Without Jordan or Nigel, she asked Natalie to sleep beside her in bed. Her anxiety churned like a storm gathering, and lying alone in the room where her stalker had hidden in her closet wasn’t appealing.
“I think you’re safe,” Natalie told her when they finally went to bed. “Some very stealthy-looking men, who only seem to wear black and carry guns, had this building secured the whole time you were gone. I tried to get their numbers, but they barely spoke, like at all.” She fluffed the pillows a few times. “I’m almost positive they hooked up cameras and spyware and other shit we can’t see. We’re locked down tighter than the Vatican archives,” she said through a yawn. “Your man’s got your back, babe. You don’t need me.”
To prove her point, Natalie was out in ninety seconds flat, hogging 75 percent of the bed.
But Vanessa lay awake long after, mind restless and churning. Sure, hermanhad secured the apartment, but he’d also left her with her overly exuberant cousin, who, given the chance, would probably convince the stalker theywere all starring in a dark romance novel and that this could totally work as a “why choose” situation if only he toned down the fear factor a bit.
Her reunion with her phone wasn’t helping either. Notifications chimed like an orchestra warming up, so she silenced them to keep from waking Natalie. She knew late-night scrolling was a bad idea, but after spending half the night bawling in her cousin’s arms, she was desperate for any distraction.
Nikki and Landon were both blowing up their group chat, asking where she’d been and if she was okay. Not to mention the probably hundreds of other messages flooding her DMs, asking why she’d gone silent.
The upside was the chaos kept her mind off Jordan.
She must’ve fallen asleep at some point because when she woke at dawn, her eyes were like sandpaper and her head was stuffed with cotton balls.
To think, she needed to walk a runway in less than forty-eight hours.
After a shower, coffee, and a tall glass of water, she felt almost human. An hour later, suitcases packed and by the door, the knock came.
Great, so they were on knocking terms again. Why did this already feel like it was going to be the most awkward flight ever?
Natalie, full of the perky energy of someone who’d slept a full eight hours, bounced to the door and swung it open. “Oh, it’s you.”
Vanessa’s heart sank, and she went to the door as well.
Dex leaned against the frame, arms crossed, sardonic smile fixed on his face. “Sorry to disappoint.” His gaze flicked to Vanessa and then back to Natalie. “Don’t worry, pipsqueak, I’m only here to pick her up. I’ll be out of yourhair in a flash.” He picked up one of her suitcases as if it weighed nothing. “New York, here we come.” His voice was anything but excited.
“Where’s Jordan?” Her voice was equally flat. Empty. Like her insides.
Dex shrugged. “At the gym, I think. He told me I was escorting you to New York, so here I am.”
“Woah wait,” Natalie exclaimed, turning to Vanessa. “Are we going to ignore that he called me a pipsqueak?”
“He’s at the gym?” Vanessa asked, ignoring her cousin.
Dex grabbed another suitcase. “Think so. I’ll come get the rest of these in a sec.” He was already out in the hall before she could reply.
What the actual fuck?It took seconds for her to slip on her trainers and chase after him.
“Bye, cousin dearest,” Natalie called after her. “Don’t forget about me when you’re famous again.”
Natalie’s words had Vanessa backtracking quickly. She threw her arms around her cousin and gave her a big squeeze. “I’m sorry. I love you so much, you know that, right?”
Natalie patted her back. “I know. I know.” When they broke apart, Nat looked her dead in the eye. “But you love him more, and that’s why you’re going straight to that gym and not leaving until you’ve shoved him into one of those Louis V suitcases of yours.”
Which was exactly what she told Dex when they climbed inside Anderson’s SUV.
Dex grumbled the entire drive to the gym. “He’s not gonna be happy about this.”
Yeah, well, she wasn’t happy that Jordan thought he could ditch her when she needed him most. “Why are you so loyal to him anyway?” She didn’t know much aboutDex and Jordan’s relationship, other than they’d met in prison.
Dex shrugged. “He’s the most stand-up guy I know. Had my back, saved my life, taught me what respect was. I’d go over a cliff for him, and I know he’d do the same for me. Plus, it’s hard not to respect a man who goes to jail for his brother.”
“What?” This was something new.
Dex kept his gaze on the road as Anderson drove through the light rain. “You know Sean?”
“Yes.” She dragged the word out, because the Sean she knew wasn’t the kind of guy who flirted with prison time.
