“I’ve got a whole lot, boss. I think I know who’s terrorizing your girl.”
My heart rate speeds up to double time.Finally. Finally, I’ll know who I have to kill.
“Talk.” That’s the one word I grit out. I’m guarding the door to Fiona’s trailer. I can hear Fiona’s raised voice as they go over the scene they’re rehearsing. Internally, I breathe a sigh of relief that for now, at least, she’s safe.
“Corinne Price. That’s who is stalking Lana. Or at least that used to be her name.” Lee pauses and lets out a long breath.“She’s now known as the world’s most famous leading lady, Fiona Black.”
Fuck.My vision blurs and I grip my phone tighter. “What do you mean? Fiona?” I don’t recognize my voice saying the words. I’m suddenly shaking. Fury, fear…all of it combine to leave me out of control.
“I had to cross some lines to find out about her former name. She hid it pretty damn well. And for good reason. She was in a mental institution when she was in her late teens. Seems she slashed some pageant queen’s face. I don’t know how she managed to do it, but she got some plastic surgery, and then reappeared a few years later as none other than Fiona Black. I had to break some laws, boss, but…”
I don’t hear the rest of his words.
A scream rips through the air as I use my shoulder to ram through the door of Fiona’s trailer. My gun is already in my hand. Another yelp sounds to my right.
I turn to face my biggest fear. Fiona Black stands there, a knife at Lana’s throat. All the blood has drained from Lana’s face, and I can see that she’s gulping for air. Blood gushes from a wound on her cheek.
“Grainger,” she calls out weakly.
“Gosh, I don’t think I could have planned this any better,” Fiona says in a satisfied voice. “Slash this one’s throat and then make it look like her lover shot himself. Shit, it’s almost like I wrote the script.” Her eyes gleam with excitement and there’s genuine glee in her voice.
I swallow and try to signal to Lana that everything will be okay. There are lots of flaws with Fiona’s plans such as the obvious, which is that there is no way in hell I’m letting her get away with anything.
“Drop the gun, hero, or she’s gone.” The older woman chuckles. “No need to draw this out.”
I meet Lana’s terrified gaze with my own quietly confident one. She’s trembling, but I know my girl. There’s still a spine of steel underneath there.
For a second, time suspends.
“Fiona, you didn’t count on one thing,” I murmur, holding my gun steady.
Her mouth turns up into a sneer. “What’s that, lover boy?”
“I’m a damn excellent marksman,” I say as I squeeze the trigger.
There’s no time for her to react, no time to slash at Lana or make another move. A bullet hole appears in her forehead with scarily accurate precision and Lana manages to push her away at the same moment. Fiona slumps to the floor with the knife still in hand.
I barely have time to put the gun down before Lana jumps into my arms. She’s shuddering and mumbling something I can barely make out.
“I’ve got you, Lana. You’re safe. You’ll always be safe from now on.” I kiss the crown of her head and inhale her sweet scent.Fuck, I almost lost her. She could be gone right now.
She pulls back from me, tears running down her cheeks. “I love you. I love you so much.” The words spill out of her. “I’ll love you forever.”
“I’ll love you forever too, Lana Langston. You’re mine, always.”
With those words, I wrap her in my arms and kiss her. I can hear the madness finally starting with the police arriving and the other people on set realizing the true-life chaos going on in their midst. I don’t pay any attention to it and neither does Lana. We’re too wrapped up in each other.
This is it. This is what I was waiting for after all those mundane days and lonely years. The love of my life.
Epilogue
Lana
I promise to love you until the day I die. -Lana
“The wedding was beautiful, but I gotta say I’m looking forward to the honeymoon more,” Grainger wiggles his eyebrows and I give him a light punch in the chest.
“Our wedding was perfect,” I emit a girly sigh, still feeling giddiness over the small, but beautiful ceremony that took place by the ocean. I send him a sly grin. “But I have to admit I’m looking forward to the honeymoon a whole hell of a lot too.”
