“No,” Adrianne said, keeping a smile on her face. “My security team is being extra cautious. It seems my little problem from California has followed me to Sydney.”
Maria’s half-joking smile faded into a frown. “Have you told Lee?”
“He’s next on my list,” Adrianne assured her, although I wasn’t sure how truthful she was being. “But there was something I wanted to discuss with you directly, first.”
“With me?” Maria crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s up?”
Adrianne took a deep breath, and I wished that I could wrap my arm around her for comfort and strength. “I just found out that I’m pregnant,” she said. “It’s early days, and I’d prefer for it to stay quiet... but I have to know that I’m being safe while doing these scenes.”
For her part, Maria didn’t swear or cuss Adrianne out. “Do you know how far along you are?” she asked in an even voice.
“I’m still in my first trimester,” she said. “Maybe a little more than eight weeks. The scan wasn’t entirely clear on that.”
The stunt coordinator looked incredibly relieved. “What we’re doing should be fine,” she assured her. “I’ll re-block anything that might have ended in a blow to your abdomen, but you should be able to do the stunts without a problem... though the harness may be uncomfortable.”
“Was it ever going to be comfortable?” Adrianne asked, and they shared a polite Hollywood laugh. “Can I trust you to keep this quiet for now?” she asked. “Lee’s a great director, but his track record for treating pregnant actresses with respect is... not great.”
Maria’s face twisted at the mention of Lee’s name. Adrianne was right before—there was no lost love for him when it came to the crew. They tolerated him for his genius, but no onelikedLee. “Let’s get this movie wrapped,” she said. “Then we can worry about telling Lee anything.”
“Thanks, Maria.” Adrianne looked like she wanted to hug the woman, and so did I.
When they got Adrianne into her harness a short time later, Foster opted to step outside. “I can’t watch her do this,” he said to Ethan.
“You can’t watch her do something that they’ve just tested ten times for safety,” Ethan said, “but you can use her as bait to lure out an unstable individual with an unhealthy obsession with her. How in the hell does that make sense?”
Foster clenched his jaw, but he waited for Ethan to dismiss him to actually leave. “You don’t have to be a dick,” I said. “He’s not wrong about flushing her stalker out, and we both know it.”
Ethan didn’t even look at me. His eyes were on Adrianne as they lifted her into the air slightly to test the fit of the harness. “He can be right and still be an asshole for suggesting it in the first place,” he said, and I couldn’t really argue with that.
For the rest of the afternoon, we watched her film action scenes. It was exciting to see our girl command the set so regally. Shebecameher character, and it was easy to see what the casting director had seen at her audition.
On the way back to the hotel that evening, Adrianne was exhausted, and she laid her head on my shoulder. The driver wasn’t staring at us, but I did what I could not to draw his attention our way... but it was hard to simply be her pillow when all I wanted was to curl around her like a cat.
“I was thinking,” Adrianne said softly to me. Ethan was in the front seat, and I wasn’t sure whether he heard her or not. He didn’t react as if he had. “About being bait in order to flush out my stalker.”
“Yeah?” I asked, dreading what she might say.
She nodded. “I want to do it,” she said. “I want to feel safe again, and I don’t think I ever will until he’s gone.”
I knew that’s what she was going to say, and it still made my belly sink to my knees like lead. “Adrianne, it would be dangerous. No matter how many precautions we take, it wouldn’t go perfectly. Itnevergoes perfectly.”
“I understand that,” she said. “But what’s the worst-case scenario?”
“That he kills you,” I said, making myself say the words, “and we couldn’t live with that possibility.”
“Callan,” she said, “do you think that you would ever put me in a situation where that would be the outcome?”
I wanted to say no, of course not, but there was that nagging doubt in my mind. “We would do everything in our power to protect you,” I said. “But sometimes, that’s not enough.”
Adrianne touched my arm, just for a moment. “I’m not Laura, Cal.”
“No,” I said, “you’re not. This is worse becausewewould be the ones putting you in danger. Laura was a combat nurse. she knew exactly what she was getting into going into a warzone. You have no idea how dangerous this could get. None of us do.”
“I trust you to keep me safe,” she said. “I trust that you know how to handle dangerous situations. Why don’t you trust yourself the way I do?”
Because you’re not just a client, I wanted to scream. If something went wrong, we wouldn't just be failing a client, we would be failing the woman we love. “We’ll talk to Merc at the hotel,” I said. “He’s team captain. He gets the final decision. Can you live with that?”
“I can,” she said. “I just hope that you can live with it when he agrees with Foster and me.”