“Ah. I guess that explains his shitty attitude.” He must have heard Jace’s less than flattering opinions of me today. “I’m just going to stay in there, then.” I pointed back to the greenroom. “If that’s okay?”
Feeling defeated but not totally surprised, I retreated back into the green room and closed the door. At least it was empty and quietish. Much better than standing at the side of the stage with creepy Tom while my first love sang about how I shattered his heart. Despite my thoughts before, in truth, being here reminded me how painful it would be to willingly subject myself to watching Jace on stage… no matter how curious I was to see Rhett in action.
Still, the greenroom wasn’t far enough away to hearnothing. Within minutes, the first notes of one of Bellerose’s biggest hits rang out, and the crowd wentwild. I groaned and sank back onto the couch, covering my face with my hands.
Surprisingly, I fell asleep like that. When I woke up again, the clock above the door told me I’d been out for most of the show. The band would be back any minute, and I wasdyingto pee. Ducking out into the hallway, I spotted one of the twins leaning against the wall opposite with his phone to his ear.
He raised his brows at me in question, and I pointed to the restrooms I’d seen further down the corridor. He jerked a nod, and I hurried down there. The whole corridor was empty aside from us, everyone probably out watching the end of the show, so there was no wait to use the ladies’ toilet. No doubt there would be a whole horde of fans with backstage passes in there soon enough, though.
When I was done, I nearly ran into someone right outside the bathroom. At first I thought it was one of the twins but realized my mistake when his huge hand circled my forearm way too tight.
“Mr. Ricci has been looking for you, girl.” It was Roger, Jace’s security guard. But… what did he just say? He was working forAngelo? Oh shit.
“Let go of me,” I demanded, my voice shaking way too much. Where were Rhett’s bodyguards? I tried to look past Roger, but he shoved me backwards, pushing me around the corner and out of sight.
Drawing a breath, I tried to scream, but Roger already had a hand clamped over my mouth.
“None of that,” he growled. “We’re going to quietly leave the venue without raising any alarms. You’ll go back to Mr. Ricci for whatever he wants to do with you, and Jace will thank me for making you disappear.”
Panic flooded through me, making my knees weak. It meant I wasn’t even trying to put up a fight as Roger practically dragged me along the unfamiliar corridor.Where was everyone?
We rounded another corner, and up ahead I caught a flash of turquoise hair amidst a crowd of people. The concert had just ended, and the band was on its way back to their greenroom. Relieved, I batted Roger’s hand away long enough to scream Rhett’s name.
Except… he couldn’t hear me. Dozens of fans were crowded around them, all wearing backstage passes and holding out shit for Bellerose to sign. Of course Rhett didn’t hear me; I was just one of many girls calling out his name. Roger knew it, too, snickering an unkind laugh as he dragged me faster, away from my salvation.
“Jace won’t let you get away with this,” I protested pitifully. My resistance was as effective as a tissue-paper raincoat, and I desperately wished I was stronger.
Roger glanced over at me, unimpressed. “For getting rid of you? He definitely will.”
I gritted my teeth because he was right aboutthat. “For working with Angelo. HehatesAngelo, and when he realizes you’re on the Ricci payroll, you’ll be fired so fast you won’t know what happened.”
It was sickening. I would be shot in the head to silence me, and Roger would simply lose his job. That thought wasn’t even slightly comforting.
Roger whirled around, slamming me into the wall so hard it knocked the air from my lungs.
“You have no idea how badly he hatesyou, stupid girl. You should have heard him today, talking about what a whore you are. How you used that pussy of yours to entrap Rhett. I bet I could dowhatever I wantto you, and he’d give me a fucking raise.That’swhat I think.” He crushed my body with his much larger frame. “Maybe I should test that theory out, huh? Been ages since I’ve had one as young as you.”
Revulsion at the meaning behind that statement curdled the contents of my stomach. Was Roger seriously going to try and rape me? Right here in the corridor, practically within earshot of Bellerose’s after-party?
Bile rose in my throat, and I didn’t fight it. When Roger leaned down to kiss me with his sour breath and dry lips, I let fly. Vomit shot straight out of my throat and into his mouth like something out of a horror movie. He recoiled, and I clapped a hand over my mouth.
Then, out of nowhere, a huge fist cracked into the side of Roger’s head and sent him flying several feet before crashing to the floor.
“You okay?” Grayson rumbled, scowling down at me from his six-foot-five height.
My hand was still clamped over my mouth, so all I could do was nod. Grayson scowled even harder, his sharp gaze sweeping over me from head to toe. I was shaking. Hard. Then I saw the blood pooling under Roger’s head from where he’d hit the concrete floor.
Swallowing hard, I tried to find some words to alert Grayson before I passed out, but no sound would exit my throat. He seemed to follow my line of sight, though, grunting a curse as he bent down to check Roger’s pulse.
“Fuck,” he said softly, and my eyes widened so far I worried they’d pop out of my head.
This time, when I peeled my hand away, I managed to squeak out some words. “Is he…?”
Grayson’s expression when he met my eyes was totally blank. Guarded and unreadable. “Dead.”
Whatever else he said faded into obscurity as blackness swarmed my vision and my body folded into a faint.
twelve
