Page 83 of The Wicked Love

Keanu speaks into the microphone. “I’m heading there alright. I will have eyes on you the whole time. Take him to Fresco’s.”

Keanu grabs his phone and keys. “I’ll keep you guys updated on time and when we head back this way. Max, let me know if I need her to stall at the restaurant.”

I didn’t even realize he had come in.

“You got it,” Max says.

Keanu heads toward the door. His gun catches my eye before the door closes all the way. And part of me hopes he gets to use it tonight.

I wanted to go with him. But I wouldn’t have been any help. I would’ve been too distracted, wanting to kill Austin.

Becca closes the door behind her, and they walk hand in hand to the elevator. The second the doors close, Max and I are out of the room, almost jogging to get into Becca’s suite, everyone else in tow behind us.

He put the keycard in then we race straight to the laptop. “Well, he’s an idiot. Everyone should have a password.”

He starts typing away, and I go to grab the phone, but Cade grabs it first.

“I got this one.”

That’s when I see Stella. Her makeup is running down her cheeks, and her eyes … her eyes show every ounce of terror she is feeling right now.

I reach out and pull her into my chest, running my hand down the back of her head over and over. “Just breathe, Stella. Just breathe. It’ll be okay. We’ll get him.”

Brooke stands behind her, looking helpless. I know the feeling. We want to help her more than we can, but we don’t know how.

Stella sobs into my chest. “I feel stupid. I feel weak. I thought I was over this. I thought I had all the power. But all it takes is seeing him, and I break all over again.”

Brooke walks up to her and throws her arms over us. “Hey. You do have all your power, Stella. You do. Just because you take a moment to recognize what he did to you does not make you weak. You are standing here right now because you were brave enough to want to see if it was him. You are the strongest person I know, and crying because you are facing your attacker does not make you stupid or small. It makes you … a survivor. And that’s what you are, Stella—you’re a survivor. Remember that.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Becca

Two hours of painstaking flirting later, I arrive back at the hotel with Austin. As we walk into my suite, I’m itching to see what was found on his laptop.

But first, I have to get rid of him. “Thank you for dinner. It was so good.” I force a yawn. “I’m getting so tired.”

He takes a seat on the sofa, making himself right at home. “Don’t quit on me now, babe.”

Call me babe one more time …

He pats the seat next to him. “Come over here.”

This is such a bad idea.

But I walk over to him and sit down on the cushion. I still need him to think this is real.

“God, you are so sexy, Becca,” he groans in my ear, and I want to throw up.

His hand grabs my thigh, and it is way too tight.

Nope, I’ve done all I can tonight.

I’m about to peel my skin off my body from his touch. “Austin, have you ever studied Greek mythology?Apollois my favorite. Who’s yours?” I use the safe word to signal Keanu.

Right on cue, someone starts pounding on the door.

“Becca, it’s me. We have a problem, and I need you,” Keanu says from the other side of the door.