Page 120 of Hideaway Heart

“Well?” He laughed as he led me down the hall and opened the last door on the left. “We brought down the house. Didn’t you hear the applause?”

“I heard it.” I entered the room and looked around. Corner office. Desk. Chairs. Couch. Window overlooking the city. Framed records on the wall. “This is nice.”

“Can I get you anything?” he asked, closing the door behind him. “Are you thirsty?”

“No, thank you.” Aware I was alone with him and no one knew where I was, I started to get nervous. What if I had to run back down the hall? Scramble down those stairs? I slipped my heels off. “You know what? My feet are a little sore. Maybe I’ll just take these shoes off for a minute.”

He smiled as he came toward me. “Yes. Get comfortable. Take the whole outfit off. Or I can do it for you.”

I backed up until my butt hit the desk. “That’s not funny.”

“It wasn’t a joke.” He moved closer and braced his hands on either side of my hips. “Why do you think I brought you up here?”

“You said it was to talk. You’re too close, Duke.” I pushed against his chest, but he didn’t budge.

“Stop fighting this.” His hands moved to my hips. “We belong together, sweetheart. And the sooner you admit it, the sooner we can stop all this cat and mouse bullshit.”

“What cat and mouse bullshit?”

“These games. Trying to hurt each other. I know that’s why you went away with someone else. Why you’re dating someone else.”

“I’ve never doneanythingto hurt you.”

He gripped my hips harder. “The guy in the photographs Hoop took. Is that your new boyfriend?”

Icy cold fear slithered through my veins. “How do you know Hoop took photographs of us?”

“God, you’re so naive. That’s why you need me. You’ll be eaten alive without me to protect you.” His smile was patronizing and sinister. “I knew he took the photos because I sent him up there to do it.”

“How did you know where I was? Did my dad tell you?”

“Your dad?” He looked surprised I’d asked. “No. Your dad did not prove as useful as I’d hoped where you’re concerned. But I didn’t need him to tell me where you were. I almost always know where you are, darling.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Because you left your email open on my laptop, and you never changed your password. See? Naiveandcareless.”

“Fuck you!” I tried to knee him in the balls like Xander taught me, but because of my dress and my short stature, I was only able to get him in the thigh.

But it was enough to stun him, and he loosened his grip on me enough that I could make a run for the door. Unfortunately, without my heels on, the damn dress was too long, and my toes got stuck in the hem, sending me tumbling to the floor.

He was on me in an instant.

TWENTY-EIGHT

xander

When I finally arrived atthe auditorium, I jumped out of the cab and ran around the building as fast as I could to the back door by the loading dock. Some guys from the crew were standing around outside smoking, and I saw several who’d been here yesterday.

As luck would have it, one of them was a Navy guy named Javier I’d spent a little time talking to, and he recognized me. In very few words, I explained the situation and said I had to get inside.

The rest of the crew looked doubtful, but Javier nodded. “I’ll get you in,” he said confidently. Then he looked at another guy. “Curtis, give me your badge.”

Curtis shrugged, took off his lanyard, and handed it to me. “There you go. But if I get fired, I’ll need a new job.”

“I’ll find you one,” I said, ditching my bag and slipping the lanyard over my head. “Thanks.”

Once I was in the building, Javier and I managed to make our way into the backstage hall, where I saw Marius arguing with a skinny guy holding a clipboard.

“Marius, what the fuck? Where is she?”

“I’m trying to figure that out,” he said, giving clipboard guy a menacing look. “They told me she was coming out this way.”