For the first time since we’d left the elevator, our eyes met. “Let me be the judge of what matters and what doesn’t, okay?
***
I’d remained backstage during the concert, catching up on e-mails and managing to sneak a phone call in to Siobhan. She and Malcolm were still seeing each other and she sounded happy. I was tempted to ask her if he’d revealed that he was a vampire, but I figured that would be a chat best left to a face-to-face conversation, not one over a cell line while we were thousands of miles away.
The exchange between Nick and I was strained during the car ride to the after party. It was being held in one of the massive party rooms of the hotel, again mainly comprising of music executives, celebrities and the elite of Florence that wanted the opportunity to mix with a rising rock star.
I’d stayed behind with Ian again as Nick worked the room. A few times I caught Ian staring at me sympathetically, but instead of making me feel better it seemed to make me angrier that he was taking pity on me.
“I’m going to the bathroom.” I wanted to get away from the music, the crowd, Nick, Ian’s pity…I just needed a moment to breathe.
Hurrying towards the restroom, I pushed open the door and was happy to see that it was empty. I used the bathroom, taking my time and enjoying the time alone. It was when I was reapplying lipstick in the mirror that I noticed Isabelle sitting on a settee behind me. An evil smile caused her lips to curve up bitterly as she watched me. Motionless and dressed in the same expensive suit, her tight face made her expression strangely unreadable.
"Savannah Wood. Here we are all alone. I see you managed not only to sink your claws into my client but also turn him against me with your lies." Her voice came out shrill and loud in the relative quiet of the room.
"There was no 'sinking of claws' or lying, Isabelle. You systematically destroyed Sam Stricker. That’s the simple and plain truth," I reminded her. I tossed my long hair back from my face and spun on my heel to face her. "Nick contacted me, Isabelle. And as far as our relationship goes, well…we're trying to figure things out."
That was the understatement of the century. Most of the time I was torn between telling him that I loved him and wanting to slap the shit out of him.
"Trying to figure things out you say? How...cute," she spat. Her words dripped with sarcasm. "What I’m going to say to you is a promise, not a threat." She backed me into the wall. "You do anything…and I mean anything to hurt his image and I will end you."
“What could I possibly do to hurt his image, Isabelle? Nick is allowed to have a relationship and a personal life,” I retorted quietly. I tried to shove past her but she placed a perfectly manicured hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
“Funny you should say that, Savannah. Look at these and you tell me.” She reached into her bag and pulled out three newspapers. They were in Italian, but that I didn’t need any translation. Splashed across the front of each tabloid were pictures of Nick and I from backstage in Rome and also a few grainy pictures from the dance floor at the after party. They left little to the imagination. In every picture I was either draped around him or he had himself wrapped around me.
Swallowing hard, I pushed them back to her. I attempted what I hoped was a careless shrug. “We were expecting these pictures to surface, Isabelle. It’s no surprise.”
“I’ll squash you just like I did your former employer. Leave Nick alone or you’ll never find another job in Los Angeles. Do we understand each other?” Just as she was finishing her threat, the door popped open. Two women looked between us anxiously. Sensing something was amiss; they both backed away and let the door close behind them.
She regained her composure and stood up straight, running her fingers over her coiffed hair. "Did I make everything clear, dear?"
"Crystal." I took a step closer and smiled at her broadly. "Threaten me again and I can assure you that you'll be out of a job. If Nick doesn't fire you...I have ways of letting news spread like wildfire through the gossip blogs. I’ve heard rumors…rumors that we both know are true. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
She knew exactly what I rumors I was referring to. Her cocaine habit was one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood. There were also stories that at one point she’d been rumored to run some sort of high-class escort service before becoming a much sought after public relations agent. It would only take a single call for everything to be set into motion. It did pay to have a friend with her finger on the pulse of the paparazzi in Los Angeles.
"You wouldn't dare." Her acidic tone grew sharper. She moved to block the bathroom door, her arms on both sides of the doorway.
My answering sneer infuriated her. If her face would have been possible to emote, I’m sure it would be twisted in anger. I laughed loudly. "Try me, Isabelle. Now please move out of my way."
Her icy blue eyes narrowed. She stepped aside and bumped into me, purposely launching me against the doorjamb. The momentum caused me to stumble wildly into the hall into a set of familiar arms. Grateful, I looked up into his soulful brown eyes. They were glittering, his jaw tightly clenched in anger as his eyes searched mine.
"Love?" His hand smoothed over my arms. He looked between Isabelle and myself.
"I'm fine," I lied. I didn’t want her to know how much she’d unnerved me. "Just clumsy."
He pursed his sexy lips into a sneer as Isabelle decided to make a hasty exit. Her face paled when she saw Nick at my side. She realized Nick had heard everything…every single acidic word and she was doing her best to make a hasty retreat.
"Nick! How wonderful to see you. I was just talking to your PA. We were having the most pleasant chat.” Isabelle lied through her perfectly capped teeth. She shuffled nervously from foot to foot.
Nick snorted cynically. "So I heard. Threaten her again and I make sure you don't work again. Do I make myself clear?"
She lowered her head and nodded. When she looked up, her bottom lip trembled.
He tucked me behind him and took a step closer to her, towering over her. "My question requires a verbal response."
She raised her head higher. "Crystal." She repeated my snide remark from our conversation, giving me a final taunt before pushing her way into the crowd.
He watched her until she was out of sight. "How did this happen?"
"Oh, we ran into each other and got to talking," I said, waving it off. I looked over at him, and his face was still strained. "It's over, Nick. She thrives on drama. Just like 90% of Hollywood."
"I can't believe you're alright with what she said and did," he replied. He took my hand and we walked into the main ballroom. He planted a kiss on the top of my head. “I feel like haven’t seen you all night. I’m sorry about earlier. I acted like an asshole.”
“You did, but that’s okay. I acted like a bitch.” I wove my fingers through his. "And Isabelle…she's due her day. You can't viciously destroy lives without karma eventually kicking in. It'll work itself out."
He stared down at me inquisitively. I think I’d actually surprised him." You believe in karma?"
I shrugged, arranging my face back into my best ‘I hate this party but I’m making the best of it’ smile. "In her case...absolutely. Or maybe I should say I hope there is and it’s swift.”
He led me through the mass of people, dodging appreciative and jealous looks from numerous men and women alike. We’d made it to the bar area when I looked up at him. “I want to go back to the room. You can stay here and do your thing. I just can’t do this anymore tonight.”
His fingers tightened around mine. “I can’t leave yet, Savannah.”
Standing on my tiptoes, I looked for Ian. Once I saw him, I motioned for him to come over. “Ian can take me up to the room and he can come back down. I’ll see you soon.”
Giving his hand a tight squeeze, I headed out of the ballroom, not waiting to see if Ian was following or not. By the time the elevator arrived, he was standing silently behind me.
Stepping in the elevator, I waited until th
e doors closed before I glanced over at him. The strange man was growing on me and I nudged him with my elbow. “Thanks, Ian.”
He blushed a deep shade of red and his quick nod was my only reply.
***
Toeing off my shoes, I headed to the sofa and plopped down. My eyes were immediately drawn to the sealed envelope on the coffee table. As I stared at it, the memory of Nick’s face flashed through my mind. He’d been scared.
Reaching for it, I turned the envelope over in my hands a few times. I studied it, noticing the old fashioned font of a manual typewriter. The creamy, heavy cardstock was expensive and was exactly the same as the letter that Nick had plucked from my fingers only a week ago. What was he trying to hide?
Or who?
Tossing it aside, I tucked my legs underneath me and rubbed the back of my neck. I ran through possible scenarios: an ex-girlfriend he didn’t want me to know about, a deranged fan…none of them made any sense. Unless Nick had fooled me and was a master manipulator I could eliminate the ex-girlfriend angle, unless it was a vampire ex-girlfriend.
Great. Like I could compete with that.
Unwittingly, my eyes were pulled back the discarded envelope. I was torn. I wanted to rip it open to see what had him so worried. But I knew I needed to give him the opportunity to tell me. Damn my moral standards.
Stretching tiredly, I made my way into the master bedroom and stripped out of my dress, stepping out of it and leaving a trail of lingerie as I wandered into the bathroom. I turned on the taps to the bathtub, adjusting the water temperature and pouring an exotic floral scented bubble bath into the rising water.
While the tub was filling, I walked to the sink and scrubbed the makeup from my face, noticing that some of the tiny lines around my eyes had disappeared. In fact, my hair looked brighter and my skin was glowing. I was amazed at the transformation. I was still noting the differences as I piled my hair on top of my head into a messy bun.
I had other things to worry about. Like the envelope that I was currently obsessing over, its presence like a pulsing neon light from the other room.
The bathtub had filled and I turned off the water, sinking into the steaming water. Sighing in contentment, I slid down until the water was over my chin. I’d almost drifted off to sleep when his silken voice startled me.
“Such a pretty sight to see. I followed the trail of clothing…these I like.” Nick twirled my black lace panties around his index finger. He was already shirtless and in his bare feet. “Are you still upset with me, love?”
Sighing heavily, I raised up a bit in the water. My fingers tapped on the sides of the huge tub. “That’s the problem, Nick. I’m not upset with you. I’m upset that you’re keeping something from me. I think I deserve to know what’s going on. What involves you indirectly involves me. It’s not just you anymore.”
Nick tucked my panties in his pocket and crossed his arms under his broad chest. “Let me in and I’ll tell you,” Nick promised. His handsome face was flirtatious, and I wasn’t sure if his plans were to talk to me or fuck me into a sated silence.
Eyeing him suspiciously, I relented, but only by a little. It was hard to resist the allure of the beautiful man in front of me. “We talk first. Then we can move on to more pleasant things.”
“Agreed.” A devilish smile turned up one corner of his mouth. With a graceful move, his hands quickly flipped his pants open and at an agonizingly slow pace, lowered the zipper. Despite my firm resolve to talk, I eagerly watched him disrobe. His perfectly muscled body stood nude at the edge of the tub. My eyes roamed over the length of him, from the top of his disheveled hair, over his sculpted chest and rippled abs to his strong legs.
In a blur he was in the water beside me. He leaned against me, his back pressing against my breasts. He took each ankle and wrapped it around his waist, laying his head against my shoulder.
In the warm water, Nick felt the same temperature as me. He also seemed to relax in the soothing water, the tense set of his shoulders loosening.
“I figured this would keep me honest. You want to talk and I’m afraid if you were sitting against me my hands would roam,” Nick murmured. As it was, his fingers were running over my feet and calves, his touch as soft as feathers against my wet skin. “But this…this gives me ideas. Your legs wrapped around me makes my mind wander…”
I was glad he couldn’t see my smile at his half-hearted attempt to behave himself. I busied wetting and shampooing his hair. “Talk first, remember? You realize the pictures of us from Rome are splashed across every newspaper in Italy. Isabelle showed me the papers in the bathroom.”
“We knew that was going to happen. And that bitch is out of a job once we get back to the US,” Nick replied quietly, giving an unconcerned shrug. His hands gripped my ankles and I wished once again that I could read his mind. What was he thinking?
“I guess this means we’re officially a couple.” The pads of my fingers massaged his head and neck. His head rolled under the pressure of my hands, every taut muscle relaxing as I continued. “So about the letters…”
He exhaled loudly, effectively stopping me from talking. “First things first. I’m fucking happy everyone knows. I was tired of the secrecy. It just makes the paparazzi even crazier to be the first to get the story. And now I’ll answer your questions about the letters. They started arriving shortly after you came to work for me. They’re nothing but strange obscure phrases. The first said ‘Hiding in plain sight does not matter’. The second was a simple ‘I’m watching’. The third was more puzzling, but even odder. It said the ‘The lion sleeps tonight’.”
My fingers froze against his scalp and I swallowed. Hard. “When did you get the last message?” My mind was searching for the meaning behind the letters. The first one had to be someone that either knew that Nick was a vampire or was hinting at our relationship. The last one…the last one made a chill inch up my spine.
“The last letter actually was delivered to Malcolm’s home. He opened and read it to me. It was after we arrived in Rome.” Nick answered. He loosened my legs from his waist and twisted in the tub to face me. “What are you thinking?”
My brain didn’t want to cooperate with my mouth. “It came after Kevin was killed?” I croaked. My entire body seemed to tremble as I awaited his answer.
Nick nodded and pulled me into his arms. Our wet skin slid against each other in the bubbles of the tub. “Yes. Savannah, please tell me what you’re thinking.”
I stumbled from the tub, water splashing against the tile of the floor. Dripping water through the suite, I zeroed in on the envelope I’d tossed aside less than an hour ago.
Standing transfixed, I held the letter in my hands, my wet fingers soaking through the heavy cardstock.
“Savannah…” Nick’s muffled voice broke me out of my trance. Turning on my heel, I ran down the hallway and stood at the edge of the tub, dripping wet and naked with the envelope in my hand.
I shoved it at him. “Open and read this.”
Warily, he sat up, extending his arm to me. His brown eyes bore into my own. “Only if you get back in with me.”
Was he afraid I knew too much? Was he scared that I’d go running into the streets, screaming his secret for all to hear? I faltered before I took his hand and settled back into the bathtub, still holding the envelope.
“You can open it. Read it to me.” Nick’s voice wavered on the last word. His hands smoothed back through his wet hair.
Our eyes met again and he dipped his head to his chest, gesturing for me to continue.
I ran my finger under the seal of the envelope, pulling out the matching card. It had been typed on a typewriter. The ribbon had left dark ink smudges on the paper. ‘First there was one, now there will be two. The time is approaching.’ My eyes wildly traced over the text, my fingers quaking and rattling the paper.
“Please read it to me, Savannah.” His hand covered mine. When I looked up, his brown eyes looked liquid, his handsome face strained. I’m sure hi
s expression was mirroring my own. “I need to know what it says.”
“First there was one, now there will be two. The time is approaching.” I read the note aloud, dropping the card to the floor. “Do you know who could be doing this?”
Nick stretched and retrieved the paper, his eyes traveling over the words. His eyes met mine over the paper. “I’m not sure, but we need to call Malcolm.”
Chapter 11
Blinded
While I curled up under the covers, Nick burned off his nervous energy by pacing the room and making numerous phone calls. He spoke so quickly that he was impossible to understand, his voice coming out as a series of hisses and snarls. He was a blur as he moved from one side of the room to the other, his nervousness making him restless and edgy.
I gave up watching him and let my head sink deeper into the pillow. It wasn’t until I felt the bed sag under his weight that I realized he’d joined me.
Turning over to face him, my eyes studied the anxiousness that lined his attractive face. I wanted to smooth away the harshness that shadowed his face and kiss his tight lips soft again.
He scooted closer so we were almost nose-to-nose under the covers. “You’re still awake?”
My body shifted closer to him. “Yeah. What’s the story?”
He drew in a deep breath, exhaling loudly. “Malcolm will be joining us as soon as he can book a flight. He’ll probably catch up with us in London.”
My chest tightened when he mentioned Malcolm. “Siobhan. What about Siobhan? She can’t be left…”
His cool fingertip pressed against my lips. “Siobhan will likely be joining him. It’s not good that anyone we know is left unattended until this is sorted out. I have people watching your father and mother. Even Elliott is being watched.”
I heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
He ran his fingers through his messy black hair and laughed bitterly. “This is my mess and you’re thanking me? I should have never had Elliott to call you in…”
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