Page 43 of The Starlet

We stay connected for a few minutes. I hold the back of her head and rub circles on her upper back as she lets it all out.

“I’m sorry,” she mutters, the sound muffled by my chest.

I lean back from her and take her face in my hands, wiping the water under her eyes with my thumbs. “You have nothing to be sorry for. What that fucker did is messed up on so many levels. He never should have released that video of us.”

“I’m sorry you’re mixed up in all of this. It’s not fair to you or your career. I understand if you don’t want to stick around.”

She tries to pull out of my embrace, but I won’t let her.

“Whoa. Where’s this coming from?” I have a gentle grip on her chin and continue. “What I told you before is true. I love you, Elena. I don’t care what difficult things you have going on in your life. When I’m with you, I feel alive again. After Jasmine, I was so lost. I’m happier now, with you, than I’ve ever been in my life.”

More tears fall and she sniffs. I pull her back in for a hug, and we stay connected for a few minutes until her body stops shaking and her breathing evens out. When she releases me this time, I know it’s because she is all right, not pulling away from me.

She runs to the bathroom to freshen up as I unpack the containers of food. I pull some plates and silverware out and start dishing out the food. When she emerges, she looks at me and then smiles when she sees there’s food. Dinner is quiet. Neither of us feels the need to fill the silence.

She takes a deep breath and pushes it through her nose. “What if I just meet with him? We could use me as bait and finally catch the guy.”

“No. I’m not risking you like that. The studio is working with law enforcement to get him arrested.”

She straightens her spine and narrows her eyes. “This isn’t your choice to make.”

I place my fork down and look her dead on. “You’re right, it’s not, but you’re my girlfriend and I will do everything I can to keep you safe.” One side of my mouth pulls up into a smirk. “Even if that means I have to chain you to the bed.”

Chapter 27

Brad’s breathingis deep and even. His back is to me, but he hasn’t moved in the past ten minutes. My heart swells when I think of him. He’s such a good, caring man. But this needs to end—now. The police have no leads, and I hate that I feel like a prisoner here. While the accommodations are much better, and the extracurricular activities are more fun, I still can’t go anywhere alone.

I’ve been back for three days and haven’t even been by my house to check on things. I called my neighbor, Mrs. Crawley, and she assured me everything at the house is fine, but I still need to get back. I know Bradley would come and stay with me, but I just need some time alone to think about things and figure it out.

I toss the covers off of me and take my phone to the living room, being as quiet as possible so I don’t wake him. I’ve put a lot of thought into this, and I want to arrange a set-up for this guy so he will finally leave me alone. My chin quivers with fear as my finger hovers over the restricted number.There’s no going back after this.

Our new phones arrived yesterday, and I’ve added all my old numbers into my contacts, but I didn’t deactivate my old phone yet. That’s the only link I have to this guy, and Mr. Klipse advised me to keep it active for now. He’s still working with someone to be able to get an IP address to trace his phone or computer so we can get a location on him.

I unblock the restricted number and pull up a new message to him.

Me:Hey, are you awake?

I stare at the four words I typed and bite the corner of my fingernail.If I send this, there’s no going back.I hit the green send button and wait. I feel my heart beating in my rib cage, trying to escape. My mouth is dry and my fingers are shaking.

“Come on, answer, damn it,” I whisper out loud. My heart beats erratically as I wait. I look at the clock; it is only eleven. He could still be up.

Restricted:Hello, Elena. To what do I owe the pleasure?

Me:Why did you do that with the video? What else do you have?

Restricted:Everything. It’s the only way I could get your attention. You shut me down when we talked.

I have to be careful how I do this. I don’t want Brad knowing because he’ll step in and stop me, then I’ll never get this guy to stop. I’m going to call Jimmy and have him help me set this guy up.

Me:Can you call me?

My phone rings moments later, and I answer it, keeping my voice down.

“Hello?”

He releases a breath. “Elena.”

“Can we meet?” I’m ashamed of the eagerness in my voice.