Page 55 of Behind the Scenes

But goddamn do I want to kill him.

I’d wanted to for a long time. It was lingering under my skin. The monster was whispering in my ear.

And today, he was really pushing his luck.

In my rage, I forgot I was even on the phone to begin with until Penelope’s voice interrupted my perfect daydream of ripping Julian’s head off.

“I tried to stop her, but she won’t listen to me,” Penelope saidin a whisper. “At least she finally ate something. When I came in here, the whole tray was?—”

“I can still hear you if you whisper, you know?” Laura’s voice rang through the line, and even with her snappy tone, her voice soothed the beast. “Tell her to stop being overbearing. I have work to do, and so does she!”

I couldn’t be mad at my Laura. Annoyed, yes. But my love for her wouldn’t let me be angry with her. She wasn’t the type of person to stop, even if she got sick. Her dreams and career were much too important for her to slow down even a bit. I respected that.

My manager, on the other hand…

He was still watching me like a hawk. Even on the little break I was allowed, he wanted me to know that he had his eyes on me and knewexactlywhat I was doing. Warning me that if I ever so much as tried to sneak away, he would be there.

Part of me was aware that he was keeping me away from Laura, and that did not bode well for him. Not one bit.

“Harley!” The director called. “It’s time!”

I cursed under my breath.

“Keep an eye on her,” I ordered Penelope. “Try to get her to eat more. And rest. Or I may just pay the hotel to cut off the Wi-Fi.”

I hung up and repeated calming mantras in my head.

Don’t kill the manager.

Or the director.

You need them.

You need them.

But the more Julian stared at me, the more violent those thoughts turned.

Don’t smash his head in.

Don’t ambush him in the dark.

Don’t accidentally spike his drink and then throw him into the ocean?—

“Harley!”

I put on my best charming smile. The one that said,I don’t want to kill any of you. Not at all.

Just as I was about to go, I got a flurry of texts and pictures from my informant. She had found the perpetrator, and, unfortunately, it was just an angry fan who had seen Laura and me together and snapped.

The issue was that I knew her. She’d been stalking me for some time, but before now, she hadn’t crossed any boundaries. To be honest, she kind of sucked at the whole stalking business.

This was the first time she had actually done anything serious, which would suck for her. I was being lenient before, but now that Laura was here, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.

“I won’t ask again, Harley. Now!”

“Coming!”

They were punishing me.Me.The star of their movie.