Page 63 of Perfect Order

Until the clapping and whistling begins.

Frightened, my head snaps to the side to find Beckett with Mick and Carly standing next to him. “You’re late,” I growl at him.

“And you made good use of the time. It’s like I told you, put the emotions into the music, Ky,” he congratulates me.

“Lee!” I shout, unable for one more second to hear my sister’s name fall from someone’s lips. “She called me Lee!”

Mick and Carly quickly take a step back. As his blue eyes light up, I think,Uh-oh.Lee forgot to mention Beckett Miller apparently thrives on confrontation. “Bring it on, little girl,” he challenges.

“Hard-ass Beckett Miller,” I goad, pushed beyond caring.

For just a moment, his lips soften, but I think I might imagine it when he leans forward and declares, “You want to know what I think? I think she’d say, ‘Live your life, Kylie. Love for both of us.’” He folds his arms.

Chest heaving, I open my mouth and say, “You don’t know how wrong you are.”

His brow quirks. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Because if she knew the way I was living, she’d be terrified about me dying more than what happened to her.” And with that, I race out of the studio, ignoring the calls of Beckett, Mick, and Carly. I race past Beckett’s ever-constant guards, not even noticing which ones are with him today.

All I can think about is getting to a safe place and texting Kane. I need to tell him everything about who I was.

Who I am.

Who I guess I’ll always be.

Kane

Conversation starter: If you know exactly what’s going to happen when you do something, why do it?— Viego Martinez, Celebrity Blogger

“What the hell just happened?” I demand as Leanne streaks past without a word. I’d hoped to intercept her at some point tonight to introduce myself—finally after days of exchanges about her company entwined with flirtations. I’ve never been so anxious to put in overtime, but knowing I have her to interact with at the end of the day, I’ve been feeling a sense of anticipation. We’re on the precipice of more, something I thought I could nudge along tonight, but obviously there’s no chance of that happening, as evident by the tears falling down her face.

Beckett looks years older than his late thirties when he admits, “I pushed her. Too hard, it seems. But…”

“But what?” I snap, ignoring the fact he’s the one I’m supposed to be protecting. Something indefinable is drawing me toward Leanne Miles the more I get to know her.

I just want her alive to figure out what it is.

“When I heard her sing, I thought it was time to prod her away from her grief. She didn’t take it well,” he admits. Out of the corner of my eye, Mick and Carly are nodding frantically, supporting Beckett.

I lean in so only Beckett can hear me. With a great deal of reluctance, I say softly, “The kind of grief she’s feeling isn’t going to just go away, Beckett. It’s the kind you carry until you join that individual in the grave beside them.”

Beckett gives me a sharp glance. “You sound like you’re talking from experience.”

I don’t bother responding before I turn and walk back to my post. The rock giant isn’t an uber-millionaire who once declared he’d join the ranks of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Sir Andrew McCartney as billionaires because he’s an idiot. I just slip my hand into my pocket as unobtrusively as possible and hope like hell Leanne reaches out.

Because I’m now certain it was her that day. Tonight I wanted to run after her just like I wanted to stay with her when I first saw her years ago. And it’s my responsibilities to Beckett that’s prevented me from doing both.

Damnit.

Hours later, I’m logging into the file Keene’s been filling up with data about Leanne and Castor while sitting at his desk at Hudson. Mitch gave me a face because Beckett was bitching nonstop until he received a call from Texas. Then he was glowing like a damn bluebonnet.

I wish the rest of the problems in the world were that simple, I think sourly as I pull up a communication exchange between Leanne and her chief data scientist.

Almost as soon as I do, a text pops up.I need to talk with you. Are you alone?

Thank God. It’s her.Yes. I am.

Where are you?