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As though my longing had summoned her, the burner phone in my pocket vibrated, making a cold sweat break out over my skin. “Excuse me.” I moved away from the group, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Stefania.”
“I’m okay. Don’t stress. I’m sorry, I just needed to....”
The relief that flooded my system had my legs turning to jelly. “Wait one moment.” A quick glance around the room showed me the nearest exit sign was about thirty feet away. That felt like miles, considering all the people I’d have to push through to get to it. Fuck.
A server went through the swinging door into the kitchen, carrying a pile of dirty plates. That would do. I followed him, ignoring the curious looks of the catering staff as I pushed through. Spotting a small food pantry off to my left, I slipped inside, turning an empty bucket upside down, and sitting on it.
I switched the call to video and Stef’s face appeared on the screen. She was lying in a bed, looking pale and tired, her eyes heavy with stress. I ached at the sight of her.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
Her long sigh skittered over my skin. “I don’t know. I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep.”
I rubbed at my chest as the ache suddenly felt so much sharper. Almost unbearable. “Sweetheart, you say the word and I’ll have you out of there in less than ten minutes.”
“I know that. Actually, knowing that is the only thing keeping me going. I’m so fucking sick of it. Ethan is calling me fifteen to twenty times a day. Daniel is loving it. He keeps saying they’re getting closer. They picked him up on facial recognition near your condo yesterday. Daniel was so excited I thought he was going to piss his pants. He’s all like, ‘This is it! We’ve got the fucker!’ But they don’t have the fucker. And I don’t know if they’ll ever catch him. He’s just so smart, Grayson. I don’t know how he does it.”
I felt helpless, sitting there in that pantry, unable to do anything to make it better. “I’m coming to get you.”
Stef sat up hastily. “No! Please don’t! If you do that, then all of this will have been for nothing and we’ll be back to where we started.”
I hated that she was right. “I’m not happy about it.”
She gave me a weak smile in return. “Somehow, that makes me feel better.”
“What do you need?” I was desperate to do something, anything, to help her.
“I don’t know. Just talk to me.” She settled back against the pillows, waiting patiently.
Dragging in a deep breath, I tried to push down the fear and frustration that was threatening to overwhelm me. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
Stef shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything. Everything. Just...talk to me.”
I nodded, trying to think of something to say. “How about...how about we talk about the first time we met?”
Her eyes lit up. “Okay. That’s a good one.”
I leaned back against the wall, trying to remember every detail of that night. “I remember walking into that bar and seeing you up on stage. You were... amazing. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”
Stef laughed. “I remember seeing you in the crowd and thinking,How fucking perfect is that suit?”
That made me smile. “I thought you were the hottest thing I’d ever seen.”
“All I could think was how much I wanted to ruffle your hair. Make it all messy. You look good when you’re messy.”
Something caught her attention, making her turn her head to the door. “Oh, here we go.”
“What is it?”
“Daniel has just crept down the hall to Scarlett’s room.” She rolled her eyes, clearly amused. “Happens every night. They wait until they think I’m not going to notice. He gets up from the sofa, sneaks down the hall, quietly opens her door and sneaks in. And there it is. She puts on some music so I can’t hear the sex noises.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Nah. She’s been absolutely amazing through all of this. My rock. I’d have gone crazy by now if she hadn’t done such a good job looking after me.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“I mean, I can’t deny, I’m a bit jealous. I can’t help but think about all the banging time this fucker has cost us. You’re gonna have to make it up to me, by the way.”