Page 90 of Kill Your Darlings

“You handed me a manuscript at the Stranger Than Fiction panel?That’s not how submissions happen.Buthadyou gone through the proper channels, your manuscript would still be a hard pass.I don’t like gimmicks and I don’t like games.”

He wasn’t wearing his dark glasses, and his very pale eyes bugged out of his head as he goggled at me.“W-What?”

“Using my name for a character?No.I don’t like cute.I don’t care how minor that character is.It’s too cute.Yes, you got my attention, But for all the wrong reasons.If youareserious about submitting a genuine manuscript, send three chapters of a book you actually intend to finish, along with a synopsis and a cover letter with the name of the editor you’re submitting to.However, Millhouse Books does not accept unagented submissions.”

“Are you crazy?”

“That’s it.You can stop pestering my authors.You’ve got my verdict.”

It took every ounce of will I had to turn my back, pull out my key card, and wave it in front of the electronic lock to my room.

Colby stepped toward me, I could feel his breath against the side of my face.My neck muscles locked; my head started to shake with tension.The lock sensor turned green.

I opened the door, gave Colby a forbidding look, and pulled the door shut.

My final glimpse, before the door settled heavily into the frame, was of Colby’s open mouth.

I turned the deadbolt, stepped back from the door, and pulled out my cell.My hands were so unsteady I nearly dropped the phone.

It took two tries before Finn answered.I could hear boisterous voices and laughter behind his, “Are you still at dinner?”

“No.I’m upstairs—”

“Come on down.J.X.and Christopher are here.Hayes, Pat Robinson—”

I interrupted, “Colby was up here.”

Finn’s voice changed.He suddenly sounded a whole lot more sober and a whole lot less cheerful.“What do you mean?In your room?”

“Wandering around in the hall outside.”

Finn said sharply, “On my way,” and disconnected.

I’m not sure how many times I paced up and down the floor before I heard the electronic lock beep and click over.The door opened and Finn, wearing jeans and a black Aran knit sweater, stepped inside.

“Keiran?”he spotted me by the fireplace.“Are you okay?”

I came to meet him.“Is he still out there?”

“Colby?No.I saw three women headed for the hot tub.Nobody else.”

“He was waiting in the hall when I left Rudolph’s room.”

Finn put his hands on my arms, steadying me.“Okay.Let’s start at the beginning.You came back from dinner and—?”

“Even before that, on the walk back from dinner, Adrien was telling me that Colby has been hanging around, trying to find out what floor I’m on, if I’m on my own.”

Finn was guiding me to the sofa.I folded onto the cushions, gazing up, trying to gauge his reaction.

He was not happy.

There were lines in Finn’s face that hadn’t been there when he’d walked into the room.

“He’s getting frustrated,” Finn said.“We saw that during the Backstory Q&A.You’re not reacting as expected.”

“Neither is he!”

I didn’t resist when Finn joined me on the sofa, taking my hands in his.

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