Page 44 of Don't Regret Me
He chased her out into the hall just in time to see the elevator doors sliding shut. Stephanie started screech-crying, but he remained still, his eyes on those shiny silver doors.
The bomb exploded, and neither he nor this kid escaped the shrapnel.
20
ELIZABETH
This place was much bigger than she’d imagined. Liz wasn’t a Beach Club type person. It was where the wealthy of Gulf City went to avoid sharing a beach with the public at Turtle Cove. There was a restaurant and hotel, along with ballrooms where rich and famous people had gotten married.
Last year, rock star Drew Stone wed his dancer wife less than one hundred feet from where she stood. It was surreal. She didn’t belong, but she couldn’t make herself leave. Not before she talked to Nick.
Stepping up to the front desk, she waited for the man behind it to acknowledge her. He wasn’t rude, only busy, as he answered call after call. His name badge read Manager, and he had the last name of Stone. Drew Stone’s father. Their entire family was known to everyone in town, and she’d met a few of them, but it didn’t make this any easier.
Finally, he hung up the phone and offered her a bright smile. “Good evening. Are you checking in?” He typed something into the computer in front of him, waiting for her to speak.
“No, I’m…” She breathed deeply. “My name is Liz Ross.”
“Oh.” His eyes lit up with recognition. “Welcome to the Beach Club.” She shouldn’t have been surprised he knew her. Everyone in this town did. She was the teenager with cancer turned into the mother with cancer turned into a coma patient. Her sordid medical past was no secret.
“Thanks, but no, I’m not checking in.” She cleared her throat. “I’m actually looking for someone. Nick Jacobs. I know he’s staying here. You probably can’t give me his room number, but could you call up and tell him I’m here?”
Mr. Stone frowned. “I cannot say if Nick Jacobs is staying here or not. I’m sorry. We have to respect the privacy of our guests, especially with the high-profile clientele we have.” He truly did look sorry.
Her shoulders dropped. “I understand. Thank you.”
When she turned away from the desk, she almost ran right into a woman she’d have recognized anywhere.
“Why are you looking for Nick?” Sherrie’s eyes narrowed, a cat on watch, ready to claw at anyone who marched onto her territory.
“That’s none of your business.” She stepped around the other woman, not in the mood for any games. She was soaked through from the rain, tired, and ready to give up. But nothing was that easy.
Sherrie hurried after her, her heels clicking loudly against the marble floor of the lobby. “He won’t love you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a fan who heard he was in town.” The lie tasted like acid on her lips.
“Sure you are.” Sherrie reached for Liz’s arm, yanking her into an open ballroom and pressing her back into a shadowy corner. It wasn’t long ago a fire destroyed these rooms and they had to be completely restored.
“Let go of me.” Liz squirmed against her. “You’re insane.”
Sherrie’s grip didn’t budge. “Nick loves no one on this earth. I don’t think he’s capable. I’m trying to do you a favor.”
“Like you did him one by putting him in that car?” She wasn’t sure what made her say it and hadn’t known if the hunch was true before she caught the calculated gleam in Sherrie’s eyes. She hadn’t wanted to believe a woman capable of such a thing. “You did, didn’t you?”
It had been a shot in the dark, a blind arrow finding its target.
Sherrie’s nails dug into the skin of her upper arms. “You don’t know anything. Screwing Nick doesn’t give you the years of insight into him that I have.”
“Do you even want him? Or do you want your reputation?”
“Stop talking before you make an even bigger fool of yourself, girl. You live in this small town, have probably never set foot outside the familiar streets, so let me tell you how the rest of the world works. We do what we need to in a world dominated by men. We survive.”
Liz broke Sherrie’s grip and pushed her away. “I feel sorry for you if that’s how you truly see the world. If you think destroying the reputation of others will bolster yours.”
“It already has. Or have you forgotten? I’m the scorned wife who stuck by her husband through drug addiction and a car accident, only to have him abandon me and our child.”
The lie was so perfect Liz herself may have believed it if she didn’t know Nick. She stepped forward, forcing Sherrie back. “No, I think I know who you are. You’re the cheating ex-wife who saw her star fading. So, you poured gasoline on it and set it afire. First, there were the drugs. I don’t know how you did it, but Nick never had a drug problem.”
“You don’t know anything about him or the things he hides.”
