fine."
"Phil, you need to let this go tonight," she said sternly.
"I'm just having a beer with the guys," I lied to her. I didn't want her to worry about me. She had enough to worry about. My job was to make her forget.
"I'm not stupid. I can see what’s going on here. You don't have to lie to me."
"I'm not—"
She put her fingers over my lips. "Shh. Don't."
"It's one in the morning. I think we should all go get some sleep," Ethan suggested.
"I agree," Tom chimed in, and stood up.
I didn't say anything as Sophie continued to stare at me.
Ethan stood up, grabbed our beers, and went over to the bar. He drained the remaining liquid and threw the bottles in the recycling bin. "I'll see you all in the morning." He walked out.
Tom looked down at us. "Get some sleep, both of you."
"Night, Tom." Sophie smiled at him.
His eyes nervously moved from Sophie to me, then back to Sophie. He walked out of the room and flicked off the lights. "Go to bed."
Sophie turned back to me as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness. "Phil, you're spinning."
I started to deny it. "I'm not—"
"Stop. Please."
I took a deep breath.
Sophie leaned in and softly pressed her lips against mine, parting my mouth and exploring it with her sweet tongue.
My anxiety started to drop away. The more she kissed me, the more my head stopped spinning. I pushed my hands through her robe and around her waist so I could feel her naked back.
I pulled back from her kisses. "You're cold, Petal."
"This robe isn't very warm. But your hands feel nice and warm."
"Let's go upstairs."
"Okay." She stood up and grabbed my hand. She led me up the stairs and into our room, then she started to undress me. "Get in bed."
I laughed. "You're being bossy again."
She smiled at me. "Someone needs to be your boss. Now get in bed."
I got under the covers, and she took off her robe and slid under next to me. I pulled her into my arms. Suddenly, I was really tired.
She started to hum a melody that I hadn't heard before. It was soft and slow.
"What song is that?"
"It's a new one I've been working on."
"I like it. What's it about?"
"You."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Really?" I grinned at her.
She glanced up and smiled at me. "Yes. Now close your eyes and stop talking." She snuggled back into me.
"What are the words?"
"It's not done yet. Just close your eyes."
I kissed her head and closed my eyes as she continued to hum.
She snuggled into me more, and I could feel the vibrations of her throat against my chest. The thoughts that raced through my mind started to disappear as I got lost in her sounds.
She sang random words between her hums in a whisper so quiet, only I would hear. I fell asleep with the words love, gambling, forget, don't think, and secret world floating through my head.