“Dude,” Sylvester said, and Ian and I looked to him. “Cisco showed me the pics this asshole sent. Now, I could do me a sweet piece in some handcuffs or creative use of silk scarves, but this shit was extreme.”

Ian stared hard at Sylvester.

Then he dropped his head and looked at his shoes.

In order to give Ian some time, I turned to Sylvester and mouthed, “Sly?”

He shrugged.

I turned back to Ian who was still contemplating his shoes.

He then put his hand on the back of his neck, rubbed it up over his hair and then dropped it to his side, saying, “My mother told me, do not get involved in the club. Those girls will be the death of you.” He lifted his head and speared me with his eyes. “She was right.”

“I’m not stalking me,” I pointed out.

“I know you’re not,” he clipped. “But you show with a bodyguard and don’t come direct to me when you got a problem?”

Hmm.

He had a point.

“You’ve kinda had your fair share of problems,” I said.

It was lame, but it wasn’t untrue.

“That’s life, Hatz. You have problems. You deal. You move on. You don’t know you got a problem, you can’t deal, and that problem becomes a bigger problem.”

Before I could agree to his wisdom, and apologize for messing up, Dorian looked to Sylvester.

“You on her all day?” he asked.

“Until Cisco pulls me, and he did not communicate he intended to pull me, so maybe,” Sylvester answered.

“You do not go into the dancers’ dressing room. Outside only. I’ll brief security. If you’re still here tonight, when Hattie is onstage, I want all eyes on the crowd. I’ll give you, or whoever relieves you, a headset so you can communicate with the team. But before, I’ll introduce the team to you so they know you’re point on Hattie. You down?”

“I’m down,” Sylvester replied.

Ian looked to me. “Right now it’s a call and pictures?”

I nodded.

“To your cell phone and sent to your house?” he went on.

I nodded again.

Dorian’s visible unhappiness got visibly unhappier.

“And Cisco knows this?” he pressed.

More nodding.

“What about Pantera?”

“Uh, he knows it too.”

“I’ll call them,” he muttered, beginning to move away.

“Wait!” I cried.

He turned back to me.

“Axl and Hawk and all of them aren’t officially on this, hence Sylvester,” I shared, throwing a hand Sylvester’s way.

Ian’s eyes moved to Sylvester then back to me as behind me I heard Ryn say, “Sorry?” Lottie say, “Say what?” and Pepper say, “Oh man.”

I turned to face them. “Axl found out I called Brett before him and he was kinda mad.”

This time it was Pepper looking at her feet.

Ryn was smiling.