Chapter Eleven #2
“Good.” He braces a hand above my head, leans down, and kisses me softly on the lips, lingering … and I think maybe he’ll crawl in beside me, but his phone rings.
He pulls his cell out and answers. “Hollander.” He listens and nods.
“I’ll be right there.” He disconnects the call.
“That was someone on Jade’s security detail.
They want to give me a quick recon of the area Jade requested for her press conference.
Since I’ve been all over them about details, I guess they’re being proactive.
Can’t say I’m complaining. Though I’ve been pleased with how they’ve handled things so far. ”
I smile at his professional tone. “Jade’s not going to take her own safety for granted.”
“And I’m not going to take yours,” he says, dead serious.
I hook my arms around his neck. “I always feel safe when you’re around.”
“Good. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” I close my eyes and hear the hotel room door slam shut behind him.
I sigh, allowing my body to relax and meld into the mattress.
I refuse to think ahead to tonight’s decision.
Jade, in calling for the special gathering after the junket, obviously decided to announce her choice in opening act.
Despite my flipping stomach, nerves, and anticipation, for now, all I want to do is just be.
I am so relaxed beneath the covers that I almost don’t hear the knock on my room door until it becomes a persistent banging that interrupts my tranquility. Ben has a key card, so I keep my eyes closed, hoping whoever it is will go away.
When the noise doesn’t stop, I shove the heavenly covers off myself and pad in my bare feet to the door, glancing into the peephole, finding Michael there.
I frown. Anna, I know, will be here tonight, now that the decision is imminent, but until she arrives, Michael might have information I need.
Still annoyed at the interruption of my rest, I open the door and lean on the frame, not letting him into my private space.
“Summer! What took you so long?” he asks, sounding frantic.
“I was resting. What’s wrong?”
“Jade. Jade wants to meet with you and Tawny before her announcement tonight. I’m assuming she’s going to tell you her choice before the rest of the world. I need you to come with me.”
My stomach flips in excitement. “Where is Tawny?”
“She’s already downstairs. Come on. Let’s go!” He moves in closer, but I don’t open my door for him to step through.
“Ben’s not back yet,” I say. “I can’t just leave.”
“Do you want to blow your possible chances? The bodyguard will understand. You’re with your agent. Well, closest thing to your agent until Anna shows up later. Now move it!”
I jump into action. “Let me grab my shoes.” I shut the door in his face and slip back into my high heels, rushing back to meet Michael in the hallway, where he continues to pace back and forth, his nerves worse than my own. “I’m ready.”
“It’s about time,” he mutters, grasping my elbow and turning the opposite direction from the bank of elevators.
“Where are you going?” I tug my arm out of his grasp.
“The paparazzi are all over downstairs, waiting for a glimpse of Jade or you and Tawny. I’ve been using the service elevator. It’s safer.”
I frown but I agree, having been through the crush of photographers and reporters earlier.
He holds on to my arm, walking me to the far end of the hall and the single elevator there.
A housekeeper joins us, waiting for the lift, which seems to take forever.
Probably because many people have the same idea to avoid the press in the lobby.
Michael is practically hopping from foot to foot, his nerves driving me crazy.
“I can’t believe I’m telling you to relax,” I say, taking in the irony. It is my life about to change, one way or another.
“It’s a huge day,” he mutters, staring at the housekeeper’s back. “Let’s just take the stairs.”
“What?”
He pulls me by the arm, and I teeter on my heels before righting myself. “Michael, chill out! We’ll get there.” I follow him across the hall, into the stairwell, and down a flight of steps.
My feet hurt and my ankles wobble in the too-high heels.
“Michael, let’s just go wait for the service elevator. I can’t do stairs in these shoes.
He holds on to me tightly. “No. Here’s fine.”
“What are you doing! Let go of me!”
“We’re alone now, and we need to talk,” he says. “I need your help. You have to do something for me and I’ll pay you well.” He is talking fast, rambling.
“What is it?” I ask, nervous because he is in my personal space, his big fingers digging into my bare forearms.
“Drop out of the competition. I’ll pay you a hundred grand. Just say you’re overwhelmed and it’s too much for you so you’re giving it up to Tawny. Use the money to rent a studio. Go indie. Do something, anything with the cash,” he says, shooting out ideas in an obvious panic.
I look into his wild eyes and see real desperation, which, along with his hold on my arm and my proximity to the edge of the stairs in my ridiculously high heels, scares me. “What’s this about?” I ask quietly, hoping to calm him.
“My life. Life as I know it. Tawny’s threatening to tell my wife about our affair if I don’t secure her this opportunity. I have a prenup. Cheating means I get nothing. Nothing!” he shouts at me.
He is sleeping with Tawny? And she is blackmailing him?
“Michael, were you behind everything that’s happened to me? The trashing of my dressing room, attempting to drug me?”
Regret flashes in his eyes. “I had no choice. You didn’t take any hint.
When you performed on The Morning Show, you should have bombed and slipped away in disgrace.
Instead you pulled out a win.” He runs a shaking hand through his hair.
“You didn’t scare off after I warned you to drop out.
I thought if you took that drink you’d get so sexually aggressive with your bodyguard I could film you and it’d go viral.
I never thought he’d be one step ahead of me.
I have no choice. Please. Take the money,” he all but begs me.
I should be shocked, but didn’t Ben have a bad feeling about him? But I can’t just walk away from Jade’s competition. I invested my entire life to have this one chance at stardom.
I glance at Michael, who watches me anxiously.
“I can’t,” I say. “Don’t you see? This opportunity is everything to me. Maybe if you talk to your wife, apologize…”
“Shut up! Just be quiet. I can’t lose everything. My kids. The money. My reputation.” He punctuates every word with a near violent shake. My heel slips, and I nearly fall down the stairs. Only his grasp keeps me upright.
My heart pounds hard in my chest, real fear taking hold. He isn’t at all rational in his panic. Jade’s deadline is making him crazy.
“All you need to do is say you changed your mind. Say you can’t handle the pressure of opening for such a big star.
” He repeats his earlier words. “And I’ll wire money into your account today.
” He pulls his phone from his pocket, never releasing his grip on me with his other hand.
“Here. I’ll record.” He holds up the video camera on his phone.
“Michael, this is ridiculous. No one will believe—”
“Say it!” he shouts, shaking me hard as he punches a button on his phone and turns the camera to face me.
I don’t want to tumble headfirst down the stairs in my designer heels courtesy of a clearly unhinged man. So when his fingers pinch my skin, I speak, repeating words I never thought I’d say.
To my shock, after getting what he wants, Michael releases my arm and takes off downstairs, running to the press to release the video and ruin my life.
* * *
Ben
I return to Summer’s room pissed off. I went downstairs only to be told that no one on the security detail called me for a walk-through.
They didn’t know what I was talking about, and I hate wasting my time.
The more I think about the fake call, the warier I become, and I pick up my pace, rushing back to Summer.
I let myself into the room. In case she is sleeping, I don’t call out, but I head straight back to the bedroom, where I left her a few minutes earlier.
The bed is rumpled … and empty.
“Summer!” I call out her name but already know she won’t answer. Someone distracted me long enough to lure her away.
I pull out my phone. No calls from her. No messages.
I dial her number, but her phone rings uselessly on the nightstand, where she left the device earlier.
“Fuck.” I stride out through the suite and into the hallway, glancing in either direction, seeing no one.
Suddenly the exit door bursts open, and Summer runs into the hall, tripping on her heels. She catches sight of me immediately.
“Ben!” She kicks off her heels so she can run to me.
I catch her in my arms, taking a needed few seconds to hold her tight, breathe in her scent, and know she is safe.
“What the hell happened?” I ask, pulling her back, my gaze taking her in to make sure she is visibly okay.
She gestures to the stairwell with shaking hands. “You were right. It was Michael. He came to my room and said Jade wanted an immediate meeting with me and Tawny,” she explains in a rush. “He said Tawny was already there and I needed to hurry. I rushed out with him and forgot my phone.”
I swallow over my urge to yell at her because I know Michael chose the one thing that would coax her out of the safety of her room. “What did he really want?”
“You won’t believe this, but he’s sleeping with Tawny, and she threatened to tell his wife about their affair if he didn’t secure her the opening act.
He’s been behind everything that’s happened because his wife has a prenup and he’s afraid of losing everything.
” She swallows hard. “He offered me a fortune to drop out, and when I said no, he started shaking me on the stairs, and I was in these heels and petrified I’d go flying down.
I mean, he’s totally crazy. He made me say I was dropping out on a video recording, and he’s downstairs right now playing it for the media. ”