Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
N umb.
That wasn’t how a designer dress should make anyone feel.
Bianca stared at her reflection in the makeup trailer. The rose-colored silk moved like melted butter along her curves, and the sparkling overlay shimmered when she moved.
Grace had worked her magic and gotten Bianca her meeting with Leo and one of the new financial producers of the movie to go over her and Carter’s contracts. But now it felt too little, too late.
“Perfection.” Grace brought her fingers to her lips and made a kissing sound. “Riley, you wowed it with those curls. Tiff’s level of greatness, to be sure. Messy yet classy. Love. It. All. Bianca, the producer will for sure realize that you’re a gem—pun intended because of this movie about lost jewels.” She added a giggle and then nodded. “You are and will be focused on keeping yourself happy. No more fake dating is in your contract’s future. I can feel it.”
Riley faced her pile of makeup. Hopefully, she would focus on Grace’s compliment and not the comparison to the former makeup artist.
Bianca repositioned one of the curls tangling against its neighbor. Her hair looked more suitable for a night out for pizza than a formal dinner. One she wished she could have had with Eddie last night before he’d left with her heart.
Riley had arrived late but succeeded in spite of the tight deadline. “Thanks, Riley.”
Riley turned and gave her a saucy look in the mirror as she pulled out her phone. “What else would I be good for?”
Grace held out two pairs of shoes—rhinestone boots and heels that made Bianca’s back hurt just by looking at them. “I’m thinking boots.”
“The heels.” Riley typed on her phone screen.
Bianca turned to the side and pulled the hem down behind her. “How about my flip-flops or tennis shoes? Business up top, comfy on bottom. Plus, no one else is going to see my shoes when I’m sitting down.”
Grace shook her head. “Never those flip-flops of yours. No tennis shoes. Those will look like Eddie’s changed you too much.”
Eddie had changed her, just not in the way her friend assumed.
Grace wrinkled her nose. “Riley’s right. Put on the heels and thank us both later.”
Bianca slipped on her tennis shoes and took the heels. “I’ll put them on in the car.”
“Fine.” Grace gasped. “We almost forgot!” She hustled over to Riley’s makeup area. “Where’s the diamond heart pendant?”
Riley turned toward Grace. “Didn’t you want the teardrop necklace?”
Grace’s eyes bugged out. “Absolutely no tears. She’s supposed to be thrilled to be working on this movie.” She placed her phone down and shimmed toward one of the wardrobe areas.
Riley set her phone down beside Grace’s on the counter and picked up an eyeshadow palette and a brush. “I’m going to go a shade darker. What do you think?”
“I think I’m overworking you, and you’ve already made me feel beautiful. Thanks for jumping into this position. It’s like it was created for you.”
Some emotion crossed Riley’s eyes as she set the makeup down, and one of the phones buzzed on the counter.
Riley glance at the screen and her eyebrows shot up. “Looks like there’s been a change of plans. You’re riding in the limo. Right now. Dinner time has been pushed up for security reasons at the restaurant.”
Bianca gripped the heels in her hands. “Like right now? But I’m supposed to drive myself. Justin was supposed to be off tonight.”
“You know how things change around here. Grace’s phone just got a text. Guess she’s rearranged a few things. Says Justin’s not officially off until he drops you at the restaurant to meet Carter, Leo, and the producer for dinner in less than thirty minutes.”
Poor Justin. She didn’t want to go out tonight either, but she needed to see if the producer would agree to the change in her contract so she wouldn’t have to fake a relationship with Carter. Leo had said he held no sway over the newest producer. Bianca grabbed her gold clutch off the counter, and something dropped onto the floor.
Riley bent down and scooped the necklace off the floor. “Apparently, the heart pendant has been here the entire time. You better hurry.”
Bianca grabbed the gold chain and her heels. “Tell Grace thanks. I’ll put everything on on the way. I don’t want to make them wait.”
She really needed to stay on the men’s good side. She hadn’t met the new producer, but Carter had told Grace that he’d take care of getting him there so long as Bianca came and sat by Carter at the dinner to create some hype for his social sites tonight.
One last night of almost pretending.
It was a good thing she’d worn her tennis shoes. Bianca jogged out toward the parking lot. The limo engine was running, and the vehicle wasn’t parked up against the curb like normal; instead, it was parked facing the gate.
Bianca opened the door and slid into the middle of the seat. “Thanks, Justin. You didn’t have to take me on your day off…”
The window between the backseat and the driver wasn’t rolled down. Nathan sat in the seat facing her.
She reached for the door handle, but Nathan moved to the seat in front of the door, blocking her exit.
He rested his ankle on the top of his knee. “Always drama with you.”
“Standing up against illegal activity isn’t drama.” Bianca swallowed. “What are you doing here, Nathan?”
He smirked. “Didn’t Carter tell you that I’d be at dinner too?”
The limo jerked forward, but Bianca didn’t take her gaze off Nathan.
She scooted over. “Carter seems to have had a lot on his mind—or should I say, his ribs have been on his mind because one was broken. Do you know anything about that?”
Why couldn’t she have a police wire on her now?
She positioned her heels so the spike faced outward.
Nathan tracked her movements. “Easy, Lady B. You’ve always been the levelheaded one between us. Let’s not go on ignoring some of your good qualities.” His eyes then wandered to her legs. “Though you do have so many. I’ve missed those.”
Bianca pulled her dress down with her other hand. “You have two seconds to tell me why you’re actually here, or I’m telling Justin to pull over.”
Nathan chuckled. “So feisty. Tell me again why you settled on fake dating that firefighter.”
“I was a fool.” She should have dated him for real, but she’d lost her chance.
Nathan hummed. “Then there’s still hope for us yet.”
“Justin!” Bianca leaned forward and knocked on the glass behind Nathan. “Pull over. I think I’m going to be sick.”
Nathan yanked her beside him. “It’s past time for you to shut that pretty mouth of yours. No need for theatrics—though you are a gifted actress, which will prove useful. I just have a favor. One you should have given the night my lawyer asked you to testify for me. Not against.”
Bianca scooted away. “You mean the lawyer who took a bribe to get your charges dropped? I saw that too. No, thank you.”
Nathan shook his head. “Is it really a good idea not to help out the man who backed your movie when it would have shut down without his help?”
Bianca blinked once. Twice. “You’re the newest producer? How? Why?”
Nathan pulled a golden case with a logo of a crown on it from his suit jacket and tugged out a cigar. “Money always talks, sweetheart. We’ve come full circle again. I need a small favor in exchange for the production money. It’s only fair since I landed you this job in the first place.” He lit the end of his cigar, and the puffs of smoke made Bianca wrinkle her nose.
He drew a long inhale from the cigar and blew an oval-shaped smoke ring up toward the light in the center of the limo. “You’re going to be my alibi.”
“I didn’t lie for you before. Why would you think I’d do it now?”
“Because you need me this time.” He shrugged and put out his cigar on an ashtray she hadn’t even known existed in the corner. “Or at least my money.”
She may not be wearing the police wire, but she could at least record their conversation. She slid the phone out of her purse. Kept it pressed against her leg. She unlocked the screen. Only needed to pull up the video button.
Except Nathan grabbed her phone.
She reached for it. “Give it back.”
Something flashed in his eyes. Something she’d never seen before. Hate. Fear. Or both.
Had she ever really known this man?
He pointed the phone at her. “You will do this. Without me, this movie gets shuts down. Carter won’t be happy. Once again, your name will be smeared in the press. You’re still trying to buy back your mommy and daddy’s love and?—”
“Stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Nathan shrugged. “Guess your parents really don’t need you to save their house from foreclosure. What about your sister’s wedding?—”
“How did?—”
“Then there’s the youth center and your little firefighter.”
The evil man. Why hadn’t she seen it at the very beginning? Because she’d been looking for love in the wrong things.
Lord, I can’t fix this.
Nathan leaned toward her. “Like I said, I do my homework. One lie and you get everything you want. Even me.”
“You’re a monster.”
“But a rich one.”
She shifted her gaze off Nathan’s gleeful expression to catch a familiar building as it flashed by the window. Then a giant rooster yard sign by the road.
That couldn’t be right.
She looked out the back glass. A blue gas station with a diner attached to it. The same place where she’d stopped for directions and to change before the mayor’s fundraiser. The place with the best peach turnovers.
“Aren’t we going downtown to eat? Or are we not going to a restaurant at all?”
“Changing the subject is never going to work. Make the deal with me so we can have a nice fake dinner with Leo and Carter. Isn’t your costar supposed to be your newest beau, based on your contract? I can let him have a few months with you if he pays up what he owes.”
Her eyes snapped to her ex while her pulse hammered in her temple. She narrowed her eyes. “Carter said he owed the Duke…You’re the Duke? You had Carter attacked?”
“Sweetheart, if you’re struggling with one lie, you don’t want me to tell you the truth about the Duke or what happened to Carter. You’ll find yourself in an entire ocean of lies you can’t get back to shore from.”
So he wasn’t the boss? “Is that what happened to you? You met the Duke, and now you’re in too deep?”
He popped a mint in his mouth from another smaller golden metal container. “Life isn’t a movie, Lady B.”
“How many times must I tell people that I know that?”
His gaze flicked to the window. “This doesn’t look like any downtown. Not that this city is anything close to the class it needs to be for the resort. But in time, it could work.”
Her mind started to click off the details. “The Duke is trying to get that upscale resort here too. But why here?”
The smug expression dropped from Nathan’s face before he lifted her phone and looked at the time. He thumped his knuckles on the glass. “You need to check your GPS. If we’re late, your pay will be docked.”
Bianca snagged her phone from him. “Be nice to Justin. He was supposed to be off duty.”
The limo took a sharp turn. She bumped over into Nathan.
He snaked his arm around her. “If you missed me that much, all you had to do was say so.”
She slapped his hand and pressed her hip against the opposite side of the seat.
The tires bounced all the way into the woods along a dirt path sprinkled with gravel.
Nathan banged on the window between them and Justin again. “You couldn’t have found a more suitable place to turn around?”
Bianca picked up the phone that connected to Justin’s Bluetooth. But there was no dial tone.
She held the handset toward Nathan. “Something’s not right.”
“What?” Nathan barked.
Her hand shook. “There’s no connection.”
He crawled over to her original seat and pulled on the door’s handle. “It’s locked.”
She put her hand against her chest. Her lungs squeezed as if her dress were two sizes too small.
Locked inside. It was the fire room all over again.
Nathan rammed his shoulder against the door.
Except she didn’t have the right man beside her.
She licked her lips. “Maybe the limo’s phone is broken, and Justin’s only having a bad direction day. No need to panic.” But the pit in her stomach said otherwise. She banged on the glass separating them from driver. “Justin? You okay?”
Nathan held his phone and frowned. “I don’t have any cell service, LB.”
With trembling fingers, Bianca lifted her phone. Nathan was right. No service.
Lord, what’s happening?
Finally, the woods cleared, and the limo stopped by a pile of dirt.
Not a single building in sight. No people. Only trees and some kind of construction vehicles.
She’d signed up for a family-friendly movie when she’d arrived in Last Chance County, not a horror film. And definitely not in real life either.
The driver’s-side door opened. The limo rocked as a man got out of the car.
Shorter and sturdier than Nathan, he stomped down the length of the limo.
He wore a mask, just like the ones from the mayor’s auction. But it was the gun in his grip that made her gasp.
“I don’t want to die,” Nathan whispered.
Neither did she.
Bianca grabbed her heels that had dropped onto the floor. She put one in her palm and handed the other to Nathan. “Let me do the talking.”
Lord, give me the right words.
She needed to give her best performance yet.