“Well,” Andre says, “Bossman says you’ll have to do the uploading yourself. Our IT girl went missing.”
I shove my fingers into my jeans pockets. “You don’t say.”
He scratches his forehead with his thumb, and I note the sweat gathering on the tip. “Yeah. Just before the gala, too.”
I flex my jaw once. Not because of the ‘missing’ IT girl but because I had forgotten about the gala.
He looks at me from the side. “Are you going this time?”
“No.” I never go anymore. It’s a black-tie party full of sick and twisted fucks, and I have zero things in common with them. I’d have to put on a show, pretend I’m someone I’m not, just to get through the night and make sure they continue to choose my videos.
“Too bad,” he says, turning to fully face me once more. “He says you have to.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. And you have to bring Charlie.”
I almost let a curse slip out of my mouth, but that would show my hand on how possessive I am of her, and I can’t have that. I can’t show a single weakness in front of Andre, none more than he’s already observed.
Having Charlie at that party is the last place I want her to be. I see the comments on her videos, I read the emails. Her fan base has gone rogue, and when I uploaded last night’s video, it only got worse. She’s a star, drawn all the demons out to play, and I would bet my last dollar that some will be at the gala just to get a real-life peek of her.
How am I going to protect her from the masses? How am I going to keep their paws off her? And when they ask, how am I going to turn them down for a night with her?
It makes me wonder how many more people I’m going to kill before the week is over because I sure as hell willburn that gala to the ground if someone so much as drools in her direction.
And then there’s the other problem of her being a cop. A cop – in a room full of criminals? The majority are secret criminals, but if she learns who they are and what they do in the dark, she’ll have no choice but to lay claim to the arrest, and eventually, she’ll end up dead.
I can’t avoid any of this, however, because if I refuse to bring her, it could very wellbe the end of my career. Or worse.
“You don’t seem to like that very much,” Andre says. I note the tinge of glee in his voice.
“She’ll be there,” I growl. “That’s all you need to know.”
“Good. Because I’d hate to have to auction you off.”
“What are you talking about?” My tone is deadly. I don’t like threats, especially from him.
He holds up his hands, palms facing me. “I’m just the messenger. Boss said she goes, or your body sells.” He drops his hands back to his sides and cocks his head. “Did you really think it’d go unnoticed that you have a thing for her?”
“What?” My heart skips a beat.
“You were in the video, Feenix. For everyone within this business, we know how long it’s been since you were in one. It’s plain as day to me, and to him, that you’re possessive of this woman. That’s a dangerous place to be. Did you not think he’d exploit it to get what he wants?”
I run a hand through my hair and try not to show my panic. I’ve never been obvious before. It’s not in my nature to give anything away, but when it comes to Charlie . . . I lose my mind. I become irrational and chaotic. I go against my nature and the man I’ve become to do this job.
“Will he be there?” I ask when I drop my hand.
He rolls his eyes. “Would we know if he was?” He’s right; we wouldn’t. Neither of us has seen him before. “Anyway,” he adds, pocketing his phone inside his jacket suit, “I’ll leave you to it.”
And with that, he turns, pushes past the men by the door, and leaves. As the door clicks behind him, my phone begins to ring. I pull it out of my back pocket and say to the men, “Get them upstairs. I’ll be up in a second.”
The men come forward, and I head toward the kitchen to take the call.
“Yeah?”
“I saw the video,” Noll grumbles.
“Which one?” I grunt back, knowing full well which one he’s talking about but having little desire to have yet another fight this evening.
