Page 9 of Deeper

A look behind me as we drove away saw that the cops were too busy trying to tame the madness.

What must’ve been Zander’s phone came to life in the pouch of his hoodie. He fished it out, finding a woman calling. The image was of a woman with the same bronze complexion as Zander and long raven-colored hair. In the photo for her contact, she was smiling, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant. The caller ID read in all caps,NAZANIN.

Beside me, Dax winced as Zander grimaced.

“I wonder who’s going to be worse to deal with now that you cancelled the tour, Naz or Paul,” Dax quipped.

Terry glanced back at Dax and they shared a look before simultaneously answering, “Naz.”

Zander paid them no mind as he shoved his phone back into his hoodie. “Whatever.”

“What’s the story you’re going to tell Naz, man?” Dax wanted to know, obviously humored at the sight of Zander sinking down in his seat.

“That appears to be the million-dollar question, doesn’t it?” Zander responded. He settled his gaze on me, speaking out to Olson once more. “Where are you going?”

“The hotel, sir,” Olson replied. “Or anywhere you want to go; I just didn’t want them to catch you at the venue.”

“My hotel’s not too far from here. It’s literally like five minutes away. No funny business.” Zander held his hand up in a scout’s honor motion. His accent and the sleepy tone of his voice enveloped me in a weird sense of comfort. “You’ve been through enough tonight. Let’s just get you somewhere safe to charge your mobile and call your friend.”

“Zan.” Dax wasn’t convinced of this idea. “You’ve got way too much to lose than to risk this.”

“So should I just drop her off at the side of the road?” Zander challenged.

“I mean…” Dax let the idea hang in the air.

Scratch that, hewasn’tfine.

“Dax.” Zander’s tone read of annoyance and order. “Headlines read out:Zander Khalil Throws Girl from Car and Drives Off. On top of the shit show that’s going to be cancelling the tour, you think that that would help us, yeah?”

Dax quieted down. But then, as if an idea popped into his head, he started to perk back up. “No one’s around. I’m sure if you throw her a couple of—”

Zander silenced the whole line of conversation with just one look.

Whoa.

He was irritated, not with Dax and his asshole way of trying to get rid of me, but with something else, something that probably had to do with why he’d cancelled his tour.

I didn’t feel too comfortable the farther we got from The Warehouse. The only thing keeping me leveled was the fact that Tori and I didn’t live too far from downtown LA where the venue was nestled amongst all the popular businesses. Hemingway Park was a good twenty minutes away from The Warehouse, depending on the traffic. If shit hit the fan, maybe, just maybe, Victoria had gone home to wait for me.

Zander hadn’t lied; less than ten minutes later we arrived under the portico of The Residence Hotel. A monstrosity of a structure that reached heavenward it seemed.

Terry climbed out of the vehicle first, going and taking a look around for cameramen or journalists perhaps before opening Zander’s door. Dax was outside fast and together they cocooned us within the walls of their muscled bodies before ushering us inside. The bright lights and fresh cool air were a welcome contrast against the heat from waiting in line so long.

“Welcome back, Mr. Khalil,” someone, probably the concierge, spoke nicely as we crossed the beige marbled lobby.

Instead of going towards the main array of elevators, we passed them until we were at a different set. A framed sign on the wall noted of this bank of elevators being for the executive suites. We entered a chrome elevator and at once Terry and Dax took their stance in front of the doors.

“You can go to your rooms,” Zander instructed as he hung back against the railing.

Dax didn’t turn around. “You sure?”

“You’ve done enough for the night. We’re just going to charge her mobile and see her off.”

Terry leaned over and pressed the call button for the twelfth floor before pressing a button markedPHfor what was surely the penthouse suite, followed by a special code on the keypad below.

When the cab arrived at the twelfth floor, Terry and Dax reluctantly stepped off the elevator. Terry peered back with a protective gaze while Dax’s knowing smirk had me raising my middle finger at him. The doors shut and my reflection was flipping Zander and me the bird.

Zander stood back, lifting his head towards the ceiling, imagining us as the elevator soared to the top floor. “Apologies for Dax; his only concern is taking care of me.”

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